The House Homeland Security Committee approved two Department of Homeland Security-centric cybersecurity bills Tuesday, sending them to the full House for consideration. The committee approved the bills -- the Critical Infrastructure Research and Development Advancement Act (HR-2952) and the Homeland Security Cybersecurity Boots-on-the-Ground Act (HR-3107) -- on voice votes with amendments. The bills had received unanimous support from the House Cybersecurity Subcommittee in September (CD Sept 19 p20).

FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel will never forget day one of the partial shutdown of the government, she told a sold-out FCBA lunch audience Tuesday. “I pull into the building and there’s a giant sign that tells you that the agency is closed, and please go away. So it was quiet. And the quiet became eerie. And by the second week, I wouldn’t have been surprised to see tumbleweeds in the halls.” Her conversation with FCBA President Joe Di Scipio covered the gamut of communication policy, as Rosenworcel offered her opinions on everything from foreign ownership (it’s time for a fresh look), to the IP transition (she’s in favor of trials), to her favorite app (anything that keeps her children quiet on a plane).

One of the strongest surveillance overhaul packages yet, the USA Freedom Act (http://1.usa.gov/1abSTWG), was introduced in the Senate and the House Tuesday, as expected (CD Oct 28 p1). The proposed legislation dropped amid some of the harshest attacks against the National Security Agency for its practices, with even one staunch defender in Congress turning cold. The bill, emanating from House and Senate Judiciary committees, differs notably from the overhaul measures proposed by House and Senate Intelligence committee leaders.

The covered business method review remained the most criticized component of the Innovation Act (HR-3309) at a House Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday, and witnesses pushed for some language clarifications. Lawmakers noted many of the patent litigation reform bill’s main features -- enhanced pleading standards, fee shifting to the nonprevailing party, limiting discovery until claim construction and increased transparency throughout litigation (CD Oct 24 p12) -- were “noncontroversial,” and “pretty supported” among the witnesses, which included representatives from the technology sector, pharmaceutical industry and a former U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director. But several witnesses including David Kappos, the former USPTO director, urged that the office receive “full fee access” and cautioned that the bill’s language on stays for end-user patent infringement lawsuits might be “overbroad.”

NAB views reply comments by CTIA on proposed rules for an auction of AWS-3 spectrum as all the assurance it needs CTIA is no longer pushing to reallocate 15 MHz of Broadcast Auxiliary Service spectrum for wireless broadband, Executive Vice President Rick Kaplan told us Tuesday. As a result, broadcaster discussions with the Department of Defense on possible sharing in the BAS band are back on, Kaplan said.

Consumers are willing to get digital content legally, but copyright issues can create some barriers for obtaining books, movies and music, said panelists at an Information Technology & Innovation Foundation event Tuesday. In the U.S., more than 50 percent of music revenue in the past year came from digital downloads, said Zahavah Levine, Google Play head of content partnerships. Consumers drive the digital content market, and they seek media on demand that’s available on a wide range of devices, said Digital Media Association Executive Director Lee Knife, whose organization works with Google Play.

FTC Commissioner Julie Brill defended the safe-harbor program Tuesday at a European Institute event. Some members of the European Parliament have been suspicious of the program -- which allows U.S. companies to self-certify they're complying with EU data privacy directives -- since revelations this year about various U.S. surveillance programs. “No doubt,” the disclosures have “severely tested the close friendship between the U.S. and many of our European colleagues,” Brill said. In the past month, European Parliament members have called for the cancellation, or at least reassessment, of the safe-harbor arrangement. “We have different interpretations” of the legal standards for access to data, said European Parliament Member Jan Philipp Albrecht at Tuesday’s event in Washington. “It’s a huge problem,” he said. “We need to agree on a common basis of protection."

Agencies across the federal government must embrace broadband adoption strategies, with congressional prompting if necessary, some broadband adoption advocates told a Senate Communications Subcommittee hearing Tuesday. They highlighted where gaps still exist and discussed the role of public-private partnerships and ways companies have tried to close the digital divide.

A proposed EU-U.S. trade deal could be “easily” derailed by privacy and data protection issues, EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding said Tuesday at a Washington conference organized by the Peterson Institute, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and the EU delegation that is in the U.S. for talks on the issues. “I warn against bringing data protection to the [Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership] trade talks” because it’s a non-negotiable, fundamental right, she said in written remarks. U.S. companies and the government are pressing to use the TTIP to undermine European efforts to change data protection rules, said European Consumers’ Organisation (BEUC) Senior Legal Officer Kostas Rossoglou in an interview. He spoke Tuesday at a Brussels Trans Atlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD) event on whether the TTIP can bring benefits to the people. The TACD called for the EU and U.S. to negotiate common data privacy standards but to do so outside of TTIP talks.

Music copyright laws are opaque, outdated and structured to create unfair advantages within the music industry, said panelists at the Future of Music Summit. Government and music industry officials repeated recent calls from lawmakers and government officials to strengthen public performance rights for the broadcasting of sound recordings. The current royalty structure too heavily favors certain music dissemination platforms, giving the impression that Washington “can pick the winners and the losers in the market,” said Jim Griffin, managing director of OneHouse, which consults on digital art delivery issues. Industry stakeholders and the government need to bring clarity to copyright laws so artists can earn fair pay and protect their work, panelists said.