The Communications Workers of America (CWA) is preparing to "underwrite" an advertisement in opposition to Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) and is seeking national organizations to sign on to the effort, according to an email circulated by CWA. Under TPA, commonly called Fast Track, Congress agrees to suspend normal legislative procedure for trade bills, offering no amendments, limiting debate and making a simple up-or-down vote. "Fast track has had a difficult month because of the great work done by a broad range of groups" and "now it’s time to do more," said Kenneth Peres, CWA chief economist, in the email. The ad would "reflect the breadth of opposition to Fast Track."

The FCC got an update Thursday from Diane Cornell, who heads the agency’s process reform team, but she offered few details on what will be recommended in a pending report on various proposals for improving how the agency does business (CD Jan 30 p2). Officials said after the commission meeting a report is likely to be published in about a week. The FCC will ask for public comment on the report, Cornell said. The FCC is also still taking recommendations through its website, she said.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) plans to “begin a multistakeholder dialogue” in early March on how to improve the notice-and-takedown system instituted as part of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), said PTO Chief Policy Officer and Director of International Affairs Shira Perlmutter during a speech Wednesday. The multistakeholder consultation on notice and takedown was one of several recommendations PTO included in a green paper on Internet-related copyright policy issues it released in July (http://1.usa.gov/1bySZcG).

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) plans to “begin a multistakeholder dialogue” in early March on how to improve the notice-and-takedown system instituted as part of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), said PTO Chief Policy Officer and Director of International Affairs Shira Perlmutter during a speech Wednesday. The multistakeholder consultation on notice and takedown was one of several recommendations PTO included in a green paper on Internet-related copyright policy issues it released in July (http://1.usa.gov/1bySZcG).

Two House Democrats released draft legislation Monday that would update how the federal government handles “mission-critical” information technology systems. Communications Subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo, Calif., and the Oversight Committee’s Government Operations Subcommittee ranking member Gerry Connolly, Va., are responsible for the draft, called the Reforming Federal Procurement of Information Technology (RFP-IT) Act. “Our draft bill puts proven best practices to work by instituting a White House office of IT procurement and gives all American innovators a fair shake at competing for valuable federal IT contracts by lowering the burden of entry,” Eshoo said in a statement. Connolly emphasized that there’s a lot of waste in procurement despite small improvements in recent years. “Our RFP-IT discussion draft recognizes that transforming how the federal government procures critical IT assets will likely require bolstering ongoing efforts to comprehensively strengthen general federal IT management practices with targeted enhancements that promote innovative and bold procurement strategies from the White House on down,” Connolly said. The proposed bill would create an office in the executive branch to assess big IT projects early on and allow smaller businesses to bid on federal IT contracts without the significant sums associated with compliance. In a provision intended to give small businesses simplified acquisition procedures, with less paperwork and fewer layers of approval required, the purchase threshold that triggers higher requirements would be raised to $500,000 from $150,000, the members said in a press release (http://1.usa.gov/1cmN8vb).

Two House Democrats released draft legislation Monday that would update how the federal government handles “mission-critical” information technology systems. Communications Subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo, Calif., and the Oversight Committee’s Government Operations Subcommittee ranking member Gerry Connolly, Va., are responsible for the draft, called the Reforming Federal Procurement of Information Technology (RFP-IT) Act. “Our draft bill puts proven best practices to work by instituting a White House office of IT procurement and gives all American innovators a fair shake at competing for valuable federal IT contracts by lowering the burden of entry,” Eshoo said in a statement. Connolly emphasized that there’s a lot of waste in procurement despite small improvements in recent years. “Our RFP-IT discussion draft recognizes that transforming how the federal government procures critical IT assets will likely require bolstering ongoing efforts to comprehensively strengthen general federal IT management practices with targeted enhancements that promote innovative and bold procurement strategies from the White House on down,” Connolly said. The proposed bill would create an office in the executive branch to assess big IT projects early on and allow smaller businesses to bid on federal IT contracts without the significant sums associated with compliance. In a provision intended to give small businesses simplified acquisition procedures, with less paperwork and fewer layers of approval required, the purchase threshold that triggers higher requirements would be raised to $500,000 from $150,000, the members said in a press release (http://1.usa.gov/1cmN8vb).

The effort to rewrite the Communications Act should “build from the ground up,” said Verizon Senior Vice President-Federal Government Relations Peter Davidson on a panel at the Practising Law Institute Broadband and Cable Industry Law conference Monday. The conference also touched on the competitive effect of over-the-top video on multichannel video programming distributors and the Aereo case. Several panelists repeatedly compared applying dated communications regulations to the current video market to fitting a round peg into a square hole. “Why are we doing all these gymnastics?” asked Davidson. “Why not start over?"

The Dairy COOL Act of 2014, HR-3935 (here), would amend the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to institute country of origin labeling (COOL) requirements for dairy products. The amendment would cover dairy products such as fluid milk, cheese (including cottage cheese and cream cheese), yogurt, ice cream, butter and any other dairy product. The legislation would require U.S. dairy imports to include information on each country the product or product components originated or were sourced from. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., introduced the legislation on Jan. 27.

The effort to rewrite the Communications Act should “build from the ground up,” said Verizon Senior Vice President-Federal Government Relations Peter Davidson on a panel at the Practising Law Institute Broadband and Cable Industry Law conference Monday. The conference also touched on the competitive effect of over-the-top video on multichannel video programming distributors and the Aereo case. Several panelists repeatedly compared applying dated communications regulations to the current video market to fitting a round peg into a square hole. “Why are we doing all these gymnastics?” asked Davidson. “Why not start over?"

The Department of Justice should ensure that the terms of a settlement between federal prosecutors and tobacco companies direct advertising dollars to black-owned broadcasters, said the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters (NABOB) in a newsletter to members Friday. A proposed consent order in the fourteen-year-old U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia case requires the tobacco company defendants to fund commercials informing the public of the harmful effects of smoking, and includes a list of TV networks and newspapers where the campaign must run. However, the settlement doesn’t require the companies to “place any commercials on Black owned media, or even media targeting the African American community,” said NABOB. That’s irksome to NABOB because the DOJ case “demonstrated that the tobacco companies had specifically targeted African American communities, particularly young people, with advertising and promotions designed to increase smoking,” said the newsletter. NABOB, the National Newspaper Publishers Association and the NAACP filed amicus briefs asking the court include black-owned media in the consent decree. That request came too late, said the tobacco companies in a response. “It has been more than seven years since this Court first specified the newspapers and television networks in which Defendants would be required to place corrective statements,” said the tobacco company filing. The companies also said changing the list of stations to receive the advertising would nullify the settlement agreement, “leaving the parties back at the negotiating table to see if a revised agreement can be reached.” The ability of the corrective advertising to “reach all affected Americans” is one of the concerns about the proposed settlement raised by the federal judge who would need to approve it, NABOB said. “The settlement can be set aside and the parties can be forced to consider adding Black owned media to the advertising plan if the Department of Justice tells the judge that it agrees with her that the plan needs to be amended to target Black consumers,” said NABOB. To make that happen, NABOB wants all black-owned broadcast stations to publicize the matter on their airwaves. “The DOJ will only change its position and oppose the current advertising plan if there is a vocal outcry from the African American community,” said NABOB. A similar NABOB effort to get advertising dollars from publicity efforts connected to the Affordable Care Act to go to black-owned broadcasters (CD Oct 4 p1) was stymied by the “disarray” of the ACA, said NABOB Executive Director Jim Winston. The association is still pursuing the matter, he said.