The Commerce Department and NTIA during President Joe Biden’s administration will strive to end interagency spectrum infighting that became endemic in recent years, Commerce Secretary nominee Gina Raimondo told the Senate Commerce Committee Tuesday. She said during her confirmation hearing NTIA should play a role in other matters, including broadband funding.
Section 230
Trade groups representing intellectual property rightsholders told the Patent and Trademark Office that secondary trademark infringement liability hasn't been effective in getting e-commerce platforms to police themselves. Some want Congress to define the parameters of this doctrine by passing a law. Comments were due Monday. The Computer and Communications Industry Association said shifting responsibility to platforms would reduce voluntary cooperation and wouldn't decrease the number of counterfeits for sale. The American Apparel and Footwear Association said the test of platform liability, that a company should “know or have reason to know” of trademark infringement, seems straightforward, but courts have applied it differently. “The court in Tiffany v. eBay believed that market-based forces would provide a strong incentive for platforms to combat counterfeits. Empirically, it is irrefutable that this assumption is false," said AAFA. The Shop Safe Act (HR-6058) from the last session of Congress would have created a new form of secondary liability for counterfeits, and AAFA said it needs a clearer definition and its coverage should be expanded. The National Association of Manufacturers said legislation is needed to set “judicial review standards that encourage courts to develop critical fact-specific case law.” NAM said some courts say Communications Decency Act Section 230 protections for platforms give them a safe harbor to host sellers of bogus goods, and that wasn't what Congress intended. Amazon noted that in 2019 it invested more than a half-billion dollars to fight counterfeits and other fraud and abuse on its site. “Amazon’s primary focus is on preventative, technology-driven tools built on machine learning and data science to proactively scan the more than 5 billion changes submitted to Amazon’s worldwide catalog" daily, it commented. “For every one of the self-service takedowns by brands, Amazon’s automated protections proactively stop more than 100 listings.” It said it launched a Counterfeit Crimes Unit in June 2020: "Amazon needs the help of rights holders, the company said, and information sharing, from both [Customs and Border Protection] on seizures and from other platforms, would help the company stop counterfeiters."
Ajit Pai, who leaves the FCC Wednesday, had one of the busiest conclusions to a chairmanship in recent history as he closed out many items. That was deliberate, Pai said in an interview. We’re “sprinting to the finish," he said Friday evening. Pai said all the big things he wanted to do he started in his first three years. “We didn’t want to leave significant items lingering out there for the last year,” he said: “Things can fall through the cracks before you know it.”
Communications Decency Act Section 230 becoming a big issue was a "remarkable turn of events," FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said during an FCBA virtual event Thursday: "I still can't believe that a $740 billion defense bill got vetoed over a telecom issue." FCBA bid farewell to Pai as FCC chairman, with predecessors welcoming him to life post-commission, including Newton Minow, Richard Wiley and Julius Genachowski. Another former chairman, NCTA CEO Michael Powell, said Pai joins the "Former Chairman Hall of Lame," adding he will have to "turn in that huge Reese's mug" that Pai drinks from during monthly commissioners' meetings. Other commissioners, past and present, thanked Pai for his efforts to expand access to 5G and spectrum, among other things. Pai acknowledged there's a long line of potential successors (see 2012310023) and offered an additional suggestion: the Philadelphia Flyers mascot, Gritty. Pai cracked jokes, as FCC chiefs would do in a non-pandemic year at FCBA's annual in-person chairman's dinner. He quipped that FCBA wanted to set up the event at the Washington Hilton but instead booked it at Washington Hilton Total Landscaping. Pai joked his separation due to working from home from Commissioner Brendan Carr was "too much to bear." And in a nod to campaign ads, Pai said "at this point, I think it is only appropriate to acknowledge and to congratulate the winner of the 2020 election -- American broadcasters." He said the commission has remained busy and noted the C-band auction passed $80 billion (see 2101070053). Pai ended by raising his Reese's mug, saying there will be a "big mug to fill" (see 2011300032) and thanking staff: "We made it, and we made it together."
Chairman Ajit Pai’s final FCC commissioners' meeting Wednesday and its subsequent news conferences included condemnations of President Donald Trump by Republicans, speculation about future action on social media moderation, and presentations on staff work during Pai’s tenure. Pai said he had planned pre-election to leave the post after a single term, declining to comment on his plans or the second impeachment of President Donald Trump.
Facebook, AT&T, Google, Microsoft, Intel and Airbnb said they’re limiting political contributions after Wednesday’s deadly riot at the Capitol. Also Monday, Amazon Web Services was hit with an antitrust lawsuit from Parler after AWS stopped hosting the social media service, which is popular with conservatives. The Computer & Communication Industry Association supported platforms’ right to suspend certain accounts involved “in the incitement of violence,” including President Donald Trump's. See here for our news bulletin on Twitter permanently yanking Trump's account Friday.
Communications Decency Act Section 230 should be rewritten and tweaked, not repealed, House Republicans told us after President Donald Trump failed to dismantle the statute through must-pass spending bills. House Democrats agreed there’s bipartisan consensus on the need to rework the tech industry’s liability shield.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai condemned rioters who took over the Capitol Wednesday and President Donald Trump’s challenges to the results of the November election, which led to the attack (see 2101080026). Pai also said he won't proceed with an NPRM on Communications Decency Act Section 230 (see 2101080051), during an appearance on C-SPAN's Communicators posted online Friday. Pai, who's doing a round of appearances before his Jan. 20 departure, also highlighted his push for more openness at the FCC, during a Free State Foundation webinar.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai slammed Donald Trump over the outgoing president's rhetoric against the Nov. 3 election results, which led protesters to storm the Capitol Wednesday and turn violent. Pai also confirmed he won't propose changes to how the FCC interprets a tech liability shield law, conforming with expectations (see here and here).
President Donald Trump railed against what he sees as GOP resistance to outright repeal of Communications Decency Act Section 230. “I've been telling these Republicans get rid of Section 230 and for some reason [Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky] and the group don't want to put it in there,” Trump said during a rally near the White House Wednesday, in support of his unfounded claims that he won reelection over Democratic President-elect Joe Biden. There were also protests at the Capitol amid Congress’ debate over certifying the election results that Biden won with 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Republican Commissioner Brendan Carr were among those condemning protesters who stormed the Capitol (see 2101060054). Major tech companies and social media platforms “shadow ban you and it should be illegal,” Trump said. Republicans who resist Section 230 repeal “don't realize that's going to be the end of the Republican Party as we know it.” Pai hasn't advanced the FCC 230 proceeding (see 2101050060). Trump in waning days of last Congress continued pushing for Section 230 repeal, which McConnell eventually tied into a push for increased COVID-19 stimulus payments (see 2012290049).