The House Homeland Security Cybersecurity Subcommittee plans a Wednesday virtual hearing on the draft Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act. The measure, led by subpanel Chairwoman Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., would direct the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to work with stakeholders to establish requirements and processes for critical infrastructure owners and operators to report some cyber incidents to a new Cyber Incident Review Office within the agency. Cyber “first responders” would receive the information to prevent similar attacks, the bill said. The new office would be separate from CISA’s other voluntary programs, the bill said. “In the many hearings, briefings, and oversight that followed” the SolarWinds and other recent cyberattacks, “we consistently heard that the Federal government -- and CISA in particular -- needs better situational awareness about where, when, and how these attacks are happening,” Clarke said in a news release. “With better information, CISA will be able to detect malicious campaigns early, help owners and operators defend their networks, and understand long-term trends in adversary behavior.” USTelecom Senior Vice President-Cybersecurity Robert Mayer and Information Technology Industry Council General Counsel John Miller are among those set to testify. Ronald Bushar, Mandiant Global government chief technology officer, and Heather Hogsett, Bank Policy Institute senior vice president-technology and risk strategy, are also witnesses. The panel will begin at noon EDT.
Senate Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chairman Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., considers Apple’s proposed $100 million settlement to end a class-action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Oakland involving small U.S. iOS app developers a “significant step forward, but does not rectify the full and vivid range of market abuses and practices still widespread across app markets.” The plaintiffs claimed Apple monopolized U.S. distribution services for iOS apps and in-app purchases that resulted in commission overcharges to app developers. The proposed settlement in case 4:19-cv-03074-YGR would use the $100 million to set up a Small Developer Assistance Fund, for developers whose annual proceeds totaled less than $1 million between June 4, 2015, and April 26, 2021, Hagens Berman, one of the firms representing plaintiffs, said. Developers can claim up to $30,000 from the fund. Apple also agreed to change its app store rules to allow developers to communicate with customers outside their apps about purchasing and pricing alternatives to Apple’s in-app purchase system, Hagens Berman said. A website to administer the $100 million won’t go live until the Oakland court approves the settlement. “Today’s move only adds to the momentum” for passing the Open App Markets Act (HR-5017/S-2710) “and further exposes rampant anticompetitive abuses in the app markets,” Blumenthal said in a statement. “The fox guarding the hen house status quo will remain until there are clear and enforceable rules for Apple and Google to play by.” Cowen’s Paul Gallant believes the settlement “won't derail the bipartisan interest in opening up app stores to different payment mechanisms.” He cited the Coalition for App Fairness’ criticisms of the proposal.
Education and Libraries Networks Coalition members believe it’s “imperative” that Congress include the Securing Universal Communications Connectivity to Ensure Students Succeed (Success) Act (HR-4663/S-2447) in a coming budget reconciliation package that Democrats aim to pass with only their caucus’ support. HR-4663/S-2447 would provide $40 billion total for a successor to the current COVID-19 $7.17 billion emergency connectivity fund for FY 2022-26 to continue providing hot spots, modems, routers and internet-enabled devices post-pandemic (see 2107220049). The FCC’s Wednesday announcement that it received more than $5.1 billion in funding requests during ECF’s first application window is “compelling evidence that more support is needed,” EdLiNC said. “We fully expect that the remaining $2 billion in ECF support will be spoken for during the forthcoming” Sept. 28-Oct.13 second application window. Enacting HR-4663/S-2447 via the reconciliation package will “replenish ECF funding and ensure that America’s students, educators, and library patrons are not disconnected when” the existing ECF money “runs dry,” the group said.
A bipartisan House duo introduced companion legislation Friday meant to increase competition with Google and Apple app stores (see 2108110055). Senate Antitrust Subcommittee ranking member Ken Buck, R-Colo., and House Intellectual Property Subcommittee Chairman Hank Johnson, D-Ga., introduced the Open App Markets Act. It would “level the playing field for small app developers, strengthen consumer choice within the app marketplace, and ensure that antitrust laws are working properly in the digital ecosystem,” Johnson and Buck said in their announcement.
The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security “continues to work with our interagency partners to apply consistently the licensing policies” included in a final rule “to restrict Huawei’s access to technology or software for activities that could harm U.S. national security and foreign policy interests,” a spokesperson emailed Thursday. Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., pressed BIS Wednesday for details on its implementation of revised restrictions because he said he's aware of evidence of noncompliance (see 2108110066). “In addition to other EAR [Export Administration Regulations] license requirements that may apply to Huawei,” an August final direct product rule bars the company “and its affiliates” from “sourcing certain foreign-produced items from outside” the U.S. “without a license from BIS,” the spokesperson said. The agency “aggressively enforces” its rules “and takes allegations of potential export control violations seriously. All sources of information are leveraged to identify, investigate and, where appropriate, prosecute violations. Huawei reported a revenue decrease of almost 30% for the first half of 2021 compared to the first half of 2020.”
Legislation introduced Wednesday is meant to increase competition with Google and Apple app stores. Introduced by Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.; Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.; and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., the Open App Markets Act will “open the app economy to new competitors, and give mobile users more control over their own devices,” said Blumenthal. The bill would protect “developers’ rights to tell consumers about lower prices and offer competitive pricing,” plus app sideloading options for consumers. It would “prevent app stores from disadvantaging developers” and “set safeguards to continue to protect privacy, security, and safety of consumers,” said the announcement. The bill addresses competition harms and “ensures fairness to users and developers without forcing compromises on security or privacy,” wrote Public Knowledge Legal Director John Bergmayer. PK noted the legislation is in line with recommendations from its recent white paper.
Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., pressed the Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security Wednesday for details on its implementation of a final rule that adds Huawei non-U.S. affiliates to the bureau’s entity list, replaces a general license with a more restrictive authorization and expands the scope of its foreign direct product rule constricting the company’s ability to procure items that are the direct product of U.S. tech. “My staff has reviewed evidence suggesting possible non-compliance with” the final Huawei rule, Wicker wrote acting Undersecretary-Industry and Security Jeremy Pelter. Wicker said BIS officials claimed they couldn’t disclose information Wicker’s office sought on the implementation process because it’s covered under the 2018 Export Control Reform Act. That information “neither focused on any particular company’s compliance nor could have resulted in a breach of confidentiality for a company under investigation,” Wicker said. He sought information by Aug. 16 on how many companies have “sought a license to ship to Huawei or its affiliates,” how many of those applications BIS has processed and how many it has denied. BIS didn’t comment.
The Senate Judiciary Committee should hold a hearing on an antitrust bill scheduled for Thursday markup, the Computer & Communications Industry Association wrote Tuesday. The committee held over S-1787, the State Antitrust Enforcement Venue Act (see 2106240071), from its last markup. “Antitrust litigation often involves multiple states which, absent the possibility to centralize under one venue, would risk having balkanized antitrust judgments with multiple and divergent outcomes on the same facts,” CCIA said.
Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said Sunday he now backs the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act substitute for shell bill HR-3684, and voted to invoke cloture on the measure after earlier opposing efforts to move forward. The Senate voted 68-29 to invoke cloture after a 69-28 vote to adopt the HR-3684 substitute. A final vote on the measure is expected Tuesday morning. A group of senators said Monday they reached a deal on a compromise on rival cryptocurrency amendments (see 2108090050). Wicker cited statements from Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., who co-led work on HR-3684’s broadband language, that “preventing regulation of internet rates was the express intent of the broadband title.” Without that “assurance” and specific language in the measure barring NTIA from using actions related to executing the proposed $42.5 billion broadband equity, access and deployment grants program to “regulate the rates charged for broadband” service, “I would not have been able to support this bill on final passage,” Wicker said. “It is no secret that I have registered my concerns” about language that exempts the NTIA administrator from having to follow some Administrative Procedure Act requirements when making decisions on the grants program. “I hope” NTIA will “take care to avoid the wasteful and costly mistakes” the agency made in implementing the broadband technology opportunities program during the Obama administration “and make sure these broadband dollars are spent efficiently, effectively and with the benefit of stakeholder comment,” Wicker said. He and Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., had cited NTIA’s BTOP history as a reason they wanted to shift the $42.5 billion in broadband grants to the FCC’s purview (see 2108050064). Thune, Communications Subcommittee ranking member, was among the Republicans who voted against invoking cloture on HR-3684 Sunday. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation backs the measure’s broadband language, though it remains “far from perfect,” said Broadband and Spectrum Policy Director Doug Brake. Still, it “likely represents the best path forward for a much-needed and historic investment to close the digital divide.” The Washington Post also praised the proposed broadband funding in an editorial.
The FTC’s collective policy shifts on Hart-Scott-Rodino filings “threaten to chill harmful and beneficial deals alike,” Commissioner Christine Wilson tweeted Thursday: “I am gravely concerned that the carefully crafted HSR framework is suffering death by a thousand cuts.” She cited Monday’s announcement about warning letters (see 2108030064), temporary suspension of early termination grants (see 2103120069) and repeal of a 1995 policy statement on prior notice and approval (see 2107210061).