All federal cybersecurity efforts that don’t directly relate to defense should be consolidated within the Department of Commerce, former Sen. Slade Gorton, R-Wash., told the House Commerce Committee’s Oversight subcommittee Tuesday. The subcommittee hearing focused on determining ways to best solve cybersecurity threats to U.S. intellectual property.
Jimm Phillips
Jimm Phillips, Associate Editor, covers telecommunications policymaking in Congress for Communications Daily. He joined Warren Communications News in 2012 after stints at the Washington Post and the American Independent News Network. Phillips is a Maryland native who graduated from American University. You can follow him on Twitter: @JLPhillipsDC
Congress should expand its efforts to address international intellectual property theft beyond cybersecurity legislation, former Sen. Slade Gorton, R-Wash., a member of the Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property (IP Commission), is expected to say this Tuesday in testimony before the House Commerce Committee’s Oversight and Investigations subcommittee. The IP Commission is working on issues including recommend policies that will mitigate intellectual property theft by China and others (http://1.usa.gov/11wjHmO). The subcommittee is holding the hearing to determine the scope of cybersecurity threats to U.S. intellectual property and technology, and the best legislative ways to address those threats.
FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez’s remarks Thursday in favor of a possible FTC investigation into the business practices of patent assertion entities (PAEs) are “obviously going to have some impact” in the federal government’s ongoing debate over how to best address the issue of abusive patent litigation, said American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) Executive Director Todd Dickinson, former director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). “It keeps the iron in the fire,” he told us.
FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez said the commission should use its authority under Section 6(b) of the FTC Act to investigate the business practices of patent assertion entities (PAEs) to examine whether those practices harm competition and consumer interests. Section 6(b) of the FTC Act gives the agency the authority to do a full investigation of an industry’s business practices, including issuing subpoenas, and report their findings to Congress and the public. Ramirez said at a Thursday joint Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) and American Antitrust Institute (AAI) event that she supports conducting an investigation, but did not say she would formally ask the commission to vote to start one.
A pair of controversial National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance programs that collect phone metadata and user data from online services have helped prevent “potential terrorist events over 50 times since 9/11,” NSA Director Keith Alexander told a House Intelligence Committee hearing Tuesday. At least 10 of those threats involved U.S. targets, though Alexander and other intelligence officials only disclosed details of two new cases Tuesday. The programs are “immensely valuable for protecting our nation and securing the security of our allies,” Alexander said. Most members of the committee defended the programs Tuesday, with Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., a former FBI agent, inviting Alexander and other officials to dispel the “laundry list” of “incomplete information” that has circulated since news of the programs leaked earlier this month.
FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai urged Congress to “permanently” exclude cellphone firmware unlocking from the provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The librarian of Congress declined in October to renew a three-year exemption that excluded unlocking from prosecution under the DMCA, meaning consumers who unlock their mobile devices could face civil and criminal penalties. “This is a classic case of the government solving a problem that doesn’t exist,” Pai said Monday at a joint TechFreedom-Competitive Enterprise Institute event. Contract-law rights, including early termination fees, already ensure subscribers fulfill contracts with the carriers, he said. “Adding heavy-handed copyright penalties, including hefty criminal fines, marries the sledgehammer to the fly,” Pai said. Congress is already considering at least four bills that would address the issue -- the Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act (HR-1123), the Unlocking Technology Act (HR-1892), the Wireless Device Independence Act (S-467) and the Wireless Consumer Choice Act (S-481).
The growing furor last week over the implications of National Security Agency surveillance programs that collect phone metadata and data from online services included a growing number of lawsuits aimed at stopping the programs. Although most of the lawsuits targeted the NSA and the rest of the U.S. intelligence community, at least two class-action suits also involved the telecom and Internet companies from which the government collected data. Judicial Watch founder Larry Klayman, the lead plaintiff in those lawsuits, claimed the companies are as complicit as the government in violating their subscribers’ constitutional rights. A former federal prosecutor who has handled telecom cases at the federal and state levels told us existing legal precedents will make it difficult for Klayman to prevail over the companies, and are likely to preclude others from bringing similar challenges.
Gen. Keith Alexander, director of the National Security Agency (NSA), told the Senate Appropriations Committee Wednesday that a pair of controversial NSA surveillance programs was “the right thing to do” to protect Americans, saying “what we are doing does protect Americans’ civil liberties.” Alexander is also commander of the U.S. Cyber Command. NSA’s collection of phone metadata and user data from online services came to light last week following leaks from now-former Booz Allen contractor Edward Snowden (CD June 10 p5). Alexander said during the hearing Wednesday, his first public comments since the leaks, that he wants to disclose further information on the programs to the public -- but he wants to consult further with the U.S. intelligence community to prevent any public information from hurting U.S. security. “We aren’t trying to hide it,” he said.
The FCC released an order Thursday approving Progeny’s controversial E-911 locator service for commercial use in the 902-928 MHz band. Commissioner Ajit Pai voted in favor of the order earlier this week, making commission approval unanimous, as expected (CD June 6 p9).
President Barack Obama directed the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) to begin creating rules to require patent applicants and patent owners to “regularly” update the ownership information on file at PTO when they are involved in PTO proceedings. The rules are targeted at making “real party in interest” (RPI) disclosure a default action. Obama also directed PTO to develop strategies over the next six months to improve patent claim clarity, particularly in software-related patent applications, and train patent examiners on scrutinizing functional claims. The White House said it will build on the roundtables and workshops that PTO, the Department of Justice and the FTC held last year, announcing it would hold a series of “high-profile events” over the next six months aimed at outreach on patent-related issues and policy updates. PTO will also expand its Edison Scholars Program, which brings in scholars to work at the agency for six-month periods, to develop additional research on patent litigation abuse. PTO also unveiled a set of new education and outreach materials aimed at answering questions from the targets of abusive patent litigation (http://1.usa.gov/15yx9EC).