House Commerce Committee ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., urged Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo Friday to “address the urgent need for increased U.S. leadership in the innovation and deployment of emerging technologies.” The "U.S. is at risk of losing our competitive advantage,” they wrote Raimondo. “China is looking to continue to further bridge together manufacturing and smart technologies through IoT and become the global leader in the space. China also is predicted to outmatch the U.S. in blockchain innovation and deployment and become the global leader” there.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court's rejection of a lawsuit brought by a California pastor and his religious organization claiming discrimination by Vimeo when it deleted a series of the plaintiffs' videos promoting sexual orientation change efforts (SOCE). In a decision Thursday (docket 20-616) by Judges Rosemary Pooler, Richard Wesley and Susan Carney, penned by Pooler, the 2nd Circuit said the video hosting service deletion of the church's account fell squarely in good-faith content policing immunity of Communications Decency Act Section 230. Vimeo "is statutorily entitled to consider SOCE content objectionable and may restrict access to that content as it sees fit," the panel said. Outside counsel for the plaintiffs-appellants didn't comment. Santa Clara University Director-High Tech Law Institute professor Eric Goldman blogged the ruling was a win for internet services, but both Democrats and Republicans have proposed Section 230 amendments that would overturn the ruling. He said the court's reliance on Section 230(c)(2)(A) opens the door for a motion to dismiss.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken will use his upcoming meeting with Chinese officials to outline U.S. concerns over China's alleged human rights abuses and unfair trade practices, Blinken told the House Foreign Affairs Committee Wednesday. The March 18 meeting in Anchorage, announced Wednesday, will include National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Chinese foreign affairs officials Yang Jiechi and Wang Yi. “This is an important opportunity for us to lay out in very frank terms the many concerns that we have with Beijing's actions and behavior that are challenging the security, prosperity and the values of the United States and our partners and allies,” Blinken told the committee. Blinken said he will discuss U.S. concerns over China's lack of a “level playing field” for American companies. He added there are no plans yet for future meetings. “This is not a strategic dialogue. There's no intent at this point for a series of follow-on engagements,” he said. ‘“Those engagements, if they are to follow, really have to be based on the proposition that we're seeing tangible progress and tangible outcomes on the issues of concern to us with China.”
Opening conversations on a “micro level” can be a catalyst for change in recognizing systemic racism and working toward equity and inclusion, said Kimberly Hulsey, a legal recruiter with Major Lindsey, during an FCBA webinar Tuesday. Ensure new associates have representation, equal access to assignments and clients, access to speaking opportunities and support for growth, said Wiley's Anna Gomez, who heads FCBA’s diversity and inclusion committee. “If management is very sincere about increasing the diversity, managers have to be tasked with that, and their compensation has to be linked to that,” said Hulsey. Employers must insist those they do business with are focused on equity and inclusion, said Clint Odom, T-Mobile vice president-strategic alliances and external affairs. Build a pipeline, so when a diversity hire on a law firm partnership track leaves, others are still on track, he said. “Your ability to hire people who are diverse is not constrained by Title 7 of the Civil Rights Act.”
Warner Music Group sees its physical, merchandise and live performance businesses that took a hit in the COVID-19 pandemic “springing back,” WMG told an investor event. CEO Stephen Cooper sees opportunities from many areas. On whether he sees disintermediation in the music business in the way direct-to-consumer streaming services are proliferating in the over-the-top video market, Cooper said Thursday the concept is “always on our radar screen” and “doesn’t present a substantial risk.” The music model is different from the long-form video model because it requires “ubiquity,” he said. Warner’s artists “want their music to be everywhere,” he said. Cooper cited a “backlash” in the past few years when some streaming services tried exclusivity. "It just backfired because artists want their music to be accessible to everyone,” he said. The long-form video model, by contrast, is about exclusivity. Disney expanding from content to distribution and Netflix growing from distribution to content are examples of "far more vertical integration than I believe one will ever see in music.”
OMB hasn’t addressed a previous GAO recommendation to broaden definitions for data centers in a cost-saving initiative, the auditor said. Based on GAO recommendations, agencies participating in OMB’s data center optimization initiative expect to close 230 such centers and save $1.1 billion over two years, GAO said. But in June 2019, OMB “narrowed the definition of a data center to exclude certain facilities it had previously identified as having potential cybersecurity risks,” the report said. The auditor recommended OMB reverse the 2019 decision “so that visibility of the risks of these facilities was retained.” GAO said an agency liaison on OMB’s ethics team emailed that OMB “had no comments.”
Comcast's peak downstream internet traffic grew 38% last year from 2019 levels, while peak upstream traffic jumped 56%, said the company Tuesday. In the four months spanning lockdowns, Comcast's network had almost two years of traffic growth, it said. Despite a rise in videoconferencing, entertainment dominated network traffic, with video streaming generating 71% of downstream traffic, 70% higher than 2019 levels. Online gaming and related software downloads (10%) and web browsing (8%) were primary drivers of downstream traffic, vs. 5% for videoconferencing. Comcast customers generated more than 1 trillion internet requests daily last year, it said.
Charter Communications will continue in the cable TV business, though its video offerings will go beyond that, CEO Tom Rutledge said at a Morgan Stanley investor conference Tuesday. He said live TV being sold in a linear package will continue "for a significant period," though it's becoming less affordable and streaming products are gaining market traction. He said Charter will sell streaming packages alongside its existing video products. Though TV “is becoming a broadband product,” Charter will have cable TV service “for years," he said. Asked about competition from 5G fixed wireless as that service comes to market, he said 5G "would take an enormous amount of capital" to serve as a substitute for cable broadband and it's "not likely to be deployed rapidly." He said Charter's internet-only customers use around 700 GB monthly, while wireless-only averages around 10-12 GB, so 5G "is not a full replacement for where we're going."
Washington state senators supported a municipal broadband bill that would set terms allowing public utility districts to sell retail telecom services in unserved areas. The Senate voted 43-3 Friday for SB-5383, sending it to the House, which voted 60-37 Feb. 23 to pass HB-1336. Senators voted 45-0 that day to send the House SB-5439, meant to better coordinate broadband installation on state highways through collaboration.
The Maryland House Ways and Means Committee should support exempting news media from Maryland’s digital ad tax law, said local press and broadcaster associations at a virtual hearing Friday. The Maryland General Assembly overrode the governor’s veto of the tax law Feb. 12 (see 2102120050), drawing a lawsuit from business groups (see 2102180053). HB-1200 would remedy Maryland DC Delaware Broadcasters Association concerns, said counsel Tim Nelson. Broadcasting ad revenue is declining partly due to the big tech companies targeted by the tax, he noted. The bill “acknowledges the vital importance of Maryland's local news outlets,” said Rebecca Snyder, executive director of the Maryland, Delaware and District of Columbia Press Association. The exemption is narrowly tailored to newsgathering organizations, she said. It wouldn’t cover news aggregators but would cover small newspapers owned by larger entities like Gannett, she said. Del. Jason Buckel (R) doubted the effectiveness of the bill prohibiting tech companies from passing costs from the tax to small businesses. They might not be able to create an explicit fee, but Maryland can’t stop them from changing their pricing, he said. HB-1200 sponsor Del. Eric Luedtke (D) disagreed that tech companies would pass along the cost, even under the original bill, saying that's “fearmongering.”