Comcast faces questions in California about whether it waited to tell regulators it mistakenly published the listings of 74,000 people, including domestic violence victims hiding from attackers, until the passage of a state law the company now says shields it from penalties. The case had been seen as significant by local and national consumer advocates as a test of state regulatory authority during the IP transition. It took on added weight last week when critics of Comcast paying about $66 billion including debt for Time Warner Cable used it as ammunition against the deal.

The Fish and Wildlife Service is amending its regulations on importation and exportation of endangered species, in a final rule that takes effect June 26. The final rule mostly adopts unchanged a proposed rule issued in March 2012 (see 12031423). Revisions include revised definitions for coral, cultivar, and sturgeon caviar; revised labeling and tagging for elephant ivory, vicuna, fur, and sturgeon caviar; processing changes for CITES documents, changes to how some CITES specimens may be used after import, etc.

Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., pressed Comcast on its net neutrality obligations, in a letter to Comcast CEO Brian Roberts Wednesday. “I am concerned that Comcast’s proposed acquisition of TWC is a threat to net neutrality and the open Internet,” Franken wrote (http://1.usa.gov/1kttEsm). “If Comcast were permitted to acquire TWC, it would make the nation’s biggest ISP even bigger, raising a serious risk that Comcast could act as a gatekeeper of Internet traffic on its networks. The existence of ‘full net neutrality rules’ is absolutely necessary, though likely not sufficient, to mitigate that risk.” Franken asked whether Comcast would abide by existing anti-blocking and anti-discrimination net neutrality requirements, first levied on Comcast as an obligation of acquiring NBCUniversal, beyond the January 2018 time set in that acquisition condition. Franken wants to know whether the cable company will maintain those protections “regardless of whether the FCC has implemented new and binding industry-wide net neutrality rules at that time,” he said. Comcast has defended its commitment to the net neutrality obligations and the potential consumer benefits of acquiring Time Warner Cable.

Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., pressed Comcast on its net neutrality obligations, in a letter to Comcast CEO Brian Roberts Wednesday. “I am concerned that Comcast’s proposed acquisition of TWC is a threat to net neutrality and the open Internet,” Franken wrote (http://1.usa.gov/1kttEsm). “If Comcast were permitted to acquire TWC, it would make the nation’s biggest ISP even bigger, raising a serious risk that Comcast could act as a gatekeeper of Internet traffic on its networks. The existence of ‘full net neutrality rules’ is absolutely necessary, though likely not sufficient, to mitigate that risk.” Franken asked whether Comcast would abide by existing anti-blocking and anti-discrimination net neutrality requirements, first levied on Comcast as an obligation of acquiring NBCUniversal, beyond the January 2018 time set in that acquisition condition. Franken wants to know whether the cable company will maintain those protections “regardless of whether the FCC has implemented new and binding industry-wide net neutrality rules at that time,” he said. Comcast has defended its commitment to the net neutrality obligations and the potential consumer benefits of acquiring Time Warner Cable.

The political stakes of NTIA’s plan to transition the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) rose Thursday after passage of the Domain Openness Through Continued Awareness Matters (DOTCOM) Act as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) (HR-4435). The amendment, which seeks to delay the transition until a GAO study is completed, was introduced by the bill’s co-sponsor and House Commerce Committee member John Shimkus, R-Ill. The amendment was approved by 245-177 with full Republican support (http://1.usa.gov/1jYFPsz). Only 17 Democrats supported the amendment. The House passed the NDAA by a vote of 325 to 98 (http://1.usa.gov/1vNmgNA). It’s going to be a “long uphill climb” before any legislation related to the transition is “enacted into law,” said Phil Corwin, founding principal of e-commerce and intellectual property law consultancy Virtualaw.

The political stakes of NTIA’s plan to transition the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) rose Thursday after passage of the Domain Openness Through Continued Awareness Matters (DOTCOM) Act as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) (HR-4435). The amendment, which seeks to delay the transition until a GAO study is completed, was introduced by the bill’s co-sponsor and House Commerce Committee member John Shimkus, R-Ill. The amendment was approved by 245-177 with full Republican support (http://1.usa.gov/1jYFPsz). Only 17 Democrats supported the amendment. The House passed the NDAA by a vote of 325 to 98 (http://1.usa.gov/1vNmgNA). It’s going to be a “long uphill climb” before any legislation related to the transition is “enacted into law,” said Phil Corwin, founding principal of e-commerce and intellectual property law consultancy Virtualaw.

The Senate Homeland Security Committee approved the Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity Workforce Recruitment and Retention Act Wednesday. Introduced Tuesday by committee Chairman Tom Carper, D-Del. (http://1.usa.gov/1sVoqq6), S-2354 would give the DHS secretary authority that to hire cybersecurity professionals with the same speed and set salary pay scales at the same levels allowed in the Department of Defense and NSA. Larry Zelvin, director of the DHS National Cybersecurity & Communications Integration Center (NCCIC), said at a separate House Homeland Security Committee hearing that DHS needs additional clarification on its legal role in cybersecurity matters to better implement some of its programs.

The Senate Homeland Security Committee approved the Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity Workforce Recruitment and Retention Act Wednesday. Introduced Tuesday by committee Chairman Tom Carper, D-Del. (http://1.usa.gov/1sVoqq6), S-2354 would give the DHS secretary authority that to hire cybersecurity professionals with the same speed and set salary pay scales at the same levels allowed in the Department of Defense and NSA. Larry Zelvin, director of the DHS National Cybersecurity & Communications Integration Center (NCCIC), said at a separate House Homeland Security Committee hearing that DHS needs additional clarification on its legal role in cybersecurity matters to better implement some of its programs.

The House Oversight Committee will view any federal agency that doesn’t begin requiring all cloud service providers (CSPs) to abide by the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) as an “ineligible player in the bidding process,” once a sufficient pool of vendors is FedRAMP compliant, said committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., Tuesday.

The House Oversight Committee will view any federal agency that doesn’t begin requiring all cloud service providers (CSPs) to abide by the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) as an “ineligible player in the bidding process,” once a sufficient pool of vendors is FedRAMP compliant, said committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., Tuesday.