The House will debate several cybersecurity measures today, one day after the White House threatened to veto the most controversial measure, which is designed to increase information sharing on cyberthreats between the public and private sectors. The White House argued that CISPA (HR 3523) doesn't include adequate protections for the privacy of citizens or the private computer networks deemed most crucial to national security. CQ's Tim Starks has more on the White House veto threat, which came despite a package of amendments intended to appease some critics.
The House is expected to consider a slew of amendments to CISPA that would narrow the bill's scope and limit the ways the government can use information shared by businesses. Democrats remain concerned by the lack of privacy safeguards and are likely to support changes that bring the legislation closer to the comprehensive bill championed in the Senate (S 2105). But the GOP is unlikely to back any amendments that place security requirements on private companies. We still expect an amended version of CISPA to pass, along with three non-controversial bills dealing research and development and updating the IT security laws for federal agencies. Those bills will be considered this afternoon under suspension of the rules.
FCC Launches Connect America Fund: The Federal Communications Commission officially launched the Connect America Fund on Wednesday, which was created during the agency's overhaul of the Universal Service Fund last October. The Commission elected to shift the focus of its largest telecom subsidy fund from landline phones to broadband. Reforming the USF took decades, with the FCC acknowledging that it won't be able to achieve the same level of penetration with broadband as phone service in rural areas. House Creates Spectrum Working Group: As we reported yesterday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee formed a bipartisan working group to identify government spectrum that could be freed up and re-purposed for broadband access. CQ's Ambreen Ali has more details on the panel, which will be chaired by Reps. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., and Doris Matsui, D-Calif. The Commerce Department has already identified the 1755-1850 MHz band of spectrum as suitable for commercial use, but former Democratic FCC Commissioner Michael Copps recently said he believes a comprehensive inventory of government spectrum, which is held mostly by the military and intelligence community, would reveal a significant chunk of airwaves are lying fallow. Government Transparency Bill Passes in House: CQ's Joanna Anderson and Charlene Carter report the House passed legislation (HR 2146) by voice vote on Wednesday that is designed to track all federal spending. The move comes amid widespread criticism of the General Services Administration for spending $823,000 on a lavish Las Vegas conference in October 2010, which led to the resignation of GSA Administrator Martha Johnson and the firing of two of her top deputies. The bill by from Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., would establish a federal accountability and transparency board modeled after the panel created to track stimulus spending in 2009. It would also establish a single website to track all government contracts and grants, similar in concept to USASpending.gov. House Panel Examines Cyberthreat From Iran: The House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism will hold a joint hearing with the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity this morning focused on the cyberthreat presented by Iran. The 2010 emergence of the Stuxnet virus, which targeted Iranian industrial systems manufactured by Siemens, awakened lawmakers to the prospect of a cyberattack on U.S. infrastructure that could cause physical damage. While most studies list China and Russia as the primary sponsors of organized attacks against U.S. networks, Iran is considered a rising threat whose cyber-capabilities have increased dramatically in recent years. Google Gets Into the File Business: Google unveiled its long-awaited Google Drive this week, which is designed to allow users to access their documents anywhere there is a Web connection. The Economist's Babbage blog takes a look at the increasingly crowded market for virtual file synchronization, which includes recent entries from Microsoft and Apple as well. Eventually consumers are likely to rely on the cloud for most of their data storage needs, which is why policymakers have already started discussing the privacy and security implications of the shift.