The Big Story: Lawmakers, FCC push for broadband investments. House Democrats introduced a new infrastructure framework this week that would invest $760 billion over a five-year period in critical transportation and development projects, including $86 billion to help expand broadband access across the United States. The Federal Communications Commission also voted yesterday to approve a $20.4 billion fund to support broadband expansion efforts across rural portions of the country over the next ten years.
The House Democrats’ proposal would invest $80 billion over five years in the deployment of high speed broadband access. An additional $5 billion would be invested in the “low-interest financing of broadband deployment,” while $540 million would be used to promote digital equity. Another $600 million would be set aside to “support digital equity, promote digital inclusion activities, and spur greater adoption of broadband among covered populations.” Meanwhile, phase one of the FCC’s fund would direct $16 billion to regions where current FCC data shows a lack of broadband service. The remaining $4.4 billion would be allocated in phase two of the FCC's fund once more in-depth mapping data is provided to the agency from broadband providers.
Expanding Internet access to underserved and rural communities provides entrepreneurs and users alike with greater access to online resources and opportunities. As we previously noted in a blog post, startups across the country frequently cite Internet access “as one of the major contributing factors to their ecosystem’s success." Further broadband investments will narrow the digital divide and spur greater startup growth and innovation.
Policy Roundup:
USMCA signed in White House ceremony. President Donald Trump signed the United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA) following strong bipartisan support for the trade deal in both chambers of Congress. As Engine Executive Director Evan Engstrom noted in a statement this week, the agreement "provides U.S. startups with greater certainty as they expand their business operations in a globally competitive online marketplace."
DOJ planning Section 230 public workshop. The Department of Justice announced that it is holding a public workshop on Feb. 19th to discuss Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Section 230 gives online platforms of all sizes the ability to moderate user-generated content on their sites without being held legally liable for users' speech.
Strong encryption protects vulnerable communities. In a Morning Consult op-ed, the LGBT Technology Partnership & Institute's Carlos Gutierrez highlighted the importance of strong encryption for vulnerable communities and noted that “creating ‘back doors’ to encrypted networks, as some government officials want to do, would expose already at-risk individuals to greater risk of having their data exposed or hacked.” For more information on the benefits of encryption and how it protects users, please see our most recent booklet written with the Charles Koch Institute on the "Nuts and Bolts of Encryption."
Court rejects broad interpretation of Audio Home Recording Act. A federal court rejected an expansive interpretation of the AHRA which could have resulted in onerous fees and mandates being applied to a wide range of tech products. Engine joined an amicus brief led by the Computer and Communications Industry Association last year that urged the court not to take a broad interpretation that would treat computers as audio home recording devices simply because they can store music.
FCC Commissioner says California’s AB 5 threatens workers. In an op-ed for The Sacramento Bee, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr writes about how California Assembly Bill 5—the state’s new “gig worker” law that limits the number of independent contractors that large firms and small startups alike can hire—“restrains that entrepreneurial spirit and forces workers into the government’s outdated view of employment.”
U.K. won’t implement EU copyright directive post-Brexit. Chris Skidmore—the United Kingdom’s Minister for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation—said the government will not adopt the European Union’s controversial copyright directive after it officially leaves the bloc today. Provisions within the directive force startups and other platforms to use expensive content moderation tools to police user content.
Startup Roundup:
#StartupsEverywhere: Cincinnati, Ohio. Located in The Queen City, software startup 10XTS is using blockchain and distributed ledger technologies to help drive the next generation of regulatory compliant financial services data management. We recently spoke with Michael Hiles, 10XTS’s CEO, to learn more about his startup’s work, the Cincinnati startup ecosystem, and his work on behalf of the Token Taxonomy Act to support the development of the U.S. blockchain industry.
