The Senate Homeland Security Committee will mark up legislation Wednesday to establish a Department of Homeland Security cyber response fund, Chairman Gary Peters, D-Mich., told us Tuesday. The committee held a second hearing on cyber incident response, days after the Colonial Pipeline cyberattack.
Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., agreed on a substitute amendment filed for Wednesday’s markup on the Endless Frontier Act (see 2104130068), according to documents we obtained. Introduced by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., S-1260 is aimed at increasing domestic semiconductor manufacturing. The $112 billion bill has seven Republican co-sponsors. Commerce pulled S-1260 from an April markup after members filed more than 230 amendments (see 2104270045).
The FTC finding that OEM restrictions on independent third-party repairs have “diluted” consumer protections in the 1975 Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (MMWA) was a “slam dunk” for right-to-repair advocates, Repair Association Executive Director Gay Gordon-Byrne told us. Commissioners vowed in Thursday's report to use enforcement and rulemaking authorities under the MMWA and 1914 FTC Act to crack down on such anti-consumer practices.
Manufacturer repair restrictions have “diluted the effectiveness” of consumer protections in the 1975 Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (MMWA), steering consumers into manufacturers’ repair networks “or to replace products before the end of their useful lives,” said the FTC’s long-awaited report to Congress on manufacturers’ efforts to inhibit third-party independent repairs. The “Nixing the Fix” report, in which the agency said it will consider “reinvigorated regulatory and law enforcement options” to address the problem, comes just under two years after the agency convened a workshop under the name (see 1907160058). The report was released Thursday with unanimous support from all four commissioners. See our news bulletin here.
The Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency needs to beef up its Joint Cyber Planning Office for wider communication routes between government and industry and Congress “needs to put CISA on a path to being a $5 billion agency,” House Homeland Security ranking member John Katko, R-N.Y., told a Cybersecurity Subcommittee ransomware hearing. The past 18 months brought an increased frequency of cyberattacks, as well as growing sophistication of threat actors, and larger amounts being demanded of victims, experts said at a Chamber of Commerce webinar, also Wednesday. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas called ransomware one DHS' "most-significant priorities."
Chairman Jerry Nadler of New York and other House Judiciary Committee members drilled down Wednesday on how to structure potential legislation to revamp Digital Millennium Copyright Act Section 512 (see 2009300068). They cited the need to bring back balance to how DMCA prioritizes interests of content creators, consumers and major tech platforms. Senate Intellectual Property Subcommittee ranking member Thom Tillis, R-N.C., hopes to introduce DMCA revamp legislation soon that places a heavy emphasis on addressing Section 512 (see 2103080053).
Facebook's Oversight Board backed the Jan. 7 decision to restrict then-President Donald Trump's access to the social media website and Instagram account, but said Wednesday it wasn't "appropriate" to impose an indefinite and standardless suspension. Facebook responded that the suspension stands.
Expect the FTC's new rulemaking group to actively work to fill gaps left in its authority by a recent Supreme Court decision (see 2104270086), former officials said in interviews. Some anticipate more administrative litigation over consumer protection cases.
Connecticut and Massachusetts are among states weighing digital ad taxes, after Maryland enacted one and despite industry lawsuits against that state. A proposed 5% Massachusetts tax on businesses making at least $25 million annually in digital ad revenue there is meant to remedy a “market failure right now with large data companies making billions of dollars off of people’s personal data” without appropriate compensation, Rep. Dylan Fernandes (D). He like others spoke in recent interviews. Tech and advertising industry groups say such state taxes are illegal and bad policy.
Stakeholders are increasing outreach before the FCC's emergency broadband benefit program starts on May 12 (see 2102250066). Some remain concerned whether EBB efforts will reach consumers that need the support the most, they said in recent interviews.