Netcaucus.org

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NetCaucus In The News! PC World: What the FBI won’t reveal could hurt users, experts argue

PC World wrote an article based on our panel “The Future of Hacking Disclosures: What Are The New Rules of Engagement?” with comments from Heather West and Harley Geiger.

The article called “Phone hacking: What the FBI won’t reveal could hurt users, experts argue” appeared today.

“Government hacking has already happened. The question of whether it should happen is actually way past the point,” – Harley Geiger, director of public policy at Rapid 7, an Internet security company.

“no matter who found the vulnerabilities, we want to tackle the problem.” – Heather West, senior policy manager of the tech nonprofit Mozilla

“At the end of the day, if we can fix this problem, the Internet is safer.” – Heather West, senior policy manager of the tech nonprofit Mozilla

Audio and photos of the event can be found here.

 

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USDOJ And UK Propose Protective Exchange of Electronic Data

Today during our debate on “Data Warrants Across the Pond: Envisioning A More Sustainable Process” representatives from the USDOJ and UK released a white paper titled “Proposed United States – United Kingdom Agreement on Secure and Privacy – Protective Exchange of Electronic Data for the Purposes of Countering Serious Crime, Including Terrorism.” The proposal comes one day after the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals decided the long awaited Microsoft v. U.S. decision. Later in the day the USDOJ distributed its legislative language to resolve the issue.

The panel debated the issues and discussed the proposal in front of a packed room of Congressional staff.

The video, audio, photos of the debate are available here.

Documents:

UK-USDOJ Proposed United States – United Kingdom Agreement on Secure and Privacy – Protective Exchange of Electronic Data for the Purposes of Countering Serious Crime, Including Terrorism
[themify_icon icon=”fa-file-text” style=”xlarge”] Legislative Language
[themify_icon icon=”fa-file-text” style=”xlarge”] White Paper
[themify_icon icon=”fa-flickr” style=”xlarge”] View Flickr Photos

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Stepanovich (Access), Samuels (Engine) Join Board of the Internet Education Foundation

The Internet Education Foundation, a 501(c) non-profit organization dedicated to promoting informed policymaking in the field of Internet and technology, is pleased to announce that Amie Stepanovich, U.S. Policy Manager for Access and Julie Samuels, Executive Director of Engine have joined the leadership of its board of directors. Amie is a leading advocate in the surveillance, cybersecurity, and privacy space. As executive director of Engine, Julie is uniquely positioned to represent the perspective of start-ups in the broader Internet policy dialogue. Both bring important balance to the Internet Education Foundation (IEF) board, which is designed to reflect the diversity of views among Internet stakeholders.

“Julie and Amie are thought leaders in the Internet policy field and both bring vast experience to IEF,” said Shane Tews, IEF’s board vice-chair. “Julie’s relationships and superior work on behalf of the start-up community will greatly benefit our organization. Further, as privacy and cybersecurity issues are discussed with increasingly urgency, Amie provides welcome insight from the standpoint of the advocacy community.”


About Amie

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Amie heads projects on digital due process and the intersection of human rights and communications surveillance. Prior to her position at Access, Amie was the Director of the Domestic Surveillance Project at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, where she testified in Committee Hearings before the Senate and House of Representatives, as well as the state level. Amie also served as co-chair for the 2014 Computer, Freedom, and Privacy Conference and is the Committee on Individual Rights and Responsibilities’ Liaison to the American Bar Association’s Cybersecurity Working Group. She received a J.D. from New York Law School and a B.S. from the Florida State University.

About Julie

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Julie Samuels is a frequent commentator on tech and policy issues for national media, particularly in the patent space. She has filed briefs with the Supreme Court and testified before Congressional Committees. Julie came to Engine by way of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, where she was a senior staff attorney and the Mark Cuban Chair to Eliminate Stupid Patents. Julie litigated IP and entertainment cases in Chicago at Loeb & Loeb and Sonnenschein.

Prior to law school, Julie worked as a legislative assistant at the Media Coalition in New York, as an assistant editor at the National Journal in D.C., and at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) in Champaign, IL. Julie earned her J.D. from Vanderbilt University and her B.S. in journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

About the Internet Education Foundation

The Internet Education Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization supported by public interest groups, corporations, and association representative of the diverse Internet community. IEF takes no positions on legislation or regulation. Rather, our organization serves as a neutral platform where thought leaders debate important technology issues that shape legislative and administration policy in an open forum. We vigilantly adhere to our mission to curate balanced and dynamic debates among Internet stakeholders. Our volunteer board members ensure that we dutifully execute that mission. Our projects include the Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee, the State of the Net Conference Series, The Congressional App Challenge, and the Internet Law & Policy Foundry.

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First Ever Meerkat Video Stream of Congressional Briefing

Video of our Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee event on cyber security information sharing will be live streamed via Meerkat. As far as we know, this will be the first Congressional briefing ever streamed from a mobile app such as Meerkat or Periscope (Our 2013 Google Glass streamed event doesn’t count!).

So how exactly does Meerkat work?

Meerkat is a free application that live-streams directly from mobile devices through Twitter. By simply following the link to the broadcast on our Twitter account @NetCaucusAC with your mobile device, you will be able to watch the briefing in real time (barring any technical difficulties). Watch from your Apple or Android device — just download the app and find the link on @NetCaucusAC!

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Co-Chairs of Congressional Internet Caucus Urge Permanent Extension of Internet Tax Freedom Act

Today the Co-Chairs of bipartisan Congressional Internet Caucus urged House and Senate leadership to act quickly to permanently extend the Internet Tax Freedom Act before the August recess. The joint letter signed by Senator Patrick Leahy, Senator John Thune, Congressman Bob Goodlatte and Congresswoman Anna G. Eshoo is here:

Press Release Issued By
June 19, 2014

Bipartisan Group Presses for Floor Action on Permanent Internet Access Tax Moratorium Bill

June 19, 2014

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Co-Chairs of the bipartisan, bicameral Congressional Internet Caucus are urging House and Senate Leadership to pass bipartisan legislation before the August recess to permanently eliminate new state and local taxes on Internet access. In a letter from Reps. Anna G. Eshoo (D-Calif.) and Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), as well as Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and John Thune (R-S.D.), the members cite an impending November 1, 2014, expiration of current law that since 1998 has placed a moratorium on the ability of state and local governments to impose new taxes on Internet access.

“The moratorium’s expiration poses a threat to many of the current benefits of the Internet for American citizens,” they wrote in the letter.

With the expiration approaching, the House Judiciary Committee passed with overwhelming support yesterday a permanent extension of the Internet Tax Freedom Act.
A copy of the letter sent to House and Senate Leadership can be viewed here. The following is the text of the letter:

June 19, 2014

The Honorable John A. Boehner
Speaker
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Minority Leader
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

The Honorable Harry Reid
Majority Leader
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable Mitch McConnell
Minority Leader
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Speaker Boehner, Leader Reid, Leader McConnell, and Leader Pelosi,

We write to you as Co-Chairs of the bipartisan Congressional Internet Caucus to urge you to facilitate passage of a permanent extension of the Internet Tax Freedom Act (ITFA) prior to the August recess. First passed in 1998, ITFA placed a moratorium on the ability of state and local governments to impose new taxes on Internet access or to impose multiple or discriminatory taxes on e-commerce. The most recent extension in 2007, passed both houses unanimously.

The moratorium is in effect only through November 1, 2014, and all of us have sponsored or cosponsored bipartisan legislation to extend it permanently – H.R. 3086, the Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act in the House, and S. 1431, the Internet Tax Freedom Forever Act in the Senate. The moratorium’s expiration poses a threat to many of the current benefits of the Internet for American citizens. The Internet ecosystem that has flourished under the moratorium currently provides:

  • Affordable access to the Internet for consumers and businesses;
  • A pathway to jobs, customers, and global commerce for citizens and “mom and pop” storeowners;
  • A foundation for innovation in every sector of the economy, including education, health care, manufacturing, news, and entertainment; and
  • A platform for citizen participation in civic affairs.

These benefits will all be imperiled by the expiration of ITFA and the potential imposition of thousands of new state and local taxes on Internet access, which would discourage broadband adoption and investment. We therefore urge you to support H.R. 3086 and S. 1431 and bring them to the floor as soon as possible to ensure passage of the bills prior to the August recess. This would ensure that millions of consumers do not receive notifications informing them that their Internet bills may increase in November. Extending ITFA permanently will provide much-needed certainty to consumers and businesses and will preserve the benefits of Internet access for all Americans.

Sincerely,

Co-Chairs of the Congressional Internet Caucus
Congressman Bob Goodlatte
Senator Patrick Leahy
Congresswoman Anna G. Eshoo
Senator John Thune

 

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Advisory Commitee Forms New Internet Caucus Task Force on Internet Ecosystem Economics

Verizon’s Link Hoewing and Public Knowledge’s John Bergmayer to Co-Chair the Task Force with Initial Push on “The Economics of Broadband Access Networks”

Washington, D.C. May 13, 2013 – The Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee (ICAC) launched a new educational effort to bring a better economic understanding of the Internet ecosystem as it relates to Internet policy. The task force will be chaired jointly by Link Hoewing (Verizon) and John Bergmayer (Public Knowledge) who will bring balance and experience to this important endeavor.

We care deeply about the future of the Internet and it is critical that lawmakers and the congressional staff advising them make informed decisions. This “Internet Ecosystem Economics Task Force” will lay down a solid base of economic understanding so that lawmakers can make good decisions in major areas such as the Open Internet, Internet TV, peering, compulsory licensing, competition policy, spectrum policy, and many more. The Task Force will vigilantly adhere to our mission to curate balanced and dynamic debates among Internet stakeholders. Our volunteer board of directors will ensure that the task force dutifully executes that mission. In fact, the architecture of the board reflects our balanced mission.

The Task Force will begin by planning a congressional staff briefing on “The Economics of Broadband Access Networks” in the coming weeks. The chairs will develop a sound factual “economic understanding of broadband access networks, competition in the market, and how the broadband industry compares globally.” The briefing will include a balanced set of speakers reflecting diverse economic theories in collegial debate — which is the hallmark of the Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory program.

We hope this will be the first in a series of excellent programming from these task force chairs. We will share the briefing description and a suggested slate of debaters in the coming days.

About the Internet Caucus Advisory Committee

The Advisory Committee to the Internet Caucus is a diverse group of public interest, non-profit and industry groups working to educate the Congress and the public about important Internet-related policy issues. With participation from Members of the Caucus and logistical support from the Internet Education Foundation, the Advisory Committee hosts regular forums to discuss important Internet-related policy issues. Since its founding, the Advisory Committee has built a membership of over 190 organizations from a broad cross-section of the public interest community and the Internet industry. Additional information, including an updated membership list, is available at http://www.netcaucus.org.

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C-SPAN Video: “Combating Piracy Online: The Copyright Alert System, A Voluntary Approach” (March 8th)

The Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee was pleased to host an educational briefing on March 8th: “Combating Piracy Online: The Copyright Alert System, A Voluntary Approach” before a packed audience in the Rayburn House Office Building. Live coverage of the discussion was provided by C-SPAN and video of the event available on the C-SPAN website.

Watch: Video

Keep the Discussion Going on Twitter: @NetCaucusAC #copyrightalert

Panelists

CCI Leadership

CCI Advisory Board

CCI Members

Background On This Briefing

A coalition of leading Internet service providers (ISPs) and U.S. content creators will start sending a series of copyright Alerts to internet subscribers whose accounts have been used for downloading and sharing of copyrighted content. The ISPs will pass on notifications received from copyright owners to their subscribers if (and only if) their accounts have been associated with online piracy. We don’t know how many subscribers will initially receive notifications, but constituents in your district may be among them. Subscribers who receive notices will be apprised that they have used digital content through their Internet connections improperly. Lacking an appropriate response from the subscriber, the notifications will escalate in seriousness, hoping to ensure any illegal behavior ceases.

This voluntary effort between ISPs and copyright holders is called the Copyright Alert System and is coordinated by the Center for Copyright Information (CCI). Under this system, content owners will be able to notify a participating Internet Service Provider (“ISP”) when they believe their copyrights are being misused online by a specific computer, identified by its Internet Protocol (“IP”) address. The respective ISP will then determine which of its subscriber accounts was allocated the specified IP address for the applicable date and time and then send an alert to the identified subscriber. The alert serves to: notify the subscriber that his/her account may have been misused for potentially illegal file sharing; explain why the activity is illegal and violates the ISP’s terms of use; and provide information about preventing additional alerts and accessing online digital content legally.

Representatives from the CCI and its consumer advisory board briefed the congressional audience on this project. CCI’s members include the Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (“MPAA”) and its members, the Recording Industry Association of America (“RIAA”) and its members as well as five major ISPs — AT&T, Cablevision, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Verizon.

This widely attended educational briefing was hosted by the Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee (ICAC), part of a 501 (c)(3) charitable organization. Congressional staff and members of the press welcome. The ICAC is a private sector organization comprised of public interest groups, trade associations, non-profits, and corporations. More information on the ICAC is available at www.netcaucus.org.

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House Passes Resolution to Challenge America’s Youth To Code in Nationwide STEM Competition

Internet Education Foundation Applauds the Passage of House Resolution 77 Paving The Way for Annual Congressional App Challenge

WASHINGTON, DC – The Internet Education Foundation commends the House for passing the “Academic Competition Resolution of 2013.” The Resolution creates an annual academic competition in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) and paves the way for the first-ever “app” competition fostered by Congress. IEF applauds Rep. Candice Miller and Rep. Robert Brady for sponsoring this important resolution and Rep. Cantor and Rep. Pelosi for their leadership and support.

Over the past year IEF staff have worked tirelessly with the co-chairs of the Congressional Internet Caucus, Rep. Bob Goodlatte and Rep. Anna G. Eshoo, to urge the creation of a Congressional App Challenge. Both co-chairs rose in support of the Congressional App Challenge as a step in the right direction to the future of jobs in America and its competitiveness globally. Our efforts were aided by a steering committee of app competition experts representing Google, Blackberry, AT&T, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) and Motorola Mobility.

“One after another Members from both sides of the aisle rose in support of the STEM education Resolution during a break in the sequester debate,” said IEF Executive Director Tim Lordan. He added, “I was heartened to see a group of technology leaders in Congress act to invest in the future of American jobs and of the economy: young STEM-educated constituents.”

IEF coordinates the work of the Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee, which supports the goals of the Congressional Internet Caucus. The ICACdoes not support or oppose any policy agenda; however, it shares the concern of most Americans that our students are falling behind in many areas of STEM education. We look forward to working with Congress and the Committee on House Administration to support this competition going forward. During his floor statements, Internet Caucus co-chair Goodlatte said, “This competition will motivate our young people to further pursue programming and other technology related educational opportunities. It will also enable them to showcase their programming skills on a national stage while at the same time promoting the value of STEM education and careers.”

Co-chair Eshoo said, “Building on the success of the Congressional Arts Competition, which for more than 30 years has recognized and encouraged artistic talent among our nation’s youth, an apps competition will foster interest in STEM education, which is just what our country needs to prepare for the future.”

The Internet Education Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to educating the public and policymakers about the potential of a decentralized global Internet to promote communications, commerce and democracy. Its board members ensure the balance of the organization’s efforts and consist of public interest groups, corporations, and associations representative of the diversity of the Internet community.

Contact: Tim Lordan [email protected] (202) 638-4370

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Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee Announces Best Buy as New Member

 

Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee Announces Best Buy as New Member
Best Buy Commits to Continuing Technology Discussion

 

WASHINGTON, DC – The Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee (ICAC) today announced that Best Buy has joined ICAC’s Advisory Committee to lend their expertise to program development. The ICAC relies heavily on the expertise of its members to develop programming and Best Buy will play an important role in shaping and facilitating informative technology policy discussion among industry, policymakers and consumers.

The ICAC is a diverse group of public interest, non-profit and industry groups working to educate the Congress and the public about important Internet-related policy issues. The diversity of ICAC membership ensures that all educational events and initiatives are fair and balanced forums for Internet-related discussion. The ICAC does not promote any particular legislative position. The ICAC hosts the annual State of the Net Conference – the largest Internet technology policy conference in the nation, as well as monthly Congressional briefings on pressing Internet and technology issues.

Membership in the Advisory Committee is free and open to any organization that commits to lending its expertise to ICAC’s educational program and that shares the goals of the Congressional Internet Caucus, a bi-partisan group of over 110 Members of the House and Senate working to educate their colleagues about the promise and potential of the Internet. For more information about becoming a new member, please visit http://www.netcaucus.org/advisory/.

 

Contact:
Eric Hinkes
[email protected]
(202) 638-4370 x127

About Best Buy
Best Buy is the world’s largest multi-channel consumer electronics retailer with stores in the U.S., Canada, China, Europe and Mexico. It is the 11th largest online retailer, with more than 1.6 billion visitors to its stores and website each year.

Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee
1634 I Street NW – Washington, DC 20006
www.NetCaucus.org
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