Karl Herchenroeder

Senate Crime and Terrorism Subcommittee Chairman Josh Hawley, R-Mo., introduced legislation Wednesday that would ban the use of TikTok by all federal employees on government devices. “Do we really want Beijing having the geolocation data of all federal employees, having their keystrokes?” he asked reporters after a subcommittee hearing.

Millions of small businesses are faced with overwhelming and unfair tax compliance burdens because of the Supreme Court’s Wayfair decision (see 1807240040), said House Small Business Subcommittee Chairman Andy Kim, D-N.J. Ranking Republican Kevin Hern, Oklahoma, cited impacts on small-business owners in his state, during Tuesday’s hearing. Halstead Bead Finance Director Brad Scott said his Arizona company has spent $183,000 and more than 3,800 hours to collect less than $80,000 in sales tax. FindTape.com is registered in 30 states, which costs $600 monthly, testified President Kevin Mahoney. The bigger issue is the time it takes to reconcile the filings, typically about one or two days a month, he said. About half the states have followed South Dakota’s threshold of “more than $100,000 in sales or at least 200 separate transactions to the in-state market, while the other half adopted different thresholds,” said Grant Thornton Principal Jamie Yesnowitz, for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. South Dakota helped spark the court case. A lack of uniformity impairs business growth, said Yesnowitz. It has taken a year to comply and register and $75,000, said K-Log Vice President Linda Lester. Witnesses sought a uniform national standard.

YouTube illegally deceives users by “allowing violent murder videos” to spread in violation of its terms of service, gun safety advocate Andy Parker alleged in an FTC complaint Thursday. The agency confirmed it received the complaint, and Google defended its “vigilant” policy enforcement record against such content. Google’s “reprehensible and ongoing failure” to remove these monetized videos from YouTube is illegal under the FTC Act, which polices unfair and deceptive practices, Parker said at the National Press Club. Parker’s complaint stems from a video of his 24-year-old daughter, a reporter who was assassinated on live TV in 2015 (see 2002030059). He told us he’s also floating legislative proposals to the offices of Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, both Virginia Democrats. He planned to meet with their offices after the news conference to discuss proposals that would amend Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act to address “targeted harassment, hate speech and murder videos.” Google’s Community Guidelines are “designed to protect the YouTube community, including those affected by tragedies,” a spokesperson said. Policies prohibit such videos, and the platform has removed thousands of copies of the video for violating policies, the spokesperson said: “We will continue to stay vigilant and improve our policy enforcement.” Georgetown University Law Center's Civil Rights Clinic helped Parker file the complaint. A separate Georgetown clinic filed a 2018 complaint against Google involving child-directed content. That proceeding resulted in a $170 million fine against Google from the FTC and the Office of the New York Attorney General (see 1909040066). Offices for Kaine and Warner didn't comment.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Observers are split on whether the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will side with the FTC or Qualcomm in a key tech antitrust decision expected in the coming months (see 2002130058). Qualcomm, Intel, Ericsson and Samsung didn’t comment Friday, after the previous day's oral argument. We interviewed experts following oral argument.

SAN FRANCISCO -- A three-judge panel for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals questioned during oral argument Thursday whether antitrust law, not patent law, is best to address Qualcomm’s potential violations related to chip licensing (see 2002120059). One judge appeared to dismiss DOJ’s argument that FTC antitrust enforcement against Qualcomm would threaten national security.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Government and Qualcomm officials will argue Thursday in federal court in a case with implications for 5G technology, FTC antitrust authority and the tech industry (see 1910100017). Qualcomm said the FTC’s antitrust lawsuit threatens national security because of the impact on U.S. companies competing with China for 5G technology dominance. DOJ sided with Qualcomm, while rival Intel and automakers backed the commission (see 1912020029).

The House Commerce Committee is committed to advancing bipartisan legislation for regulating autonomous vehicles, Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said at a hearing Tuesday. Ranking member Greg Walden, R-Ore., asked why a bipartisan plan that passed the House in 2017 but stalled in the Senate (see 2001100042) isn’t enough. Certain protections are needed to ensure self-driving cars operate safely, Pallone said. The legislation should “facilitate the collection and reporting of vital crash and incident data, and protect Americans’ rights to access the courts for the inevitable incidents related to self-driving cars,” he said. Bipartisan legislation can be advanced without compromising safety, said Walden. If Congress fails to pass a bill, “investment in this transformative technology will go abroad,” said House Consumer Protection Subcommittee ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash. “If we fail, the safety, less congestion, and mobility benefits that come with this technology will go elsewhere.” CTA CEO Gary Shapiro, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety President Cathy Chase and Alliance for Automotive Innovation CEO John Bozzella urged passage of legislation, with elements from the existing bills. A law is needed to ensure the federal government is responsible for regulation, which will make the U.S. more competitive, Shapiro said. “The worst outcome would be for Congress to delay the enactment of meaningful legislation that would establish the needed federal framework to realize these safety and mobility solutions,” Bozzella said.

China, India and the EU are among the regions tech and intellectual property groups recommended the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative monitor for international IP infractions. Public comments were due Friday for USTR’s 2020 Special 301 Review (see 1902080063). USTR has a Feb. 26 hearing. The Internet Association cited the EU’s new “onerous systems of copyright liability for internet services,” specifically the copyright directive. It “directly conflicts with U.S. law and requires a broad range of U.S. consumer and enterprise firms to install filtering technologies, pay European organizations for activities that are entirely lawful under the U.S. copyright framework, and face direct liability for third-party content,” IA said. IA didn’t recommend any specific countries for USTR’s priority watch list or watch list, raising concerns about China, India, Vietnam, Chile, Japan, Hong Kong and many others. BSA|The Software Alliance recommended USTR include Chile, China, India, Indonesia and Vietnam on its priority watch list; Argentina, Brazil, Korea, Mexico and Thailand on its watch list; and the EU as a region of concern. BSA cited measures that create market access barriers in the EU. The Computer & Communications Industry Association didn’t offer specific recommendations for the priority watch list or watch list. CCIA cited the EU’s recently enacted Copyright Directive and policies India is pursuing, which “pose significant negative consequences for the digital economy and depart from global norms.” Any “discriminatory practices under the guise of intellectual property that target U.S. exports should be identified and discouraged by USTR,” CCIA said. The International Intellectual Property Alliance recommended Argentina, Chile, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, Taiwan, Ukraine and Vietnam for the priority watch list. It recommended Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Switzerland, Thailand and UAE for the watch list. IIPA suggested the U.S. engage trading partners to “remove discriminatory and restrictive trade barriers in those countries that harm exports of U.S. creative goods and services.”

Governments should quicken their pace to increase tech regulation, Microsoft President Brad Smith said during an interview with C-SPAN's The Communicators, to have been televised this weekend. A strong federal privacy law is vital, but a global solution is best, he said, noting Microsoft is “pretty enthusiastic” about EU’s general data protection regulation. “Digital technology has gone longer with less regulation than almost any technology since the middle of the 1800s,” he said. “The market, consumers and even the industry itself would be better served for the long term with a different balance.” He noted the importance of data centers and Ireland, which he said is to data what Switzerland is to money. Ireland is a safe place with mild temperatures for data centers and a network of laws for protecting privacy and moving data, he said, noting about 35 percent of European data is stored in Ireland. Microsoft has more than 100 data centers in 20 countries, he said. It’s becoming the largest consumer of electricity in the world, the executive said. The weaponization of data starts with hacking by political states waging disinformation campaigns, Smith said, noting Microsoft spends $1 billion yearly on security.

House Science Committee ranking member Frank Lucas, R-Okla., introduced legislation that would establish a national science and technology strategy targeting Chinese threats. Citing risks of losing U.S. leads in quantum information science, artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing, Lucas introduced the Securing American Leadership in Science and Technology Act during a hearing Wednesday. It would authorize “doubling of basic research funding over the next 10 years at the Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.” He said in his opening remarks: “To support the industries of the future, we need workers with STEM skills at all levels.” Chair Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas, didn’t sign onto the bill, which has gotten only Republican support. “I do not want to cause any confusion about where I stand. I remain as firmly committed as ever to our investments across all fields of science and engineering as well as the humanities,” she said in prepared remarks, citing the need to maintain U.S. competitive advantages. America should be gearing policy and legislation to compete “effectively” in the 2030s, testified ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt, founder of Schmidt Futures. He cited AI trends suggesting China will overtake the U.S. in five to 10 years. On changes in R&D since 2000, “China has accounted for almost one-third of the total global growth,” testified National Science Board Chair Diane Souvaine. Georgia Institute of Technology Executive Vice President-Research Chaouki Abdallah urged a commitment “to the long-term increase and certainty in federal investment.”