One new amendment would more clearly define how the government can use information voluntarily shared by industry, while another would require the government to notify any business if it provided information that didn't qualify as cyberthreat information, and a third would limit the scope of the bill's liability protections for businesses that share information. The changes won praised from the Center for Democracy and Technology, which said it will cease its opposition and shift focus to the floor debate and the Senate. But the ACLU remained unimpressed by the changes; the civil liberties group prefers the Senate bill (S 2105) championed by the White House and cybersecurity advocates. Another amendment from California Democrat Adam Schiff is based on the Senate bill and could reach the floor this week.
As we've been predicting, the online campaign against CISPA failed to garner enough traction to derail the bill, but it has drawn scrutiny on perceived shortcomings in the language and prompted changes from the sponsors, so groups like CDT may consider their efforts a success. The debate over privacy issues has also drawn attention away from critical infrastructure, which remains the sticking point between Democrats and Republicans on the issue. We expect the House to pass all four cybersecurity bills on Thursday and Friday, putting the onus on the Senate to act or risk losing an opportunity to address a long-standing national security threat.
Quotable: "In sum, good progress has been made. The Committee listened to our concerns and has made important privacy improvements and we applaud the Committee for doing so. However, the bill falls short because of the remaining concerns – the flow of internet data directly to the NSA and the use of information for purposes unrelated to cybersecurity. We support amendments to address these concerns. Recognizing the importance of the cybersecurity issue, in deference to the good faith efforts made by Chairman Rogers and Ranking Member Ruppersberger, and on the understanding that amendments will be considered by the House to address our concerns, we will not oppose the process moving forward in the House. We will focus on the amendments and subsequently on the Senate." — The Center for Democracy and Technology DATA Act on House Floor Today: The House is scheduled this morning to debate a bill (HR 2146) from Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., that would establish a permanent federal transparency board that would create a single website to publish information on government contractors and grantees. The DATA Act is modeled after the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board that tracked spending from the 2009 stimulus, and is expected to garner bipartisan support on the House floor. The bill's provisions also resemble the bipartisan 2006 law from Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and then-Sen. Obama that established USASpending.gov. CQ's Ambreen Ali reports the recent scandal over lavish spending at a Las Vegas conference held by the General Services Administration, the government's contracting shop, may add some momentum to bills designed to increase government transparency. In addition to the DATA Act, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., plans to reintroduce legislation (S 1222) that would enhance disclosures of federal expenditures. Warner is currently negotiating changes to the bill in order to attract a Republican cosponsor. Groups Want Clock Stopped on Verizon-Cable Deal: A coalition of telecom stakeholders sent a letter (PDF) to the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday backing a request from the Communications Workers of America that the agency stop the informal shot clock on its review of Verizon's purchase of spectrum from a group of cable companies. CWA complained of problems accessing the documents filed by Verizon and the cable companies, which use a proprietary format that requires expensive software to load. The letter argues smaller companies without access to that software may be affected by the deal, and deserve extra time to study the documents related to it. Signees include Free Press, Media Access Project, Public Knowledge, Sprint, and the Rural Telecommunications Group. The groups have opposed the Verizon-cable deal, which they claim will reduce competition in the markets for wireless services and pay-TV. Senators Hope Rewards Help Nab Kony: CQ's Jennifer Scholtes reports members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee are hoping to advance legislation that would broaden the State Department's rewards program for information related leading to the capture of Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord's Resistance Army. Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass, has introduced a bill (S 2318) that would expand the criteria for the Rewards for Justice program to include Kony-related information. Kony's activities have received an unprecedented level of attention online recently thanks to a viral video highlighting his atrocities.