Legislative Activity DATA Act Of 2014 Introduced Last Friday, April 4, Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) and Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) introduced the bipartisan DATA Act of 2014 (H.R. 4400). The legislation would require commercial entities that own or possess consumers’ personal information to implement information security policies and procedures in compliance with Federal Trade Commission … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Proposed Merger Of Comcast And Time Warner Cable To Face Scrutiny On Thursday, February 13, Comcast announced its intent to acquire Time Warner Cable (TWC) in a $45 billion transaction that would combine the two largest cable companies in the country. The proposed acquisition, however, is expected to receive close scrutiny from the … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Net Neutrality Legislation Introduced Last Monday, February 3, Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) introduced the Open Internet Preservation Act of 2014 (S. 1981 and H.R. 3982). The legislation would restore the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) “net neutrality” rules, which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Communications Act Update On January 15, the House Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology heard testimony from four former chairs of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), each of whom addressed a number of high-level legal and policy issues that Congress could consider as part of a review of … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity White Paper Released On Modernizing The Communications Act Last Wednesday, January 8, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) released the first in a series of planned white papers as part of their effort to review and update the Communications Act. The … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Commerce Committee Announces Process For Communications Act Update Last Tuesday, December 3, the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s top two leaders on communications and technology issues announced the committee will begin a comprehensive process to update the Communications Act of 1934 between 2014 and 2015. Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and Subcommittee on … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity New COPPA Bill Expected Soon Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), a longtime privacy advocate, and Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), the chair of the Congressional Privacy Caucus, are expected to introduce a bill in the near future that would expand protections under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) to teenagers age 13-16. Currently, COPPA only … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Retransmission Consent and Television Blackouts Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) circulated draft legislation entitled the Video CHOICE (Consumers Have Options in Choosing Entertainment) Act, which intends “to eliminate television blackouts caused by retransmission consent disputes,” among other policy goals. Permanent Extension of Internet Tax Freedom Act Introduced House Judiciary Committee Chairman Goodlatte (R-VA) introduced … Continue Reading
Legislative and Regulatory Activity E-rate Modernization The FCC adopted a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) during its Open Meeting on July 19, seeking comment on rules to update and modernize the E-rate program in order to support high-speed broadband for digital educational technology in classrooms and libraries. FCC staff indicated that they have three goals … Continue Reading
Legislative Branch Activity Cybersecurity Legislation In the Senate, the committees with jurisdiction over cybersecurity issues continue to work on drafting legislation that will be introduced in the coming weeks, including the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, and the Senate Intelligence Committee. Previous efforts to pass cybersecurity … Continue Reading
