Copyright, Privacy, Federal Data Bills Get Tech Lobby’s Attention
Copyright and data privacy legislation will be major focuses for tech sector lobbying groups in coming months, and the software industry will push for passage of a government data transparency bill, industry representatives and lobbyists told us (see 1804200060 and 1804230061). Copyright stakeholders are preparing for consideration of at least three separate bills with tech implications. Expect legislators to explore baseline privacy legislation in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica privacy controversy, though it will be a significant undertaking, observers said.
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A House floor vote is expected on the Music Modernization Act (HR-5447) Wednesday. MMA got consensus support from tech and copyright groups, plus artists and publishers across the music industry (see 1804200052). A Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on copyright legislation is expected in mid-May, Copyright Alliance CEO Keith Kupferschmid said. MMA would fix an antiquated royalty system failing to account for digital performance and recording rights, he said. Outside lobbying firms acting on behalf of the Copyright Alliance reported collecting $40,000 from the organization in Q1, up from $10,000 in the year-ago quarter. Re:Create Coalition Executive Director Joshua Lamel said the coalition would prefer the Senate pursue Sen. Orrin Hatch’s, R-Utah, stand-alone version of the MMA, instead of the copyright package the House Judiciary Committee passed unanimously.
Experts expect lobbyists and legislators to soon focus efforts on the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement (Case) Act. HR-3945 would establish a voluntary small claims board within the Copyright Office, allowing copyright owners an alternative to bringing infringement claims to federal court. House Judiciary Committee markup could come as early as mid-May, Kupferschmid said. Some also expect efforts on the Register of Copyrights Selection and Accountability Act (S-1010), to make the register of copyrights a Senate-confirmed position with a renewable 10-year term limit (see 1706090050). Companion legislation passed in the House in April 2017. Lamel said the outlook for HR-3945 and S-1010 is much “dimmer” than that of MMA, since those bills are far more controversial. The Case Act is far more divisive than MMA, as evidenced by its being left out of the package in the House, he said.
Facebook reported spending $3.3 million, Google $5.02 million and Twitter $150,000. Jonathan Band, a tech lawyer who lobbies on behalf of the Computer & Communications Industry Association, said data privacy will be a focus in coming months, and copyright legislation will remain a “perennial favorite.” Competition and antitrust questions also remain, he said. A tech sector lobbyist said there has long been interest in federal pre-emptive privacy legislation so platforms don’t have to contend with varying state laws. The 2016 election and the Cambridge Analytica privacy controversy woke platforms up to the far-reaching societal consequences of bad actors, he said. In response to the scandal, Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., introduced a privacy bill of rights (see 1804100054). Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and John Kennedy, R-La., introduced privacy legislation Tuesday that would let users opt out of platform data collection and tracking (see 1804240046).
BSA|The Software Alliance would like to see the Open Government Data Act (HR-1770) passed, said Vice President-Legislative Strategy Craig Albright. BSA, which reported paying $460,000 to outside lobbying firms, up from $380,000, listed data privacy among lobbying issues. Albright called HR-1770 -- which would require open government data assets made available by federal agencies to be published as machine-readable data -- transparent governance, citing the value of public-facing data sets. Albright cited Capitol Hill discussions about adopting baseline privacy law, saying, “We’ll have to see if there is appetite for that among lawmakers.”
The Internet Association reported paying $300,000 to outside lobbying firms, little changed. Privacy, data security and political advertisement disclosure requirements were included in a long IA list of lobbying issues. One data privacy attorney noted data privacy has been a frequent topic in the legislative conversation for the past year or so with the pending EU general data protection regulation. The “heaviest lifting” would be for a baseline privacy bill, he said. The last major bipartisan effort was the Commercial Privacy Bill of Rights Act (S-799), which was introduced by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and then-Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., in 2011.