A group of business and technology associations is urging House and Senate Judiciary Committee leaders to pass legislation that would clarify how law enforcement officials would gain access to U.S. citizens' electronic communications regardless of that person's location or where that individual's personal data is located (see 1605250050). The associations sent a letter Thursday to Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and ranking member Pat Leahy, D-Vt., and House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and ranking member John Conyers, D-Mich., urging them to pass both versions of the International Communications Privacy Act. The coalition said cloud services are lowering IT costs, improving services and creating jobs, but "American companies face uncertainty in the U.S. legal process ... when a company can be compelled to give up data stored by a foreign national." It said DOJ's actions in court could force U.S. companies to provide data to law enforcement agencies that didn't go through the mutual legal assistance treaty (MLAT) process or other appropriate international agreements, putting the companies "at a significant competitive disadvantage" in the international economy. "ICPA reinforces that U.S. law enforcement must attain a warrant for any electronic content for U.S. persons, settles uncertainty around obtaining such information for foreign nationals, and augments international rule of law by improving the MLAT process," the coalition said. Signatories to the letter are the ACT|The App Association, BSA|The Software Alliance, the Computer & Communications Industry Association, Computing Technology Industry Association, CTA, Internet Association, Information Technology Industry Council, Software & Information Industry Association, TechNet, Telecommunications Industry Association and U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

More than two dozen Democratic and Republican House members launched the Fourth Amendment Caucus to protect the privacy rights of Americans. It's led by Reps. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., and Ted Poe, R-Texas, and is a response to what some say is more government intrusion and surveillance into people's electronic communications. Some other members of the caucus include Reps. Justin Amash, R-Mich.; Suzan DelBene, D-Wash.; Blake Farenthold, R-Texas; Louie Gohmert, R-Texas; Paul Gosar, R-Ariz.; Jim Jordan, R-Ohio; Hank Johnson, D-Ga.; John Lewis, D-Ga.; Ted Lieu, D-Calif.; Thomas Massie, R-Ky.; and Jared Polis, D-Colo. An independent organization called the Fourth Amendment Advisory Committee was formed to support the caucus and educate people about the issue, said a Wednesday news release from the new group, whose board includes Fight for the Future co-founder Tiffiniy Cheng; Center for Media Justice Executive Director Malkia Cyril; Free Press Government Relations Manager Sandra Fulton; Mike Godwin of the R Street Institute; Jennifer Granick, director of civil liberties at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society; Ryan Hagemann, Niskanen Center technology and civil liberties policy analyst.; Sascha Meinrath, director of think tank X-Lab and a Penn State University telecom professor; Demand Progress Policy Director Daniel Schuman; and Neil Siefring, government relations director at FreedomWorks, among others. Debate has intensified in recent years as privacy advocates, including lawmakers, criticized several government actions to get more access to people's communications and data (see 1603290059, 1606090007 and 1605120016). Separately, Poe announced he has been diagnosed with leukemia and will be spending time in Texas during the recess to focus on his health.

The House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee’s Wednesday digital trade hearing will host Information Technology and Innovation Foundation President Robert Atkinson, IBM Vice President-Government and Regulatory Affairs Christopher Padilla, Internet Association CEO Michael Beckerman, Fenugreen CEO Kavita Shukla and PayPal Head-Global Public Policy Usman Ahmed, the subcommittee said. The hearing will focus on gearing trade agreements to dismantle barriers to digital trade, including data localization requirements, online censorship, data flow restrictions and insufficient protection of intellectual property, a committee spokesperson said. The hearing will be at 10 a.m. in 1100 Longworth.

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's telecom plan “expands handouts to political allies,” “increases government role in broadband,” “makes empty promises of less regulation” and “promises an open Internet, but delivers a closed one,” said American Enterprise Institute Center for Internet, Communication and Technology visiting fellow Mark Jamison in a blog post Thursday. Clinton released her agenda last month (see 1606280071). “Despite this enthusiasm, there is much to worry about in this agenda as it provides a blueprint for diminishing US leadership in tech,” Jamison said. “The plan will expand subsidies from the federal government to cities, regions, and states to invest in dark fiber, broadband in recreation centers and transportation centers, and free public WiFi. Of course these programs will be wrought with political favoritism and waste.” The agenda is "particularly impotent on the most pressing digital issues," glossing over "critical topics such as the role of encryption for enhancing privacy and safety, and the critical need for greater transparency into how algorithms increasingly impact everyday lives," Pennsylvania State University Palmer Chair in Telecom Sascha Meinrath wrote in the Christian Science Monitor. "We need policies to drive universal access to low-cost, high-speed connectivity, and for the two-thirds of Americans already online, we need truth-in-labeling that addresses the quarter-of-a-trillion dollars in overpayments US consumers will make by 2025. The baby steps made thus far are necessary but insufficient to address both the digital and information divides that currently exist in broadband service provision." He cited priorities such as consumers having control over their data and laying the groundwork for intelligent transportation systems. Clinton's platform "ignores nearly all of the big problems," he said, noting her one remaining Democratic challenger, Bernie Sanders, and presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump "haven’t released anything meaningful at all."

Correction: The $4,000 that the Center for Responsive Politics marked as a T-Mobile PAC donation to the presidential campaign of Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., was retracted (see 1606270078).

Public Knowledge is targeting a dozen senators in the debate over the set-top box appropriations rider, including the Senate leaders of both parties, the leadership of the Appropriations and Commerce committees and Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee Chairman John Boozman, R-Ark., who wrote the FY 2017 measure containing the rider. Also targeted is Communications Subcommittee ranking member Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, the appropriator who personally opposed the rider and succeeded at dialing down the requirements of the study it would mandate of the FCC (see 1606160055). “This is simply a delay tactic from incumbents who want to maintain their stranglehold on the market,” Public Knowledge said of the rider. “Contact the key Senators listed below and tell them to put a stop to this rider and eliminate the language in the Appropriations bill that will delay #UnlockTheBox. We will update the list as developments arise.” Public Knowledge also includes Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., as well as Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., members of Democratic leadership.

House Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone, D-N.J., sees potential in a pay-TV proposal offered in response to the FCC set-top box proceeding (see 1606270069). “The recent proposal from industry and the reaction from the FCC has brought us closer to a positive resolution,” said Pallone, who has stayed quiet on the set-top NPRM in recent months, in a statement Thursday. “Ultimately, I will view the FCC decision as a success so long as consumers continue to enjoy the content they love whenever and wherever they want, and their privacy is not compromised. Consumers will not care how their TVs work if they can’t get the same quality programming, and no one will feel comfortable watching if they do not think their personal information is protected.”

A House Homeland Security Committee Republican staff report released Wednesday advances the creation of a National Commission on Security and Technology Challenges (NCSTC) proposed by committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, and Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., as a “third way” of addressing the encryption debate. It doesn't favor the staunchest advocates of either strong encryption practices or government back doors to consumers' digital data. McCaul and Warner proposed creating the commission in February via the Digital Security Commission Act (HR-4651/S-2604), which would give the commission the job of issuing an interim report within six months of the bill's enactment (see 1602290074 and 1603090086). The commission would “bring together experts from each of the key areas -- cryptology, global commerce and economics, federal, State and local law enforcement, the technology sector, the Intelligence Community, and the privacy and civil liberties community,” said House Homeland Security Republicans in the report. “The Commission would be charged with analyzing digital security challenges, including encryption, and developing recommendations for Congress to chart a course forward.” The proposal for the NCSTC “recognizes that equities on all sides of the encryption debate should be taken into consideration,” House Homeland Security Republicans said. The report referenced two other bills aimed at the encryption debate -- the Ensuring National Constitutional Rights for Your Private Telecommunications (Encrypt) Act (HR-4528) and the draft Compliance with Court Orders Act. HR-4528, bowed by Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., would pre-empt states and localities from banning encryption on smartphones sold within their borders (see 1602100051). The Compliance with Court Orders Act would require providers of electronic communications, storage or processing services, and software or hardware manufacturers to comply with court orders to decrypt encrypted data of its users (see 1604130061).

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, will hold a closed Wednesday briefing with Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg about big data, computer science education, cross-border data flows, free speech, high-skilled immigration, intellectual property protections, privacy and other issues. Hatch, chairman of the Senate Republican High-Tech Task Force, said in a news release that the briefing with Republican senators is planned for 2:30-3:30 p.m. Facebook has come under scrutiny in recent weeks over accusations it tamped down conservative views on the social media site (see 1605190029) and also what it knew about the Orlando mass shooter's postings before and during the June 12 incident (see 1606160037).

A House Judiciary subcommittee plans a hearing Wednesday on legislation aimed at curbing so-called strategic lawsuits against public participation, or SLAPPs, designed to silence people who post online negative reviews or critical comments (see 1604140072). Witnesses for the Constitution and Civil Justice Subcommittee's hearing on the Speak Free Act (HR-2304) -- introduced more than a year ago by Reps. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, and Anna Eshoo, D-Calif. -- include Bruce Brown, executive director of Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press; Haynes and Boone attorney Laura Prather; Cardozo School of Law professor Alexander Reinert; and Aaron Schur, Yelp director-litigation. "SLAPPs are designed to intimidate Americans from speaking about matters of public concern, potentially violating constitutional protections such as the right to free speech and the right to petition one’s government," said Farenthold, Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., who chairs the subcommittee, and House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., in a joint statement. They said they will "explore" how the bill could end the practice of SLAPPs, which they described as "wasteful and intimidating." The 1 p.m. hearing will be in 2226 Rayburn.