Sony and Epsilon support a federal standard for data breach consumer notification, both said at a hearing Thursday of the House Commerce Subcommittee on Manufacturing. Chair Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif., said her upcoming data breach bill will include such a standard, among other consumer protections. Bono Mack criticized Sony and Epsilon but said it’s time to stop pointing fingers. “Instead, let’s point the way -- a better, smarter way -- to protect American consumers online.”
The House Communications Subcommittee moved a step closer to wireless legislation, holding Wednesday what’s likely their last hearing in a series on spectrum. Subcommittee Democrats and Republicans supported authorizing the FCC to conduct voluntary incentive auctions. Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., suggested additional incentives for broadcasters.
The White House cybersecurity proposal has raised questions over whether the government could rely on a provision in the 1996 Telecom Act to control the Internet in emergency situations. The absence of any Internet “kill switch” authority in the White House cybersecurity plan was applauded by several entities, but some lawmakers believe the plan should explicitly affirm that the president doesn’t have the authority. Other technology professionals don’t think the Obama administration’s measure indicates any intent to use such authority, they said in interviews.
The Department of Homeland Security has issued its Preliminary Plan for Retrospective Review of Existing Regulations, which is required under Executive Order 135361 and is part of the President’s plan to create a “21st-century regulatory system.”
The White House cybersecurity proposal has raised questions over whether the government could rely on a provision in the 1996 Telecom Act to control the Internet in emergency situations. The absence of any Internet “kill switch” authority in the White House cybersecurity plan was applauded by several entities, but some lawmakers believe the plan should explicitly affirm that the president doesn’t have the authority. Other technology professionals don’t think the Obama administration’s measure indicates any intent to use such authority, they said in interviews.
Rural carriers have to let competitive telecom carriers interconnect and exchange traffic with them, the FCC decided late Thursday. In a declaratory ruling, the commission said “we reaffirm basic interconnection rights for competitive providers of voice services.” The ruling was posted on dockets 10-143, 09-51 and 01-92. “We clarify that LECs are obligated to fulfill all of the duties set forth in sections 251(a) and (b) of the [1934 Telecom] Act, including the duty to interconnect and exchange traffic, even if the LEC has a rural exemption from the obligations set forth in section 251(c),” the commission said. The ruling left aside the question of how to classify voice over Internet protocol traffic. Time Warner Cable, which had raised the case with the commission to preempt an order by Maine regulators, said it “applauds the FCC’s decision.” “Time Warner Cable and its wholesale provider, CRC Communications, have been seeking to enter several rural communities in Maine for the past three years but have been thwarted by incumbent providers’ flat refusal to enter into interconnections agreements,” the company said. “This ruling will help eliminate entry barriers and promote increased voice competition and broadband deployment not only in Maine, but in rural areas throughout the country.” Voice on the Net Coalition Executive Director Glenn Richards told us in an email: “This is a very positive, pro-competitive decision by the Commission that will help expand the availability of IP-enabled services into rural America.”
On May 24, 2011, the House Natural Resources Subcommittee1 held a hearing to discuss the strategic and critical minerals policy of the U.S. and opportunities for improvement so that the U.S. can decrease its dependence on foreign mineral materials. According to Chairman Lamborn, steps taken by China to restrict exports of mineral commodities highlights the need for the U.S. to assess the state of the U.S. mineral policies and the opportunities to produce these and other strategic and critical minerals domestically.
Support for keeping the FCC’s retransmission consent rules as they are came from the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW), as companies, public interest groups and trade associations filed their comments on the FCC’s proposed rulemaking before Friday’s deadline. Pay-TV distributors, which had petitioned the agency to change the rules, drew support from groups such as Citizens against Government Waste and the Free State Foundation, as well as the National Black Caucus of State Legislators. Those parties favored changing the rules to assure that distributors will be able to preserve carriage of TV stations during retransmission consent disputes.
The FCC’s pending Wireless Competition Report is already being brandished as a weapon by opponents of AT&T’s proposed buy of T-Mobile, even before it’s released by the agency. The report is expected to conclude for the second year that the wireless market has grown more concentrated. Other observers say the report appears likely only to offer the same findings as last year, reaching no conclusions on whether the industry is “effectively competitive,” and thus is not a surprise.
The government may continue using roving wiretaps and other Patriot Act powers that were to expire at 12:01 a.m. Friday. Late Thursday, President Barack Obama signed into law an extension until June 1, 2015, of the government spying powers. The law made no changes to surveillance, but Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., introduced legislation Thursday based on his failed amendment to add privacy protections. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and privacy groups said they were disappointed the renewal had no new protections for U.S. citizens.