Senate Republicans revived the year-old charge the White House unduly influenced the FCC net neutrality order. They cited new documents showing the internal agency discussions in November and December 2014 and the “pause” in developing the order after President Barack Obama’s Nov. 10 message urging the FCC to develop strong net neutrality rules under Communications Act Title II. They slammed the agency for what they called violations of the Administrative Procedure Act.
House Commerce Committee lawmakers scored a bipartisan deal on the Small Business Broadband Deployment Act (HR-4596) ahead of its Thursday full committee vote, they confirmed Wednesday. The measure would codify the exemption of small businesses from the FCC net neutrality order’s enhanced transparency requirements and cleared the subcommittee earlier this month in a partisan vote, with Democrats objecting to how the original bill defined a small business (see 1602110050). Rep. Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa, and Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., had pledged to negotiate following the subcommittee markup and unveiled a revamped version this week.
House Commerce Committee lawmakers scored a bipartisan deal on the Small Business Broadband Deployment Act (HR-4596) ahead of its Thursday full committee vote, they confirmed Wednesday. The measure would codify the exemption of small businesses from the FCC net neutrality order’s enhanced transparency requirements and cleared the subcommittee earlier this month in a partisan vote, with Democrats objecting to how the original bill defined a small business (see 1602110050). Rep. Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa, and Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., had pledged to negotiate following the subcommittee markup and unveiled a revamped version this week.
CTA sides with Apple in its refusal to comply with a court order requiring the company to help the FBI unlock an iPhone 5c used by one of the attackers in the Dec. 2 terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California (see 1602170068), CTA said in a Thursday statement, making it the second major tech association to weigh in on the controversy. On Wednesday, the Information Technology Industry Council released a statement expressing "worry about the broader implications both here and abroad of requiring technology companies to cooperate with governments to disable security features, or introduce security vulnerabilities into technologies.”
CTA sides with Apple in its refusal to comply with a court order requiring the company to help the FBI unlock an iPhone 5c used by one of the attackers in the Dec. 2 terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California (see 1602170068), CTA said in a Thursday statement, making it the second major tech association to weigh in on the controversy. On Wednesday, the Information Technology Industry Council released a statement expressing "worry about the broader implications both here and abroad of requiring technology companies to cooperate with governments to disable security features, or introduce security vulnerabilities into technologies.”
CTA sides with Apple in its refusal to comply with a court order requiring the company to help the FBI unlock an iPhone 5c used by one of the attackers in the Dec. 2 terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California (see 1602170068), CTA said in a Thursday statement, making it the second major tech association to weigh in on the controversy. On Wednesday, the Information Technology Industry Council released a statement expressing "worry about the broader implications both here and abroad of requiring technology companies to cooperate with governments to disable security features, or introduce security vulnerabilities into technologies.”
Congressional scrutiny of retiring ICANN CEO Fadi Chehadé’s involvement with the controversial Chinese government-led World Internet Conference (WIC) heightens the need for ICANN to select and announce Chehadé’s successor, while the controversy's potential effect on U.S. government approval of the planned Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) transition is less clear, said ICANN stakeholders in interviews. GOP presidential contender Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and two other senators jointly sent a letter to Chehadé Thursday questioning Chehadé’s plan to become co-chairman of a high-level WIC advisory committee, and what compensation he will be receiving for that role, in a bid to determine whether his decision to take on a role at WIC while still ICANN CEO is a conflict of interest (see 1602040061).
Congressional scrutiny of retiring ICANN CEO Fadi Chehadé’s involvement with the controversial Chinese government-led World Internet Conference (WIC) heightens the need for ICANN to select and announce Chehadé’s successor, while the controversy's potential effect on U.S. government approval of the planned Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) transition is less clear, said ICANN stakeholders in interviews. GOP presidential contender Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and two other senators jointly sent a letter to Chehadé Thursday questioning Chehadé’s plan to become co-chairman of a high-level WIC advisory committee, and what compensation he will be receiving for that role, in a bid to determine whether his decision to take on a role at WIC while still ICANN CEO is a conflict of interest (see 1602040061).
The House Homeland Security Committee’s first cybersecurity priority for 2016 will be to continue examining possible legislation related to the Department of Homeland Security’s planned restructuring of its National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD), which leads much of the department’s cybersecurity work, a committee aide told us Friday. House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, alluded in a blog post last week to plans for an ambitious 2016 cybersecurity agenda beyond conducting oversight of implementation of the Cybersecurity Act as enacted in the FY 2016 omnibus spending bill (see 1601270044). House Homeland Security began looking last year at DHS' plans for reorganizing NPPD and renaming it the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection division (see 1509170038). McCaul eventually paused work on legislation to authorize the NPPD reorganization amid lawmakers’ questions about the reorganization and the increased focus on conference negotiations on information sharing legislation that resulted in the Cybersecurity Act, an industry lobbyist told us. House Homeland Security plans to meet with DHS officials in the coming weeks and anticipates filing a bill on NPPD reorganization at some point this spring, a committee aide said.
The House Homeland Security Committee’s first cybersecurity priority for 2016 will be to continue examining possible legislation related to the Department of Homeland Security’s planned restructuring of its National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD), which leads much of the department’s cybersecurity work, a committee aide told us Friday. House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, alluded in a blog post last week to plans for an ambitious 2016 cybersecurity agenda beyond conducting oversight of implementation of the Cybersecurity Act as enacted in the FY 2016 omnibus spending bill (see 1601270044). House Homeland Security began looking last year at DHS' plans for reorganizing NPPD and renaming it the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection division (see 1509170038). McCaul eventually paused work on legislation to authorize the NPPD reorganization amid lawmakers’ questions about the reorganization and the increased focus on conference negotiations on information sharing legislation that resulted in the Cybersecurity Act, an industry lobbyist told us. House Homeland Security plans to meet with DHS officials in the coming weeks and anticipates filing a bill on NPPD reorganization at some point this spring, a committee aide said.