Momentum Growing for Federal Investment in Digital Learning

Efforts to expand use of technology in education received several boosts this month, including when President Obama announced the ConnectED initiative. With this initiative, the President called on the FCC to modernize and leverage the existing E-Rate program to connect 99 percent of America’s students through next-generation broadband within the next five years, and add high-speed wireless within, their schools and libraries. The President’s proposal recognizes the need to build on private sector innovation to allow teachers and students to take full advantage of feature-rich educational devices, and high-quality educational software (including applications). Support is also growing in Congress, where Rep. George Miller, Ranking Democrat on the House Education & the Workforce Committee, introduced legislation to support school technology readiness and teacher professional development to ensure all students can access and benefit from technology. And Senate H.E.L.P. Committee Chairman Tom Harkin includes a number of related programs and provisions in his recently marked up legislation to reauthorize the No Child Left Behind Act. SIIA has long championed such federal investments and calls on the FCC and Congress to advance these and related initiatives needed to ensure all students and educators can realize the educational benefits made possible by technology. Read more on SIIA’s Digital Discourse Blog.

House passes Federal IT Reform

On Friday, the US House of Representatives passed an amendment to the FY 2014 Defense Authorization bill, adding Rep. Issa’s (R-CA) federal IT reform legislation to the bill. The revised version of the bill increases the authority of agency CIOs, promotes increased training of the IT acquisition workforce and expands efforts to optimize the data center infrastructure. The bill now moves to the Senate, where the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) has jurisdiction over federal IT but the issue will have to be addressed jointly by HSGAC and the Senate Armed Services Committee since the language is now part of the must-pass Defense bill. Read more on SIIA’s Digital Discourse Blog.

Rep. Goodlatte, Sen. Leahy Staff Discuss Growing Need for Patent Troll Legislation

In case you missed it, on June 4 SIIA hosted House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) for an important and timely discussion about the growing need for legislative action to curtail abusive patent litigation. The Capitol Hill event was the first in SIIA’s new Tech Policy Speaker Series, and it provided Chairman Goodlatte the opportunity to publicly announce his new discussion draft patent reform legislation to reshape the current environment surrounding patent troll-type behavior and abusive patent litigation, along with his perspective on the problem of patent trolls and their impact on the U.S. economy. The event also included a panel discussion with Aaron Cooper, the chief intellectual property counsel for Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and other experts. Read more on SIIA’s Digital Discourse Blog.

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 @SIIAPubPolicy.

SIIA Hosts Patent Troll Discussion w/ Chairman Goodlatte

Today at noon, SIIA will host House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) for the first event in its new Tech Policy Speaker Series in Washington, DC. The timely discussion will focus on the growing need for legislative action that addresses abusive patent litigation. Chairman Goodlatte will discuss his new discussion draft patent reform legislation (publicly released on May 23) along with his perspective on the problem of patent trolls and their impact on the U.S. economy. The event will also feature a panel discussion with Aaron Cooper, Senator Leahy’s Senior Counsel for Intellectual Property and Antitrust on the Senate Judiciary Committee, along with experts from SAS, Oracle, the National Retail Federation and Public Knowledge.

It is estimated that abusive patent litigation has cost the U.S. economy $500 billion over the last 20 years, and the annual costs of these patent assertions has increased 500 percent since 2005 to more than $29 billion each year. So it’s no surprise that the momentum for action on patent reform is growing stronger by the day. To that end, the White House today announced a comprehensive plan to address patent litigation abuse. With strong support from industry and government, including Republicans and Democrats, and key leadership in both the House and Senate, and now from the White, SIIA believes the progress towards an effective solution can come quickly.

SIIA to FTC: Internet of Things Requires Technology Neutral Policies and Flexible Privacy Framework

SIIA on Friday encouraged the FTC to be careful in its analysis of the “Internet of Things”–the growing supply of data inputs, sensors and interfaces that are embedded in our vehicles, household appliances, and beyond. SIIA agrees with the FTC that privacy and security are critical to unleashing the full potential of the growing supply of data inputs from the new sensors and interfaces that are becoming part of our everyday lives. However, in our comments, we urged the FTC to proceed cautiously if formulating any new policies, as these are likely to steer the future of data-driven innovation and the scope of American innovation for decades to come.

Software and apps are now rapidly evolving as new services are offered seamlessly across our devices and appliances. As we recently identified in our white paper on “Data Driven Innovation,” the new Internet-enabled IT ecosystem has unleashed tremendous opportunities for economic growth and social innovation. In order to maximize innovation and economic growth, SIIA advised the FTC to to promote technology neutral policies, to support a policy framework that provides for an evolving view of privacy rights based on risk and societal benefits, re-assess long standing principles such as data minimization and encourage de-identification without creating broad mandates to that end. Read more on SIIA’s Digital Discourse Blog or the full comments.

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 @SIIAPubPolicy.

SIIA Releases White Paper, Policy Guide for Data-Driven Innovation

On Monday, SIIA released a white paper that provides an in-depth look at the benefits of Data-driven Innovation, along with a detailed public policy roadmap. SIIA crafted the white paper to provide guidance to help policymakers understand and enable the economic and social value of data-driven innovation, urging them to proceed cautiously and avoid policies that seek to curb the use of data, as they could stifle this nascent technological and economic revolution before it can truly take hold.

Data collection and use is at crossroads, and decisions by policymakers could have an enormous impact on American innovation, jobs and economic growth. It is essential for policymakers to recognize that data-driven innovation presents an economic growth engine that is revolutionizing our lives and will create 1.9 million U.S. jobs by 2015. With this paper, we’ve taken a comprehensive look at the issue — providing significant analysis of where the opportunities lie with data and what needs to be done to unlock its full potential. Our goal is help government and industry work together to enable the transformative power of data-driven innovation, and to avoid strict regulations that will stifle innovation and economic opportunity.

The full white paper is available here. Read more on SIIA’s Digital Discourse Blog or recent coverage by the Washington Post.

SIIA Responds to RFI on Acquisition Provisions in Cybersecurity Executive Order

Earlier this week, SIIA submitted comments in response to the GSA and DOD solicitation for input on Improving Critical Infrastructure Protection. In our comments, SIIA expresses support for the overall goals of the Administration in developing a cybersecurity framework that improves our ability to protect government information and critical infrastructure from cyber-attacks, but raises significant concerns regarding the potential effects of its implementation as proposed. Specifically, SIIA highlighted questions and concerns about the broad scope of the proposal, that it may conflict with sector-specific guidance and urges the Administration to avoid establishing a new, overly prescriptive supply chain or software assurance scheme that would establish the Government as a leader in the process of developing technology or that would create a U.S.-centric standard. Read more on SIIA’s Digital Discourse Blog.

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 @SIIAPubPolicy.

Patent Reform Legislation Continues to Percolate

The patent troll issue continues to be a problem for software and technology companies. This has not gone unnoticed by Congress, as key leaders in the House and Senate continue to push forward on legislation aimed at addressing this significant problem.  Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) reaffirmed his support to champion bipartisan legislation in late April. And last week Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) introduced S. 866, a bill to expand the ability of businesses to initiate USPTO post-grant review  of a patent in question when they are sued for infringement or charged with infringement of certain business method patents.  This is the second major Senate proposal aimed at curtailing activities of patent trolls, as H.R. 845 (the “Shield Act”) was introduced by Sen. Peter Dafazio (D-OR) earlier in the year.  It is expected that leadership in both House and Senate Judiciary Committees will release patent reform discussion draft legislation in the near future, perhaps as soon as Memorial Day.  SIIA will continue to work closely with the respective committees throughout this process.

Comprehensive IP Reform Gets its Day in the Sun

As we reported in late March, U.S. Copyright head Maria Pallente sent shockwaves through the copyright world by suggesting that the Congress should embark upon comprehensive copyright reform.  House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) endorsed the concept in a statement released in late April announcing a series of comprehensive hearings on the topic of copyright reform.  The first of these hearings will take place this Thursday.  Of course, we all know the word “comprehensive” doesn’t usually translate into “fast-moving” in Congress, and copyright policy has not been without significant controversy in the past year. So, suffice it to say, Thursday’s hearing should be viewed as the beginning of a long process that may or may not yield “comprehensive” reform any time this Congress, or the next one for that matter. 

White House Promotes Open Data and Interoperability

The U.S. Federal Government, state and local governments, and governments around the world possess treasure troves of valuable data that have gone largely untapped for many years.  More than ever before, citizens want access to government data, and they want it applied in innovative ways to which they are increasingly becoming accustomed. Last week, President Obama issued an Executive Order “Making Open and Machine Readable the New Default for Government Information” and an OMB Memorandum (M-13-13) updating the Digital Government Strategy.  The updated policy seeks to further enhance the government’s open data initiative, making machine readable data the default for government data, while helping to establish a framework for effective information management at each stage of the information’s lifecycle to promote openness and interoperability. SIIA applauded the President for continuing to embrace open data policies, while also embracing policies that increase the use of data analytics to make strategic decisions. Read more on SIIA’s Digital Discourse Blog.

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 @SIIAPubPolicy.

Supreme Court Supports State’s Right to Restrict Access to Data

On April 29, in what was a very disappointing ruling for the information industry, open government advocates and proponents of data-driven innovation, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously upheld Virginia’s citizens-only restriction on public records access. In the case, McBurney v. Young, the Court found that the effect of the “citizen restriction” on commerce was merely “incidental” since the state created the market for the information through a monopoly, it could discriminate against noncitizens who access that information. As disappointing and surprising as the Court’s ruling is, the notion that a state would fail to recognize the benefits of maximizing the availability of data is perhaps even more troubling. Read more on SIIA’s Digital Discourse blog.

Conclusion Could Be Near for Mobile Privacy Code of Conduct

The Department of Commerce (DOC)-led multistakeholder initiative to develop a voluntary code of conduct for mobile transparency could be drawing to a conclusion in the next month or so. In the face of participant fatigue and increased political pressure to finalize an outcome, significant progress has been made on a draft Code that would provide guidance for so-called “short form” notices for mobile apps. Of course, as is the nature of these processes, there are still significant outstanding items where agreement needs to be reached. Most significantly, the code needs to strike the right balance of flexibility to maximize the effectiveness of disclosure across a very broad mobile app environment. SIIA has been a leading participant in the discussions since the initiative was launched in mid-2012, seeking to establish an effective voluntary privacy framework that would obviate the need for cumbersome legislation or regulations. Stay tuned for further updates in the weeks ahead.

FTC Releases COPPA Guidance, SIIA Analysis for Ed-tech Providers

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) yesterday reaffirmed that July 1st is the effective date for companies to comply with revised regulations for the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). This decision came despite the urging of SIIA and a broad swath of industry to provide more time for companies to implement. After all, it was not even two weeks ago that the FTC released its updated FAQ guidance to clarify the December 2012 changes to COPPA.

In response to the revised guidance and in anticipation of the Rule’s implementation, SIIA created a summary and analysis of key COPPA provisions most relevant to SIIA members, particularly those serving students and schools through educational products and services. The FTC has also produced a compliance guide and other resources. SIIA has provided a summary of the rule and an analysis of the new guidance for School/Education Providers. Read more.

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 @SIIAPubPolicy.

Immigration Reform Debate Begins, Provides Opportunities for High-tech

The bipartisan group of Senators working to craft comprehensive immigration reform unveiled their proposal today, officially kicking-off the immigration reform debate for this Congress. While details are still just becoming available, there are several key provisions to increase the supply of highly-educated and highly-skilled workers in high demand in the high-tech sector. Among the key issues are increases in access to foreign-born graduates of U.S. universities, an increase in the number of employment-based green cards and temporary H1-B workers. Stay tuned for more on the benefits for high-skilled immigration.

House Kicks-off “Cyber Week” by passing three Measures

Today, the U.S. House passed by a strong bipartisan majority three cybersecurity proposals. One of the measures to update the U.S. Government security standards (FISMA), and two bills to increase cybersecurity R&D funding—specifically, the bills were H.R. 1163, H.R. 756 and H.R. 967. These votes set the stage for tomorrow’s House consideration of the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA, H.R. 624), legislation to provide an effective framework to enable sharing of cyber threat information between the public and private sectors. SIIA strongly supports CISPA, as the most critical component of preventing and mitigating attacks.

Momentum Continues with ECPA, “Cloud” Privacy Legislation

Both the House and Senate Judiciary Committees are expected to take up the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) next week. On Thursday, the Senate Committee is scheduled to consider Chairman Leahy’s (D-VT) proposal to reform the statue to protect digital content with rules comparable to their more traditional counterparts. Meanwhile the House Judiciary Committee is expected to have another hearing on the issue on Wednesday. Given that the Senate Judiciary Committee already passed similar legislation last year, the outlook is very good that the legislation could be cleared again and sent to the full Senate later this year.

FTC Highlights Accomplishments, Identifies Priorities

Last Friday, new FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez released the agency’s 2013 Annual Highlights, highlighting recent accomplishments and specific initiatives launched in the past year, and reiterating the Commission’s goal to maintain priorities on protecting consumer privacy, fostering competition in the high-tech industries, challenging deceptive advertising and safeguarding children online.

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 @SIIAPubPolicy.

SIIA Hosts Education Technology Policy Forum This Week

We are excited to be kicking off our one-of-a-kind annual conference on education technology policy this week. Strong public policy support for the shift from print-to-digital and myriad state initiatives are combining to fundamentally reshape education. SIIA’s forum will bring together education publishers and technology providers to discuss these policies affecting the rapid change in the teaching and learning experience, and what it means for companies in this space. It’s not too late to register!

Lots of IP Policy Buzz in DC, Ranging from Targeted to Broad Reform

Leading up to the spring recess in DC, there was another flurry of intellectual property policy activity in Washington last month. Ranging from the call for broad copyright reform offered by U.S. Register of Copyrights Maria Pallante, to a range of IP legislation from patents, to trade and counterfeited goods. In general, patent reform and targeted measures are likely to receive a lot of attention in the weeks and months ahead, while the themes of broad copyright reform continue to be pondered, both politically and practically. For more information on the recent developments, check out SIIA’s latest IP Policy Update.

House Intel Committee to Consider CISPA This Week

With the upcoming Intelligence Committee markup of CISPA this week, the House is looking to take another step closer to “cyber week,” on the floor later this month. In advance of the hearing, SIIA sent a letter in support of the bipartisan information sharing measure. If there is one thing that Congress can and should do in the near term, it’s enact legislation that creates a legal framework to enable enhanced cyber threat information sharing. Read more on SIIA’s Digital Discourse Blog.

SIIA Urges Members to Register with ICANN Trademark Clearinghouse

SIIA is still reaching out to urge all members to register with the ICANN Trademark Clearinghouse that is about to open as part of the process of expanding the number of top-level Internet domains (TLDs). The Clearinghouse, which recently launced, offers all trademark owners the opportunity to register their brand names in order to protect them from being claimed by others as domain names. The good news is that is that the process of registering is easy, and once done, offers significant protection for the trademark owner. We recommend that, once the Clearinghouse opens, companies move quickly to register their marks. For more information, check out SIIA’s Digital Discourse Blog.

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 @SIIAPubPolicy.