President Barack Obama said he supports U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron’s push for information and communications technology (ICT) companies to continue allowing government tracking of suspects and potential terrorists via their technology. “Social media and the Internet is the primary way in which these terrorist organizations are communicating,” Obama said during a news conference Friday. “When we have the ability to track that in a way that is legal … and presents oversight, then that’s a capability that we have to preserve.” Cameron and FBI Director James Comey have raised concerns about attempts by Apple, Google and other companies to encrypt customers’ data in a way that governments can’t access. Cameron pushed back Friday against claims that he’s seeking backdoors into companies’ technology, saying, “we’re asking for very clear front doors through legal processes to help keep our country safe.” Cameron and Obama agreed in bilateral meetings last week to strengthen existing cybersecurity cooperation between the U.K. and U.S. governments. The countries plan joint cybersecurity exercises targeted at testing specific industries’ defenses, with the first to focus on the financial sector, the White House said. The countries also will work to align existing cybersecurity best practices in the National Institute of Standards and Technology-led Cybersecurity Framework and the U.K.'s Cyber Essentials scheme, the White House said.
The Minority Media and Telecommunications Council (MMTC) said it supports the goals of the White House’s plans to increase access to affordable high-speed broadband (see 1501140048), but said the plan doesn’t adequately address “the much larger challenge of broadband adoption that continues to promulgate second class digital citizenship among more vulnerable populations that include people of color, seniors, people with disabilities, and the poor.” The White House’s plan also doesn’t address how to end digital redlining, the practice of refusing to deploy broadband in low-income communities on par with service to wealthier communities, MMTC said in a statement. Industry groups continued to react Wednesday and Thursday to the White House’s plan, with Comptel CEO Chip Pickering saying in a statement that the “renewed focus on removing regulatory barriers and improving investment incentives are more steps in the right direction to ensure that American consumers can enjoy faster broadband services and lower costs.” The plan means Obama has joined with “Americans who are standing up for the right of local communities to bring high-speed broadband to their residents, no matter how small their community is,” Public Knowledge Vice President-Government Affairs Chris Lewis said in a statement.
President Barack Obama will declare his support Wednesday for FCC pre-emption of state laws restricting municipal broadband and will file a letter with the agency in support of pre-emption, said National Economic Council Director Jeff Zients on a call Tuesday with reporters. The commission is currently considering whether to pre-empt laws in North Carolina and Tennessee in response to petitions filed by the Electric Power Board of Chattanooga, Tennessee, and the city of Wilson, North Carolina. Obama is expected to announce his support for FCC pre-emption during a speech in Cedar Falls, Iowa, as part of a proposal to increase access to affordable high-speed broadband, Zients said. The administration “is making its view clear,” as it did when Obama announced his support for Communications Act Title II reclassification in November (see 1411100035), Zients said.
The White House kicked off what it said is the first part of a counter-response to the high-profile hack into Sony Pictures Entertainment. It issued an executive order imposing additional sanctions against the government of North Korea, which it says committed the cyberattack. It’s “a response to the Government of North Korea’s ongoing provocative, destabilizing, and repressive actions and policies, particularly its destructive and coercive cyber attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said in a statement Friday. “The E.O. authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to impose sanctions on individuals and entities associated with the Government of North Korea. We take seriously North Korea’s attack that aimed to create destructive financial effects on a U.S. company and to threaten artists and other individuals with the goal of restricting their right to free expression.” The order is targeted at North Korea's government and not its people, President Barack Obama said in a letter to Capitol Hill leaders. The order “provides criteria for blocking the property and interests in property of any person determined” to be affiliated with the North Korean government or “to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, the Government of North Korea or any person whose property and interests in property are blocked" pursuant to the order, Obama said. North Korea has denied responsibility for the attack. The FBI issued a news release Dec. 19 saying it concluded the North Korean government is responsible and that the attack reaffirms that “cyber threats pose one of the gravest national security dangers” to the U.S. The Department of the Treasury issued its own news release Friday saying three entities and 10 individuals are targeted under the sanctions order. “Even as the FBI continues its investigation into the cyber-attack against Sony Pictures Entertainment, these steps underscore that we will employ a broad set of tools to defend U.S. businesses and citizens, and to respond to attempts to undermine our values or threaten the national security of the United States,” Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew said in a statement.
The White House touted its stances on net neutrality and cellphone unlocking in its release Monday reviewing the past year’s accomplishments. “The President took action to keep the Internet open and free,” one slide of the review said, referring to the administration’s backing in November of Communications Act Title II reclassification of broadband. Another pointed to President Barack Obama’s push for cellphone unlocking: “The President signed a bill into law that made it legal for people to unlock their cell phones. It was the first time a We the People petition prompted legislation.” Other items on the list included Obama's becoming the first president to write a line of code and participating in a question-and-answer session on the social media website Tumblr.
President Barack Obama signed the $1.1 trillion appropriations act (HR-83) Tuesday, guaranteeing funding for agencies like the FCC and FTC in FY2015. The FCC will receive $340 million, the same level of funding as FY2014, despite requesting tens of millions more. Centurylink Vice President-Federal Legislative Affairs David Bartlett lauded the omnibus package for its one-year extension of the Internet Tax Freedom Act, saying in a statement: “Permanent extension of the ITFA would help create the kind of marketplace certainty that encourages broadband adoption and network investment.” The package included other telecom riders on call completion problems and broadcaster joint sales agreements (see 1412100041). The appropriations package will prevent NTIA from using its $38.2 million in FY2015 on the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority transition process, spurring debate over how the process will unfold in the months ahead (see 1412100054). The House and Senate had recently approved the package in contested votes.
President Barack Obama signed the E-Label Act into law Wednesday, the White House said. The bill (S-2583) will allow device manufacturers to include a required FCC label digitally rather than on the physical device. The House approved the act Nov. 13 (see 1411140031). The bill said U.S. manufacturers and consumers of FCC-licensed devices "would prefer to have the option to provide or receive important Commission labeling information digitally on the screen of the device" and such an option "would give flexibility to manufacturers in meeting labeling requirements." Within nine months, the FCC is required to "promulgate regulations or take other appropriate action, as necessary, to allow manufacturers of radiofrequency devices with display the option to use electronic labeling for the equipment" in place of affixing physical labels to the equipment, the bill said.
President Barack Obama touted his ConnectED initiative and praised the recent FCC E-rate proposal (see 1411170042) during a White House event with educators Wednesday. “Just this week, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler unveiled his plan to help us finish the job,” Obama said, referring to the five-year ConnectED goal of connecting 99 percent of students to high-speed broadband. He lamented what he sees as shortcomings to that end, but also cited earlier FCC commitments from earlier in the year: “The FCC decided to double its investment for broadband in schools.” He announced the release of the infrastructure guide and learning tool kit the Department of Education will release, pegged to this initiative. It’s time to “yank our schools into the 21st century when it comes to technology,” Obama said, describing other countries' efforts on this front. Schools “literally don’t have the bandwidth,” he said. “There aren’t enough computers to go around.” He highlighted the role of industry and commitments from 10 companies amounting to more than $2 billion to help. “According to the FCC, 68 percent of school districts report that not a single school in their district can meet high-speed connectivity goals,” a White House fact sheet about the event said. It said Wheeler "announced plans to dramatically expand investments in the E-rate program, increasing the program by $1.5 billion annually. This proposal -- scheduled for consideration by the FCC in December -- constitutes an essential step to provide the resources needed to meet the goals the President outlined last June.”
NCTA President Michael Powell criticized President Barack Obama for speaking last week in favor of Communications Act Title II reclassification as part of the FCC net neutrality NPRM (see 1411100035). Powell said during a joint NARUC/NASUCA event in San Francisco that he was “stunned” by Obama’s comments, calling it an unprecedented example of “interfering” with FCC independence. Powell said that Obama’s remarks are likely to prolong industry uncertainty and have put the FCC in an “impossible situation.” Other industry observers have called Obama's remarks a reset of FCC work on the NPRM (see 1411140043) Powell has been a vocal critic of Title II reclassification, saying Monday that he believes it’s unnecessary to reclassify broadband as a common carrier given that it’s the “heaviest” form of telecom regulation.
The House approved the Senate version of the E-Label Act (S-2583) Thursday by unanimous voice vote. It had already approved its own companion version of the legislation. The bill would let device manufacturers include a required FCC label digitally rather than on the physical device. The legislation now advances for White House signature to become law. “I am confident the FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology will do a great job updating our labeling rules," said bill author Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., in a statement after House approval. TIA praised the passage. “The current FCC requirement for manufacturers to either etch or print mandatory regulatory markings on the exterior of devices unnecessarily increases costs, limits design options and ineffectively conveys important information to consumers, especially as many devices become smaller,” TIA CEO Scott Belcher said in a statement. “By updating device labeling requirements, the E-LABEL Act will enhance the ability of our manufacturers to compete while also increasing access to consumer information.” FCC commissioners Ajit Pai and Jessica Rosenworcel have also backed the measure.