Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted yesterday to repeal the Obama Administration’s net neutrality regulations, also known as the “Open Internet Order.”  That order, adopted by the FCC in 2015, reclassified broadband internet access providers as communication service providers for regulation under Title II of the Telecommunications Act, providing the FCC broad authority to regulate “common carriers” and created explicit prohibitions on broadband providers to block or throttle sites or apps or offer paid prioritization of any Internet content. The new rules put in place by the FCC, officially referred to as the “Restoring Internet Freedom Order,” have been touted as “light touch” regulation by Chairman Ajit Pai, whereby broadband providers will still be required to adhere to transparency requirements regarding their treatment of content, which will be regulated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).  Earlier thi ...

On December 11, 2015, SIIA and other associations sent a letter to Vice Chairman Diane Feinstein and Chairman Richard Burr of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on the Senate bill S. 2372, The Requiring Reporting of Online Terrorist Activity Act.

This first appeared in The Hill’s Congress Blog.

Inactivity in Congress is not entirely new or surprising, except when there is broad bipartisan, bicameral support for legislation that also enjoy strong support from both civil society and industry.

The Affordable Care Act contains the first-ever tax on employee health benefits.  Starting in 2018, it will require companies to pay a tax of 40% on the value of the health benefits provide to their workers above a certain threshold.  For a single person, the limit is $10,200; for families, it is $27,500.

On Monday, Senate leaders dropped a provision from the Senate’s 2016 Intelligence Authorization bill that would have created an obligation for social media companies and others to report undefined “terrorist activity” to the U.S. government.  This is a big relief.  SIIA recently came out strongly opposed to the proposal saying, “This terrible idea would bring innocent people under government surveillance for protected expression, while doing nothing to make us safer.  The Senate should drop the provision.”  We are delighted that they have done so.

As Congress considers student privacy legislation in the waning days of this session, it is important to keep in mind two major points.  First, strong, multi-layered protections are already in place: current law, contracts, and voluntary industry commitments are all working together to safeguard student privacy.  In particular, current law already forbids using student information for targeted advertising, and the industry is in compliance with this prohibition.

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.”