Intelligence officials may be receptive to new alternative proposals to current surveillance practices if industry or other stakeholders bring them to the table, officials told Congress Wednesday. They outlined certain concerns with more aggressive pieces of legislation that would end major surveillance practices, but appeared receptive to implementing some updates. Eight major tech companies, including Google, Microsoft and Facebook, outlined their own surveillance principles earlier this week, prompting the discussion.
Federal law claims can be adjudicated in federal court even when there’s an ongoing state proceeding on the issue, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously (http://1.usa.gov/IO5ZD5) Tuesday. “Federal courts are obliged to decide cases within the scope of federal jurisdiction,” wrote Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg for the entire high court. “Abstention is not in order simply because a pending state-court proceeding involves the same subject matter.”
Sens. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and Edward Markey, D-Mass., reintroduced the Community Access Preservation (CAP) Act Tuesday, which is aimed at keeping public, educational and government (PEG) channels afloat. The latest version left out a requirement for the FCC to do a study of the PEG community. The bill maintains the previous version’s calls for flexible use of PEG fees and requires cable operators to provide support for PEG channels required under state law.
A Senate Democrat called for stronger limits on U.S. surveillance activities following revelations from leaked documents that the U.S. tracks the cellphone location information for millions of people abroad. The tracking program described in recent reports focuses on foreigners but collects data from millions of Americans who travel abroad. “Secretly tracking millions of Americans raises urgent, serious legal questions -- never apparently presented to any court,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., in a statement Thursday, calling for immediate resolution “by Congress and the courts. These reports are additional powerful evidence that the system needs to be reformed, which must include more transparency and accountability enforced by a constitutional advocate.” Blumenthal has backed bills to that effect. The information came from documents leaked by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, which The Washington Post reported online Wednesday (http://wapo.st/IIaYWp). The American Civil Liberties Union slammed the revelations in a statement from staff attorney Catherine Crump. She called the news “staggering” and labeled the activities “dragnet surveillance,” flouting “international privacy obligations” when the U.S. should be targeting its surveillance. The Center for Democracy & Technology also criticized the practices and pressed for congressional action. “It’s time for Congress to finally act to rein in NSA surveillance,” Senior Counsel Greg Nojeim said in a statement. “Passing the USA FREEDOM Act would be a strong step.” Blumenthal also backs that legislation.
The House approved the Innovation Act (HR-3309) Thursday on a 325-91 vote, confirming expectations that the bill would pass (CED Dec 5 p3). Majorities from both parties voted for both the final bill and a manager’s amendment from House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., that made technical changes to the bill’s language. The 130 Democrats who voted for the final bill did so despite continued opposition led by two leading House Judiciary Democrats. HR-3309’s supporters were able to vote down most -- but not all -- amendments Thursday that would have fundamentally changed the bill, which if enacted would curb what it terms abusive patent litigation. The bill would aid the U.S. patent system, which was “never intended to be a playground for litigation extortion and frivolous claims,” Goodlatte said.
The House approved the Innovation Act (HR-3309) Thursday on a 325-91 vote, confirming expectations that the bill would pass (WID Dec 5 p7). Majorities from both parties voted for both the final bill and a manager’s amendment from House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., that made technical changes to the bill’s language. The 130 Democrats who voted for the final bill did so despite continued opposition led by two leading House Judiciary Democrats. HR-3309’s supporters were able to vote down most -- but not all -- amendments Thursday that would have fundamentally changed the bill, which if enacted would curb what it terms abusive patent litigation. The bill would aid the U.S. patent system, which was “never intended to be a playground for litigation extortion and frivolous claims,” Goodlatte said.
The House approved the Innovation Act (HR-3309) Thursday on a 325-91 vote, confirming expectations that the bill would pass (CD Dec 5 p7). Majorities from both parties voted for both the final bill and a manager’s amendment from House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., that made technical changes to the bill’s language. The 130 Democrats who voted for the final bill did so despite continued opposition led by two leading House Judiciary Democrats. HR-3309’s supporters were able to vote down most -- but not all -- amendments Thursday that would have fundamentally changed the bill, which if enacted would curb what it terms abusive patent litigation. The bill would aid the U.S. patent system, which was “never intended to be a playground for litigation extortion and frivolous claims,” Goodlatte said.
The Telecommunications Act doesn’t need to be rewritten, said the CEOs of four major CLECs at a New America Foundation panel Wednesday (http://bit.ly/IsL0Gr). The 1996 law’s language was technology-agnostic, said the heads of Windstream, XO, EarthLink and tw telecom. But the FCC needs to enforce the rules on the books, they said.
Privacy and data security were key issues during a wide-ranging House Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade Subcommittee hearing Tuesday on the FTC’s changing jurisdiction. Though praising the FTC’s work, lawmakers questioned -- and at times sparred with -- the commission’s four members over the agency’s expanding role in ensuring privacy in new technologies: How the FTC’s Section 5 authority relates to data security; the commission’s role in regulating the Internet of Things; whether the FTC should have authority to enforce a potential federal data breach notification law; whether promoting net neutrality should fall to the FTC; what the FTC’s role should be in regulating commercial drone use; and how the FTC should deal with European Union concerns about trans-Atlantic data security.
Privacy and data security were key issues during a wide-ranging House Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade Subcommittee hearing Tuesday on the FTC’s changing jurisdiction. Though praising the FTC’s work, lawmakers questioned -- and at times sparred with -- the commission’s four members over the agency’s expanding role in ensuring privacy in new technologies: How the FTC’s Section 5 authority relates to data security; the commission’s role in regulating the Internet of Things; whether the FTC should have authority to enforce a potential federal data breach notification law; whether promoting net neutrality should fall to the FTC; what the FTC’s role should be in regulating commercial drone use; and how the FTC should deal with European Union concerns about trans-Atlantic data security.