Karl Herchenroeder

The Senate Banking Committee is looking for bipartisan consensus on data privacy issues, but and not yet considering its own bill (see 1905070066), ranking member Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, told us. Members will discuss data privacy during a hearing Tuesday with a GAO official and a privacy expert. The House Antitrust Subcommittee plans a hearing that day on big tech’s impact on journalism (see 1906060065).

The National Institute of Standards and Technology shouldn’t rush developing artificial intelligence standards and should rely on existing international efforts, stakeholders commented through Monday (see 1905300048). A “rush to impose standards could hamper innovation or lead to standards that quickly become irrelevant as technology advances,” AT&T said. Microsoft said it’s “premature” to develop “sector‐specific vertical standards at this time,” given AI’s continued development. Shift focus to promoting development of “open frameworks, shared definitions, and related tools -- including evaluations, data sets, and metrics,” IBM recommended. “Premature standardization is even more important to avoid given the rapid rate of innovation,” the Information Technology Industry Council said. Rather than creating new standards, “look to existing data standards for acquisition, storage, access and use,” ITI said. The association emphasized existing international standards established by organizations like the International Organization of Standardization/IEC Joint Technical Committee. Microsoft also urged NIST to retain international principles like those from the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development. The agency should address analysis gaps with government, academia and industry, but it needs to avoid “becoming a standards‐setting organization,” the company said. Like Microsoft and ITI, BSA|The Software Alliance backed “robust” U.S. participation in the development of international standards. Global standards “have the added benefit of mitigating the risks that can accompany country-specific standards,” BSA said. Strive for federal standards in the handling and securing AI data, the Center for Democracy & Technology said, and emphasize transparency for AI development. Establish a “uniform vocabulary for describing structures, elements, parameters, hyperparameters, and techniques for developing” machine learning systems, CDT said.

Antitrust law shouldn’t be used to address political and policy concerns, NetChoice Vice President Carl Szabo and Public Knowledge President Gene Kimmelman agreed on C-SPAN’s The Communicators. Szabo and Kimmelman, however, disagreed through most of the discussion, to have been televised this weekend. The industry representative defended what he sees as “robust” tech industry competition, while Kimmelman welcomed increased antitrust scrutiny from enforcers and Congress (see 1906060032).

The Senate Judiciary Committee is open to launching an investigation into tech industry competition, mirroring the House Judiciary Committee’s probe announced this week, Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told us Tuesday. Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and John Kennedy, R-La., told reporters they would welcome parallel efforts in the Senate. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., argued such matters are best handled by DOJ and the FTC.

DOJ initiated formal review of the ASCAP and BMI consent decrees Wednesday, as expected (see 1903010052), requesting comment through July 10. The review’s purpose “is to determine whether the decrees should be maintained in their current form, modified, or terminated,” Justice said. First issued in 1941, the ASCAP consent decree was last modified in 2001 and BMI in 1941. “It is important for the Division to reassess periodically whether these decrees continue to serve the American consumer and whether they should be changed to achieve greater efficiency and enhance competition in light of innovations in the industry,” Antitrust Division Chief Makan Delrahim said. DOJ included several questions in the solicitation: Do the decrees serve important competitive purposes, or are they no longer necessary? Do they effectively protect competition? What modifications would enhance competition and efficiency? Would termination serve the public interest? Would a delayed termination be more beneficial? Are “existing antitrust statutes and applicable case law sufficient to protect competition in the absence of the Consent Decrees”? ASCAP CEO Elizabeth Matthews welcomed the news: “A more flexible framework with less government regulation will allow us to compete in a free market, which we believe is the best way for our music creators to be rewarded for the value of their music.” BMI looks “forward to working with the DOJ, licensees and our other music partners to help ensure a smooth process that safeguards a vibrant future for music.” NAB appreciates the “tone” of DOJ’s inquiry regarding the ongoing importance of the framework, CEO Gordon Smith said: “Absent broader legislative reforms, their preservation is essential to a fully functional music marketplace.” The “modification, elimination or even the possible sunset of the decrees at the present time would lead to chaos for the entire marketplace,” MIC Coalition said, noting the decrees have helped mitigate anticompetitive behavior.

Expect patent "reform" legislation by July, Senate Intellectual Property Subcommittee Chairman Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and ranking member Chris Coons, D-Del., told us Wednesday (see 1906040054). The subcommittee hosted its second hearing on the item Wednesday. The third and final hearing is Tuesday.

The House Oversight Committee plans a third hearing on facial recognition technology in about six weeks to ensure the FBI is using the tool properly, Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md., told reporters Tuesday. Lawmakers hammered an FBI official during a hearing, in which a GAO official outlined agency privacy and transparency failures for the technology. A federal moratorium on the technology remains on the table (see 1905220058). Cummings, numerous Democrats, ranking member Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., are exploring legislation.

Congress needs to amend patent law, which is outdated, overcomplicated and causing the U.S. to fall behind competitors in China and Europe, experts told the Senate Intellectual Property Subcommittee Tuesday.

Lack of broadband market competition disempowers consumers, and increased FTC oversight is needed, consumer advocates told the agency. But industry groups argued existing regulations mean the market is more competitive than ever. The agency collected comments through Friday in docket 2018-0113 on broadband competition and consumer protection issues.

The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board is about “midway” through developing recommendations for Congress on U.S. surveillance programs, Chairman Adam Klein told us Friday. NSA is reportedly considering letting the controversial Section 215 phone surveillance program expire (see 1905060048) in December when the USA Freedom Act sunsets.