The Data Broker Accountability and Transparency Act (S-668) was introduced by Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Al Franken, D-Minn., said a joint news release Thursday. S-668 would “allow consumers to access and correct their information to help ensure maximum accuracy,” it said. “The bill also provides consumers with the right to stop data brokers from using, sharing, or selling their personal information for marketing purposes” and “empowers” the FTC to “enforce the law and promulgate rules within one year.” Data brokers "seem to believe that there is no such thing as privacy,” Markey said in the release. “This legislation ensures that data brokers cannot take advantage of the most valuable possessions that consumers have: their personal information.” Americans "have a fundamental right to privacy, including the right to determine whether information about their personal lives should be available for sale to the highest bidder,” said Franken.
A group of bipartisan House lawmakers introduced legislation “to direct the [FCC] to extend to private land use restrictions its rule relating to reasonable accommodation of amateur service communications,” its title said. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., introduced HR-1301 Wednesday and it was referred to the Commerce Committee. It has five Democratic and seven Republican co-sponsors. Its text isn't online.
The Songwriter Equity Act was reintroduced Wednesday by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., the National Music Publishers’ Association said in a news release. “The legislation modernizes sections 114 and 115 of the Copyright Act to achieve fairer royalty rates for songwriters,” it said. SEA is expected to be one of the key music licensing issues on Capitol Hill this term and could be influenced by the outcome of the Department of Justice’s ongoing consent decree review, lawmakers and music attorneys have told us (see 1412050057). Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Bob Corker, R-Tenn., joined Hatch as co-sponsors, said NMPA. Nine House members, including Reps. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., are co-sponsoring the House legislation, it said. “If songwriters’ royalties must be regulated, they should at least be based on fair market value,” said NMPA CEO David Israelite, citing the same recommendation made in the Copyright Office’s recent music licensing study (see 1502050055).
Senate Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and all other members of the Oregon congressional delegation should move to support Trade Promotion Authority “as soon as possible,” said several large companies with Oregon facilities, including BSA/The Software Alliance and the Gap, in a recent letter. TPA will let U.S. negotiators broker trade pacts that open global markets for U.S. goods and services, said last month's letter. “Congress needs to pass TPA soon, and we hope you will support it."
The New Democrat Coalition flagged investment in broadband as part of the economic priorities listed in an agenda released Wednesday. Other priorities included promoting “a free and open Internet as a platform of global innovation” and protecting “our data online and cyber infrastructure.” The U.S. “advantages in technology and innovation can be leveraged with policies that promote public and private investment in the national infrastructure needed to grow the economy and a recommitment to improving the responsiveness and effectiveness of government, restoring Americans’ faith in our ability to solve real problems,” it said. The coalition comprises about a fourth of the House Democratic caucus and focuses on fiscal responsibility and the economy.
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators submitted an Internet of Things resolution Wednesday backing a “national vision to promote economic growth and greater consumer empowerment through the Internet of Things.” The resolution follows a Senate Commerce Committee hearing last month on the IoT (see 1502110035). “Our Internet of Things resolution would commit our nation to a national strategy incentivizing the use of new technologies to maximize consumer opportunity and to facilitate economic growth,” said Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb. “This resolution underscores our strong commitment to fostering innovation, protecting consumers, and finding solutions to our toughest problems through technology-driven solutions,” said Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J. “The Internet of Things resolution would encourage new opportunities to harness the power of the Internet and develop innovative solutions for people and businesses,” said Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H. “As we work to advance the Internet of Things, we must remain committed to empowering consumers, developing technological safeguards while enabling innovation, and improving the quality of life for future generations,” said Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii.
Labor unions are united in opposing Trade Promotion Authority, also known as fast track, over concerns that new trade deals will cut U.S. employment, said leaders of dozens of unions in a Monday letter to House and Senate members. “Fast-track is an undemocratic, unaccountable and completely unacceptable way to develop economic policies that affect us all,” said the letter, signed by the Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO and others. “America needs a new version of trade negotiating authority that brings the process out from behind closed doors and prioritizes making life better for people, instead of just making life easier for corporations.” The AFL-CIO and other unions take to Capitol Hill Wednesday to lobby more than 120 lawmakers on TPA opposition, the AFL-CIO said in a separate release.
Officials from Pandora and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) are among the scheduled witnesses at the Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee’s March 10 hearing (see 1502200042) on the Justice Department’s ongoing consent decree review. A subcommittee news release Tuesday said the witnesses are Mike Dowdle, Bonneville International general counsel; Jodie Griffin, Public Knowledge senior staff attorney; Chris Harrison, Pandora vice president-business affairs; ASCAP CEO Beth Matthews; Lee Thomas Miller, Nashville Songwriters Association International president; and Matt Pincus, Songs Music Publishing CEO. DOJ is reviewing ASCAP and Broadcast Music Inc.’s consent decrees, which bar performing rights organizations (PROs) from refusing a license to any organization that requests one, leading to rate negotiations. Broadcasters are reaping the rewards of a consent decree process that unfairly compensates songwriters, music attorneys have said. Broadcasters have said the decrees help to keep the potential monopoly power of PROs at bay. The outcome of the DOJ review could influence the nature and timing of related legislation expected this Congress (see 1501070052). The hearing is at 10 a.m. in 226 Dirksen.
“Operational demands” have driven up the FCC’s budget request, which is $388 million for FY 2016, agency Managing Director Jon Wilkins plans to testify Wednesday before the House Communications Subcommittee. “For FY 16, the Commission has been forced to adjust its costs upward to manage and execute activities leading to the termination of our headquarters lease in 2017,” Wilkins says in his written testimony. “Over 70 percent of our requested increase supports ‘unavoidable’ costs such as the restacking and move, inflationary increases, and the OIG [Office of Inspector General] base increase.” The hearing, scheduled for 10:30 a.m. in 2322 Rayburn, is focused on FCC reauthorization. Wilkins will argue that the FCC headquarters transition is “an opportunity to create greater cost savings and efficiencies by significantly reducing the Commission's footprint and instituting new management techniques that encourage greater use of shared space,” saving “over $100 million over the life of our new post-2017 lease.” He will say FCC licensees “will bear the brunt of the move” and that the agency is attempting to “assess fees in a fair and equitable manner,” and will defend the agency as fiscally responsible. This FY 2016 budget will “properly align USF expenditures with cost outlays,” thereby “shifting USF funds to cover our salary and compensation expenditures directly related to USF activities,” he will testify. He plans to discuss the “tough budget decisions” the FCC faced as a result of receiving $36 million less than requested last year. “Flat funding has led to staff reductions,” he will say, also warning of big information technology challenges given the agency’s aging systems. “Limited funds have delayed many improvements and threaten to cost us more each day that we are unable to move ahead.”
Legislation to establish safeguards to protect the privacy of individuals, following recently released draft rules from the Federal Aviation Administration allowing the expanded use of drones (see 1502250059), was introduced Tuesday by Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., and Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt. Dubbed the Drone Aircraft Privacy and Transparency Act, the legislation would ensure there are “standards for informing the public about the location, timing and ownership of unmanned aerial vehicles,” a joint release said. Privacy protection provisions related to data collection and minimization, disclosure, warrant requirements for law enforcement, and enforcement measures in the licensing and operation of drones would also be required. Markey also introduced the legislation in the last Congress. Given the FAA expects about 7,500 drones to be used in U.S. airspace by 2020, Markey said rules of the sky are needed, just as there are rules of the road. The bill “requires transparency in domestic drone use and adds privacy protections that ensure this technology cannot and will not be used to spy on Americans,” he said. “Drones are a valuable tool for commerce, law enforcement, and public safety as well as a fun hobby,” Welch said. The American Civil Liberties Union, Electronic Frontier Foundation and National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers endorsed the legislation.