TechNet Members to Meet With Hatch on Encryption, Other 2016 Priorities

Senate Republican High-Tech Task Force Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, plans a special roundtable Wednesday with TechNet members on cross-border data flows, encryption and privacy, intellectual property protections, the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement and other issues, said a news release from his office. More than 25 CEOs and senior executives -- including Oracle CEO Safra Catz, Cisco Executive Chairman John Chambers, Microsoft President-Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith and Google General Counsel Kent Walker -- will discuss the political network's legislative priorities for 2016, the release said. The discussion won't be open to the media and public. Hatch's task force had a closed discussion April 20 with Gibson Dunn attorney Ted Olson on encryption. Olson led Apple's legal fight with the government over getting the company's help in trying to access the contents of an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino, California, mass shooters (see 1604180028). After the discussion, Hatch said in a statement he appreciated Apple's "willingness to engage in a public debate about how best to balance the needs of law enforcement agencies with those of our technology companies. These are not easy issues, and it will take input from every side to develop a viable solution."