The Big Story: House passes troubling copyright bill. The House this week voted in favor of the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act (CASE Act), legislation that would create an extra-judicial Copyright Claims Board within the U.S. Copyright Office to adjudicate “small-claim” copyright infringement claims.
While the goal of the bill is laudable, as currently written, the legislation would create further uncertainty in copyright law and allow bad actors to move forward with questionable infringement claims against startups and users alike. Any startup, entrepreneur, or casual Internet user who ends up before the tribunal would not have the opportunity to appeal the Board’s decision, and could be forced to pay up to $30,000 per proceeding in financial damages.
As Engine Executive Director Evan Engstrom noted in a statement after the House’s vote, “The Senate now has the opportunity to examine and rectify the many flaws in this bill, so that the resulting law enables small copyright holders to pursue relief from true infringement without opening up startups and their users to a complex quasi-judicial system without any traditional legal safeguards.”
Policy Roundup:
House panel looks at Facebook's Libra project. Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg told lawmakers this week that the company is willing to pull out of its proposed Libra cryptocurrency project if U.S. regulators did not approve the initiative, but he cautioned that China’s planned cryptocurrency effort could threaten America’s tech and financial leadership across the globe. The House Financial Services hearing also touched on content moderation practices, political ad review process, and business practices.
Concerns about China and tech. Trump administration officials are reportedly divided over how to respond to national security concerns about China’s access to U.S. technology products, with some officials concerned that any overly aggressive actions could harm American companies. Chinese telecoms firm Huawei, which was blacklisted by the Commerce Department, is also reportedly in talks with some U.S. companies about licensing its 5G network technology. Meanwhile, lawmakers expressed concerns in a letter to Acting Director of National Intelligence Joseph Maguire that Chinese-owned social media app TikTok is “a potential counterintelligence threat” that should be investigated.
House panel advances online extremism bill. The House Homeland Security Committee voted to advance legislation that would empower a 12-member commission of experts to research how online platforms “have been exploited to carry out mass-casualty targeted violence” and recommend potential legislative solutions to Congress.
FTC takes action against stalkerware. The Federal Trade Commission took its first-ever action against a company that produces “stalkerware,” software that can be used to surveil text messages, location data, and other personal information. The agency announced that it was barring software company Retina-X from selling other stalking-type apps unless it could guarantee a legitimate use for them, and also required the company to delete all of the data collected by its software.
Time to embrace encryption. Jim Baker, the former general counsel of the FBI and the current Director of National Security and Cybersecurity at the R Street Institute, wrote in a Lawfare blog post that “it is time for governmental authorities—including law enforcement—to embrace encryption,” calling it “one of the few mechanisms that the United States and its allies can use to more effectively protect themselves from existential cybersecurity threats.”
Encryption briefing today. The Internet Society, in partnership with the Center for Democracy & Technology, LGBT Tech, and the Open Technology Institute at New America, will hold a two-part briefing on the technical and human elements of encryption today at noon.
Bill would make users’ online data interoperable. Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) introduced legislation that would allow users to move their data between various sites by requiring online platforms to make user data interoperable with other platforms.
Startup Roundup:
#StartupsEverywhere: Orange County, California. Orange County has more to offer to young professionals than Disneyland and surfing. We spoke with Scott Fox, CEO of OC Startup Council, about how he is working to support early stage startups in Orange County by connecting them with available resources through this organization.
