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  2. December 2016

December 2016

Rep Goodlatte Continues Atop House Judiciary Committee

Rep Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) has been reelected by the House Republican Caucus to chair the House Judiciary Committee. The committee oversees some communications issues, particularly related to copyright and intellectual property, splitting oversight with the House Commerce Committee, whose new chair is Rep Greg Walden (R-OR) (outgoing E&C chair Fred Upton (R-MI) was term limited). In other committee election news, as legislators pick leadership for the new Congress seated in January, Rep Frank Pallone (D-NJ) was unanimously elected by his Democratic colleagues to remain ranking member of the House Energy & Commerce Committee.

Report on Securing and Growing the Digital Economy

Recognizing the extraordinary benefit interconnected technologies bring to our digital economy—and equally mindful of the accompanying challenges posed by threats to the security of the cyber landscape—President Barack Obama established this Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity. He directed the Commission to assess the state of our nation’s cybersecurity, and he charged this group with developing actionable recommendations for securing the digital economy. The President asked that this enhanced cybersecurity be achieved while at the same time protecting privacy, ensuring public safety and economic and national security, and fostering the discovery and development of new technical solutions. The Commissioners organized their findings into six major imperatives, which together contain a total of 16 recommendations and 53 associated action items. The imperatives are:
1. Protect, defend, and secure today’s information infrastructure and digital networks.
2. Innovate and accelerate investment for the security and growth of digital networks and the digital economy.
3. Prepare consumers to thrive in a digital age.
4. Build cybersecurity workforce capabilities.
5. Better equip government to function effectively and securely in the digital age.
6. Ensure an open, fair, competitive, and secure global digital economy.

Community broadband strategies in the Trump era

[Commentary] President-elect Donald Trump promised to “drain the swamp in Washington” of the lobbyists who feed on policymakers in our nations capital. For a fleeting moment, community broadband advocates were buoyed by populist rhetoric. Then reality sets in as the populist tapped Jeffrey Eisenach, a Verizon lobbyist, to head the team helping to pick staff members at the Federal Communications Commission.

So what’s next for advocates who see community broadband has one effective tool for forcing competition among providers? City and county officials need to use December for intensive strategic planning and forming partnerships with co-ops and private sector allies.

[Craig Settles assists communities with developing their broadband business and marketing plans, and help communities raise money for broadband projects. ]

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