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April 2017

A Communique on the G-20 Digital Economy Ministerial

The G20 (Group of 20) is a forum for representatives of governments of 20 major economies to consider and address issues of common interest impacting the citizens of these economies. As the president of the G20, Germany initiated a work stream focused on the digital economy. Over the past four months, representatives of the G20 countries have been examining policies and practices that will further the growth, development and deployment of digital economy technologies. These policies and practices cover all aspects of the digital economy, from connecting to the internet, to the use of international standards, to strengthening user confidence in digital technologies, to policies that allow U.S.-headquartered companies to compete around the world.

Recognizing the importance of these factors, the United States signed the G20 Digital Economy Ministerial Declaration. The Declaration recognizes and reiterates many fundamental principles that have made the internet possible and have improved the quality of our lives. By committing with our G20 partners to the free flow of information across national borders, to the protection of intellectual property, to the use of industry-led international standards, and to fair competition, we will ensure that the full potential of the digital economy can be realized, and that our citizens will reap its benefits. The United States government will continue to work with Germany, other G20 partners and all other interested countries to strengthen these fundamental principles, while fighting against efforts to weaken them or create barriers that impede U.S. companies from accessing and competing in foreign markets.

Republicans Sell Access to Congressional Staffers, Flouting Cardinal Ethics Rule

Congressional Republicans are baldly enticing donors with the promise of meetings with senior legislative staff, effectively placing access to congressional employees up for sale to professional influence peddlers and other well-heeled interests. Documents show that the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee are both telling donors that in exchange for campaign contributions, they will receive invitations to special events to meet with congressional staff including chiefs of staff, leadership staffers, and committee staffers.

While selling donors access to senators and representatives and their campaign staff is nothing new, the open effort to sell access to their legislative staff — the taxpayer-funded government employees who work behind the scenes to write legislation, handle investigations, and organize committee hearings — appears to be in violation of ethics rules that prohibit campaigns from using House and Senate resources in any way. Congressional ethics rules flatly forbid Capitol Hill employees from engaging in fundraising activities as part of their official duties. Any explicit fundraising work must be done strictly as a volunteer, and there must be a clear firewall separating government work from campaign work. It’s arguably the last fig leaf left when it comes to giving the appearance that campaign contributions are not directly linked to official acts.

The broadband split in Northern Virginia

[Commentary] By some accounts, about 70 percent of the world’s Internet traffic passes through Loudoun County, Virginia daily. But if you happen to live in more rural western Loudoun, good luck getting decent Internet service. Courtney Shipe, according to the Times-Mirror, lives near Lovettsville and is hard-pressed to find an Internet provider. She has managed to get connected through Verizon through a DSL link but “almost daily, our phone line and internet service will randomly cut off for hours at a time,” she told the newspaper. It’s cold comfort when technicians tell her the problem isn’t on her end.

It’s seems bizarre that in 2017 parts of Northern Virginia are still stuck with pre-1990s modes of communications. But it’s something much of rural Virginia has been dealing with for years. The problem is simple economics. Big providers such as Verizon and Comcast favor densely populated suburban areas where their installation costs are low. They can boost their margins by bundling Internet with 300-plus channel cable television and phone service. President Donald Trump says he wants to spend $1 trillion on infrastructure but hasn’t come up with any solid details. Expanding broadband would be a win-win.

Trump blows his deadline on anti-hacking plan

President-elect Donald Trump was very clear: “I will appoint a team to give me a plan within 90 days of taking office,” he said in January, after getting a US intelligence assessment of Russian interference in 2016’s elections and promising to address cybersecurity. April 20, President Trump hits his 90-day mark. There is no team, there is no plan, and there is no clear answer from the White House on who would even be working on what. It’s the latest deadline President Trump’s set and missed — from the press conference he said his wife would hold last fall to answer questions about her original immigration process to the plan to defeat ISIS that he’d said would come within his first 30 days in office.

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