The legislative campaign against the FCC net neutrality order crumbled Thursday on Capitol Hill, as Senate Democrats rejected Republicans’ Congressional Review Act joint resolution of disapproval. The Senate voted 46-52 on a motion to proceed to SJ Res 6, with no Democrats voting for the joint resolution of disapproval. That means a vote won’t be held on SJ Res 6 itself. The FCC order takes effect Nov. 20. “The only thing [Republicans] can do at this point is allow the courts to handle” the issue, a House aide said.

The legislative campaign against the FCC net neutrality order crumbled Thursday on Capitol Hill, as Senate Democrats rejected Republicans’ Congressional Review Act joint resolution of disapproval. The Senate voted 46-52 on a motion to proceed to SJ Res 6, with no Democrats voting for the joint resolution of disapproval. That means a vote won’t be held on SJ Res 6 itself. The FCC order takes effect Nov. 20. “The only thing [Republicans] can do at this point is allow the courts to handle” the issue, a House aide said.

The FTC review of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) could pioneer efforts to develop privacy frameworks in other areas and it could set an example for other countries to follow, some privacy advocates said Wednesday at the Family Online Safety Institute conference in Washington. The FTC proposed several changes regarding personal information and geolocation information as it relates to kids. Comments on the rulemaking are due Nov. 28.

SILICON VALLEY -- Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., said Wednesday she wants to make sure that the zeal for raising federal revenue doesn’t prevent adding “open space for innovation” in the airwaves. The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction is looking to spectrum auctions “to raise money for the federal government,” she noted at the Silicon Valley Wireless Symposium, organized by Joint Venture Silicon Valley. But Lofgren said she wants to make sure that when it comes to adding spectrum for broadband “not everything gets auctioned,” so unlicensed capacity is available. “We need to think about how we can incent additional efficient use of spectrum,” she added.

SILICON VALLEY -- Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., said Wednesday she wants to make sure that the zeal for raising federal revenue doesn’t prevent adding “open space for innovation” in the airwaves. The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction is looking to spectrum auctions “to raise money for the federal government,” she noted at the Silicon Valley Wireless Symposium, organized by Joint Venture Silicon Valley. But Lofgren said she wants to make sure that when it comes to adding spectrum for broadband “not everything gets auctioned,” so unlicensed capacity is available. “We need to think about how we can incent additional efficient use of spectrum,” she added.

On November 9, 2011, U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced its plans to conduct a test of Simplified Entry in the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE). While the initial test phase is only for the air mode, CBP has issued a news release stating that it is planning similar test phases in the ocean and rail environments for early to mid-2012. CBP also clarifies that the deadline for voluntary participants for the air mode test phase is November 17, 2011, and those volunteering must include information regarding their volume of entries and the ports expected to be utilized.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a notice announcing its plan to conduct a National Customs Automation Program (NCAP)¹ test on ACE simplified entry capability. The test will reduce the information participants must file with CBP prior to arrival in the U.S. to 12 required, and three optional data elements. The initial phase of the test will only be for the air transportation mode and is available for nine accounts. Parties interested in participating in the test should contact CBP by November 17, 2011.

Supreme Court justices showed significant concern over the possibility of Orwellian ramifications concerning warrantless tracking using secretly-installed GPS devices, during oral argument in Jones v. U.S. Tuesday. The high court is deciding the constitutionality of the practice under the Fourth Amendment. The issue was raised in the investigation and trial of Antoine Jones, who was suspected of dealing cocaine and was tracked with GPS for a month without a valid warrant. Much of the hearing focused on the “reasonable expectation of privacy,” as defined by Katz v. U.S., and the effect of changing technologies on police surveillance.

Supreme Court justices showed significant concern over the possibility of Orwellian ramifications concerning warrantless tracking using secretly installed GPS devices, during oral argument in Jones v. U.S. Tuesday. The high court is deciding the constitutionality of the practice under the Fourth Amendment. The issue was raised in the investigation and trial of Antoine Jones, who was suspected of dealing cocaine and was tracked with GPS for a month without a valid warrant. Much of the hearing focused on the “reasonable expectation of privacy,” as defined by Katz v. U.S., and the effect of changing technologies on police surveillance.

Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt stuck to his claim that Google’s search algorithm doesn’t favor Google products in responses to questions posed by members of the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee. The queries stemmed from a September hearing that addressed allegations that the company promoted its own services in its organic search rankings (WID Sept 22 p1). Schmidt responded to questions from Chairman Herb Kohl, D-Wis., Ranking Member Mike Lee, R-Utah, Sens. Al Franken, D-Minn., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa and John Cornyn, R-Texas. Universal search results “are not separate ‘products and services’ from Google,” Schmidt told Franken, Blumenthal, Kohl and Lee. The search results “are our search service -- they are not some separate ‘Google content’ that can be ‘favored.'” Schmidt also responded to queries around copyright infringement and how Google responds to complaints about certain content on its apps or sites from copyright or trademark holders. Where Web search is concerned, “Google has no ability to ’take down’ the sites that exist on the Web, because we don’t control the Web,” Schmidt told Franken. “Instead, when copyright owners notify us of infringing material appearing in search results, we remove it from future results.” Grassley urged Google to “do more voluntarily to protect intellectual property rights.” The critical foundation for Google’s anti-piracy efforts remains the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Schmidt said. The company “has clear policies against advertising counterfeit goods, and we expend considerable resources to enforce those policies.” Some senators asked for clarification around Google’s online promotion to U.S. customers of Canadian pharmaceuticals, which resulted in a $500 million settlement with the Department of Justice (WID Aug 25 p1). Google changed its policy regarding Canadian pharmacies last year, he said in response to Cornyn’s query. The AdWords program “allows only online pharmacies based in the United States to run ads appearing in the United States.” Google uses filters and tools to identify ads that may be for illegal products, he said. Schmidt assured Blumenthal that Google has a wide array of procedures in place to prevent its advertising products from being used to illegally promote copyrighted material: “We use automated and manual review to weed out abuse.” Lee and his staff are still reviewing Schmidt’s responses, a spokeswoman said. The other senators didn’t comment. Schmidt’s answers distort the concerns raised by Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman “that Google’s unlicensed use of content from other sites … steers users to Google and away from competing sites,” said FairSearch, the coalition composed of Google rivals such as Microsoft, Expedia and Travelocity. FairSearch urged those investigating Google to continue searching for “real answers to the serious questions about how Google uses its monopoly power in the market."