State regulators face competing Lifeline draft resolutions at NARUC's winter meeting on an FCC proposal to target low-income USF subsidies to facilities-based providers (see 1801300023 and 1801300023). A draft resolution to urge the FCC to continue allowing resellers to receive Lifeline funding appears to have more support than a draft that welcomed the proposed shift, some told us Friday, though compromise or postponement of consideration is always possible. Competing Lifeline draft resolutions were pulled from the last meeting (see 1711130035). At the winter meeting, which was to begin Sunday and run through Wednesday, NARUC is also to consider draft telecom resolutions on nationwide number portability and pole-attachment overlashing.
Democratic state lawmakers are promising another run at ISP privacy rules this year as legislative sessions open. Legislators recently introduced fresh bills countering congressional repeal of the FCC broadband privacy rules in states including Florida, Kentucky, Vermont and Wisconsin (see 1801080044), and many of last year’s state bills that didn’t get final votes will carry over into 2018 sessions, said state legislative association officials. State lawmakers backing the bills told us they’re not daunted by 2017 failures or possible federal pre-emption. But the more recent controversial take-back of 2015 FCC net neutrality rules is spurring many state bills and could take attention from privacy (see 1712210034), some observers said.
The House Rules Committee postponed Wednesday's vote sending to the floor the FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act (HR-4478) renewing Section 702 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act authority until Dec. 31, 2021. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., vowed to filibuster if the bill comes to the Senate. The House Intelligence Committee passed it in an acrimonious vote Dec.1 (see 1712010044). Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who strongly backed additional privacy safeguards for Section 702 searches, said HR-4478 “is an eleventh-hour attempt to sneak an unchecked warrantless surveillance program through Congress.” New America’s Open Technology Institute opposes the bill because it “makes no meaningful reforms” to privacy, said Robyn Greene, policy counsel and government affairs lead. The bill would allow the controversial “abouts collection” provision that permits collection of Americans’ communications that reference a surveillance target, and “back-door searches,” which enable law enforcement to access the Section 702 database without a warrant. American Civil Liberties Union Legislative Counsel Neema Singh Guliani said the bill would "open up new avenues for government overreach."
The FCC approved an NPRM seeking comment on possible relaxation or elimination of the national cap on TV station ownership on a 3-2 party-line vote, as expected (see 1712060051). Though Commissioner Mike O’Rielly voted with the other Republicans to approve, he said he agreed with the Democrats the FCC doesn’t have authority to alter the cap. Despite that, if the FCC acts to modify the cap after the NPRM, O’Rielly said he will “happily support” Thursday's action: “That is not to suggest my position has changed, but only that I believe in getting to finality and am willing to cast a vote that will allow the commission to take the needed step to get this to court review.”
DOJ doesn't support adding a warrant requirement to Section 702 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act authority, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein told several skeptical lawmakers in Wednesday’s oversight hearing. Protecting civil liberties is “essential” in reauthorizing the authority, said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., in opening remarks. He urged Congress to take up the committee’s bipartisan USA Liberty Act (HR-3989) (see 1711080045), which “maintains the integrity of the program while protecting cherished civil liberties.“ The committee passed the bill "despite the department’s lobbying efforts against the bill,” Goodlatte said, asking Rosenstein to explain why DOJ opposes the measure. Rosenstein said 702 authority is “critical” to national security, but the committee's bill that would require a warrant for certain searches would “re-erect” the wall blocking efforts to track down terrorists that existed before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against the U.S.
Prospects are dim for a vote on a stand-alone bill reauthorizing Section 702 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act authority before it expires Dec. 31, so reauthorization may take another pathway, lobbyists and privacy advocates told us. Three Senate and two House bills are vying for support, with negotiations continuing on a compromise measure that could be wrapped into a year-end spending bill. Congress is set to pass a short-term spending bill Friday that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wants to “keep clean,” tweeted a McConnell aide Monday, which would mean a second spending bill would need to be passed right before the holidays.
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr disputed criticism that net neutrality would be scrapped under an "internet freedom" draft ruling and orders targeted for a December vote. "The claim that we're getting rid of net neutrality is not true," he said in an interview Friday. He said 2015 Title II broadband regulation under the Communications Act, which the draft would undo, isn't needed to uphold net neutrality. "We have numerous robust consumer protections in this order," he said, referring to draft decisions to empower FTC oversight and other safeguards.
The White House is willing to yield to demands for changes to Section 702 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act authority, which expires at year’s end, Cybersecurity Coordinator Rob Joyce said Wednesday at an Aspen Institute event. Joyce announced transparency measures for a program that gathers information on vulnerabilities resulting in “zero day” flaws in products and services. The software industry and some privacy groups welcomed the changes to the Vulnerabilities Equities Process (VEP) Charter as a step toward increasing public understanding of cyber threat information the government holds. Over the past few months, the administration developed a "rigorous standard" that will improve the process and release key detail, Joyce said.
Privacy Shield is working well but needs improvement, the European Commission said in its inaugural review of the trans-Atlantic agreement for protecting Europeans' personal data held in the U.S. By signing the pact with the U.S., the EC took on part of the responsibility for what happens with Europeans' private data on American soil, so it's crucial that the system have no "gaps and loopholes," said Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality Commissioner Vera Jourová at a webcast Politico event Wednesday. The change from the Obama to the Trump administration raised concerns for the EC, which "desperately" needed to clarify whether it's "America first or America only," she said. Jourová's latest trip to Washington dispelled that worry, she said at a later news briefing. The FTC and tech industry agreed Privacy Shield is a success, but one digital rights activist doesn't expect it to hold up.
Legislation to revise communications surveillance laws will be officially offered Friday, House Judiciary Committee leaders said at a news conference Thursday. Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., said he’s confident a bill can be passed before authority expires Dec. 31. A discussion draft released Wednesday (see 1710040066) attempts to strike a balance between providing law enforcement tools to target criminal activity and the need to protect civil liberties, lawmakers said. The White House will continue to seek a clean reauthorization with no sunset, said a National Security Council spokesman.