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.
The Communication Workers of America plans to testify against Altice's buying Cablevision at a series of New York State Public Service Commission hearings in the New York City area in coming days, the CWA said in a news release Monday. The hearings are to be Tuesday in the Hudson Valley community of Peekskill, Wednesday in the Bronx, and a pair of hearings Feb. 2 on Long Island. "Given its track record in other business dealings in France and Portugal, the future of Cablevision under Altice's proposed deal would mean customers will get worse service and employees will lose their jobs," said CWA District 1 Vice President Dennis Trainor in a statement. "The PSC should reject the deal as currently proposed to protect customer service and jobs." In a statement, Altice said it "look[s] forward to a fair and open regulatory process with the relevant authorities in connection with our proposed Cablevision transaction, and as in all of our other territories we expect to deliver significant benefits to consumers and their communities." CWA raised similar concerns as it lobbied the FCC for conditions on the proposed transaction (see 1601220015). In a note to investors Monday, Macquarie Capital analyst Amy Yong said Altice and Charter Communications were having different degrees of success in locking down the financing for pending acquisitions as they face different hurdles. The FCC's 180-day Charter shot clock was paused earlier this month to deal with "hot topics including interconnection, Regional Sports Networks, and of course broadband competition [though] concerns around broadband share from the Comcast-Time Warner deal don't seem to apply to Charter," Yong said. New York state regulators earlier this month signed off on Charter buying Bright House Networks and Time Warner Cable (see 1601080048) and the California Public Utilities Commission plan a public hearing Tuesday (see 1601200060), but Altice is facing more pushback from New York City on its proposed Cablevision takeover because of how the $900 million in synergies Altice has cited could affect its 14,000 employees there and 3.1 million customers in the metropolitan region, Yong said.
The Communication Workers of America plans to testify against Altice's buying Cablevision at a series of New York State Public Service Commission hearings in the New York City area in coming days, the CWA said in a news release Monday. The hearings are to be Tuesday in the Hudson Valley community of Peekskill, Wednesday in the Bronx, and a pair of hearings Feb. 2 on Long Island. "Given its track record in other business dealings in France and Portugal, the future of Cablevision under Altice's proposed deal would mean customers will get worse service and employees will lose their jobs," said CWA District 1 Vice President Dennis Trainor in a statement. "The PSC should reject the deal as currently proposed to protect customer service and jobs." In a statement, Altice said it "look[s] forward to a fair and open regulatory process with the relevant authorities in connection with our proposed Cablevision transaction, and as in all of our other territories we expect to deliver significant benefits to consumers and their communities." CWA raised similar concerns as it lobbied the FCC for conditions on the proposed transaction (see 1601220015). In a note to investors Monday, Macquarie Capital analyst Amy Yong said Altice and Charter Communications were having different degrees of success in locking down the financing for pending acquisitions as they face different hurdles. The FCC's 180-day Charter shot clock was paused earlier this month to deal with "hot topics including interconnection, Regional Sports Networks, and of course broadband competition [though] concerns around broadband share from the Comcast-Time Warner deal don't seem to apply to Charter," Yong said. New York state regulators earlier this month signed off on Charter buying Bright House Networks and Time Warner Cable (see 1601080048) and the California Public Utilities Commission plan a public hearing Tuesday (see 1601200060), but Altice is facing more pushback from New York City on its proposed Cablevision takeover because of how the $900 million in synergies Altice has cited could affect its 14,000 employees there and 3.1 million customers in the metropolitan region, Yong said.
Critics of Charter Communications buying Bright House Networks and Time Warner Cable are continuing to lobby the FCC, seeking conditions or full blockage. The docket had been relatively quiet until the FCC paused the 180-day shot clock earlier this month, one cable industry lawyer told us. The shot clock resumed Wednesday and stood at 118 days Friday.