Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and vice presidential running mate Tim Kaine, senator from Virginia, will fight “for an open Internet abroad,” they said in a 288-page policy book published by Simon & Schuster Tuesday. Clinton previously outlined a tech and telecom agenda and defended net neutrality, including in the latest order issued by the FCC. The book collects those promises and affirmatively says broadband will be part of her first-100-days infrastructure plan -- the largest investment since World War II, she's said (see 1606280071).

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling that the FTC had no jurisdiction over AT&T in a data throttling case “has important, if murky, implications for the future jurisdictional lines” between the FTC and FCC, said Doug Brake, telecom policy analyst at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, in a Friday blog post. The 9th Circuit Aug. 29 dismissed an FTC lawsuit alleging that AT&T failed to adequately disclose its data throttling policy to customers with unlimited data plans (see 1608290032 and 1608300055). “While some reactions were overblown, just how far the fallout spreads is not clear,” Brake wrote. “Regardless, the case warrants attention from policymakers on Capitol Hill, at the FCC, and elsewhere.” The court said the FTC common-carrier exemption is status-based, “triggered simply by virtue of the fact that a company is a common carrier,” rather than activity-based, “triggered only when a firm is engaging in common carrier activities,” Brake said. If the 9th Circuit decision stands, it could have implications for FCC-proposed rules on ISP privacy, he said. “When it comes to privacy, the FCC could and should leave broadband privacy to the FTC, but that seems unlikely if not impossible under this case,” Brake said. “The role of the FTC could diminish if the Ninth Circuit’s thinking is followed.”

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling that the FTC had no jurisdiction over AT&T in a data throttling case “has important, if murky, implications for the future jurisdictional lines” between the FTC and FCC, said Doug Brake, telecom policy analyst at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, in a Friday blog post. The 9th Circuit Aug. 29 dismissed an FTC lawsuit alleging that AT&T failed to adequately disclose its data throttling policy to customers with unlimited data plans (see 1608290032 and 1608300055). “While some reactions were overblown, just how far the fallout spreads is not clear,” Brake wrote. “Regardless, the case warrants attention from policymakers on Capitol Hill, at the FCC, and elsewhere.” The court said the FTC common-carrier exemption is status-based, “triggered simply by virtue of the fact that a company is a common carrier,” rather than activity-based, “triggered only when a firm is engaging in common carrier activities,” Brake said. If the 9th Circuit decision stands, it could have implications for FCC-proposed rules on ISP privacy, he said. “When it comes to privacy, the FCC could and should leave broadband privacy to the FTC, but that seems unlikely if not impossible under this case,” Brake said. “The role of the FTC could diminish if the Ninth Circuit’s thinking is followed.”

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation pushed back against oft-repeated claims that anti-piracy efforts like the failed 2012 Stop Online Piracy Act would “break the internet,” saying in a report there's little evidence to substantiate such claims. ITIF said Monday its analysis of five years of data from 25 countries found there were no “dire outcomes” from those countries' efforts to block piracy websites. ITIF referenced an April Carnegie Mellon University study saying the U.K.'s blockage of 53 piracy websites in 2014 caused a 90 percent reduction in visits to piracy websites and a rise in visits to websites legally featuring content.

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation pushed back against oft-repeated claims that anti-piracy efforts like the failed 2012 Stop Online Piracy Act would “break the internet,” saying in a report there's little evidence to substantiate such claims. ITIF said Monday its analysis of five years of data from 25 countries found there were no “dire outcomes” from those countries' efforts to block piracy websites. ITIF referenced an April Carnegie Mellon University study saying the U.K.'s blockage of 53 piracy websites in 2014 caused a 90 percent reduction in visits to piracy websites and a rise in visits to websites legally featuring content.

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation pushed back against oft-repeated claims that anti-piracy efforts like the failed 2012 Stop Online Piracy Act would “break the internet,” saying in a report there's little evidence to substantiate such claims. ITIF said Monday its analysis of five years of data from 25 countries found there were no “dire outcomes” from those countries' efforts to block piracy websites. ITIF referenced an April Carnegie Mellon University study saying the U.K.'s blockage of 53 piracy websites in 2014 caused a 90 percent reduction in visits to piracy websites and a rise in visits to websites legally featuring content.

Consumer trust and privacy go hand in hand with fostering technological innovation that will continue to be a challenge faced by the next president and Congress, said some panelists during an Information Technology and Innovation Foundation-sponsored discussion at the Democratic National Convention Wednesday. FTC Commissioner Terrell McSweeny said, for instance, the impact of robotics on the labor markets may not mean people are being replaced but there's more of a collaboration between robots and workers. And that's where consumer trust matters, as well as in privacy, security and data ethics by design. She said consumers need to trust products like autonomous vehicles, drones and wearables to spur their adoption.

Consumer trust and privacy go hand in hand with fostering technological innovation that will continue to be a challenge faced by the next president and Congress, said some panelists during an Information Technology and Innovation Foundation-sponsored discussion at the Democratic National Convention Wednesday. FTC Commissioner Terrell McSweeny said, for instance, the impact of robotics on the labor markets may not mean people are being replaced but there's more of a collaboration between robots and workers. And that's where consumer trust matters, as well as in privacy, security and data ethics by design. She said consumers need to trust products like autonomous vehicles, drones and wearables to spur their adoption.

Consumer trust and privacy go hand in hand with fostering technological innovation that will continue to be a challenge faced by the next president and Congress, said some panelists during an Information Technology and Innovation Foundation-sponsored discussion at the Democratic National Convention Wednesday. FTC Commissioner Terrell McSweeny said, for instance, the impact of robotics on the labor markets may not mean people are being replaced but there's more of a collaboration between robots and workers. And that's where consumer trust matters, as well as in privacy, security and data ethics by design. She said consumers need to trust products like autonomous vehicles, drones and wearables to spur their adoption.

The FCC under Chairman Tom Wheeler has been remarkably quick and responsive on making spectrum available for 5G, a differentiator that will make the U.S. the global leader in deployment, 5G advocates said Thursday during Information Technology and Innovation Foundation panel. "The U.S. is going to lead because of the FCC," said Peter Pitsch, Intel executive director-communications policy. He said South Korea, Japan and China are considering 5G trials because they and other nations are "looking at the fact the commission is moving so quickly on allocation and assignment." Qualcomm Senior Vice President-Government Affairs Dean Brenner, pointing to recent speeches by Wheeler (see 1606200044) and Commissioner Mike O'Rielly (see 1606270082), said the agency's consensus on 5G is notable "in an era when everything is partisan."