Despite Congress recessing late last week, there’s been much activity in Washington and around the world on IP, Privacy and Trade Fronts:

NTIA Announces Next Steps in Mobile App Transparency Multistakeholder Process

On Aug. 1, NTIA announced next steps on the multistakeholder process, including an announcement of dates for the next two meetings in August (Aug. 22nd and 29th), a list of the discussion elements and vote from the last meeting and reiterated the need for industry to continue working “with like-minded colleagues or in cross-cutting groups.” In the blog entitled “a homework assignment for privacy stakeholders,” NTIA project lead John Verdi states that they “hope that all stakeholders will work together to refine the substantive elements of a potential code and to develop concrete proposals for how to structure the process.”

FTC Releases Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on COPPA, Requests Comment

Also last week, the FTC released a long-awaited update on COPPA (the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act), including a Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) and request for Comments by Sept. 10th. At issue in this NPRM are key issues that SIIA commented on in Dec. 2011, including a suggested change to the definition of “personal information” to include persistent identifiers.

State Dep’t. Submits Internet Governance Proposals, House Echoes Concerns

Last week, the U.S. State Department submitted its first group of proposals to the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT), which will be held in Dubai in December. Convened by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the UN expert agency for telecommunications, the WCIT will review and potentially revise the treaty-level International Telecommunications Regulations (ITRs), including those that govern the arrangements for exchanging international telecommunications traffic among countries.

With concerns growing about proposals by other governments that could lead to greater regulatory burdens being placed on the international telecom sector or extended to the Internet, the initial U.S. proposals reflect the belief that the ITRs should remain a high-level treaty that establishes an international framework for market-driven development of telecommunications networks and services, and preserving the current flexibility which helped create the conditions for rapid evolution of telecommunications technologies and markets around the world.

In a rare show of broad, bipartisan policymaker unity, the House last week also voted unanimously to approve a resolution opposing international regulation of the Internet, a resolution sponsored by Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-CA) that SIIA has been very supportive of.

New Patent Legislation Brewing in Congress, and IP Attache Bill on House Docket for Sept.

Two weeks ago, Sen. Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-IA) introduced new patent legislation, the “Patent Law Treaties Implementation Act of 2012″ (S. 3486). Among other things, the bill would implement the Patent Law Treaty, which should make it easier for U.S. patent applicants to obtain patents overseas. Rumors have circulated that a House companion is expected when Congress reconvenes in Sept. At a recent Senate Judiciary hearing, USPTO Director David Kappos testified in support of the bill, saying that the Patent Law Treaty “will benefit U.S. patent applicants and patent owners by merging national and international formal requirements associated with patent applications and patents.”

Also expected after the August recess, House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) indicated last week that the Cmte. is likely to mark up the IP Attache bill, and discussions on that are ongoing.

WIPO Working to Advance Treaty on Copyright Exceptions

On July 25th, WIPO’s Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) concluded discussions on several topics, including a possible treaty to address copyright exceptions for the blind and visually impaired. While there was progress made on many provisions in the draft text, there is still much work needed before the draft can be finalized. In an effort to expedite the drafting process, the SCCR agreed to conduct a special inter-sessional meeting of the committee in Geneva between WIPO’s General Assembly meeting in October and the SCCR’s regular meeting in November. The SCCR also agreed to conduct an extraordinary session of WIPO’s General Assembly in December to review the text and to decide whether to convene a diplomatic conference in 2013. One of the most significant issues is the legal form that any agreement would take – whether it is a legally binding international treaty (which most WIPO members support) or some other type of legal instrument, like a WIPO recommendation (which approach is supported by the EU and US).

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

EC to Unveil Cloud Strategy Tomorrow

The European Commission (EC) is finzilzing its strategy on cloud computing and plans to make available the document tomorrow, July 25. The document is aimed at “promoting the use of off-site data storage in a bid to cut information technology costs and create new jobs,” as reported by European media EurActiv.

Specifically, the document will focus on three key areas of cloud computing – data security, copyright, and standardization/global governance. Additionally, the strategy reportedly will call out the U.S. and Japan as partners for developing closer relations on a number of issues, including “application of the tax law to cloud services, international data flows and coordination of data security” among other things. SIIA will make the report available to members when we receive a copy, and we will plan to provide a response as quickly as possible, as there are likely to be various concerns about many of the details.

In other cloud news, the Rep. Bob Goodlatte’s Judiciary Subcommittee on IP and the Internet will hold a broad informational hearing on Wednesday, where SIIA member IBM will be testifying.

Cyber Still Tentatively on Sen. Calendar, But Votes Not Officially Set

Sen. Lieberman (I-CT) and Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) continue to indicate that the Senate will turn its attention to revised draft legislation of the Cybersecurity act (S. 3414). Although, Sen. Reid has not established an official timeline for Senate action, staff has indicated that the Senate will likely move to the bill this week, following the conclusion of votes on taxes, which is likely to come as early as Wednesday or Thursday, and a procedural vote to move the bill to the floor is expected the following Monday. In the meantime, Sen. Lieberman and additional cosponsors Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) held a press conference this afternoon touting the compromises made in this latest draft and urging quick action.

If there is sufficient support in the Senate to pass S. 3414, it will then need to be conferenced with House legislation passed earlier this year, where there is likely to be little support for the Senate legislation’s call for security guidelines for critical infrastructure providers. Notably, changes in the new Senate draft legislation have been successful in removing substantial opposition from CDT and other privacy advocates that had previously opposed the information sharing provisions of the legislation.

Earlier this year SIIA urged the Senate to move quickly to enact narrow, bipartisan consensus legislation, and we are currently reviewing the latest draft comprehensive legislation.

USTR Seeks Formal Input on Mexico, Canada Participation in TPP

On Monday, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) issued a request for public comments and issued a notice of public hearing on negotiating objectives with respect to Mexico and Canada‘s participation in the ongoing negotiations of a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement. The notices followed an earlier decision by President Obama to begin negotiations with Canada and Mexico in the context of the ongoing negotiations of the TPP, with the objective to “achieve a high-standard, 21st century agreement with a membership and coverage that provides economically significant market access opportunities for America’s workers, manufacturers, service suppliers, farmers, ranchers, and small businesses.”

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

Senate Could Consideration of Cyber Next Week

In discussions with other Senators, Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has continued to voice his intention to bring cybersecurity legislation to the floor next week. While no official announcement has been made publicly by Reid, reports by several Senate leaders are that the decision has been made to move forward with the process, even while consensus hasn’t yet been reached on several key issues and final language remains to be even set, not to mention shared broadly.

That is, discussions are still ongoing regarding the compromise critical infrastructure provisions that Sens. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) have been crafting, and revised drafts of provisions regarding information sharing are still in play, along with a wide range of possible amendments, including but not limited to a proposal regarding data security and breach notification. It is clear, however, that if the Senate does move forward with a debate on the issue, it will be much broader than the narrow provisions that passed the House earlier this year.

Of course, this isn’t the first time that Reid has sought to bring Cyber security to the floor, so if sufficient support doesn’t materialize, it’s still possible that the Senate adjourns for August recess having not moved forward on this critical issues.

DOC to Publish Outcomes from Privacy Multistakeholder, Encourages Side Discussions

The first privacy multistakeholder meeting held by the NTIA last Thursday included participation from more than 200 representatives from industry and the consumer privacy community and consisted of two parts: (1) collecting recommendations from the diverse audience, and (2) trying to prioritize a set of topics worthy of initial focus. But consistent with most practical expectations, a meeting of this size and type did not produce substantial consensus or direction.

Specifically, the meeting did not achieve significant progress on such key issues as how consensus would ultimately be measured or whether and how to structure working groups and on which topics. At the end of the meeting, NTIA staff reiterated their intention to serve only as a convener in the process, but did also commit to releasing written output this week that reflect the consensus priority items reached at the meeting. NTIA staff also indicated that the next meeting will be held in August, likely around the middle of the month, and they encouraged all interested parties to meet with allies and in ‘cross-cutting groups to develop constructive proposals.

SIIA remains committed to working within this process to develop a voluntary industry code of conduct for mobile app transparency as an alternative to a legislative or regulatory approach, and we’ll continue to provide updates and engage members for input.

GAO Report Concurs with SIIA Recommendations for Federal Cloud Adoption

Last week, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report highlighting seven key challenges that remain for federal agencies to effectively implement cloud computing. The list of challenges and recommendations track very closely with the recommendations made by SIIA in its whitepaper, Beyond the 25 Point Plan: A Roadmap to Implementing Cloud Computing and Reforming Federal IT, released last month in conjunction with the 18-month anniversary of the 25 Plan and NIST Cloud Workshop V. SIIA welcomed the new GAO report, citing it as an opportunity for federal IT leaders and leading IT companies can work together to comprehensively evolve the federal IT environment to catalyze government operations for the 21st Century. Read more.

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

Privacy Multistakeholder Launches on Thursday

The highly anticipated first multistakeholder event will kick of this Thursday, July 12, at the Department of Commerce. Led by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), the meeting will be the first in a series of NTIA-convened multistakeholder discussions concerning mobile application transparency, where stakeholders engage in an “open, transparent, consensus-driven process to develop a code of conduct regarding mobile application transparency.” The meeting is open to the public, and an agenda is expected to be made available tomorrow.

Major Action on Several Global IP Issues

Euro Court Permits “used licenses” for software – On July 3, the European Court of Justice held that Oracle could not legally prevent a company from reselling its software when the software at issue had been licensed by Oracle to a third party even though the license included a non-transfer provision. The court concluded that because Oracle’s distribution right was exhausted when it licensed the software to the third party, the defendant, UsedSoft, was permitted to sell these so-called “used licenses” on the secondary market.

ACTA Rejected in Europe – Not surprisingly, on July 4, the European Parliament voted against ratifying ACTA by 478 to 39, with 165 abstentions. The vote leaves considerable uncertainty, as E.U. law holds that the treaty cannot go into effect in the E.U. without the Parliament’s endorsement.

IP Attache Legislation Docketed in House Cmte. – On July 10, House Judiciary Committee Chairmen Lamar Smith (R-TX) unveiled a new draft IP bill, “the Intellectual Property Attaché Act,”. legislation to: (1) move the current attaché program housed with the USPTO to the full DOC; (2) create a new assistant secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property; (3) change the titles and reporting structure of the attaches, and (4) give the PTO Director and new A/S the ability to reach directly into Embassies and direct the IP Attaches there. Chairman Smith also scheduled for full Committee markup for today. The Cmte. recessed without considering the legislation, and the outlook is still uncertain.

ICANN Receives Contract Extension – On July 2, the U.S. DOC announced that it has awarded the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) Functions Contract to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). This is not a new role for ICANN, which manages the current IANA Functions Contract that is set to expire on September 30, 2012. The contract will run from October 1, 2012 to September 30, 2015, and has two 2-year option periods, for a total contract period of seven years.

House Subcommittee Reviews SAFE WEB Act this Week

This Thursday, the House Subcommittee on Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade will hold a hearing to discuss the the “U.S. SAFE WEB Act of 2006,” and draft legislation to renew the Federal Trade Commission’s authority to combat cross-border spam, spyware and fraud through reauthorization of the U.S. SAFE WEB Act of 2006 for an additional 7 years. The Act and its grant of authorities to the FTC will expire on December 22, 2013 without reauthorization.

SIIA Calls for Trans-Pacific Partnership Should Promote Cross-Border Flow of Information & Data

On June 29, SIIA and other industry leaders joined in promoting cross-border data flows in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which is currently being negotiated. Specifically, SIIA joined with the National Foreign Trade Council and other trade associations representing a broad range of U.S. companies in a statement of support and a letter to US Trade Representative Ron Kirk, regarding this major priority for the digital economy. Read more here.

Senate Cyber Compromise Expected, Consideration This Month Still Uncertain

An updated draft of a compromise framework on cybersecurity is expected to be made available this week, but the effort being led by Sens. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) has not yet garnered sufficient support to pave a path for Senate consideration of cyber prior to the August recess. It’s still possible that Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) will seek to bring the Lieberman-Collins legislation to the floor absent broader bipartisan consensus on controversial critical infrastructure section.

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

Senate and State AGs Focus on Privacy

In advance of the NTIA’s first multistakeholder process on mobile privacy on July 12th, the Senate Commerce Committee scheduled a hearing for Thursday questioning whether self-regulation is sufficient. In announcing the hearing, Chairman Rockefeller (D-WV) reiterated his belief that federal legislation is necessary, as well as his intent to “closely examine how industry intends to fulfill its recent pledge to not collect consumers’ personal information when they utilize the self-regulatory ad icon or make “do-not-track” requests in their web browsers.”

And last week, Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler was elected president of the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) during its Summer Meeting. In taking this position, Gansler indicated that his year-long presidential initiative will focus on “Privacy in the Digital Age.” Not much detail has been provided regarding this initiative, but Gansler has been a strong consumer advocate and critic of businesses on this issue.

White House Seeks New IP Strategy, House Holds Hearing on Patents

On the two-year anniversary of the Administration’s Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement, Federal IP Enforcement Coordinator Victoria Espinel on Monday announced that the administration is developing a new strategy for IP enforcement, and seeking input. In the announcement Espinel indicated that recommendations may include, but need not be limited to: legislation, regulation, guidance, executive order, Presidential memoranda, or other executive action, including, but not limited to, changes to agency policies, practices or methods, she also said that the administration is looking for information on and recommendations for combating emerging or future threats to American innovation and economic competitiveness posed by violations of intellectual property rights.

Also on the IP front, the House Judiciary Sbcmte. on Competition and the Internet will hold a hearing this Wednesday on Protecting Patents, Trade Secrets and Market Access. Teresa Stanek Rea, the Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and PTO Deputy Director is the key witness.

Senate Consideration of Cyber in July Possible, New Data Security Bill Introduced

Since announcing his objective to bring cybersecurity legislation to the Senate floor in July, Majority Leader Harry Reid has not yet provided any additional details.

In the event that the issue does go to the Senate floor for an open amendment process, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) introduced data security legislation last week, the Data Security and Breach Notification Act of 2012 (S.3333), to establish a national breach notification standard for how companies inform individuals of a breach of security related to personal information. The bill is unlikely to be marked up or advanced on its own, but has been characterized as a marker for the amendment process.

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

SIIA Announces Five Recommendations for Federal Cloud and IT Reform
SIIA’s Public Sector Innovation Group (PSIG) today released an authoritative guide to help Federal CIOs and IT companies work together to effectively transition to a new cloud-based environment. SIIA crafted the guide to provide specific recommendations for fostering the development of the cloud in the Federal government and harnessing its full economic potential. PSIG released the guide as part of the NIST Cloud Computing Forum and Workshop beginning today, and to coincide with the June 9th deadline for the 18-month deliverables for the 25 Point Plan to Reform Federal IT. The report offers five key recommendations:

1. Continue to promote the “Cloud First” policy developed in 2010
2. OMB and GSA should work together and with industry to remove barriers to effective planning and procurement.
3. Promote changes to federal acquisition process and culture that to ensure they keep pace with technology
4. Lower the barrier of market entry for small businesses
5. Develop a comprehensive Federal IT strategy roadmap

Read more on SIIA’s Digital Discourse Blog

SIIA Joins Pledge for Leadership Role in Stopping Botnets
Last week, SIIA joined with a group of industry and the Obama Administration in announcing a cooperative initiative to combat malicious botnets, which a growing threat to the online economy and national security. Specifically, the Industry Botnet Group, DHS and DOC released on May 30 a set of principles for addressing the challenge of botnets across the entire Internet ecosystem. In addition to this framework for collaboration, the government also will step up public outreach efforts to educate users about online threats and will coordinate efforts to address the technical threats posed by botnets. Read more on SIIA’s Digital Discourse Blog.

More Opposition for ACTA
Three key EU committees – the Committee on Legal Affairs (Juri), Committee on Civil Liberties (LIBE) and the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) — have voted against [http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-18264856] the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). Their views will now be considered by the larger International Trade Committee (Inta) which will hold its vote on June 21st and then make a formal recommendation to the European Parliament. The European Parliament will make its final decision on ACTA in July.

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.