Tech industry representatives and experts disagreed about the wisdom of legislation from Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., to “strengthen” the U.S. patent system. Introduced in July, the Support Technology and Research for Our Nation's Growth and Economic Resilience (Stronger) Patents Act (S-2082) would alter the Patent and Trademark Office inter partes review system and partially reverse the Supreme Court’s 2016 eBay decision.
Karl Herchenroeder
Karl Herchenroeder, Associate Editor, is a technology policy journalist for publications including Communications Daily. Born in Rockville, Maryland, he joined the Warren Communications News staff in 2018. He began his journalism career in 2012 at the Aspen Times in Aspen, Colorado, where he covered city government. After that, he covered the nuclear industry for ExchangeMonitor in Washington. You can follow Herchenroeder on Twitter: @karlherk
Enforcers in 50 states and jurisdictions are investigating Google’s advertising business for antitrust violations, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) and 12 other AGs announced Monday, as expected (see 1909030053). Texas launched the probe Monday, issuing civil investigative demands to Google, South Dakota Jason Ravnsborg (R) told reporters after a news conference in Washington.
Staffers for House Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chair Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., and ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., met throughout the August recess to negotiate a bipartisan privacy bill, an aide familiar with House Commerce Committee discussions told us. A committee spokesperson said Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., is collaborating with members. Pallone is “developing comprehensive data privacy and security legislation with Chair Schakowsky and other committee members,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “Bipartisan discussions continue, which he hopes will produce strong consumer privacy protections for all Americans.”
Google will pay $170 million to settle allegations that YouTube illegally collected personal data from children without parental consent, the FTC said Wednesday in a 3-2 party line vote.
A group of state attorneys general plans to announce a bipartisan, multistate antitrust investigation of Google and potentially other tech companies (see 1908200066) Monday, state officials told us Tuesday. Texas AG Ken Paxton (R) expects to lead the event, possibly at 2 p.m. outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., according to one state official. The group leading the broader investigation of the industry is nearing 40 state AGs, the official said.
The White House’s potential draft executive order directing the FCC and the FTC to police social media content moderation blatantly violates the First Amendment and is likely to face years of legal battle, representatives from the tech industry and academia told us. Days before President Donald Trump’s proposal emerged, senators from both parties said the tech industry’s content liability shield, which the draft order seeks to modify (see 1908090053), needs re-examining.
Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., plans to introduce legislation in September or October on strategies websites use to “glue” children to devices, said Senior Policy Adviser Joseph Wender Thursday. Markey, who will prioritize two other privacy-related legislative items after congressional recess, is having ongoing conversations with lawmakers about co-sponsoring the Kids (Kids Internet Design and Safety) Act, Wender told us after a Family Online Safety Institute event.
The FTC released a highly redacted version of Uber’s third-party privacy assessment related to its 2016 data breach (see 1810260040) Tuesday. Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and advocates quickly called for greater transparency. After the FTC reached a no-fine settlement with Uber in October, Slaughter and Commissioner Rohit Chopra urged the agency to release the Uber assessment. Though the commission didn’t release the document then, Chopra and Slaughter noted it could be accessed through a Freedom of Information Act request, which is how we obtained it Tuesday.
North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein (D) and Arizona AG Mark Brnovich (R) are participating in bipartisan discussions about a multistate investigation of tech industry competition, aides from both offices said. The group, which also involves Texas and Nebraska, is expected to issue civil investigative demands (CID) around Labor Day, said a source familiar with the effort. CIDs are prelitigation, administrative subpoenas officials can use to compel documents and testimony from the industry.
France’s digital service tax (DST) is a radical departure from international norm, discriminates against U.S. companies and undermines efforts to reach global, multilateral consensus on the digital economy, tech companies and trade groups told U.S. officials Monday (see 1908140056). Witnesses from Facebook, Google, Amazon, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, the Computer & Communications Industry Association and the Information Technology Industry Council testified before the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and officials from various federal agencies. Representatives from the departments of Commerce, State, Agriculture, Homeland Security and others questioned tech witnesses as part of the USTR’s Section 301 investigation of France’s DST.