January 20, 2020
Boucher Op-ed Outlining Progress toward Privacy Legislation Published by RealClearPolicy
On January 15, IIA Honorary Chairman Rick Boucher had an op-ed published by RealClearPolicy, “Congress is Finally Listening to Consumers on Internet Privacy.” In the piece, Boucher discusses the bipartisan draft of a comprehensive consumer internet privacy bill released by the House Energy & Commerce Committee just before the end of 2019, as well as legislative proposals put forward in the Senate. He says that with countless online privacy abuses, data misuses, and security breaches in recent years, these legislative developments are highly welcome progress.
When the draft legislation was released on December 18, IIA issued a statement applauding the House Energy & Commerce Committee staff for digging-in on the issue of privacy in a serious, bipartisan fashion. IIA believes that comprehensive, preemptive federal privacy legislation is a critical priority for consumers, entrepreneurs and innovators, and we are pleased to see the Committee giving it the thought and effort it deserves.
You can read IIA’s full statement here.
Nationwide Internet Privacy Protections Are Within Reach
Congressman Boucher had an additional privacy op-ed published by The Seattle Times on November 22, “Nationwide Internet Privacy Protections are Within Reach.” His piece applauds the efforts of U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, and Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi, to structure federal legislation that will protect the privacy of all internet-using Americans, while cutting the chaos that would be created by a patchwork of state privacy laws.
IIA Files Comments in FCC’s 706 Proceeding Examining Broadband Deployment
On November 22, IIA filed comments in the Federal Communications Commission’s Fifteenth Broadband Deployment Report proceeding under Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act. In our comments, IIA states that “the underlying trends in broadband deployment are overwhelmingly positive” while noting the gaps in connectivity that remain and the urgency of addressing them.
You can read more and access IIA’s full comments here.
Further Reading
On November 18, IIA Co-Chairman Bruce Mehlman had an op-ed published by Nextgov, “Democratic Candidates Need to Learn to Play the Long Game on Broadband.” Mehlman says it’s time for candidates to discuss how they propose to get to fast broadband for everyone, rather than just throwing money at a problem and hoping for the best public sector solution.