Latham & Watkins adds videogames, software, telecom and other IP expert Anthony Sammi from Skadden as partner, Litigation & Trial Department and global vice chair, Intellectual Property Litigation Practice ... Alteryx taps David Colberg, ex-Palo Alto Networks, as vice president-global government affairs and public policy ... Hired by SAP: Emily Coyle, ex-Ernst & Young, joins the software maker as senior director-U.S. government affairs and head-U.S. cybersecurity and privacy policy ... Blockchain Association taps CTA's Curtis Kincaid as director-communications.
Latham & Watkins adds videogames, software, telecom and other IP expert Anthony Sammi from Skadden as partner, Litigation & Trial Department and global vice chair, Intellectual Property Litigation Practice ... Alteryx taps David Colberg, ex-Palo Alto Networks, as vice president-global government affairs and public policy ... Hired by SAP: Emily Coyle, ex-Ernst & Young, joins the software maker as senior director-U.S. government affairs and head-U.S. cybersecurity and privacy policy ... Blockchain Association taps CTA's Curtis Kincaid as director-communications.
The Biden administration is working behind the scenes on plans to name Mozilla Foundation Senior Adviser Alan Davidson its nominee for NTIA administrator, former government officials and communications sector lobbyists told us. The White House is facing increased pressure to quickly fill the post since the agency is on course to administer the bulk of $65 billion in broadband money if Congress enacts an infrastructure spending package that a bipartisan Senate group formally filed Sunday. Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., swiftly filed amendments aimed at addressing anti-digital redlining and consumer protection provisions in the broadband title he sees as a potential back door to rate regulation, as expected (see 2107300054).
A Senate bill that would create an export certification system for Native American cultural items passed out of the Indian Affairs Committee July 28. The bill, which was introduced by Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., also has a House companion bill, called the Safeguard Tribal Objects of Patrimony Act of 2021. In addition to the export certification system, it explicitly prohibits the export of Native American cultural items that were illegally obtained, and requires that the Interior Department convene a Native working group of Indian tribe and Native Hawaiian representatives “to provide advice on issues concerning the return of, and illegal trade in, human remains and cultural items.”
Comments are due Aug. 13, replies Aug. 30 on Hughes Network Systems' request for more time to comply with its tribal engagement obligations as a recipient of Connect America Fund Phase II support through New York's New NY Broadband Program, said an FCC docket 10-90 public notice in Thursday's Daily Digest.
Comments are due Aug. 13, replies Aug. 30 on Hughes Network Systems' request for more time to comply with its tribal engagement obligations as a recipient of Connect America Fund Phase II support through New York's New NY Broadband Program, said an FCC docket 10-90 public notice in Thursday's Daily Digest.
Bipartisan Senate negotiators were finalizing language Wednesday for their long-sought infrastructure spending package, after reaching a deal earlier in the day to resolve outstanding broadband and other items that had divided the group in recent days (see 2107220040). The measure is expected to keep broadband funding in the package at the agreed-upon $65 billion (see 2106240070), Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, told reporters. It’s also expected to include an extension of the FCC-led emergency broadband benefit, part of what’s expected to be a split decision between Democratic and Republican positions on connectivity affordability, lobbyists told us.
The Senate failed to invoke cloture Wednesday on the shell bill (HR-3684) for a bipartisan infrastructure package under negotiation. Republican members of the group working on the measure believe the legislation will be ready next week with enough GOP support to proceed. A 157-page draft of part of the bipartisan measure’s broadband language gives NTIA responsibility to define low-cost broadband service options for grantees. It would set a minimum speed threshold below what fiber advocates are seeking for projects receiving money from a $40 billion pot slated for NTIA-administered state-level grants. The overall proposal, which President Joe Biden backed last month, allocates $65 billion for broadband (see 2106240070).
The FCC Wireless Bureau accepted for filing waivers from six tribal groups to use the 2.5 GHz band for broadband or next-generation wireless, the bureau said Tuesday. The bureau has already granted 262 licenses following an application window last year, the bureau said. Applications from the Sitka Tribe of Alaska and the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska were among the six.
The House Agriculture Committee voted unanimously to advance the Broadband Internet Connections for Rural America Act (HR-4374) that committee leaders hope to attach to the coming infrastructure spending package. President Joe Biden rallied Senate Democrats Wednesday to back a $3.5 trillion package party leaders aim to pass via budget reconciliation along with a bipartisan infrastructure plan he supports with $65 billion for broadband (see 2106240070).