The DPR has been on a hiatus the last couple weeks for August vacation. Despite summer vacations, congressional recess and now the Republican Convention, much work continues on IP and Privacy fronts:
FTC Extends COPPA Comment Deadline Two Weeks
The FTC announced yesterday that it will extend the comment deadline on proposed changes to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) rule from Sept. 10th to Sept. 24th. As we reported at the beginning of the month, the FTC released a Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on August 1st, highlighting additional changes from the NPRM released in 2011. SIIA commented on the initial rulemaking and we are reviewing and seeking member input for our comments on this recent NPRM.
Senate Still Working on Cyber Compromise, While Obama Administration Considers Administrative Action
The collapse of the cybersecurity legislative process at the beginning of August has left the hopes of cybersecurity legislation dim for 2012. However, discussions have continued throughout the month between Senators and key congressional staff. With only a handful of legislative days left in the 112th Congress next month, followed most certainly by a yet to be determined “lame-duck” session in December, time is of the essence. So while cybersecurity legislation is not to be completely ruled out, there are still many unresolved issues that need to be addressed in a short amount of time.
Meanwhile, the Obama administration is reportedly mulling the option of pursuing the issue via executive orders to advance priority items such as voluntary critical infrastructure protection, reforms to FISMA, implementation of cyber R&D programs, and to provide incentives for enhanced public private information sharing. However, there remain significant hurdles and a lack of authority in many key areas that continue to make cyber a longshot.
Two Main Goals Announced for NTIA Privacy Meeting Tomorrow
On Tuesday the NTIA is proceeding with the third meeting in its multistakeholder process to develop a voluntary code of conduct for mobile app transparency will have its third meeting. In advance of the meeting, NTIA Privacy Initiatives Director John Verdi blogged today about the two main goals of the meeting that cover both process and substance: (1) stakeholders will develop an initial priority list for substantive elements that might be included in a code of conduct for mobile application transparency, and (2) stakeholders will propose concrete procedural steps that the group can take to implement the top priority substantive elements.
PTO Publishes Final Patent Reform Rules
Earlier this month the PTO published final rules to implement various provisions of the America Invents Act (AIA), which will become effective on September 16, 2012. The rules address numerous topics, including: (1) inter partes review proceedings and post-grant review proceedings; (2) inventor’s oath or declaration provisions; (3) supplemental examination provisions of the AIA and reexamination fees; (4) PTO patent trial practice guide; (5) rules of practice for trials before patent trial and appeal board and judicial review of decisions, and (6) transitional program for covered business method patents and definitions of covered business method patent and technological invention. These follow other previously published final rules implementing other AIA provisions.
USTR Seeks Comments on “Notorious Markets” for Pirated and Counterfeits Goods
On August 14th, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) issued a notice seeking public comment for its review of “notorious markets” that violate U.S. intellectual property rights. The notorious markets review lists examples of Internet and physical markets that have been the subject of enforcement action or that may merit further investigation for possible intellectual property infringements. The deadline for submitting written comments is September 14th. Last December USTR identified 34 markets as prominent examples of sites in which pirated or counterfeited goods were available. This is the third straight year that USTR is conducting the notorious markets review as an “Out of Cycle Review” separate from its annual Special 301 report (the list had previously been part of the annual Special 301 report).
SIIA Submits Comments to IPEC on Joint Strategic Plan
Earlier this month, SIIA submitted comments to the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC), in response to a request for input on the new Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement. SIIA’s comments include an analysis of the threat posed by IP violations on the U.S. economy and recommendations for improving the U.S.Gov. IP enforcement efforts.
For SIIA policy updates including upcoming events, news and analysis, subscribe to SIIA’s weekly policy email newsletter, Digital Policy Roundup.
David LeDuc is Senior Director, Public Policy at SIIA. He focuses on e-commerce, privacy, cyber security, cloud computing, open standards, e-government and information policy. Follow the SIIA Public Policy team on Twitter at @SIIAPolicy