President Donald Trump “deserves credit” for firing FBI Director James Comey, CTA President Gary Shapiro said Friday in an American Spectator blog post that bore the headline: "Firing Comey Proved Trump Acts Like America’s CEO." According to Shapiro, "if you don’t trust someone, if they use bad judgment, or if they are hurting the enterprise, then every day of delay inflicts unnecessary pain on the company or enterprise.” Had Trump waited for the Russian probe to end before terminating Comey, "he might have been waiting years, and in the process allowed further damage to the FBI’s reputation,” Shapiro said. Comey’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election “does not make him immune to criticism or mean we can forget about his past mistakes,” said Shapiro, accusing the former FBI chief of playing “fast and loose with the facts.” Shapiro thinks “comparisons to Nixon’s Watergate scandal are unfair,” he said of the wrongdoing that force President Richard Nixon to resign in 1974. “Trump is no Nixon, this is no Watergate, and Trump did the right thing.” Trump “can solve the situation by offering no resistance to the congressional investigation,” Shapiro said. “He can and should insist the FBI investigation continue with the resources it needs. He can offer to share documents and witnesses on an expedited basis. He can even call for a special prosecutor. If he has nothing to hide, then there is no issue.”
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and industry stakeholders diverged Thursday and Friday in statements on President Donald Trump’s cybersecurity executive order. The order, released Thursday after months of delays and drafts (see 1701310066 and 1702280065), directs the Office of Management and Budget and the Department of Homeland Security to assess all federal agencies' cybersecurity risks. It directs DHS and the Department of Commerce to explore ways to “promote action by appropriate stakeholders to improve the resilience of the internet and communications ecosystem and to encourage collaboration with the goal of dramatically reducing threats perpetrated by” botnets (see 1705110058). The EO “is an important step in modernizing and improving federal cybersecurity policies and protocols,” Hatch said. “For several years, I have been very concerned about the state of our federal government’s cybersecurity and computer systems.” Hatch said the order “mirrors the intent” of his enacted 2015 Federal Computer Security Act, which “was to require federal agencies to be accountable and proactive about securing critical infrastructure and computer systems from cyberattacks.” The Information Technology Industry Council believes the order “is a promising start for the administration’s cyber efforts,” said President Dean Garfield. “We are pleased to see the Trump Administration embrace actions we have consistently advocated for, including orienting federal government cybersecurity risk management around the [National Institute of Standards and Technology] Cybersecurity Framework and utilizing public-private partnerships to advance cybersecurity.” Cybersecurity IT company CSRA sees the EO as providing “a monumental boost to the effort to update and secure the government’s IT infrastructure,” said CEO Larry Prior. “Aging systems and outdated requirements are costing our government time and money, and jeopardizing our security.” The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation is “disappointed to see that this executive order is mostly a plan for the government to make a plan, not the private sector-led, actionable agenda that the country actually needs to address its most pressing cyber threats," said Vice President Daniel Castro. “This order leans heavily on the government for ideas and implementation rather than a public-private partnership approach.”
The Interagency Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity that President Donald Trump established through executive order Tuesday will count the FCC chairman among its members, said the order text. Other members will include the secretaries of commerce and agriculture and director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. “A member of the Task Force may designate a senior‑level official who is a full-time officer or employee of the member's department, agency, or office to perform the member's functions on the Task Force,” the order said. The group’s goal is to “identify legislative, regulatory, and policy changes to promote in rural America agriculture, economic development, job growth, infrastructure improvements, technological innovation, energy security, and quality of life,” with an eye toward advancing “the adoption of innovations and technology for agricultural production and long-term, sustainable rural development,” the order said. A report is due in 180 days of the order, coordinated by USDA.
President Donald Trump’s administration is “close” to finalizing its long-anticipated cybersecurity executive order, with an eye toward intertwining it with other plans for the federal government’s IT modernization, said White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Robert Joyce during a Monday event. The White House continued to revise the anticipated order in the months since officials first delayed Trump's planned late January signing of it. Then, the order would have directed the Office of Management and Budget to assess all federal agencies' cybersecurity risks and required agencies to manage their risk using the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Cybersecurity Framework (see 1701310066). Later drafts of the EO included language that would direct the Department of Commerce to explore ways to encourage “core communications infrastructure” companies “to improve the resilience of such infrastructure and to encourage collaboration with the goal of dramatically reducing threats perpetrated by” botnets (see 1702280065). Trump administration staffers are ensuring the text of the executive order is “closely aligned” with Trump son-in-law and White House Office of Innovation Director Jared Kushner’s plans to develop “approaches for the president’s consideration to modernize federal IT systems, retire outdated systems and move to shared services,” Joyce said during the Georgetown University event. “We must make sure that innovation and cybersecurity are intertwined.” The White House wants to ensure that the EO “emerges with the time and attention it needs … and at the same time is sequenced with other things the administration is rolling out so we don’t distract from other important messages that are out there,” Joyce said. The White House’s bid to revamp federal IT systems “offers important opportunities to improve our cybersecurity posture, because it’s no secret that there are outdated and indefensible IT components in the federal government today,” Joyce said.
Individuals and companies in the telecom and media industries sent big dollars to help President Donald Trump's inauguration effort, according to a form recently filed with the Federal Election Commission, dated Tuesday. Liberty Interactive Chairman John Malone, who has a stake in Charter Communications, gave $250,000 personally, and Liberty donated the same amount separately. AT&T gave $1 million in multiple instances, for a total gift of more than $2.08 million. Qualcomm gave $1 million. Intel and Microsoft donated $500,000 each, Google $285,000, Comcast and Charter $250,000 each, Verizon $100,000 and Amazon more than $57,000. Trump ally Peter Thiel, a tech industry official involved in the campaign and presidential transition, gave $225,000.
Retired Boeing Chairman Jim McNerney, IBM Chairman Ginni Rometty and IHS Markit Vice Chairman Dan Yergin were among the executives who met with President Donald Trump and some Cabinet members Tuesday at the White House's Strategic and Policy Forum, the White House emailed us. It said the meetings were to discuss the strategic priorities for various Cabinet secretaries and their agencies. Also among those taking part were White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, chief strategist Steve Bannon, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, it said.
President Donald Trump's nomination of Makan Delrahim as DOJ's top antitrust enforcer was sent to the Senate and was referred to the Judiciary Committee, the White House said in a Thursday news release. Delrahim, now deputy counsel to the president, is considered a traditional Republican on antitrust issues (see 1703280020).
President Donald Trump’s signature Monday enacting the Congressional Review Act measure ending FCC ISP privacy rules immediately drew a flurry of responses that included outcry from defenders of the rules and praise from ISP industry officials. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioner Mike O’Rielly lauded the new law. “To deliver that consistent and comprehensive protection, the [FCC] will be working with the [FTC] to restore the FTC’s authority to police Internet service providers’ privacy practices,” Pai said. “We need to put America’s most experienced and expert privacy cop back on the beat. And we need to end the uncertainty and confusion that was created in 2015 when the FCC intruded in this space.” Such a transition could involve undoing FCC Communications Act Title II reclassification of broadband. “The parade of horribles trotted out to scare the American people about its passage are completely fictitious, especially since parts of the rules never even went into effect,” said O’Rielly. Consumers “should feel confident,” said USTelecom President Jonathan Spalter. American Cable Association President Matt Polka said “nothing changes” in protecting consumer privacy. FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn tweeted that she awoke “from what I hoped was a bad dream.” FTC Commissioner Terrell McSweeny also tweeted her opposition. “The Republicans thought they could jam through this harmful law without anyone noticing,” said House Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J. “Despite their effort to hide this latest corporate giveaway, Americans of all political stripes spoke out loud and clear to say that they wanted to keep their personal information private and secure.” Trump “made a grave mistake by signing this disastrous legislation,” said Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., calling the measure “as anti-consumer as it gets.” Consumer Federation of America Director-Consumer Protection and Privacy Susan Grant said “the fight is not over” and the groups “will continue to push for real privacy protections for Americans." She was echoed by Public Knowledge. "We've raised $23,000 to put up billboards exposing the lawmakers that voted to gut Internet privacy," Fight for the Future tweeted Tuesday. Richard Bennett, network architect and free-market blogger, lamented in a blog post about the “firestorm of delusion” about the issue. “The FCC will now draft a replacement regulation only constrained by the law and the requirement that it’s not substantially similar to the old regulation,” he said. “The new rules will harmonize the FCC’s approach to privacy with the FTC privacy framework.” Since the House passage of the CRA resolution, House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., has "received so many calls" on the issue, she said in a video, explaining her reasoning for the resolution: "This resolution does not make you less safe on the internet."
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said President Donald Trump backs the Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval to kill FCC ISP privacy rules, now cleared by both chambers of Congress. “The White House supports Congress using its authority under the Congressional Review Act to roll back last year’s FCC rules on broadband regulation,” Spicer told reporters. "This will allow service providers to be treated fairly and consumer protection and privacy concerns to be reviewed on an equal playing field." Trump "pledged to reverse this type of federal overreach in which bureaucrats in Washington take the interests of one group of companies over the interests of others, picking winners and losers," Spicer said. He said the previous FCC had wrongly decided to treat ISPs differently than edge providers like Google and Facebook, reclassifying them as “common carriers, much like a hotel or another retail outlet" subjecting ISPs to "an unfair regulatory framework.” An administration spokesman didn’t say when the president will sign the bill but pointed to Spicer’s statement. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, issued a statement Wednesday defending his vote in favor of the CRA resolution, nearly a week after the Senate’s 50-48 vote. “I understand the importance of privacy protections for internet users, and I support a uniform set of rules for how companies handle consumers’ information,” Grassley said. “Unfortunately, this last-minute FCC regulation created a false sense of security for consumers because it established a double standard for how companies protect personal information. Without uniform protections, consumers might think they are protected when they actually are not. Consumers deserve clarity on how their personal information is protected.” The Democratic National Committee sent an email blast Wednesday fundraising off the GOP votes in favor of the CRA item: “Show Republicans you won’t let them get away with violating your privacy.” Republicans and ISP industry officials said the CRA disapproval resolution would do nothing other than maintain what has been the status quo on privacy for the past several months. The House Democratic petition asking Trump not to sign the CRA item (see 1703290067) acquired close to 2,000 signatures in its first 24 hours. “Overwhelming majority of Americans believe that their private info should be just that -- private -- and not for sale without their knowledge,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., tweeted Thursday. “That's why @SenateDems came together to write @POTUS urging VETO of #BroadbandPrivacy resolution.” The issue was featured Wednesday on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Two tech associations are applauding President Donald Trump's creation of the White House Office of American Innovation (OAI) that will led by son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner. In a news release Monday, Kushner said OAI will bring a "creative and strategic approach" to people's problems. Software & Information Industry Association Senior Vice President-Public Policy Mark MacCarthy said in a Tuesday statement that OAI will prioritize technological innovation at the highest level. He said it's important for "policies to keep pace with the rise of big data, the Internet of Things, and more recently, the emergence of Artificial Intelligence." In a Monday statement, Information Technology Industry Council President Dean Garfield said bringing innovation and data-driven efficiencies into government operations is welcome. "Fresh thinking can spark new solutions to old problems, an approach that is deeply engrained in the tech industry," he said.