On March 26, 2019, Federal Trade Commission Chairman Joe Simons spoke before the Free State Foundation about how the FTC’s two missions -- competition and consumer protection -- apply to the internet ecosystem.
The man who edited Wikipedia with several senators’ private phone numbers and addresses has pleaded guilty to computer fraud and other offenses. Jackson Cosko, a former employee of Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH), was arrested in 2018 on suspicion of doxxing five members of Congress. He’s now admitted to breaking into Sen Hassan’s office after being fired, stealing data that included personal contact information, then posting that information online during Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing.
Reps Paul Tonko (D-NY) and Susan Brooks (R-IN) announced the introduction of the ACCESS BROADBAND Act (HR 1328), bipartisan legislation that would expand broadband access in underserved areas and create a simpler process for small businesses and local economic developers to access federal broadband resources. The bill would also fund local training workshops to help small businesses and economic developers put federal broadband resources to work. Similar legislation passed in the House in the 115th Congress but was never taken up in the Senate.
Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) announced that he is proposing new legislation to protect children from the dangers of the internet. The bill, called the Kids Internet Design and Safety (KIDS) Act, lays out six areas for new regulation:
House Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman David Cicilline (D-RI) and House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Doug Collins (R-GA) reintroduced The Journalism Competition and Preservation Act, making the case that the legislation is needed to level the playing field between tech giants and local news publishers. "It grows out of a recognition that we need to do something to give local media, local news publishers the ability to survive," Chairman Cicilline said. He argues that as ad revenue shifts from news publishers to Facebook and Google, it's time for Congress to intervene.
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