Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said intellectual property protections are critical for Trade Promotion Authority and international trade agreements, Friday at the American Enterprise Institute. “Intellectual property protections around the globe are continually at risk,” and the federal government has an “obligation to ensure that the creative capital of our artists and innovators is protected,” he said in prepared remarks. “For any future trade agreement to win my approval,” they must meet the strong IP standards set forth in the failed 2014 TPA, Hatch said. Such IP provisions would stipulate that trade partners adhere to U.S. standards and “enforcement obligations,” he said. The 2014 TPA also called for an “end to government involvement in intellectual property rights violations,” Hatch said. The Internet Association earlier last week urged that copyright limitations and exceptions be added to TPA (see 1501290054), which, if included, would likely face opposition from Hatch, Maira Sutton, Electronic Frontier Foundation global policy analyst, told us (see 1501150052).

One hundred million Verizon Wireless customers allegedly were spied on by online advertising company Turn, via supercookies that Verizon uses, “even when [customers] had taken steps to change their privacy settings,” four Democratic Senate Commerce Committee members said. An “immediate and full explanation” from Verizon about whether the accusations are true, “whether the company intends to keep using ‘supercookies’ or tracking technology that third parties can exploit; and, what steps it plans to take to protect consumers['] privacy,” was requested by Sens. Bill Nelson of Florida, Edward Markey of Massachusetts, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, and Brian Schatz of Hawaii, in a letter to Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam Thursday. "As a majority of Americans are turning to their smartphones to access the Internet, it is even more critical that we remain vigilant in protecting the privacy of consumers when they use their mobile devices," the lawmakers wrote. Verizon never shares customer information with third parties as part of its advertising programs, a spokesman said. Customer privacy is taken seriously and is a “central consideration as we develop new products and services,” he said. Customers can opt out of advertising programs, and the company has also “begun working to expand the opt-out to include the identifier referred to as the UIDH.” That identifier enabled supercookies, according to media reports. Use of supercookies is of concern to privacy advocates, who say “third parties, such as Turn or even intelligence agencies, could exploit them to spy on consumers,” a joint news release from the senators said. “Our staff on the Commerce Committee will be investigating this and we certainly want to make sure that in this time of ubiquity of eyes prying all around in this electronic age that we are living [in], that we preserve the rights of privacy for all individuals,” Nelson said Thursday on the Senate floor.

Two House Democrats are preparing a letter to send to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler next week to press the agency to reclassify broadband as a Communications Act Title II telecom service, a House staffer told us. The two frame it as important for closing the digital divide. “Only 64 percent of African American households have adopted broadband services at home. Adoption is even lower in Hispanic households where only slightly more than half (53 percent) have broadband,” said the letter still being circulated this week, led by Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chairman Keith Ellison, D-Minn., and Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., ex-Congressional Black Caucus chairwoman. “In contrast, the national average is 70 percent, with broadband in 74 percent of White households.” They said wireless is an important way of closing the divide and urge strong rules applied to wired and wireless. “Strong rules that guarantee an Open Internet are important to minority-owned businesses,” the unreleased circulating draft of the letter said. “An Open Internet lowers barriers to entry and allows businesses of all sizes to compete on a global scale. Major mobile broadband providers have already blocked or hindered popular business tools such as mobile payments, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services, and streaming video. ISP providers set up tolls and slower lanes.” The FCC is expected to circulate a net neutrality order Feb. 5 and vote on it Feb. 26. House Democrats are in Philadelphia for a retreat.

A coalition of pro-free speech organizations, trade groups and law professors asked Congress to prohibit proposed federal laws that could undermine liability protections for publishers, the Center for Democracy & Technology said in a news release Thursday. “With the passage of the Stop Advertising Victims of Exploitation (SAVE) Act [HR-285] in the House and counterpart bills anticipated in the Senate, lawmakers are considering major changes to the legal protections that support free expression online, with laws that would hold Internet intermediaries liable for third-party content hosted on their sites,” the release said. "When faced with potential federal criminal liability for their users' content, online platforms will censor as a self-defense mechanism," Emma Llanso, CDT Free Expression Project director, said. "Wholly innocent operators of smaller sites and publications could be driven out of business if they are hauled into court to defend themselves on federal criminal charges.” The Computer and Communications Industry Association, Electronic Frontier Foundation, NetChoice, TechFreedom and Derek Bambauer, University of Arizona law professor, were among the coalition’s signatories.

The Telecommunications Industry Association “urged” Congress in a news release Thursday to renew Trade Promotion Authority this year. The Software & Information Industry Association, meanwhile, said in a news release that it sent a letter that day to 18 House Democrats, requesting their support for President Barack Obama’s call for TPA. “With 75 percent of the overall market for telecommunications equipment and related services located outside of the United States, a robust trade policy agenda is critical to enhancing market access and avoiding trade restrictive policies in the global marketplace,” TIA said. “TPA renewal will send a strong signal to other negotiating parties on the priority the United States places on high-standard trade agreements that enhance trade liberalization and market access for U.S. industry.” TIA sent letters to the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee Tuesday, asking for TPA’s passage. “SIIA shares President Obama’s view that TPA is necessary to set trade rules that will benefit American workers and companies for years to come,” Mark MacCarthy, SIIA vice president-public policy, said in the release. “TPA would encourage modern trade agreements that recognize this vital need, and that are crucial to our business and economic competitiveness.”

The Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee roster will include Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.; James Lankford, R-Okla.; and Jerry Moran, R-Kan., a subcommittee member in the last Congress, the Appropriations Committee said Thursday. That’s in addition to the subcommittee leadership, already announced: Chairman John Boozman, R-Ark., and ranking member Chris Coons, D-Del. The House Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee announced its seven GOP members and four Democratic members earlier this month. The subcommittees oversee the budget process for the FCC and FTC.

Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., again supported “strong net neutrality protections,” writing Thursday in a Facebook posting. “If we had the technology, if we had the internet during the [civil rights] movement, we could have done more, much more, to bring people together from all around the country, to organize and work together to build the beloved community,” the senior House Democrat and civil rights activist said. “That is why it is so important for us to protect the Internet. … I am deeply grateful that President Obama has called on the FCC to pass rules that will protect the internet for generations yet unborn.”

Proposed GOP net neutrality legislation drew the ire of Susan Crawford, a former Obama administration adviser and now a Harvard Law School visiting professor. She tore into the draft bill, which Republicans have said they want to make a bipartisan compromise, and criticized the broader efforts from Republicans in both chambers to overhaul the Communications Act. “Although calculated to address concerns about online fairness, its real thrust is to remove or constrain the FCC’s authority in a host of areas,” Crawford wrote in a blog post Wednesday for Medium. “The bill will draw a swift presidential veto.” She said the legislation has a “host of problems” and said it “so transparently shackles” FCC authority. Crawford doesn’t think the bill is “real,” she said: “What’s actually going on is that the net neutrality issue is being thrown under the bus by the carriers and the GOP in favor of a much more important goal: getting rid of the existing Telecommunications Act entirely.” She praised the “sensible” current statute and doubted the public interest would fare well in any telecom rewrite. Industry heavyweights will “use the occasion of an Obama veto” of net neutrality legislation “and a hymn to bipartisanship to press as hard as they can to get an act they do like passed  --  before there’s a risk of losing GOP control of Congress again,” Crawford said. “My prediction: Such an act will not require carriers to serve everyone in every community with world-class, reasonably priced Internet access. It will allow a flawed system to get even worse, all to make the rich carriers even richer.”

House Commerce Committee member John Shimkus, R-Ill., is soliciting co-sponsors for his Domain Openness Through Continued Oversight Matters Act, said a spokesman Wednesday. Shimkus expects to reintroduce DOTCOM in early February (see 1501200028), he said. The bill would let GAO study the IANA transition proposal for up to one year before approval by NTIA. Some of the committee members who are skeptical of the transition have been pleased by the ICANN community's efforts to include "stress tests" in their proposals, said David Redl, House Communications Subcommittee chief counsel, Tuesday (see 1501270042).

The FCC shouldn't allow any weakening of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, Senate Democrats told FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler in a Wednesday letter led by Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass. “Unfortunately, today there are efforts to weaken this important law,” it said. “In response to industry requests, the [FCC] is seeking comment on proposals that would provide exemptions and questionable safe harbors for businesses that utilize auto-dialers to call consumers’ mobile devices. We have deep concerns about these proposed changes that undermine the intent and spirit of the TCPA.” The letter’s 13 signatories include Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.; Barbara Boxer, D-Calif.; Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.; Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; and Ron Wyden, D-Ore.