Associations to Focus on Security and Spectrum in 2012
Trade associations look forward to finding solutions on cybersecurity in 2012, as legislation like SOPA and the OPEN Act remain important topics, officials said in response to questions about 2012 policy goals. Another common telecom focus this year, among groups we surveyed that do some FCC and FTC lobbying, are spectrum incentive auctions. Groups like CompTIA and the Distributed Computing Industry Association have different solutions in mind, and different opinions about how to achieve those solutions, their officials said. They keep general themes of balancing common goals like reform of the Federal Information Security Management Act and reaching an overall consensus with other stakeholders on the issues they work on.
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CompTIA is focusing on how cybersecurity policies can affect businesses, said Liz Hyman, vice president of public advocacy. The group is looking for alternatives to the “complicated patchwork of laws and regulations” regarding cybersecurity, and working toward an “appropriate balance” between innovation and consumer protection, she said. CompTIA wants to see improvement in areas of data breach and notifications to consumers when their information may have been obtained by hackers. The association will focus this year on helping policymakers avoid unnecessary barriers for expanding companies, and will continue pressing for reform of ten-year-old FISMA, Hyman said.
The Information Technology Industry Council wants legislation to be drafted to reflect areas where there’s clear consensus, like FISMA reform, said ITIC President Dean Garfield. ITIC also wants to see improved information sharing between public and private sectors and enhanced criminal penalties for Internet crimes. Like CompTIA, the council wants to see a federal standard for data breach and notifications.
The Future of Music Coalition has been involved with cybersecurity because of the recent SOPA debate, and FMC is also looking for a balance between copyright protection and artist freedom. The group is concerned with both aspects, because artists need protection from copyright infringement, and also need room to grow and improve existing content, said Deputy Director Casey Rae-Hunter. FMC thinks it appropriate for Congress to crack down on rogue foreign Internet sites, but they need find the right way to do that, he said.
DCIA is focusing on the cloud services side of cybersecurity and is searching for technological and business solutions before legislation. “For Congress to try and regulate technology providers hasn’t worked in the past and won’t work,” said Jim Burger of DCIA member Dow Lohnes, a communications law firm: “It’s a bad thing for Internet commerce. The focus of lawmakers should be on bad conduct, not specific technologies."
DCIA is focusing on issues of preventing unauthorized third-party access of enterprise data and applications in the cloud, and protecting users’ personal information from unauthorized disclosures, DCIA CEO Marty Lafferty said. The group wants data and cloud applications safeguarded as much as possible when they're hacked, or when the services have outages, he said. “We envision the establishment in 2012 of one or more new private sector working groups comprised of affected parties to develop voluntary solutions that will address these concerns."
When it comes to spectrum, groups have varied views. ITIC wants to resolve any obstacles to “broader broadband deployment through getting the voluntary incentive auctions across the finish line,” Garfield said. Important obstacles he mentioned were public safety and white spaces concerns, which ITIC and stakeholders will discuss solutions to this year. Garfield said a solution should be reached because few people are against further broadband deployment and a voluntary incentive auction to be held by the FCC.
The FMC is especially interested in how spectrum issues will affect artists, Rae-Hunter said. The group wants to ensure that unused spectrum is used for innovation, and broadcasters won’t have to move again to another part of the band, he said. FMC remains active in the rollout of low-power FM licenses, Rae-Hunter said: The group wants to “get some of these radio licenses that are in the hands of corporate broadcasters that probably don’t even want them anymore back in the hands of people who can innovate.”