1. Monthly archive
  2. September 2013

September 2013

Reps Ruppersberger, Rogers blast media on NSA

Reps. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD) and Mike Rogers (R-MI) accused the media of having severely damaged the country's national security by publishing National Security leaks.

At the Intelligence and National Security Alliance's annual summit, Rep Rogers even said that part of the reason Vladimir Putin decided to run an Op-Ed in the New York Times was because the media was working against the country's interests by publishing the leaks. "There’s a reason Putin decided to put an Op-Ed in the New York Times. He knows America is on a feeding frenzy on itself and he would love to join in on the game," Rep Rogers said. “This has been the most frustrating series of weeks and candidly, the damage is growing by the day. There are certain things the newspapers are publishing that have nothing to do with privacy issues – nothing. They’re providing our adversaries valuable, valuable information."

The Law that Gave Us the Modern Internet, and the Campaign to Kill It

[Commentary] In 1996, Congress cleared the way for the modern Internet with a single short statute. Technically, it was known as Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. But you can think of it as the law that gave us websites like Reddit, Craigslist, Digg, and perhaps all of social media.

Section 230 states, essentially, that websites cannot be sued or prosecuted for content posted by their visitors. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has called Section 230 “the most important law protecting Internet speech.” But section 230 has also been economically powerful, perhaps in ways Congress couldn’t have foreseen. It was simple and intuitive to understand for entrepreneurs and didn’t require a lawyer to implement. As a result, it has functioned as a permission slip for the whole Internet that says: “Go innovate.” Entrepreneurs have responded by founding the user-generated content sites we know and love today.

If Capitol Hill is interested in supporting the next great generation of entrepreneurs, it would be wise to look at laws like section 230 as a model for the future. We need more permission slips for innovators, and fewer vague and legally treacherous regulations that stop them in their tracks.

Internet tax ban introduced in House

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers introduced legislation to permanently ban state and local taxes on Internet service. Their bill, the Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Forever Act, would also ban multiple and discriminatory taxes on digital items such as e-mails. It would not ban taxes on online sales.

The bill was introduced by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), along with Reps Spencer Bachus (R-AL), Steve Cohen (D-TN) and Steve Chabot (R-OH).

FilmOn Loses Injunction Challenge in DC

Rosemary Collyer, United States District Judge for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, has denied FilmOn's motion to stay the court's injunction against the company's streaming of local TV stations over the Web as part of its FilmOn X online programming service.

The injunction is effective in DC and was applied to other markets nationwide, though not in markets in the Second Circuit, which declined to enjoin a similar service, Aereo. FilmOn Founder Alki David says he will comply, but that he has plenty of other channels to deliver. FilmOn was under a Sept 9 deadline for taking down local signals of the Big Four affiliates in all.

Federal Communications Commission
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
9:00 am – 4:00 pm (EST)
http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2013/db0912/DA-1...

This workshop will focus on the consumer and competitive impacts of two key technology transitions: (1) the replacement of copper networks with fiber; and (2) the shift from wireline services toward greater use of wireless services.

Specifically, the workshop will solicit data and analysis on the potential effects on residential and business consumers as well as the competitive marketplace when providers retire or discontinue copper-based services and replace them with IP-based fiber and/or wireless service. Panelists will include a broad array of stakeholders and observers to discuss how these technological changes could potentially affect consumers and competition.

Additional details concerning the workshop agenda and panelists will be forthcoming.


This event has been postponed

Cybersecurity Technology Forum

Federal Communications Commission
October 1, 2013
10am - 3pm
http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2013/db0912/DOC-...

Agenda

10:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.: Welcome Remarks

  • Kris Monteith, Acting Bureau Chief,
  • Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, FCC
  • Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn, FCC

10:15 a.m. - 11:10 a.m.: Panel 1 - Stop. Think. Connect.

Moderator:
Stacey Kopnitsky, Assistant Principal, North Bethesda Middle School

Panelists:

  • Jennifer Hanley, Director of Legal and Policy, Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI)
  • Christian Garcia, Executive Director, Toppel Career Center, University of Miami
  • Aditi Jhaveri, Consumer Education Specialist, Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
  • Joni Lupovitz, Vice President of Policy, Common Sense Media
  • Mary Madden, Senior Researcher, Internet and American Life Project, Pew Research Center
  • Jena Roscoe, First Senior Vice President, Chief of Government Affairs and Public Policy, Operation HOPE
  • Christine M. Sutton, Secondary Math Teacher, Virgil I. Grissom High School, Huntsville City Schools

11:15 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.: Panel 2 - Technologies Affecting Online Safety

Moderator:
Jeffrey Goldthorp, Associate Bureau Chief, Cybersecurity and Communications Reliability Division, Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB), FCC

Panelists:

  • Caroline Curtin, Policy Counsel, Government Affairs, Microsoft
  • Susan Gonzales, Director of Community Engagement, Facebook/Instagram
  • Jamie Hastings, Vice-President of External Affairs, CTIA - The Wireless Association
  • Sarah Holland, Senior Analyst, Public Policy & Government Relations, Google
  • Jim Janco, Director, Security and Privacy, Operational and Product Compliance, Comcast
  • Phil Mar, Chief Technology Officer, ViaSat
  • Micah Schaffer, Director of Operations, Snapchat

12:15 p.m. Closing Remarks
Susan McLean, Chief, Consumer Affairs and Outreach Division Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, FCC

12:15 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. Lunch Break for Attending Students and Panelists

The FCC's Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau will host a forum and hold technology demonstrations dedicated to cybersecurity issues
consumers face, with a particular focus on safeguarding children on the Internet.

The forum seeks to bring together teens, parents, educators and subject matter experts to discuss the issues surrounding cybersecurity (online safety) and the use of technologies that can assist in keeping children safe on the Internet. Panelists will discuss the importance of identifying and preventing risky online behaviors and will provide tips on how to protect children from these risks. The experts will also address technological advancements in cybersecurity, especially as they relate to social media, mobile security and preventing identity theft.

Following the forum, there will be technological demonstrations in the FCC’s Technology Experience Center located in the same building from 1 to 3 pm.

 Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI)
 Family Career and Community Leadership of America (FCCLA)
 Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
 Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
 NetSmartz
 National Consumers League
 Operation HOPE
 National Cyber Security Alliance
 US Department of Homeland Security
 ViaSat at the Technology Experience Center (TEC)


CloudFlare CEO: ‘Insane’ NSA gag order is costing US tech firms customers

We’ve now moved beyond mere talk about how the National Security Agency’s surveillance programs may hurt US cloud providers, says Matthew Prince, the chief executive of CloudFlare. Companies are already feeling the pain.

CloudFlare, a Web site security firm and network provider with clients that run the gamut from WikiLeaks to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, is getting 50 to 100 calls per day from customers demanding more answers about the firm’s involvement with the US National Security Agency, Prince says. But that’s information the company can’t give out, he explains, and the inability to say anything about government requests is seriously hurting his business.

FCC’s Pai: If the UN keeps trying to regulate the Web, we should consider pulling funding

The United States should consider withdrawing its funding from the International Telecommunications Union if the United Nations agency keeps trying to assert regulatory authority over the Internet, suggests Federal Communications Commission member Ajit Pai. He hinted that the intergovernmental body’s proposed rules — which critics say gives governments more power to censor the Web — may have put the group’s future in jeopardy. “If the organization decides to become an international regulatory authority for the Internet, we will have to ask ourselves whether the United States should remain one of its top two funders.”

Acting patent chief to step down

Teresa Stanek Rea, the acting director of the US Patent and Trademark Office, plans to announce that she will leave the agency, according to a person familiar with the matter. Rea had served as the Patent Office's deputy director and took over the top job when David Kappos stepped down in February. The White House has yet to name a permanent replacement to lead the Patent Office.

FEC weighs approval of bitcoin donations to political campaigns

The Federal Election Commission is weighing whether it should allow donors to contribute digital bitcoins to political campaigns.

The commission has until Oct. 28 to issue an advisory opinion on the matter after a conservative political action fund sought permission to accept and spend the virtual currency. Bitcoins exist only online but can be used to buy real-world goods and services, and are accepted by a growing number of Internet retailers. Proponents of allowing bitcoin say they expect it be in wide use during the 2014 cycle and argue political campaigns should be able to tap into the currency’s growing popularity. Approval from the FEC is no sure thing, as the currency has come under mounting scrutiny from federal regulators since its owners are anonymous, and there is no central managing authority.

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