Digital Discourse / Archives for Ken Wasch

ABM Approves Plan to Merge With SIIA

April 30, 2013 By

ABM, the association of business information and media companies today announced that its membership has approved a plan to merge with SIIA. By joining forces, we will create an even more comprehensive, global business information and media industry association.

The plan was overwhelmingly passed by ABM’s membership at the group’s annual conference on April 29, after having been approved by both the SIIA and ABM board of directors earlier this month.

This is an important part of our effort to bring together the entire B2B media and information industry. For the first time, B2B media, paid content and technology companies in the advertising personalization, and subscription management segments will all be participants in our larger, more robust organization.

ABM will continue to offer its member services, including signature ABM events, awards programs and Committees & Councils, while finding ways to cross-pollinate membership and share resources. Importantly, the two organizations will also join forces in government affairs, creating a powerful global force in important legal and public policy debates across a wide range of issues impacting members’ business practices and revenues.

For more information, visit a microsite dedicated to the merger at www.thenewABM.com.

Ken WaschKen Wasch is President of SIIA. Follow the SIIA Software team on twitter at @SIIASoftware.

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Filed Under: Content, Education, PSIG, Software

SIIA Applauds Senate for Moving ECPA Forward; Calls for Action to Keep Bill Moving Forward

April 25, 2013 By

Following the Senate Judiciary Committee passage of S. 607, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) Amendments of 2013, SIIA urged members of Congress to move swiftly to approve the important legislation.  I issued the following statement:

ECPA is outdated and badly in need of reform, and today’s action gets us one important step closer to that goal. The technological advances in communications and computing since the bill’s original passage in 1986 have been nothing short of revolutionary.  As such, the legal framework provided by this statue leaves both providers and users of remote computing with a complex, baffling, and outdated set of rules.

The reforms approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee will end the current law’s double-standard that provides for a lower level of privacy for communications stored remotely, or ‘in the cloud.’  The legislation will even the playing field for law enforcement access to electronic content, setting a warrant as the consistent standard, regardless of how or where the content is stored.  We urge the full Senate to now move this bill forward, so that Americans can be assured that information stored in the cloud gets the same protection as the information stored in their homes.

Ken WaschKen Wasch is President of SIIA. Follow the SIIA Software team on twitter at @SIIASoftware.

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Filed Under: Policy, Policy - Intellectual Property, Policy - Privacy

SIIA Hails House Passage of Cybersecurity Legislation, Urges Senate to Act

April 18, 2013 By

SIIA commends today’s House passage of the Cybersecurity Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA, H.R. 624) and three other critical cybersecurity bills passed earlier in the week. Following the House passage of this legislation, I issued the following statement:

Early detection and notification of cybersecurity threats is the most critical component of preventing and mitigating attacks as well as increasing security across the board. SIIA supports CISPA because it would provide the critical necessary framework for early detection and notification of cybersecurity threats.  Today, the House clearly recognized this vital need, and as cybersecurity threats and damage continue to grow, it is essential that the Senate move quickly to approve these bills.

CISPA creates the necessary flexibility for businesses to share security information without fear of legal or regulatory liability. Specifically, CISPA would protect companies and organizations that share threat and vulnerability information with the government from legal liability and the risk of lawsuits, while also providing a critical exemption from antitrust laws that currently discourage information exchanges between private companies.

Additionally, SIIA applauds House passage of three other key cybersecurity measures to reform federal information security management and enhance cybersecurity R&D. These measures include:

  • Federal Information Security Amendments Act (H.R. 1163)
  • Cybersecurity Enhancement Act (H.R. 756)
  • Advancing America’s Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Act (H.R. 967)

With cyber threats more sophisticated and targeted than ever, now is the time to act on critical cybersecurity legislative priorities. We urge the Senate to move with all deliberate speed to consider these key measures and advance the Nation’s cybersecurity readiness.

Ken WaschKen Wasch is President of SIIA. Follow the SIIA Software team on twitter at @SIIASoftware.

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Filed Under: Anti-Piracy, Policy, Policy - Cybersecurity

SIIA Applauds Judiciary Committee Focus on Patent Trolls at the ITC, Calls for Action to End Abuse

April 16, 2013 By

SIIA today applauded the House Judiciary Committee today’s hearing focused on the impact of Patent Assertion Entities (PAEs) on U.S. competitiveness and job creation. PAEs, defined by the Federal Trade Commission as firms that rely on patents they purchase and assert after a product is already in production, are increasingly bringing cases before the International Trade Commission.

I issued the following statement on the hearing being held today by the House Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property.

It has become increasingly clear that strong action is needed to address the growing problem of ITC abuse by patent trolls. With the Judiciary hearing today, and others that have come before it, Congress is moving in the right direction. As the focus of today’s hearing makes clear, PAEs are having a very real and significant impact on American innovation and jobs.

The rise in PAE patent cases is undermining the core purpose of the ITC – to protect domestic industry from abusive trade action. PAEs, which produce nothing and are sometimes foreign-based, use the ITC simply to gain leverage and demand outrageous licensing fees from legitimate domestic industries. This abuse costs jobs, hurts our economy and threatens innovation.

Ken WaschKen Wasch is President of SIIA. Follow the SIIA Software team on twitter at @SIIASoftware.

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Filed Under: Policy, Policy - Intellectual Property

SIIA Calls for Support for Cybersecurity Legislation

April 8, 2013 By

SIIA called on congressional leaders today to enact legislation that would help the government detect cybersecurity threats.  In a letter sent today, SIIA thanked Reps. Mike Rogers (R-MI) and Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD) for their bipartisan leadership with regard to the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), and urged members of the House Select Intelligence Committee to support this legislation.  In the letter, I commented:

Early detection and notification of cybersecurity threats is the most critical component of preventing and mitigating attacks – increasing security across the board. SIIA supports CISPA because it would provide the critical necessary framework for early detection and notification of cybersecurity threats.  Specifically, CISPA would provide needed legal certainty that threat and vulnerability information voluntarily shared with the government would be provided safe harbor against the risk of lawsuits, and it would also provide a critical exemption from antitrust laws that currently discourage information exchanges between private companies.

 

Ken WaschKen Wasch is President of SIIA. Follow the SIIA Software team on twitter at @SIIASoftware.

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Filed Under: Anti-Piracy, Policy, Policy - Cybersecurity, Policy - Intellectual Property

SIIA Urges Support for Legislation to Reform ECPA as House Subcommittee Examines Cloud Privacy

March 18, 2013 By

SIIA called for a level playing field for cloud computing as the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations prepares for a hearing tomorrow regarding reform of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA).

We have seen tremendous technological advances in communications and computing technology since 1986, when ECPA was enacted. The legal framework provided by this outdated statue leaves both providers and users of remote computing with a complex and baffling set of rules. These rules are both difficult to explain and to apply in this age of networked and cloud computing.

SIIA urges members of the Judiciary Committee to work with all deliberate speed to enact legislation creating a warrant requirement for law enforcement access to remotely stored electronic content.  It is critical to level the playing field for information Americans store in the cloud, ensuring that it receives the same protection as the information they store in their homes.

Ken WaschKen Wasch is President of SIIA. Follow the SIIA Software team on twitter at @SIIASoftware.

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Filed Under: Cloud Computing, Government, Policy, Policy - Cloud Computing, Software Tagged With: , ,

SIIA Applauds Congressional Commitment to Fight Patent Trolls; Calls for Congressional Action to End Abusive Litigation

March 14, 2013 By

SIIA today applauded the House Judiciary Committee for addressing the pressing problem of abusive patent litigation. SIIA member companies Adobe Systems, Inc. and SAS Institute Inc. will testify at today’s hearing, held by the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet.

Without federal action, patent trolls will continue to damage the economy, hurt America’s tech industry and threaten innovation. Today’s hearing is important for drawing attention to the harmful effects of patent trolls.  We are hopeful that policymakers will work together to enact sensible changes – such as the SHIELD Act – that will help curb to abusive patent troll litigation.  Through this and other proposals, such as efforts to shift the burden of costs when one party is seeking discovery that goes well beyond what is necessary, SIIA is committed to working with Congress and the Administration to find effective solutions to the problem.

The one thing that is clear is that patent trolls are doing real and significant damage to American businesses.   Abusive lawsuits brought by patent trolls have cost the U.S. economy $500 billion over the last 20 years, and the annual costs of these patent assertions have increased 500 percent since 2005 to more than $29 billion each year.  That’s money that would be far better spent on efforts to hire more tech workers, advance American research and development efforts or invest in new technologies.

View Adobe and SAS’s testimony.

Ken WaschKen Wasch is President of SIIA. Follow the SIIA Policy team on Twitter at @SIIAPolicy.

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Filed Under: Policy, Policy - Intellectual Property Tagged With: ,
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