ASPEN, Colo. -- The impending spectrum auctions and electronic communications privacy are likely to be issues this Congress tackles, former members said during a Monday panel hosted by the Technology Policy Institute at its Aspen Forum. The panel included former Reps. Rick Boucher, D-Va., now a partner at Sidley Austin; Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., now a senior adviser at APCO Worldwide; and Thomas Tauke, R-Iowa, formerly an executive vice president at Verizon.
Many draft proposals focus on changes to technology and address potential federal changes in light of that. One NARUC draft proposed an update on slamming rules. The FCC should “update the current rules and regulations on slamming by (1) requiring third-party verification to include mandatory recording of any contact in which customers are solicited for consent to changes in services or providers, (2) by applying slamming rules uniformly to all voice services including traditional wireline, interconnected and over-the-top VoIP, and wireless; and (3) by requiring the prominent notice of the number the customer may call for assistance of the FCC and/or State agency.” Wireline, VoIP and wireless companies should report billing complaint trends as well as “spikes driven by activity of specific third-party vendors” to both state and federal entities, according to the draft.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) second workshop to develop the Cybersecurity Framework, set to begin Wednesday, will delve deeper into actually creating the framework, industry officials said. NIST and the Department of Homeland Security are working with industries considered to be components of the U.S.’s critical infrastructure to draft the voluntary framework as directed by President Barack Obama’s cybersecurity executive order (CD Feb 14 p1). Participants are expected to begin creating the initial set of standards, best practices and procedures that will be included in the draft version of the Framework that’s expected to go public in October (http://1.usa.gov/Z5zzJD).
The government plans to rely on the private sector to help foster information sharing and civil liberties protection standards as it works to implement the Obama administration’s cybersecurity executive order, said Ari Schwartz, senior Internet policy adviser at the Commerce Department. The order, introduced last month during the State of the Union speech, will focus on expanding information sharing, protecting privacy and civil liberties, and the development of a framework to reduce cyber risks to critical infrastructure, he said Thursday at a USTelecom event in Washington.
President Barack Obama’s cybersecurity executive order and the reintroduction of the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) (CD Feb 14 p1) continued to draw reactions Thursday. The American Public Power Association said utilities “share this goal” of protecting critical infrastructure from cyberattacks: The executive order is an “important step in maintaining the already-high level of mandatory cybersecurity standards that govern our industry while also opening the door to other venues of collaboration between the federal government and the electric utility sector.” What is “necessary” for utilities is “sharing and protection of information” with the government, it said. Stifel Nicolaus analysts said the telco and cable sectors have concerns about new language in the final executive order -- updated from a November draft -- exempting “consumer information technology services” such as software applications, on top of the draft’s exemption of IT devices and equipment from regulation. “The precise scope of the exclusion is unclear and may depend on how IT products and services are used, but broadband providers object to giving tech/edge players a free pass, even though their devices/equipment and applications are integral to the communications eco-system,” the analysts wrote investors Wednesday. It’s also “a little curious” that the order seems to tell the FCC, “an independent regulatory agency, what to do” in language instructing it to “exercise its authority and expertise” with other agencies to prioritize communications infrastructure, identify communications vulnerabilities and work with stakeholders to increase security and resilience, the report said. Telcos also may have concerns the instruction to the FCC “could entangle them in the bureaucratic fights” of other agencies, such as the Department of Homeland Security, the report said. Business Roundtable President John Engler said in testimony Thursday (http://xrl.us/bogyzp) to the House Intelligence Committee that the group supported the reintroduced CISPA, as it did last year’s bill. “From our perspective, the missing piece of effective cybersecurity is robust, two-way information sharing, with appropriate legal and privacy protections, between business and government,” he said: What exists today is “not supported by strong legal protections” for companies sharing and receiving cybersecurity information, and also lacks “formal guidance on antitrust laws” for sharing information within and across sectors. Plus, “there are not nearly enough security clearances” for employees at “large global enterprises” and “senior corporate managers can only speculate about which threats are greatest” without access to “timely and actionable threat information,” said Engler, a Republican and former governor of Michigan. Kevin Richards, TechAmerica senior vice president of federal government affairs, said the group continues to support CISPA because it “prioritizes information sharing, which is the linchpin to any successful cybersecurity strategy and offers critical liability protections.” Meanwhile, a national survey of 1,021 adults by cyber consulting firm Tenable Network Security last week found that 93 percent believe U.S. businesses are “at least somewhat vulnerable to state-sponsored” cyberattacks, and 95 percent of government agencies are “somewhat to very” vulnerable, Tenable said Thursday. Six in 10 support increasing government spending to train and equip “cyberwarriors,” with only one in 10 opposed, it said. Ninety-four percent said the president should have “the same level of authority” to react to cyberattacks as to “physical attacks” on the U.S. Americans are conflicted about who should take responsibility, with 66 percent saying corporations “should be held responsible for cyber breaches” and 62 percent saying government should protect business from cyberattacks, the survey found.
The real challenge of creating the new FirstNet comes down to communications and coordination, said utility company leaders, public safety representatives and government officials Wednesday during a United Telecommunications Council (UTC) workshop. The workshop focused on how best to foster cooperation among the groups in anticipation of FirstNet’s rollout in the 700 MHz band, as authorized by February’s spectrum law. Government officials noted Tuesday at a UTC session (CD June 20 p5) that utilities often act as first responders in emergencies and should have access to this premium spectrum along with public safety officials. Chris Essid, director of the Homeland Security Department’s Office of Emergency Communications said developing an interoperable broadband network is only a 20 percent technical challenge and 80 percent coordination. “It’s that coordination that needs to improve,” he said.
Two congressional opponents of anti-piracy bills, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and PROTECT IP Act (PIPA), urged Congress to adopt a new digital bill of rights to protect the Internet from future attempts to regulate it. House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said at the Personal Democracy Forum Monday that Internet guidelines would help lawmakers gauge the impact of future legislative proposals. Wyden also warned that greater threats to Internet freedom are looming in global treaties like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement.
A fresh House bill to reallocate the 700 MHz D-block to public safety has the support of House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Peter King, R-N.Y. Rep. Steve Rothman, D-N.J., who serves on the Appropriations Committees, on Tuesday introduced the Help Emergency Responders Operate Emergency Systems (HEROES) Act. Using proceeds from spectrum auctions, the bill would provide $5.5 billion for construction, maintenance and operation of the national public safety network and $400 million to set up a grant program to help first responders upgrade their radios to comply with the FCC’s 2004 narrowband mandate.
Approve the Senate Commerce Committee’s cybersecurity bill or face doom: That was the stark choice posed by the George W. Bush administration’s last Director of National Intelligence at a committee hearing Tuesday. Mike McConnell, executive vice president of Booz Allen Hamilton’s national security business, laid out a vision for a future Internet brought under federal control in the same way that railroads came under heavy regulation at their peak of influence. Meanwhile, an FCC official made a pitch for his agency to use its experience in collecting status information from traditional communications networks to do the same for the Internet at large.
Public safety network interoperability is “an issue that we just have to solve, and we have to solve it quickly,” said Homeland Security Department Secretary Janet Napolitano. She spoke Thursday at the 2009 meeting of the president’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee. Meanwhile, NSTAC approved reports on cybersecurity and identity management, and received an update on an upcoming report on satellites.