With digital legislation proliferating, a key question is how different regulatory approaches can work together, speakers said during an Atlantic Council webcast Monday. They strongly agreed that regulation is necessary in privacy/data protection, digital competition and online content moderation, but the issue is how best to coordinate regulatory regimes, said Mark MacCarthy, Brookings Institution, Center for Technology Innovation nonresident senior fellow. Approaches include a single agency or voluntary cooperation among relevant authorities, as in the U.K., panelists said.
Senate committees will take a proactive stance on AI legislation in 2024 now that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has wrapped up his AI forums, Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., told us last week.
Telecom and media companies support the intentions behind FCC and FTC “junk fees” regulatory actions, but implementation raises questions and potential compliance headaches, industry representatives said. At an FCBA event Monday, Brownstein Hyatt financial services lawyer Leah Dempsey said many industries see the White House and regulatory agency focus on junk fees as "kind of a campaign issue." She said President Joe Biden will likely be "touting the war on junk fees" at his next State of the Union address. Dempsey also said there are concerns that agencies are coming to predetermined outcomes on fees.
President Joe Biden signed off Friday on a continuing resolution (HR-2872) that averts a partial government shutdown, as expected (see 2401180057), the White House said. The CR funds the Agriculture Department’s Rural Utilities Service through March 1. In addition, it funds the FCC, FTC, NTIA, other Commerce Department agencies and the DOJ Antitrust Division through March 8.
It’s important for policymakers to “turn off” targeted advertising for children as a default setting, FTC Chairwoman Lina Khan said Thursday during an open meeting. Khan discussed the agency’s effort to update rules under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. The advertising issue is a “noteworthy” provision included in the agency’s update, which is open for public comment (see 2312280030), she said. Business models built on monetizing data can create a business incentive for “endlessly vacuuming up people’s data,” said Khan. The COPPA update ensures companies don’t “over-collect information about our kids in the first place” and makes it easier for parents to keep their children’s data out of the advertising technology ecosystem, said Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter. Behavioral advertising can also result in inappropriate ads for children, but the FTC's core concern is that companies can create commercial relationships with children and prey on “the fact that they’re kids,” Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya said.
President Joe Biden is expected to sign a continuing resolution (HR-2872) that would fund the FCC, FTC, NTIA, other Commerce Department agencies and the DOJ Antitrust Division through March 8. Congress passed the measure Thursday. The House voted 314-108 for HR-2872, which would fund the Agriculture Department’s Rural Utilities Service through March 1. The Senate earlier voted 77-18 to approve the measure. The CR, if signed, would avert a partial government shutdown that would otherwise begin late Friday night. The previous CR Congress passed in November funded the FCC, FTC, Commerce and DOJ through Feb. 2, while USDA's appropriation would have expired Friday night (see 2311160070).
Congress should “enshrine” the consumer welfare standard into law and defend companies against the White House's aggressive attack on acquisitions, former FTC Commissioner Christine Wilson said Thursday.
The FTC will coordinate with Asia Pacific law enforcement partners on privacy and data security-related investigations, the agency said Wednesday as it signed the Global Cooperation Arrangement for Privacy Enforcement (Global Cape). The agreement supplements the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation Cross-border Privacy Rules (APEC CBPR), which “facilitates cooperation and assistance in privacy and data security investigations among APEC’s Asian Pacific countries,” the FTC said. The new agreement allows coordination with countries outside the immediate region, it said. Nine countries have signed the APEC CBPR: U.S., Mexico, Japan, Canada, Singapore, South Korea, Australia, Chinese Taipei and the Philippines.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority appeared receptive to industry arguments that the court should overturn, or at least narrow, the Chevron doctrine, which gives agencies like the FCC and FTC deference in interpreting laws that Congress passes. The court heard oral argument Wednesday for more than 3.5 hours in two cases challenging Chevron deference, Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and Relentless v. Commerce. Both concern fishing regulations and don’t touch directly on communications regulation.
The White House “deeply believes” it’s critical that Congress restore FCC auction authority, Anne Neuberger, deputy national security adviser-cyber and emerging technology, said Thursday during a CES event. “Think about how much making spectrum available has enabled innovation,” she said: “That’s something that we’re working on closely with the Hill, and it’s an area that we know needs to be addressed.”