Aereo v. ABC remains too close to call (CD April 21 p3) after oral argument at the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday, said several communications attorneys who attended the hearing in follow-up interviews. They said a decision, which may be 5-4, seems likely to hinge on what’s safest for the cloud computing industry.

Aereo v. ABC remains too close to call (WID April 21 p6) after oral argument at the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday, said several communications attorneys who attended the hearing in follow-up interviews. They said a decision, which may be 5-4, seems likely to hinge on what’s safest for the cloud computing industry.

A Senate companion to the House-passed Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (HR-624) remains stalled in the Senate Intelligence Committee, as had been expected at the beginning of the year (CD Jan 6 p2). Industry observers told us they continue to see limited prospects for any information sharing bill to emerge from Senate Intelligence and pass the full Senate by the end of the current Congress. At the same time, agencies’ sharing efforts have begun to coalesce in a way that makes legislation less necessary in the near term, some experts say.

Aereo v. ABC remains too close to call after oral argument at the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday (CED April 21 p1), said several communications attorneys who attended the hearing and gave follow-up interviews. They said a decision, which may be 5-4, seems likely to hinge on what’s safest for the cloud computing industry.

A Senate companion to the House-passed Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (HR-624) remains stalled in the Senate Intelligence Committee, as had been expected at the beginning of the year (WID Jan 6 p2). Industry observers told us they continue to see limited prospects for any information sharing bill to emerge from Senate Intelligence and pass the full Senate by the end of the current Congress. At the same time, agencies’ sharing efforts have begun to coalesce in a way that makes legislation less necessary in the near term, some experts say.

Technology and marketing associations are disputing calls for legislation on consumer data analytics products, in FTC comments following a recent seminar on the issue (WID March 20 p3). The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) and the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) stressed the current regulatory framework’s effectiveness and urged the FTC to focus on enforcement rather than regulations. Privacy advocates cautioned that many analytical products aren’t regulated and thus secluded from consumer or government scrutiny, creating myriad possibilities for discrimination. Comments on the issue were due Monday.

Properly designed sharing of cyberthreat information is “not likely to raise antitrust concerns,” said the FTC and Department of Justice Thursday in a policy statement. The policy statement does not change the two agencies’ existing analysis, which stems from an October 2000 review (http://1.usa.gov/1n8Zeef). “This statement should help private businesses by making it clear that antitrust laws do not stand in the way of legitimate sharing of cybersecurity threat information,” said FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez in a news release. The statement should also encourage the private sector to increase cybersecurity information sharing, said Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer, head of the Antitrust Division. “Cyber threats are increasing in number and sophistication, and sharing information about these threats, such as incident reports, indicators and threat signatures, is something companies can do to protect their information systems and help secure our nation’s infrastructure,” he said during a news conference, according to a prepared version of the speech (http://1.usa.gov/1hEklQr). Cybersecurity information sharing is different from actions that may raise antitrust concerns at FTC and Justice, such as sharing business plans or future price information, the agencies said. The agencies typically examine information sharing agreements through the lens of the agreement’s overall effect on competition. Cyberthreat information sharing can improve efficiency and secure networks both inside and outside critical infrastructure, the agencies said. Since cyberthreat information is typically very technical and covers a “limited category of information,” it’s unlikely to increase participants’ ability or incentive to raise prices or otherwise harm competition, the agencies said. The cybersecurity executive order President Barack Obama signed last year was meant in part to facilitate increased information sharing between companies within critical infrastructure sectors and between the private sector and the government (CD Feb 14/13 p1). The White House “will continue to work with our partners in industry to encourage the development of a network of information sharing partnerships and to identify actions we can take to further reduce barriers to information sharing,” said White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Michael Daniel in a blog post (http://1.usa.gov/1jwKTaL). Congress “must also do its part and enact meaningful solutions to enhance cybersecurity,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said in a statement Thursday. “Developing a comprehensive national cybersecurity strategy is one of the most serious and unmet needs confronting the nation today. Federal data privacy legislation to establish a single, national standard for data breach notification is an important component of cybersecurity legislation and is long overdue.” The House passed the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (HR-624) last year, but efforts to produce a similar bill in the Senate Intelligence Committee appear unlikely to succeed during the remainder of the 113th Congress (CD Jan 6 p2).

Properly designed sharing of cyberthreat information is “not likely to raise antitrust concerns,” said the FTC and Department of Justice Thursday in a policy statement. The policy statement does not change the two agencies’ existing analysis, which stems from an October 2000 review (http://1.usa.gov/1n8Zeef). “This statement should help private businesses by making it clear that antitrust laws do not stand in the way of legitimate sharing of cybersecurity threat information,” said FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez in a news release. The statement should also encourage the private sector to increase cybersecurity information sharing, said Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer, head of the Antitrust Division. “Cyber threats are increasing in number and sophistication, and sharing information about these threats, such as incident reports, indicators and threat signatures, is something companies can do to protect their information systems and help secure our nation’s infrastructure,” he said during a news conference, according to a prepared version of the speech (http://1.usa.gov/1hEklQr). Cybersecurity information sharing is different from actions that may raise antitrust concerns at FTC and Justice, such as sharing business plans or future price information, the agencies said. The agencies typically examine information sharing agreements through the lens of the agreement’s overall effect on competition. Cyberthreat information sharing can improve efficiency and secure networks both inside and outside critical infrastructure, the agencies said. Since cyberthreat information is typically very technical and covers a “limited category of information,” it’s unlikely to increase participants’ ability or incentive to raise prices or otherwise harm competition, the agencies said. The cybersecurity executive order President Barack Obama signed last year was meant in part to facilitate increased information sharing between companies within critical infrastructure sectors and between the private sector and the government (WID Feb 14/13 p1). The White House “will continue to work with our partners in industry to encourage the development of a network of information sharing partnerships and to identify actions we can take to further reduce barriers to information sharing,” said White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Michael Daniel in a blog post (http://1.usa.gov/1jwKTaL). Congress “must also do its part and enact meaningful solutions to enhance cybersecurity,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said in a statement Thursday. “Developing a comprehensive national cybersecurity strategy is one of the most serious and unmet needs confronting the nation today. Federal data privacy legislation to establish a single, national standard for data breach notification is an important component of cybersecurity legislation and is long overdue.” The House passed the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (HR-624) last year, but efforts to produce a similar bill in the Senate Intelligence Committee appear unlikely to succeed during the remainder of the 113th Congress (WID Jan 6 p2).

While AT&T and other telephone companies have been seeking deregulation from states to avoid having to provide costly and increasingly unprofitable landline service (CD March 19 p12), Maine’s primary telco is taking a different tact. FairPoint Communications is asking the Public Utilities Commission for a $67.6 million-a-year public subsidy to continue providing landline. The company is also asking $2-a-month increase for residential and business landline customers.

Lawmakers remained dubious of the proposed Comcast/Time Warner Cable merger Wednesday at the first Capitol Hill hearing on the deal. It needs FCC and Justice Department approval. The full Senate Judiciary Committee held the hearing, which lasted just under three hours, and House Judiciary announced a hearing May 8 at 9:30 a.m. in 2141 Rayburn. Comcast filed its long merger application with the FCC Tuesday.