First thing, I would like to direct you my first Lawfare piece on data brokers and national security. After the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruled unanimously against the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the primary committee of jurisdiction in the House discussed options for a statutory fix. Twitter The FTC’s ability to act … Continue reading All Eyes on FTC’s 13(b) Powers
First, subscribe to The Wavelength, my new subscription newsletter. Get all the material you have been enjoying on my blog delivered to your inbox. The Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee held its first hearing of this Congress with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). All four sitting commissioners testified and faced a range of diverse … Continue reading The FTC Faces Questions on “Big Tech,” Section 230, Antitrust, Privacy and Data Security
Other Developments In response to new vulnerabilities turned up by FireEye, the United States (U.S.) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued Emergency Directive (ED) 21-03 “requiring federal civilian departments and agencies running Pulse Connect Secure products to assess and mitigate any anomalous activity or active exploitation detected on their networks.” Media accounts describe persistent … Continue reading Other Developments, Further Reading, and Coming Events (22 April 2021)
Even though the staff memo is billed as addressing “Big Tech,” it might be better titled how to remake Section 230 Twitter House E&C Republicans signal areas of tech policy they may cooperate with Democrats on. Cocktail Party The minority on the primary committee of jurisdiction over the technology industry has decided to stake out … Continue reading Republican Staff Suggest Options On Regulating “Big Tech”
Other Developments A bipartisan group of Senators and Representatives wrote the President asking for funding to stimulate semiconductor production in the United States (U.S.) per provisions in the FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) (P.L. 116-283). In a press release issued by one of the signatories, Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), the Members stated:We write … Continue reading Other Developments, Further Reading, and Coming Events (20 April 2021)
You can receive all the content posted on my blog by subscribing to my free (for now) newsletter, the Wavelength, which covers the major events in the world of technology policy, politics, and law. I spent more than a decade working on these issues in Washington DC as both a staffer in Congress and a … Continue reading Other Developments, Further Reading, and Coming Events (15 April 2021)
Senators Schatz and Thune take a process-oriented approach to reforming Section 230 to regularize content moderation and make the process more intelligible for people to flag content and appeal moderation decisions. First the shameless pitch. You can receive all the content posted on my blog by subscribing to my free (for now) newsletter, the Wavelength, … Continue reading A Bipartisan Pair of Senators Revise Their 230 Legislation
Other Developments The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) wrote the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA or EUCS) “to provide feedback on the EUCS candidate scheme, more specifically in relation to the potential synergies between the EUCS scheme with a view to supporting Cloud Service Customers (CSC) and Cloud Service Providers (CSP) to comply with … Continue reading Other Developments, Further Reading, and Coming Events (8 April 2021)
Other Developments The United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found that Facebook’s purchase of Giphy would substantially lessen competition and is giving the companies the opportunity to respond to this finding before the CMA moves on to the next phase of its investigation. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is also looking at … Continue reading Other Developments, Further Reading, and Coming Events (7 April 2021)
Other Developments The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) reversed a decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that Facebook’s login notification text system, especially its database of phone numbers, violated a federal law barring abusive telemarketing practices. The case turned on whether Facebook’s system is an “automatic telephone … Continue reading Other Developments, Further Reading, and Coming Events (6 April 2021)
Michael Kans 