FCC Chairman Ajit Pai continues to hold off advancing the agency's Communications Decency Act Section 230 proceeding (see 2012230065). He has yet to circulate any item on 230, agency officials told us. Observers say this indicates the agency won't act on the section before Pai leaves Jan. 20, when Joe Biden is sworn in as president.
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 FTC’s recent inquiry into social media company data collection practices could likely result in enforcement action, much like the agency’s 6(b) study that led to its antitrust case against Facebook, an ex-official and attorneys said in interviews. Some said to expect the social media companies to negotiate with the agency over the scope of the latest 6(b) study, which seeks details on how data practices affect younger users and others (see 2012150005).
Expect legal and constitutional challenges against the Case Act (see 1910250047), experts told us. Congress passed the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement (Case) Act (HR-2426/S-1273) last week, which would create a voluntary small claims board within the Copyright Office, as part of the COVID-19 relief package.
Texas filed a multistate lawsuit against Google for anti-competitive conduct, exclusionary practices and deceptive representations, state Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) announced Wednesday. Also signing the suit were Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota and Utah.
The FTC has received more than 270,000 COVID-19-related complaints this year with a total fraud loss of more than $200 million, said Consumer and Business Education Division Senior Project Manager Colleen Tressler during a joint webinar Wednesday with the FCC. Top such complaints involve online shopping for in-demand products and text message and phone scams, said Tressler. FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau Chief Patrick Webre cited promising vaccine reports as he expressed optimism “that life may be able to return to a sense of normalcy in the not-too-distant future.” Scams continue, he said, with perpetrators trying to steal identities and capitalize on uncertainty, at-risk groups and stimulus programs. Robocalls remain a top complaint to the FCC, said Consumer Affairs and Outreach Division Associate Chief Keyla Hernandez-Ulloa. Elijah Hebert, a U.S. Postal Inspection Service inspector, suggested consumers buy products only from “known, reliable retailers and e-commerce companies.”
Senate Intellectual Property Subcommittee Chairman Thom Tillis, R-N.C., will release a discussion draft Friday for updating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (see 2010050061), he said at a hearing Tuesday. It will have “revolutionary” concepts for preventing online piracy and protecting individual users, he said.
Congress should provide relief for the live entertainment industry in its next aid package, Patriot Management President Ron Laffitte told the Senate Consumer Protection Subcommittee during a hearing Tuesday. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., Senate Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chairman Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and subcommittee ranking member Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., described how COVID-19 is affecting the live entertainment industry, citing an inability to work and venues struggling to stay in business. The concern is frontline workers in the industry, said Wicker. Relief should focus on employees and contractors, said Laffitte, with grants and loans for payroll. Congress should extend retention tax credits, he said, so workers keep their jobs and employee-sponsored healthcare.
Republican senators are watching closely to see how the FTC and state enforcers apply antitrust standards to digital platforms in lawsuits against Facebook (see 2012090062). Some senators offered skepticism in interviews about a potential Facebook breakup and the forced sale of WhatsApp and Instagram, as requested by the FTC. The agency is in a far different position than when it allowed the Instagram and WhatsApp deals, legal experts told us, while drawing comparisons to the Microsoft case in the 1990s.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., withdrew his Section 230 legislation at Thursday’s markup, setting his sights on updating the tech industry’s liability shield in 2021. An amendment from Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., which would establish a private right of action for individuals to sue platforms, failed 5-16 with support from one Democrat, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., is open to a U.S.-EU technology council effort to address the Privacy Shield and other tech issues, he told us Wednesday: “I am open to suggestions to a very tough, tough problem that may defy a solution.”