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Cyberattacks can amount to armed attacks triggering the right of self-defense and are subject to international laws of war, the State Department’s top lawyer said.
Spelling out the U.S. government’s position on the rules governing cyberwarfare, Harold Koh, the department’s legal adviser, said a cyber-operation that results in death, injury or significant destruction would probably be seen as a use of force in violation of international law. In the United States’ view, any illegal use of force potentially triggers the right of national self-defense, Koh said.
US official says cyberattacks can trigger self-defense rule U.S.: Laws Of War Apply To Cyber Attacks (Defense News)
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said the cybersecurity executive order that the White House is drafting is "close to completion."
At a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing, Sec Napolitano said the executive order is "still being drafted in the inter-agency process" and "is close to completion depending on a few issues that need to be resolved at the highest levels." She said the draft order still needs to be reviewed by President Barack Obama. Sec Napolitano again urged Congress to enact comprehensive cybersecurity legislation, arguing the White House cannot completely address the threat on its own. She noted that DHS is limited in the number of trained cyber personnel it can hire, which cannot be addressed by an executive order.
Sec Napolitano: Executive order on cybersecurity is 'close to completion'
The Library of Congress unveiled Congress.gov, a new site to allow members of the public to learn about past and pending legislation.
The site, which offers bill summaries, bill texts and vote tallies, will eventually replace THOMAS, Congress's current legislative database. Congress.gov offers a host of improvements over the old service. The site is now accessible on mobile devices and features live and archived video of floor debates. The Library of Congress also cooperated with the House and Senate to provide profiles and biographical data of every member of Congress, along with information on all of the bills they have introduced. The new site features a dramatically overhauled search engine, which allows users to search across numerous years. THOMAS required users to specify a particular congressional session.
Library of Congress unveils new bill-tracking site to replace THOMAS Smartphone Friendly, Congressional Search Site Unveiled (nextgov)
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) labeled the voluntary TV ratings system "inadequate and ineffective" in response to a Parents Television Council content analysis on what kids would see on a show rated TV-PG.
Chairman Rockefeller has been a strong voice for regulation, self- or otherwise, of violent and sexual content as a way to protect kids. He said, "These voluntary efforts by industry are clearly inadequate and ineffective. As we look to the future of video in the Commerce Committee, we must also continue to look at how best to arm parents with the tools to safeguard their children." A Rockefeller spokesman said no hearings were currently planned on the issue, but that the chairman had been in contact with PTC to learn about the study.
Sen Rockefeller Slams TV Ratings as Ineffective
National Association of Broadcasters President Gordon Smith wrote to the leadership of the House Transportation and Homeland Security committees to endorse the Federal Emergency Management Agency Reauthorization Act.
The bill promotes public/private partnerships for emergency communications, just the sort of teamwork, Smith pointed out, broadcasters have been engaged in with the federal government on the Emergency Alert System, and with local law enforcement on recovering 580 abducted kids via AMBER Alerts. Smith noted that the legislation creates an Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) advisory committee that NAB says its members want to be a part of.
NAB Endorses FEMA Reauthorization Bill
Apple and four major publishers have offered to let retailers such as Amazon sell e-books at a discount, in a bid to end an European Union antitrust investigation, the European Commission said.
"For a period of two years, the four publishers will not restrict, limit or impede e-book retailers' ability to set, alter or reduce retail prices for e-books and/or to offer discounts or promotions," the European Commission said in its Official Journal, detailing the offer under consideration. The Commission said the publishers and Apple also offered to suspend "most-favored nation" contracts for five years. Such clauses barred publishers from deals with rival retailers to sell e-books at prices lower than those set by Apple. The EU watchdog said third parties have a month to provide feedback on the proposals. If the response is positive, the Commission will end its investigation.
Apple, publishers offer EU e-book antitrust settlement
Europe has tapped out its supply of Internet addresses in its assigned range, but some tech prospectors believe they've found some IPv4 gold—a full block of 16,777,216 addresses that isn't used to connect to the Internet. But the Department of Works and Pensions, the British government agency that owns the block of addresses (referred to in IP networking as a /8 block), has no intentions of giving it up, even though almost none of the addresses will ever be publicly accessible. That has inspired an electronic petition campaign on a House of Commons website to convince British lawmakers to auction off the address block.
British government agency hoards addresses as IP well runs dry
Europe's top antitrust regulator is set to sign off in the coming days on the proposed $1.9 billion acquisition of EMI Music's record labels by Universal Music Group.
Joaquín Almunia, the European Union's antitrust chief, said the parties had proposed remedies that were market-tested and that those tests had demonstrated the need for further concessions by the parties. "We have analyzed this second wave" of remedies, Almunia told reporters after a speech at Georgetown University Law School, and a decision is expected by Sept. 27 at the latest. "Most probably we will announce our decision before the last day," he said.
EU Set to Approve Universal-EMI Deal With Conditions
The Wall Street Journal has published op-eds from nine writers without disclosing their roles as advisers to Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. The op-eds attack President Obama and his administration or discuss Romney on a range of topics like the economy, health care, education and foreign policy. The Journal published a total of 20 pieces from the following Romney advisers without disclosing their campaign ties: John Bolton; Max Boot; Lee A. Casey; Paula Dobriansky; Mary Ann Glendon; Glenn Hubbard; Paul E. Peterson; David B. Rivkin Jr.; and Martin West. In several instances, the Journal failed to disclose an op-ed writer's connection despite its own news section reporting that the writer is advising Romney.
Nine Wall Street Journal Op-ed Writers Who Weren't Disclosed As Romney Advisers
In this Perspective, we look at the complicated question of what is the effect of regulation on broadband infrastructure investment.
Because broadband distribution networks, both wireless and wireline, require large levels of capital expenditures on long-lived assets, a Broadband Service Provider's incentive to invest in modern broadband infrastructure is influenced not only by current regulation but also by expectations regarding future regulatory interventions. Thus, the effective stimulus of broadband investment requires regulators not only to make prudent decisions today, but also to signal to investors that the future is a favorable investment climate and, if possible, to make inter-temporal commitments to particular regulatory paradigms. We use an economic model of "regulatory certainty" which demonstrates that investment levels are determined not so much by the level of certainty and uncertainty, but rather by what broadband providers become more certain about. That is, if providers become more certain that regulation will reduce the returns on investment in the future, then this signal of "strong" regulation curbs investment. We then compare the heavy-handed record of the current Federal Communications Commission with recent statements by senior European Union officials who signal a more "relaxed" regulatory touch going forward. Our analysis finds that given "the respective regulatory postures of the U.S. and E.U. regulators, the theory predicts, ceteris paribus, that broadband investment in Europe will rise relative to U.S. investment levels." Accordingly, we argue that "[i]f the U.S. hopes to stay ahead in the mythical broadband race, then a change in the mentality of its regulators is required." Finally, we update earlier research and again demonstrate that arguments for more regulation of Broadband Service Providers because of purported "high profits" in the sector have no empirical support. Using publicly-available data, we show that the profitability of Broadband Service Providers is below that of the average for S&P 500 firms, and well below that of other firms in the broadband ecosystem (i.e., Google and eBay).
What is the Effect of Regulation on Broadband Investment? Regulatory Certainty and the Expectation of Returns