With a rulemaking imminent, major industry trade associations submitted to the FCC a consensus proposal on ISP privacy rules Tuesday. Meanwhile, FTC Commissioner Maureen Ohlhausen said the FCC would be better off leaving ISP privacy to her agency, which has expertise in the area, rather than approving its own set of rules. Ohlhausen spoke Tuesday on an Information Technology and Innovation Foundation panel.

With a rulemaking imminent, major industry trade associations submitted to the FCC a consensus proposal on ISP privacy rules Tuesday. Meanwhile, FTC Commissioner Maureen Ohlhausen said the FCC would be better off leaving ISP privacy to her agency, which has expertise in the area, rather than approving its own set of rules. Ohlhausen spoke Tuesday on an Information Technology and Innovation Foundation panel.

Congressional Creative Rights Caucus co-chairs Judy Chu, D-Calif., and Doug Collins, R-Ga., are preparing a letter to be sent to fellow House members noting ways that “industry efforts to fight digital content theft can complement government efforts.” A draft version of the letter notes a December opinion piece in The Hill by Information Technology and Innovation Foundation Vice President Daniel Castro and ITIF Trade Policy Analyst Nigel Cory that highlighted the Copyright Alert System, the Trust Accountability Group's Brand Integrity Program Against Piracy and other voluntary industry-led partnerships that “combat online piracy and complement government efforts.” A recurring theme of the House Judiciary Committee's ongoing Copyright Act review has been the "the important role that online intermediaries can play in taking steps to address the ongoing problem of online content theft," Chu and Collins said. Congress "has an important role here in promoting the benefits of such voluntary agreements for creators and consumers, ensuring that existing agreements are effective, and encouraging additional key players in the online ecosystem to take similar steps," Chu and Collins said.

Congressional Creative Rights Caucus co-chairs Judy Chu, D-Calif., and Doug Collins, R-Ga., are preparing a letter to be sent to fellow House members noting ways that “industry efforts to fight digital content theft can complement government efforts.” A draft version of the letter notes a December opinion piece in The Hill by Information Technology and Innovation Foundation Vice President Daniel Castro and ITIF Trade Policy Analyst Nigel Cory that highlighted the Copyright Alert System, the Trust Accountability Group's Brand Integrity Program Against Piracy and other voluntary industry-led partnerships that “combat online piracy and complement government efforts.” A recurring theme of the House Judiciary Committee's ongoing Copyright Act review has been the "the important role that online intermediaries can play in taking steps to address the ongoing problem of online content theft," Chu and Collins said. Congress "has an important role here in promoting the benefits of such voluntary agreements for creators and consumers, ensuring that existing agreements are effective, and encouraging additional key players in the online ecosystem to take similar steps," Chu and Collins said.

President Barack Obama’s final State of the Union speech, to be delivered Tuesday night, is “a marker for his last year in office and... a reference point (and foil) for candidates on both sides of the 2016 presidential race,” Information Technology and Innovation Foundation President Robert Atkinson said in a blog post Monday. He flagged ITIF’s policy wish list for 2016 contenders, a set of priorities “to foster innovation, boost productivity, and make the United States more competitive in the global economy,” and hoped to hear those same issues raised Tuesday: “So the State of the Union speech that ITIF would hope to hear the president deliver and the campaign stump speech we would hope to hear his would-be successors deliver are one and the same.” CTA President Gary Shapiro wrote a Monday blog post stressing his own policy goals for Obama’s speech -- the president should “set his sights” on the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal awaiting congressional approval; “renew his call for congressional passage of patent reform legislation to stop patent trolls”; and “push for regulations that help promote disruptive innovation,” including a repeal of Department of Labor rules on overtime-pay thresholds. The Software & Information Industry Association sent Obama an open letter advocating its own priorities. The administration must recognize the value of IoT and the “new U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework must be finalized and new trade agreements should build upon the data flow provisions in the Transpacific Partnership Agreement,” SIIA said. It also urged patent litigation overhaul and “support for strong encryption.”

President Barack Obama’s final State of the Union speech, to be delivered Tuesday night, is “a marker for his last year in office and... a reference point (and foil) for candidates on both sides of the 2016 presidential race,” Information Technology and Innovation Foundation President Robert Atkinson said in a blog post Monday. He flagged ITIF’s policy wish list for 2016 contenders, a set of priorities “to foster innovation, boost productivity, and make the United States more competitive in the global economy,” and hoped to hear those same issues raised Tuesday: “So the State of the Union speech that ITIF would hope to hear the president deliver and the campaign stump speech we would hope to hear his would-be successors deliver are one and the same.” CTA President Gary Shapiro wrote a Monday blog post stressing his own policy goals for Obama’s speech -- the president should “set his sights” on the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal awaiting congressional approval; “renew his call for congressional passage of patent reform legislation to stop patent trolls”; and “push for regulations that help promote disruptive innovation,” including a repeal of Department of Labor rules on overtime-pay thresholds. The Software & Information Industry Association sent Obama an open letter advocating its own priorities. The administration must recognize the value of IoT and the “new U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework must be finalized and new trade agreements should build upon the data flow provisions in the Transpacific Partnership Agreement,” SIIA said. It also urged patent litigation overhaul and “support for strong encryption.”

President Barack Obama’s final State of the Union speech, to be delivered Tuesday night, is “a marker for his last year in office and... a reference point (and foil) for candidates on both sides of the 2016 presidential race,” Information Technology and Innovation Foundation President Robert Atkinson said in a blog post Monday. He flagged ITIF’s policy wish list for 2016 contenders, a set of priorities “to foster innovation, boost productivity, and make the United States more competitive in the global economy,” and hoped to hear those same issues raised Tuesday: “So the State of the Union speech that ITIF would hope to hear the president deliver and the campaign stump speech we would hope to hear his would-be successors deliver are one and the same.” CTA President Gary Shapiro wrote a Monday blog post stressing his own policy goals for Obama’s speech -- the president should “set his sights” on the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal awaiting congressional approval; “renew his call for congressional passage of patent reform legislation to stop patent trolls”; and “push for regulations that help promote disruptive innovation,” including a repeal of Department of Labor rules on overtime-pay thresholds. The Software & Information Industry Association sent Obama an open letter advocating its own priorities. The administration must recognize the value of IoT and the “new U.S.-EU Safe Harbor Framework must be finalized and new trade agreements should build upon the data flow provisions in the Transpacific Partnership Agreement,” SIIA said. It also urged patent litigation overhaul and “support for strong encryption.”

The National Emergency Number Association said the FCC should move with care in considering Twilio’s petition for clarification that messaging services should be regulated under Title II of the Communications Act (see 1510130040). Wireless industry commenters opposed the petition outright. Some parties questioned whether changing how text messages are regulated would mean consumers would have to deal with many more spam texts. Reply comments were due Monday in docket 08-7.

The National Emergency Number Association said the FCC should move with care in considering Twilio’s petition for clarification that messaging services should be regulated under Title II of the Communications Act (see 1510130040). Wireless industry commenters opposed the petition outright. Some parties questioned whether changing how text messages are regulated would mean consumers would have to deal with many more spam texts. Reply comments were due Monday in docket 08-7.

​Tech industry reaction was overwhelmingly positive Wednesday to the news that the U.S. and more than 50 of its World Trade Organization partners completed work on a final Information Technology Agreement (ITA) expansion proposal. A statement from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) said the pact means more than $180 billion in yearly U.S. tech exports will no longer face tariffs in key markets around the world. The original ITA was reached in 1996, prompting many to say the new agreement was long overdue.