Discussing bipartisan draft legislation that would direct a Department of Commerce study on the IoT, House lawmakers from both parties said Tuesday that Congress isn't paying enough attention to consumer privacy. The Digital Commerce Subcommittee held a hearing on draft legislation from Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio, and Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt. Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said the State of Modern Application, Research and Trends of IoT (Smart) Act would produce for Congress a central source of information on how industry is integrating IoT devices and how the country is adapting.

Discussing bipartisan draft legislation that would direct a Department of Commerce study on the IoT, House lawmakers from both parties said Tuesday that Congress isn't paying enough attention to consumer privacy. The Digital Commerce Subcommittee held a hearing on draft legislation from Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio, and Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt. Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said the State of Modern Application, Research and Trends of IoT (Smart) Act would produce for Congress a central source of information on how industry is integrating IoT devices and how the country is adapting.

The European Commission ramped up pressure on online platforms Thursday, telling them to be more open in dealings with other businesses and take more responsibility for fighting fake news. The platform transparency rules, aimed at creating a fairer business environment for smaller companies, include requirements that platforms make terms and conditions for professional users clearer and resolve disputes more efficiently. The disinformation proposal calls for an EU-wide code of practice and the possibility of regulation if significant changes aren't apparent by October. It won praise from the tech sector and others, while the transparency regulation prompted a mix of reactions.

The European Commission ramped up pressure on online platforms Thursday, telling them to be more open in dealings with other businesses and take more responsibility for fighting fake news. The platform transparency rules, aimed at creating a fairer business environment for smaller companies, include requirements that platforms make terms and conditions for professional users clearer and resolve disputes more efficiently. The disinformation proposal calls for an EU-wide code of practice and the possibility of regulation if significant changes aren't apparent by October. It won praise from the tech sector and others, while the transparency regulation prompted a mix of reactions.

Cloud Act sponsor Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., told us Thursday he’s hopeful the legislation will get attached to the fiscal 2018 spending bill, though it will require consent from “an awful lot of folks.” Agreement would need to come from Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., who respectively chair the Senate and House Judiciary Committees and could assert jurisdiction over the bill and schedule hearings (see 1802140062). Oral argument in U.S. v. Microsoft was held last week before the Supreme Court, where justices explored implications of the Cloud Act (S-2383) (see 1802270052).

Cloud Act sponsor Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., told us Thursday he’s hopeful the legislation will get attached to the fiscal 2018 spending bill, though it will require consent from “an awful lot of folks.” Agreement would need to come from Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., who respectively chair the Senate and House Judiciary Committees and could assert jurisdiction over the bill and schedule hearings (see 1802140062). Oral argument in U.S. v. Microsoft was held last week before the Supreme Court, where justices explored implications of the Cloud Act (S-2383) (see 1802270052).

A handful of tech groups asked House lawmakers to delay considering “rushed” anti-sex trafficking legislation, slated for a vote Monday, arguing the law would ultimately harm victims. The Center for Democracy & Technology also criticized the bill, claiming it would “substantially expand” legal risks of hosting online speech, resulting in broad censorship. Lawmakers have an agreement (see 1802220043) for amending the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (HR-1865) to include language from the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (S-1693). The House bill has 174 co-sponsors. TechFreedom, Engine, FreedomWorks, Citizens Outreach, R Street Institute and the Committee for Justice wrote a letter calling SESTA’s language unworkable and warned against simply merging the two bills on the House floor. “Any new legislation should empower prosecutors and compensate victims without inadvertently discouraging responsible websites from helping to combat sex trafficking,” the groups wrote. TechFreedom released a separate statement Friday, again saying the legislation, as merged, would harm, not help, trafficking victims. SESTA would “upset a balance carefully struck by Congress in 1996 to ensure that the fear of liability does not discourage responsible websites from assisting in the fight against trafficking,” TechFreedom said. CDT’s Free Expression Project Director Emma Llansó said Thursday the reconciled bill combines the most expansive parts of SESTA and FOSTA, creating a “mashup of overlapping forms of federal and state criminal and civil liability for internet intermediaries.” Llansó said the legal risks from the new law could potentially put small firms out of business after one infraction, jeopardizing classified ad sites, dating apps, social media platforms and other hosts of user-generated content. “By including SESTA's expansion of existing federal anti-trafficking law, which links liability to knowledge of specific content, the House bill will actually discourage some platforms from engaging in good-faith moderation efforts,” CDT said. CTA President Gary Shapiro said Friday that “moving forward on a House vote without having a legislative hearing on the impact of the SESTA language is ill-advised.”

A handful of tech groups asked House lawmakers to delay considering “rushed” anti-sex trafficking legislation, slated for a vote Monday, arguing the law would ultimately harm victims. The Center for Democracy & Technology also criticized the bill, claiming it would “substantially expand” legal risks of hosting online speech, resulting in broad censorship. Lawmakers have an agreement (see 1802220043) for amending the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (HR-1865) to include language from the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (S-1693). The House bill has 174 co-sponsors. TechFreedom, Engine, FreedomWorks, Citizens Outreach, R Street Institute and the Committee for Justice wrote a letter calling SESTA’s language unworkable and warned against simply merging the two bills on the House floor. “Any new legislation should empower prosecutors and compensate victims without inadvertently discouraging responsible websites from helping to combat sex trafficking,” the groups wrote. TechFreedom released a separate statement Friday, again saying the legislation, as merged, would harm, not help, trafficking victims. SESTA would “upset a balance carefully struck by Congress in 1996 to ensure that the fear of liability does not discourage responsible websites from assisting in the fight against trafficking,” TechFreedom said. CDT’s Free Expression Project Director Emma Llansó said Thursday the reconciled bill combines the most expansive parts of SESTA and FOSTA, creating a “mashup of overlapping forms of federal and state criminal and civil liability for internet intermediaries.” Llansó said the legal risks from the new law could potentially put small firms out of business after one infraction, jeopardizing classified ad sites, dating apps, social media platforms and other hosts of user-generated content. “By including SESTA's expansion of existing federal anti-trafficking law, which links liability to knowledge of specific content, the House bill will actually discourage some platforms from engaging in good-faith moderation efforts,” CDT said. CTA President Gary Shapiro said Friday that “moving forward on a House vote without having a legislative hearing on the impact of the SESTA language is ill-advised.”

A handful of tech groups asked House lawmakers to delay considering “rushed” anti-sex trafficking legislation, slated for a vote Monday, arguing the law would ultimately harm victims. The Center for Democracy & Technology also criticized the bill, claiming it would “substantially expand” legal risks of hosting online speech, resulting in broad censorship. Lawmakers have an agreement (see 1802220043) for amending the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (HR-1865) to include language from the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (S-1693). The House bill has 174 co-sponsors. TechFreedom, Engine, FreedomWorks, Citizens Outreach, R Street Institute and the Committee for Justice wrote a letter calling SESTA’s language unworkable and warned against simply merging the two bills on the House floor. “Any new legislation should empower prosecutors and compensate victims without inadvertently discouraging responsible websites from helping to combat sex trafficking,” the groups wrote. TechFreedom released a separate statement Friday, again saying the legislation, as merged, would harm, not help, trafficking victims. SESTA would “upset a balance carefully struck by Congress in 1996 to ensure that the fear of liability does not discourage responsible websites from assisting in the fight against trafficking,” TechFreedom said. CDT’s Free Expression Project Director Emma Llansó said Thursday the reconciled bill combines the most expansive parts of SESTA and FOSTA, creating a “mashup of overlapping forms of federal and state criminal and civil liability for internet intermediaries.” Llansó said the legal risks from the new law could potentially put small firms out of business after one infraction, jeopardizing classified ad sites, dating apps, social media platforms and other hosts of user-generated content. “By including SESTA's expansion of existing federal anti-trafficking law, which links liability to knowledge of specific content, the House bill will actually discourage some platforms from engaging in good-faith moderation efforts,” CDT said. CTA President Gary Shapiro said Friday that “moving forward on a House vote without having a legislative hearing on the impact of the SESTA language is ill-advised.”

A Wednesday Senate Commerce Committee hearing on Donald Trump's four FTC nominees is expected to touch on a wide range of issues, including the nominees' views on the agency's role in net neutrality, antitrust, cybersecurity and privacy issues, lawmakers and industry observers told us. Trump nominated Paul Weiss antitrust lawyer Joseph Simons, whom he plans to designate chairman; former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Assistant Director Rohit Chopra; Noah Phillips, aide to Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas; and former Delta Air Lines Senior Vice President-Legal, Regulatory and International Christine Wilson (see 1801250055 and 1801250066). The hearing is to begin at 9:30 a.m. in 216 Hart.