Hatch Encourages Passage of Pro Tech, Innovation Policies

It’s “time for a Republican-controlled Congress to “unleash the pent-up energy of pro-innovation policies,” and address tech priorities such as patent reform, data privacy, high-skilled immigration reform and Internet governance, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said during a keynote speech at Lincoln Labs’ Reboot Congress event Thursday. As chairman of the Senate Republican High-Tech Task Force, Hatch said he has developed an innovation policy agenda for the 114th Congress to “protect legitimate intellectual property rights from abusive patent litigation.” Patent trolls “bring thousands of frivolous patent infringement lawsuits each year in attempts to extort settlements from conscientious, hard-working technology innovators,” costing the U.S. economy about $60 billion each year, Hatch said. Current law fails to combat patent trolls, he said. He said it’s time to reform the America Invents Act, which Hatch introduced in 2005 with Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. Patent reform legislation has been proposed, but Hatch said he will “oppose any bill that fails to prevent patent trolls from litigating-and-dashing.” Hatch encouraged continuing bipartisan support for updating U.S. privacy laws, encouraging action so “privacy laws correspond to present realities and keep up with technological advances.” The Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) should be updated immediately “to safeguard data stored abroad from improper government access,” he said. “Congress has not adequately updated the law since its enactment, and technological developments have resulted in disparate treatment between online and offline communications.” Though Hatch said he agrees with the premise of the ECPA reform bills (see 1501280044) that were recently introduced in the House and Senate, they don’t establish a “framework for how the U.S. government can access data stored abroad,” he said. Americans' privacy would not be protected by foreign governments, he said. “If the federal officials can obtain emails stored outside the United States simply by serving a warrant on a provider subject to U.S. process, nothing stops governments in other countries -- including China and Russia -- from seeking e-mails of Americans stored in the U.S. from providers subject to Chinese and Russian process.” Hatch said he plans to reintroduce the Law Enforcement Access to Data Stored Abroad Act, or LEADS, in the coming weeks to ensure Americans' privacy is protected by all governments. “We must strengthen privacy in the digital age and promote trust in U.S. technologies worldwide by safeguarding data stored abroad,” Hatch said, “while still enabling law enforcement to fulfill its important public safety mission.”