On September 9, 2015, SIIA’s Senior Vice President for Public Policy, Mark MacCarthy hosted a Hill event with the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) to urge the immediate passage of patent reform legislation.  SIIA strongly and vocally supports passage of the Innovation Act so that patent trolls can no longer use abusive litigation tactics to stifle innovation and growth of small and large businesses alike.  Chairman Goodlatte reassured the audience that the patent bill would move to the House floor “soon.”

SIIA Responds to Student Privacy Fears With increased public attention to the issues of student data privacy in K-12 schools, SIIA released responses to Frequently Asked Questions about Student Data Privacy. SIIA hopes it will help address much of the public misunderstanding and inform policymakers. Adding to the debate was a recent critical study out of Fordham Law School, “Privacy and Cloud Computing in Public Schools.” SIIA responded with a statement that the CLIP Study on Privacy and Cloud Computing Doesn’t Account for Strict Federal Data Protections. SIIA also held a webinar for members only with federal officials explaining FERPA guidance. SIIA expects 2014 to present a very busy state (and possibly federal) legislative season around student information privacy and related issues. For example, SIIA is reviewing recent NY State legislation after having testified in November before the state education committee.