Digital Discourse / Policy

Digital Policy Roundup: Senate Cmte. Passes Communications Privacy, Looks to Mobile Privacy, Trade Talks Continue on TPP

December 4, 2012 By

Senate Cmte. Passes Communications Privacy, Looks to Mobile Privacy This Week

Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed Chairman Leahy’s (D-VT) ECPA reform legislation (Electronic Communications Privacy Act) with strong bipartisan support. The revised proposal passed with minimal amendments, in what was a huge victory for SIIA members and a wide range of supporters, as it was the first official strong bipartisan showing of support for legislation to level the playing field for access to remotely-stored email and electronic communications. While the next step for the legislation is uncertain in the waning days of the 112th Congress, at minimum it provides an excellent starting point for enacting legislation next year.

Continuing to move forward with targeted privacy proposals, Chairman Leahy has scheduled a markup of the Location Privacy Protection Act of 2011 (S.1223), legislation that would require app providers to seek affirmative “opt-in” consent from consumers before using their location information. This is another proposal that is unlikely to advance this year, but it is likely to draw broad support and put additional pressure on the NTIA-led multistakeholder discussions that have been ongoing since July.

Major Trade Talks Continue with Little Fanfare, Overshadowed by World Telecom Conference

While much of the world is focused on the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) taking place in Dubai this week, the 15th round of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks launched yesterday, where officials from the 11 countries participating in the negotiations will try to move toward the goal set by some TPP leaders last month of completing the deal by the end of next year. Intellectual property rights are one of the key issues of interest to the technology community during the ongoing trade talks.

Additionally, in the multilateral arena, World Trade Organization members this week will engage on a wide range of topics, including government procurement, the status of the Doha round and the race to select a new WTO chief. Current Director-General Pascal Lamy will step down next September, and Dec. 1 marked the date WTO members could begin formally submitting names for candidates to succeed him.

SIIA Internet Governance Event This Week

Just a reminder, this Thursday, Dec. 6, SIIA is cosponsoring an event with GW University and several other groups to examine how countries use trade policy to advance cross border information flows, and how these trade discussions could impact Internet freedom. SIIA’s Mark MacCarthy will moderate a panel on the challenges associated with IPR, Privacy and Internet Freedom.

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.

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Filed Under: Cloud/Gov, Digital Policy Roundup, Government, Policy, Software

Don’t Tear Down the ITU

December 3, 2012 By

The idea of tearing down the International Telecommunications Union is a bad idea.  It is not the position of the US government or international civil society or the global businesses community.  And it isn’t going to happen.

At a recent New America Foundation forum on Internet governance and the upcoming World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT), Andrew McLaughlin, the former U.S. Deputy Chief Technology Officer, said that the U.S. should aim to “dismantle” the International Telecommunications Union. “In the case of the ITU,” he said, “I think it’s very much the case that its day is gone.”

This is not the view of the global software and information companies in SIIA.  These companies emphatically do not have an agenda of dismantling the ITU. The ITU has been in the telecommunications standard setting business for 150 years and has well-developed and well understood policymaking processes in which all countries have an equal voice. It continues to play an important standard setting, spectrum allocation, and telecommunications coordination role.  Without it, the task of making telecommunications and satellite systems interoperate throughout the world would be vastly more complicated than it is today.  So much so, that if the ITU were dismantled, it would be necessary to recreate it.

Moreover, the ITU has a crucial development role. If we are to take seriously the task of making the Internet affordable to the billions of people who do not have access to it today, the ITU is an indispensable organization.

Fortunately, civil society immediately rejected the idea of dismantling the ITU. At the same New America Foundation forum, Ellery Biddle, a policy analyst with the Center for Democracy and Technology said, “I’m not sold,” she said. “I worry that governments will be even more angry at the U.S. than they already are if something like that happened, and that ultimately leads to worse results for the people.”

Terry Kramer, the head of the US delegation to WCIT, and articulating US policy in the area, also rejected the idea.  “I don’t think, per se, the ITU is the problem,” he said. “The ITU does some very important work on best practice sharing, on some development activities in developing markets.”

The US government is pretty adept at influencing outcomes in the ITU, but the US does not control the ITU, and so cannot control whether or not it is dismantled.  In effect, this idea is really advocating isolation from the rest of the world, a sure recipe for futility and an abandonment of our responsibility for leadership in the global technology and telecommunications policymaking space.  A US pull-back from the ITU would only hurt the global companies that SIIA represents.

SIIA has been critical of some of the ideas set for consideration at the upcoming WCIT meeting in Dubai.  In particular, proposals for bringing cybersecurity mandates and information technology generally within its regulatory jurisdiction seem to us to be mistaken and harmful.

But these disagreements do not suggest that we seek to undermine the institution. The software and information industries that bring their products and services to billions of people around the world support the good work of the ITU and look forward to it continuing this work into the indefinite future.  We urge the US government, civil society and all members of the Internet policymaking community to do the same.

Mark MacCarthy, Vice President, Public Policy at SIIA, directs SIIA’s public policy initiatives in the areas of intellectual property enforcement, information privacy, cybersecurity, cloud computing and the promotion of educational technology. Follow the SIIA Public Policy team on Twitter at @SIIAPolicy

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Filed Under: Policy Tagged With: ,

This Week in IP Enforcement

November 28, 2012 By

Google Mobilizes Users in Fight for Robots’ Core Values (paidContent)
Facing challenges to its core values that it is not a publisher and only excerpts parts of articles, Google is asking users in Germany to oppose government-proposed copyright reforms and complain to elected representatives on its behalf.

Facebook Privacy Chain Letter Resurfaces (The Washington Post)
The latest Facebook hoax claims users can change their copyright rights by simply posting a status message. The post illustrates how much users want clear control over content they post to Facebook.

Cable Companies Say They Won’t Disconnect Accused Pirates (CNET)
Verizon and Time Warner Cable said that after they repeatedly inform customers through the forthcoming “six strikes” program that their activities appear to violate copyright law, the companies’ obligation is fulfilled, and no account termination will take place.

UK Student Escapes U.S. Extradition in Copyright Case (Reuters)
Richard O’Dwyer, a British university student who launched a website linking to free films and TV shows, reached an agreement to avoid extradition to the U.S. and possible jail over copyright infringement allegations.

ICANN Issues Early Warnings Over Controversial Top Level Domains (Techworld)
The Government Advisory Committee, a panel representing about 50 of the world’s national governments that provides advice to ICANN on public policy issues, has filed 242 “Early Warnings” on applications that are thought to be controversial or sensitive.

Keith Kupferschmid is General Counsel and SVP, Intellectual Property Policy & Enforcement at SIIA.

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Filed Under: Anti-Piracy, Policy - Intellectual Property

SIIA Urges Support for Leahy ECPA Reform to Create Level Playing Field for Cloud Computing

November 28, 2012 By

I issued the following statement in support of Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy’s (D‐VT) substitute Manager’s Amendment to H.R. 2471, which would update the Electronic Communications Privacy Act. Sen. Leahy’s amendment will be considered by the Judiciary Committee on Thursday.

“SIIA supports Chairman Leahy’s proposed Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) reform in order to address the tremendous technological advances in communications and computing technology since 1986, when the statute was passed. The legislation proposed by Sen. Leahy would create a warrant requirement for law enforcement access to remotely stored electronic content. This legislation presents a big step toward making sure that the information Americans store in the cloud receives the same level of protection as the information stored in their homes.

“SIIA commends Sen. Leahy’s Leadership on this very important issue, and we urge members of the Judiciary Committee to support the substitute manager’s amendment while opposing any amendments that would weaken the warrant requirement.”

Ken WaschKen Wasch is President of SIIA.

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Filed Under: Policy, Policy - Cloud Computing

SIIA Digital Policy Roundup: Look ahead on Privacy, IP, Cybersecurity and Net Governance

November 27, 2012 By

With Election Day and the Thanksgiving break in the rearview mirror, the next four weeks are looking to be action packed in Washington. And while the “fiscal cliff” discussions are expected to suck a lot of air out of the town, there’s a lot going on in the tech policy world, with a significant focus on privacy, intellectual property protection, cybersecurity and Internet Governance. Here’s a look forward in these areas:

Busy Weeks Ahead on the U.S. Privacy Front

First up for privacy is the Senate Judiciary Cmte. makup of ECPA reform legislation (Electronic Communications Privacy Act) this Thursday. In advance, Chairman Pat Leahy (D-VT) released a revised managers amendment last night, which makes significant improvements from previous drafts from the Chairman that proposed to substantially weaken the underlying legislation. Still, there is much uncertainty around the level of support among Committee members and potential amendments.

Next is the 6th NTIA multistakeholder meeting on Friday, where discussions will continue on industry-led proposals regarding “short form notices” and a comprehensive code of conduct. Hopes are that the progress initiated at the October Meeting will continue to move the discussions forward.

Finally, the FTC will hold a workshop on “Practices, Privacy Implications of Comprehensive Collection of Web Data,” an all-day event that will bring together consumer groups, academics, industry representatives, privacy professionals, and others to “examine the technological landscape, benefits and risks, consumer knowledge and attitude, and the future of comprehensive data collection.”

This heavy dose of privacy focus by legislators and regulators will end 2012 similar to how it began, and could possibly also include final revisions to the COPPA Rule, expected to be released by the FTC at some point in the near future.

Developments in the Patent Policy World

After a rousing speech last week that provided a strong defense of the US patent system, USPTO head David Kappos yesterday formally announced his resignation effective at the end of January. In what now looks to be his swansong, Kappos listed a number of improvements USPTO is making to deal with issues such as patent quality and clarity, including third party submissions on prior art and the post grant review process.

Despite the turnover at the PTO, there remains a persistent heavy focus on patent policy. Notably, the FTC and DOJ will be jointly hosting a workshop on Dec. 10th, focused on Patent Assertion Entity Activities. And as announced by Kappos last week, the PTO will hold a roundtable on Jan. 11th (details TBD), on requiring disclosure of the real party in interest for published applications and issued patents — a critical issue for dealing with patent quality and patent trolls.

With Cyber Ball in the President’s Court , Congress still focused on Cyber Funding

Shortly after returning from the election recess, the U.S. Senate vote to proceed with comprehensive cyber legislation once again came up hort. The failed vote officially puts the ball in the President’s court, where the Administration continues to explore opportunities of an Executive Order to strengthen protection of the Nation’s critical infrastructure and improve cyber information sharing. In the meantime, with extensive Federal budget cuts potentially on the horizon as part of the looming budget deal, there has been broad recognition in Congress and the Administration that funding for cybersecurity should not be impacted.

Internet Governance

All eyes around the World are still on Dubia for the upcoming World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) Conference, where government officials from around the world will gather to revise a treaty that could have a major effect on the future of the Internet. The Hill provided a thorough overview of the key issues and what’s at stake.

On December 6, SIIA is sponsoring an event with GW University and several other groups to examine how countries use trade policy to advance cross border information flows, and how these trade discussions could impact Internet freedom.

And on the ICANN front, there were several developments over the last 10 days relating to the program to roll out of new domain names, including: (1) the ICANN Board of Directors issued a resolution directing ICANN’s CEO to launch a new effort to re-examine the purpose of collecting, maintaining and providing access to gTLD registration data in the Whois database; (2) discussions around potential changes to Rights Protection Mechanisms (RPMs), and (3) the Government Advisory Committee (GAC), which provides advice to ICANN on issues of public policy, filed 242 individual “Early Warnings” on 200 new gTLD applications which account for 162 unique strings.

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.

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Filed Under: Digital Policy Roundup

Director Kappos Announces His Departure

November 26, 2012 By

Earlier today Director David Kappos sent an email to USPTO employees, announced that his departure from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office around the end of January 2013. In the email he wrote:

Dear Colleagues,

It has been an immense privilege to lead the PTO, our nation’s innovation agency, over the last three and a half years-and it is with deep gratitude for your dedication and hard work that I write to inform you that I will be leaving the Agency around the end of January 2013.

I cannot thank you enough for your hard work over the years-and I wish you all the very best ahead.

Prior to joining the PTO in 2009, Director Kappos worked for SIIA-member IBM as Vice President and Assistant General Counsel, Intellectual Property Law. During his tenure with the PTO he oversaw enactment of the most significant reforms to the patent system this century. We are grateful to Director Kappos for all the improvements to the patent system that he spearheaded during his term as Director and all the hard work and leadership he provided as the “face of the patent system” in the U.S. and abroad.

Keith Kupferschmid is General Counsel and SVP, Intellectual Property Policy & Enforcement at SIIA.

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Filed Under: Anti-Piracy, Policy - Intellectual Property

This Week in IP Enforcement

November 14, 2012 By

Google Presses Fair Use Case in Book Scanning Appeal (paidContent)
Google asked an appeals court to throw out a ruling that let the Authors Guild move forward with a long-running class action case over Google’s book scanning project. Google renewed its fair use argument and says the case should be decided on a book-by-book basis.

China Official Defends Record on Fighting IPR Thieves (Variety)
The head of China’s State Intellectual Property Office acknowledged a piracy problem in China, but says the Western media has ignored the government’s efforts to combat piracy, and instead has highlighted the negatives.

iOS Apps Hijack Twitter Accounts, Post False”Confessions” of Piracy (Ars Technica)
iOS application developer Enfour is fighting piracy by auto-posting tweets to users’ accounts to shame them for being pirates, but a “glitch in the anti-piracy measures” caused the auto-tweeting to affect a huge portion of its paid user base.

Man Sentenced to 36 Months for $2.5M in Software Piracy (Equities.com)
A Virginia man was sentenced to 36 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution of $2.5 million for selling thousands of units of counterfeit and pirated software.

D.C. Circuit Voids $743K Restitution Order in Pirated Software Case (LegalTimes)
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit unanimously ruled to vacate a court order that required the defendant pay Adobe $743,098 (the amount equivalent to the sale of pirated software), because the government failed to show Adobe’s actual losses from the copyright infringement.

Keith Kupferschmid is General Counsel and SVP, Intellectual Property Policy & Enforcement at SIIA.

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Filed Under: Anti-Piracy, Policy - Intellectual Property
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