Interested parties can comment on the FTC’s proposed amendments to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) rule until Dec. 23, an extension from its original Nov. 28 deadline, the FTC said Friday. Some groups asked for the extension, “citing the nature and complexity of the questions and issues raised by the proposed amendments,” the commission said. Comments can be filed at http://xrl.us/bmdivs and should be titled “COPPA Rule Review, 16 CFR Part 312, Project No. P-104503."

Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, is having trouble getting lawmakers to pay attention to his Internet gambling bill, HR-2366, he said after a House Commerce Manufacturing Subcommittee hearing on Internet gambling Friday. “This is an issue that is not on everybody’s list. It’s not a high visibility issue,” Barton told us. “There is a focus on getting bigger things done like reducing the federal deficit.”

Indian tribal leaders have significant concerns about federal efforts to legalize and regulate Internet gambling, they said at a Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearing Thursday. Internet gambling is illegal in the U.S. under the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), though some lawmakers have expressed hope that legalization could generate significant revenue for state and federal governments and curb abuses in the offshore gaming market. But tribal leaders said existing legislation would put them on unequal footing with established commercial gaming sites and fail to honor the sovereignty of their tribal agreements.

Lawmakers grilled Google over the company’s opposition to HR-3261, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), during a House Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday. Google’s opposition to the bill stems from what it calls an overly broad definition of illegally infringing sites that could unfairly target legitimate sites, said Katherine Oyama, Google’s copyright counsel. But U.S. Register of Copyrights Maria Pallante told committee members that without a congressional response to the threat of online piracy, “the U.S. copyright system will ultimately fail."

Lawmakers grilled Google over the company’s opposition to HR-3261, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) during a House Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday. Google’s opposition to the bill stems from what it calls an overly broad definition of illegally infringing sites that could unfairly target legitimate sites, said Katherine Oyama, Google’s copyright counsel. But U.S. Register of Copyrights Maria Pallante told committee members that without a congressional response to the threat of online piracy, “the U.S. copyright system will ultimately fail."

The GOP overcame Democratic opposition to FCC process reform proposals, approving two bills Wednesday in the House Communications Subcommittee. On a party line vote, the subcommittee voted 14-9 on HR-3309, which requires rulemaking shot clocks, cost-benefit analyses and a variety of other process changes. However, Democrats supported HR-3310, a bill that would consolidate many FCC reports and eliminate others. The subcommittee approved that bill by voice vote but said more work needs to be done before the next markup in the full committee.

Democrats slammed FCC process reform legislation due for markup Wednesday in the House Communications Subcommittee. The subcommittee plans to vote on two bills, HR-3309 and HR-3310. Democrats had previously expressed concerns with Republicans’ original draft of HR-3309 (CD June 22 p1). The introduced bill “includes some changes recommended by Democratic staff and expert witnesses,” Democrats said in a staff memo Monday. “Nevertheless, the legislation, as introduced, does not address fundamental concerns identified by various administrative law and FCC experts.” Some proposed reforms “may make sense for internal FCC rules or best practices,” but “there are serious concerns regarding codifying provisions as statutory mandates that apply only to the FCC,” the Democrats said. The subcommittee’s oversight powers are sufficient to address problems, they added. HR-3309 “would dramatically alter standard administrative law practice and procedure, the Democrats said. “These provisions have the potential to undo over 40 years of federal court precedents under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and create uncertainty and confusion for the FCC and interested stakeholders going forward.” The Democrats also strongly objected to proposals to limit the FCC’s ability to make conditions on transactions. They said that would go against the public interest standard. “This rewrite of the existing public interest test for transactions is not merely about ‘process’ but directly shapes the substantive role of the agency in the future,” they said. Democrats said they needed more clarity on HR-3310, a bill that would consolidate many of the FCC’s reports and delete others. “Although Democrats support streamlining FCC’s reporting requirements, several provisions of H.R. 3310 raise questions about the FCC’s statutory authority as well as how the Commission is directed to evaluate the communications marketplace.” The hearing is 9 a.m. in Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

FTC nominees Maureen Ohlhausen and Jon Leibowitz told Senate Commerce Committee members at their confirmation hearing Tuesday that the agency is working hard to ensure consumers have sufficient privacy protections on the Web. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said he favored a Do-Not-Track mechanism and a rigorous enforcement regime as a means to ensure consumer privacy online.

FTC nominees Maureen Ohlhausen and Jon Leibowitz told Senate Commerce Committee members at their confirmation hearing Tuesday that the agency is working hard to ensure consumers have sufficient privacy protections on the Web. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said he favored a Do-Not-Track mechanism and a rigorous enforcement regime as a means to ensure consumer privacy online.

With the Thanksgiving deadline fast approaching for the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, observers are growing skeptical that the super committee will meet its goal of finding $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction. Democrats and Republicans on the special committee seem to agree spectrum auctions should be included, but they continue to disagree on larger, unrelated issues, Hill and industry officials said. Auctions could still make the cut in a smaller package to mitigate an automatic, across-the-board budget cut in January 2013 known as a sequester, telecom industry lobbyists said.