The Senate Transportation Subcommittee plans a hearing Wednesday on unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and steps being taken to successfully integrate the technology into the National Airspace System. Witnesses include Michael Huerta, administrator, Federal Aviation Administration; Marty Rogers, deputy director, Alliance for System Safety of UAS through Research Excellence; and Tim Canoll, president, Air Line Pilots Association International. The hearing begins at 10 a.m. in 192 Dirksen.

Industry groups, including CEA and TechNet, applauded House passage Tuesday of the Judicial Redress Act (see 1510200065), while privacy advocates called the passage of the bill a small step in adjusting U.S. privacy laws. The "commonsense bill" will "begin to restore international consumers' trust in American businesses" by "extending U.S. judicial recourse to the citizens of our European allies," said CEA CEO Gary Shapiro. “While the Judicial Redress Act does not extend the full Privacy Act protections that U.S. citizens receive to EU citizens, it is certainly positive progress in improving how very personal data is shared between the EU and U.S.," said Center for Democracy & Technology European Affairs Director Jens-Henrik Jeppesen. “CDT has previously called for full extension of Privacy Act rights to all non-U.S. persons, and has previously written on how the JRA does not represent the full reform we are seeking,” the statement said. TechFreedom President Berin Szoka agreed passage of the Judicial Redress Act was a positive step and allows the State Department to have credibility when negotiating a safe harbor replacement. But “Congress will need to move on to other privacy reforms immediately, starting with ensuring that law enforcement must obtain a warrant before accessing stored data of both American and European citizens,” Szoka said. “Congress will also need to finish the surveillance reforms it started with USA FREEDOM, specifically regarding Section 702.”

Internet marketplace platforms like Airbnb and eBay don’t need their own special regulations to address concerns such as competition, privacy and employment opportunities, said an Information Technology and Innovation Foundation report, an ITIF news release said Monday. “Regulators already have the authority to address these and other possible harms,” the release said. “Where we once had town-square bazaars and village matchmakers we now have Internet platforms like Etsy and Tinder,” said ITIF Senior Fellow Joseph Kennedy, who wrote the report. “Online marketplaces are growing quickly because the Internet reduces costs, scales easily, and is available anywhere, any time,” ITIF said. “It is important for policymakers to recognize that some Internet platforms have significant market share only because by doing so they maximize value for consumers,” the release said. “Are we better off with three different ‘Facebooks’ or ‘Twitters’ or just one? Clearly in these cases one large network is better than three smaller ones,” said ITIF President Robert Atkinson. “When looking at antitrust issues, market share has traditionally been the most important indicator of abuse,” Atkinson said. “But for Internet platforms, we can no longer use this old lens. Larger market share is usually a reflection of superior total economic and consumer value for networks.” ITIF said Internet platforms pose no bigger privacy risk than traditional platforms and “there is no need for special privacy policies applying just to platforms.”

Adobe, the Application Developers Alliance, CEA, CompTIA, Computer & Communications Industry Association, Facebook, Google, the Internet Association, Microsoft, TechNet and Yahoo were among the more than 20 associations and companies writing a letter to House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio., and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Thursday, urging the passage of the Judicial Redress Act (HR-1428) as soon as possible. The letter noted that "The Judicial Redress Act extends certain rights granted to citizens of the United States (U.S.) under the Privacy Act to the citizens of designated foreign allies." Enactment "of the Judicial Redress Act is a critical step in rebuilding the trust of citizens worldwide in both the U.S. government and our industry,” the letter said. It’s also the “last formal hurdle to the finalization of the Data Privacy and Protection Agreement (the so-called 'umbrella agreement') governing the transfer of data between the United States and the European Union for the purpose of combatting crime and terrorism,” it said.

The House Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade Subcommittee released a number of staff-drafted proposals on topics including providing incentives for crash avoidance and other connected vehicle technologies, increasing privacy and security protections for motorists, and modernizing the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, as part of the committee’s “ongoing work to keep families safe on America’s roads,” a committee news release said Wednesday. The subcommittee also announced it has scheduled a hearing on Oct. 21 to discuss the proposals. Witnesses weren't announced.

The House Small Business Committee set a hearing for Wednesday on the effects on small businesses of the de facto October deadline for retailers to shift to the Europay, MasterCard and Visa (EMV) chip payment system. Credit card companies are beginning this month to enforce the “liability shift” on retailers to convert to EMV technology (see report in the Sept. 22, 2014, issue). Many small businesses remain “unprepared” for the shift to EMV, potentially making them “liable for certain incidents of fraud,” House Small Business said. Electronic Transactions Associations Senior Vice President-Government Affairs Scott Everett Talbott and executives from Visa and other financial institutions are to testify. The hearing is to begin at 11 a.m. in 2360 Rayburn.

Competition and innovation in the form of the new peer-to-peer business models that have been created as part of the sharing economy must be allowed to flourish, but targeted regulatory measures may be needed to ensure appropriate consumer protections, said FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez at a Fordham University international antitrust event in New York City Friday. “The sharing economy appears to be responsive to consumer demand, to increase competition, and to promote a more efficient allocation of resources -- providing consumers with more options and, often, lower prices,” Ramirez said, according to prepared remarks. The FTC has “generally cautioned state and local governments not to impose legacy regulations on new business models simply because they happen to fall outside existing regulatory schemes,” she said, noting that the agency studied the sharing economy in a recent workshop (see 1506090046). “The threshold question for policymakers examining new peer-to-peer businesses should be whether there is a public policy justification for regulating the service at all, either through an expansion of existing regulatory schemes or through entirely new regulatory schemes,” she said. “If there is no public policy rationale justifying regulation, policymakers should allow competition to proceed unfettered.” Regulatory boards and other policymakers may have legitimate consumer protection and other public interest objectives, but they must consider the potential competitive effects such regulations may have, she said. For example, the FTC recommended that regulations directed at ride-sharing services focus “primarily on ensuring qualified drivers, safe and clean vehicles, sufficient liability insurance, transparency of fare information, protecting privacy and consumer data, and compliance with other applicable laws,” noted Ramirez.

President Barack Obama signed the E-Warranty Act (S-1359) into law Thursday. “To remain competitive in the era of the Internet of Things, we must be able to streamline and modernize redundant regulations,” said Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., the bill's author, in a statement Friday. “The E-Warranty Act is a bipartisan success because it brings common-sense solutions to outdated rules.” She had introduced the legislation with Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Bill Nelson, D-Fla. “Consumers and businesses will now have the ability to take advantage of new and improving online technologies to help with their commerce,” Nelson said in a statement Friday.

The House Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the sharing economy Tuesday at 10:15 a.m. in 2322 Rayburn, a news release said Tuesday. Titled “The Disrupter Series: How the Sharing Economy Creates Jobs, Benefits Consumers, and Raises Policy Questions,” the hearing will examine issues affecting the sharing economy in areas such as state and local regulations, liability insurance, federal regulations, competition with incumbent industries, and the appropriate role for the federal government moving forward, it said. “With over 80 million Americans taking advantage of the many e-sharing options, we will work to better understand how this growing sector of our economy works, what it means for consumers and job creators, and what hurdles these businesses are facing across the country,” said Chairman Michael Burgess, R-Texas. Witnesses weren't announced.

An anticipated Senate Commerce Committee hearing on video policy may not happen Sept. 30, according to rumors circulating among industry officials Monday. Commerce earlier this month circulated Sept. 30 as a tentative date for the hearing, and Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., had confirmed his intention to hold it in interviews (see 1509090047). Commerce had lined up as witnesses Dish Network and FCC Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake, but industry lobbyists weren't hearing of any others rushing to testify. The hearing was never officially announced. “The Committee has yet to notice hearings for next week,” a committee aide told us. “An official decision for a hearing on September 30 would not have to be made until Wednesday.”