Representatives of the online advertising and content industries said they more guidance from the FTC about the updated Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act rule, which was unveiled by the FTC late last year and took effect July 1, and outlined potential harms of the new rule, while representatives from the FTC explained it, during a policy briefing hosted by TechFreedom Monday.
The FCC approved SoftBank’s buy of a 78 percent stake in Sprint and Sprint’s purchase of the interests it doesn’t already own in Clearwire. The agency issued a news release announcing the approval at our deadline Friday. Commissioner Ajit Pai voted for the order right before the July 4 holiday, clearing the way for release of the order (http://fcc.us/16TOnwN), agency and industry sources said Friday. The approval was the last major regulatory hurdle for the transaction, which had been previously approved by the other two FCC members (CD July 3 p9). Clearwire shareholders still must vote.
The latest draft of principles from the NARUC telecom task force still raised questions of overreach and appropriate balance regarding the role of states. Other stakeholders praised the draft and underscored the duties states should still have. The group, formed in late November and preparing a white paper for November 2013, released this draft last month (CD June 11 p13), to be discussed at NARUC’s Denver meeting in late July.
Fallout from the revelations of U.S., and now U.K., spying continues in Europe as high-level government officials began setting up an EU-U.S. group to discuss the allegations, the European Parliament said it will start an in-depth probe into the surveillance programs and Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes warned that American cloud security providers will lose business if they don’t safeguard customers’ privacy. However, it appears that the turmoil won’t stall talks on the transatlantic trade and investment treaty (TTIP), prompting criticism from privacy advocates.
Fallout from the revelations of U.S., and now U.K., spying continues in Europe as high-level government officials began setting up an EU-U.S. group to discuss the allegations, the European Parliament said it will start an in-depth probe into the surveillance programs and Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes warned that American cloud security providers will lose business if they don’t safeguard customers’ privacy. However, it appears that the turmoil won’t stall talks on the transatlantic trade and investment treaty (TTIP), prompting criticism from privacy advocates.
The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service finalized regulatory definitions for “common cultivars” and “common food crops” excluded from Lacey Act coverage, in an interim final rule set for publication in the July 9 Federal Register. The rule adopts an August 2010 proposal with some changes, including the addition of several definitions intended to clarify several “common cultivar” and “common food crop” terms. The interim final rule is effective Aug. 8, except for some clarifying definitions that are effective Sept. 9.
ICANN froze hundreds of new generic top-level domain applications Tuesday. It pointed to concerns its Governmental Advisory Committee highlighted in an April memo, which singled out several hundred specific strings the GAC said require extra security and oversight. At the same Tuesday meeting of its New gTLD Program Committee, ICANN also approved the new registry agreement that applicants must sign to run new gTLDs, according to meeting minutes released Wednesday (http://bit.ly/12dDGkc).
The Conference Group lacked standing to challenge an FCC decision that audio bridging software by InterCall must pay into the USF, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said Tuesday (http://1.usa.gov/14oHjbd). The Conference Group, a provider of audio conferencing services, had argued it was harmed by the commission’s ruling, which it said imposed new duties on all audio bridging service providers (CD April 16 p8).
CAMBRIDGE, U.K. -- The inherently global nature of the digital economy and the companies that lead it is forcing data protection authorities (DPAs) to boost cross-border cooperation, said Canadian Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart Monday. One focus of that increased coordination was a joint Canadian-Dutch investigation of California-based WhatsApp, a mobile messaging platform, said Stoddart and Jacob Kohnstamm, chairman of the Netherlands Data Protection Authority. The company has begun to clean up its act, but the situation isn’t yet resolved, Kohnstamm said. Mobile apps in general, and geolocation services in particular, create privacy headaches which industry is trying to cure, said other speakers at a Privacy Laws & Business conference.
CAMBRIDGE, U.K. -- The inherently global nature of the digital economy and the companies that lead it is forcing data protection authorities (DPAs) to boost cross-border cooperation, said Canadian Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart Monday. One focus of that increased coordination was a joint Canadian-Dutch investigation of California-based WhatsApp, a mobile messaging platform, said Stoddart and Jacob Kohnstamm, chairman of the Netherlands Data Protection Authority. The company has begun to clean up its act, but the situation isn’t yet resolved, Kohnstamm said. Mobile apps in general, and geolocation services in particular, create privacy headaches which industry is trying to cure, said other speakers at a Privacy Laws & Business conference.