Georgia’s Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee passed a social media bill Tuesday modeled after Texas and Florida laws that were enjoined by federal district courts (see 2202100068). SB-393 advanced 6-5 and now goes to the Rules Committee.
Karl Herchenroeder
Karl Herchenroeder, Associate Editor, is a technology policy journalist for publications including Communications Daily. Born in Rockville, Maryland, he joined the Warren Communications News staff in 2018. He began his journalism career in 2012 at the Aspen Times in Aspen, Colorado, where he covered city government. After that, he covered the nuclear industry for ExchangeMonitor in Washington. You can follow Herchenroeder on Twitter: @karlherk
The Senate Judiciary Committee passed the Earn It Act by voice vote Thursday (see 2202090050 and 2202010019). Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., vowed to push a companion measure forward in the House. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., told us he’s going to “fight” the bill “every step of the way.”
Expect a House suspension vote soon on one of the Judiciary Committee’s less controversial antitrust bills, House Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman David Cicilline, D-R.I., and ranking member Ken Buck, R-Colo., told us Tuesday.
Senators will try to attach mandatory cyber incident reporting language to must-pass legislation or other vehicles in the near future, Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Gary Peters, D-Mich., told us Tuesday.
The House passed semiconductor-funding legislation 222-210 on a largely party-line vote Friday. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and lawmakers are looking ahead to conference talks to combine elements of the newly House-passed America Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing, Pre-Eminence in Technology and Economic Strength Act (HR-4521) and Senate-passed U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (S-1260) (see 2202010001).
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 21-1 Thursday to advance to the floor another major piece of legislation aimed at regulating the tech industry. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, was the only member against the Open App Markets Act. S-2710 would open up app store competition for Apple and Google (see 2108110055). The committee passed a bill last week that would ban Big Tech platforms from unfairly self-preferencing products (see 2201200066).
Senators are working with House members to “improve” legislation that would allow news publishers to negotiate revenue sharing with online platforms (see 2201140054), Senate Antitrust Subcommittee Chair Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said during a Wednesday hearing. Ranking member Mike Lee, R-Utah, spoke against the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (HR-1735/S-673) and efforts to mirror a similar negotiating framework Australia passed in 2021.
Senate Commerce Committee leaders were hoping to meet with Senate leadership Tuesday or Wednesday to establish chips legislation negotiations, ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., told us Tuesday. Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., addressed the possibility of moving to informal conference negotiations to speed up the process.
Indiana’s Senate Commerce Committee unanimously approved privacy legislation Thursday modeled after Virginia’s new law. Several members said they need more information on a last-minute amendment before they can support the bill on the floor. The House hasn't introduced companion legislation. The law would take effect in January 2024.
There won’t be progress on the cyber front without collaboration between government and industry, state and industry officials agreed Wednesday at an Information Technology Industry Council event. “Self-preservation” often incentivizes companies not to seek government aid in breaches, said Florida Chief Information Officer James Grant. He cited industry’s fear of losing jobs, or shame over cyberincidents: “We have to establish trust that threat actors don’t care about branches or divisions of government, and we are only as strong as our weakest vulnerability.” Entities need to “get away from victim-blaming,” said Texas Chief Information Officer Amanda Crawford. “There is no silver bullet for any of this, so we need to understand there isn’t a shame to this. You need to be able to report and get back on your feet.” Texas successfully responded to a 2019 ransomware attack because it had a statewide cyber plan, she said, noting Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) declaration of a state of disaster, the first time a cyberincident triggered that. The ultimate goal should be statewide and citywide visibility of threats, consistent reporting and rapid response, said Cisco's U.S. Sled Systems Engineering Director Mike Witzman. “We really welcome that industry partnership with government.” He said government and organizations should implement multifactor authentication and zero trust architecture as standards.