Comcast, Cisco, Verizon and T-Mobile suspended some political contributions, they said Monday and Tuesday, joining a growing list of companies acting due to the deadly riot at the Capitol (see 2101120061). Verizon emailed: “Like the vast majority of Americans, we watched last week’s events in Washington and were deeply saddened. As a result, we will be suspending contributions to any member of Congress who voted in favor of objecting to the election results." T-Mobile “suspended all of our PAC distributions, pending our reevaluation of our PAC giving,” the company clarified in a statement. Comcast will suspend contributions to officials who voted against Electoral College certification, a spokesperson emailed: “The peaceful transition of power is a foundation of America’s democracy. This year, that transition will take place among some of the most challenging conditions in modern history and against the backdrop of the appalling violence we witnessed at the U.S. Capitol last week. At this crucial time, our focus needs to be on working together for the good of the entire nation.” Cisco’s employee-sponsored PAC suspended “contributions to any of the 147 representatives and senators who attempted to prevent Congress from fulfilling its constitutional duty to certify a legitimate and fair presidential election.”
Strengthen U.S. measures to slow China technology growth, including prohibitions on Chinese acquisitions of American technology, an Information Technology and Innovation Foundation virtual event was told last week. ITIF President Robert Atkinson said China’s “technology advancements come at the cost of European technology advancements and U.S. technology advancements.” European countries don't feel responsible for countering Chinese tech advancements, responded Daniel Gros, Centre for European Policy Studies director. Atkinson isn't “on the side of full decoupling,” and the U.S. should be working with allies to “push back against” China and its unfair trade practices, especially in the tech sector, the ITIF chief said Wednesday. Though the Trump administration has often opted not to pursue multilateral cooperation, Atkinson said the incoming Joe Biden administration will do more and “mend some of the fences that were unfortunately broken” with allies. The White House and China's embassy in Washington didn't comment Friday.
President-elect Joe Biden is set to name Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) as his pick for commerce secretary and longtime aide Don Graves as deputy secretary, lobbyists told us. The Biden transition team didn’t comment. During Raimondo’s administration, Rhode Island has been one of four states that continued to divert 911 fees, despite FCC admonitions (see 2001070025). She signed a 2018 executive order restricting state contracts to ISPs that follow net neutrality principles (see 1805070029). Biden also nominated U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Judge Merrick Garland as his pick for attorney general (see 2101040070). Garland has been involved in some of the D.C. Circuit’s high-profile telecom and tech cases, including the Tri-County Telephone Association’s challenge against the FCC’s nearly $1 billion USF telecom rebuild program for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (see 2010150042).
President Donald Trump's executive order Tuesdaybans transactions with eight popular Chinese payment apps, citing national security concerns. In effect in 45 days, the EO bans transactions with Alipay, QQ Wallet, WeChat Pay, Tencent QQ, CamScanner, SHAREit, VMate and WPS Office. Certain Chinese apps “continue to threaten the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States,” it said. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross supported Trump’s “commitment to protecting the privacy and security of Americans from threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party.” A Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson called the EO another example of the U.S. “wantonly bullying foreign companies by abusing state power on the untenable ground of national security.” National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien said “China’s Military-Civil Fusion strategy explicitly aims to co-opt or coerce civilian enterprises into assisting the People’s Liberation Army.” The apps’ parent companies didn’t comment Wednesday.
CTA CEO Gary Shapiro urged Congress to certify the results of the presidential election, in which states certified that President-elect Joe Biden won 306 electoral votes to President Donald Trump’s 232. At least a dozen Republican senators and up to 100 House GOP members are expected to challenge those results when Congress convenes Wednesday to certify the election. They aren’t expected to prevail since Trump backers failed in their legal challenges to overturn the results. “The people have spoken, and the states have certified their results,” Shapiro said Tuesday. “After a year of global upheaval and a vitriolic election cycle, the country needs to come together to continue to heal and search for solutions. We applaud those who will stand for moving our country forward tomorrow by certifying the presidential election.”
Industry praised Congress for overriding President Donald Trump's veto of the FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (HR-6395), which includes several telecom and tech provisions (see 2012040043). The Senate voted 81-13 New Year's Day to override Trump's veto, an action he took partly because the measure lacked Section 230 language (see 2012230081). The House overrode the veto last week (see 2012290049). The Semiconductor Industry Association welcomed NDAA enactment of the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (Chips) for America Act. HR-7178/S-3933 authorizes federal incentives to promote semiconductor manufacturing and public-sector investments in semiconductor R&D (see 2012170061). It “will help propel U.S. economic growth and cement America’s position at the forefront of semiconductor innovation,” said Qorvo CEO Bob Bruggeworth, who chairs SIA. The NDAA hinders Ligado’s L-band plan, which the Satellite Safety Alliance called a "win for all." This "will enable" DOD to "take much-needed steps to bolster the U.S. government and industrial base cybersecurity defenses, modernize its technology, and enhance U.S. leadership in innovation," said Information Technology Industry Council Senior Vice President-Public Sector Policy Gordon Bitko. Repealing Section 230 would be better than rewriting the tech industry’s liability shield because the latter option would further encourage Big Tech censorship, Parler said in a statement Monday. “A politically viable re-write of Section 230 would transform Orwell’s 1984 from a dystopian novel into an instruction manual, requiring all platforms to adopt Twitter/Facebook/Google’s terms of service,” said Parler Chief Policy Officer Amy Peikoff.
President Donald Trump signed the FY 2021 appropriations and COVID-19 aid omnibus bill (HR-133), which includes broadband funding and other telecom and tech policy provisions (see 2012210055). Trump’s signing Sunday came after he raised objections to parts of the measure last week (see 2012230078). He continued to criticize it in his signing statement, saying he’s “demanding many rescissions.” Congress “has promised” Communications Decency Act Section 230, “which so unfairly benefits Big Tech at the expense of the American people, will be reviewed and either be terminated or substantially reformed,” Trump said. “Big Tech must not get protections of Section 230!” It’s not clear what review Trump was referencing. Both chambers are to vote this week to override Trump’s veto of the conference FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (HR-6395). He disapproved in part because it didn’t include language to repeal Section 230 (see 2012230081). The almost $7 billion in broadband funding included in HR-133 will promote "more ubiquitous deployment of secure high-speed broadband services," Free State Foundation Senior Fellow Andrew Long blogged Saturday.
President Donald Trump's Wednesday veto of the conference FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (HR-6395) sets up likely veto override votes early next week, with the House expected to reconvene Monday. Trump cited the measure’s lack of language to repeal Communications Decency Act Section 230, an issue that clouded the measure’s prospects just before passage earlier this month (see 2012020068). It includes other telecom and tech provisions (see 2012040043), including ones to hinder Ligado’s L-band plan, and it has the text of the Spectrum IT Modernization Act (HR-7310/S-3717). “Your failure to terminate the very dangerous national security risk of Section 230 will make our intelligence virtually impossible to conduct without everyone knowing what we are doing at every step,” Trump said in his veto message to Congress. HR-6395 “fails even to make any meaningful changes to” Section 230, “despite bipartisan calls for repealing that provision. Section 230 facilitates the spread of foreign disinformation online, which is a serious threat to our national security and election integrity. It must be repealed.” Both chambers approved HR-6395 by margins far above the threshold needed to overturn Trump’s disapproval. Trump “made it clear that he does not care about the needs of our military personnel and their families” by vetoing HR-6395, said House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., in a statement. The bill “passed with overwhelming, veto-proof support in both the House and Senate, and I remain confident that Congress will override this harmful veto.” Lawmakers sought several times this year to revamp Section 230 (see 2012100072), including via the withdrawn Online Content Policy Modernization Act (S-4632). Industry officials are watching whether FCC Chairman Ajit Pai will seek a vote on a declaratory ruling on Section 230 before he leaves office, though he didn’t announce plans Wednesday to seek action on any items at the commission’s Jan. 13 meeting (see 2012230065).
In its first 100 days, President-elect Joe Biden’s administration should prioritize FCC finalization of rules for opening up access to the 3.45-3.55 GHz, 5.9 GHz and 6 GHz bands, increasing broadband funding and expanding ISPs’ ability to gain access to poles and other critical infrastructure under Communications Act Section 224, the Wireless ISP Association said Wednesday.
President Donald Trump will nominate ex-acting NTIA head Adam Candeub to the National Board for Education Sciences, the White House said Wednesday. The board governs the Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences, which provides scientific evidence on education practice and policy. Carolyn Roddy leads NTIA after Candeub became a deputy associate attorney general (see personals section, Dec. 16).