Good Morning! We hope your holidays were enjoyable, if you managed to leave town at all. Welcome back to the Morning Take, and the 113th edition of the U.S. Congress.
Legislative business is light today as the new members are sworn in, but the final days of the 112th Congress saw a flurry of activity, and not all of it related to the now-postponed sequester. The Senate confirmed a slew of nominees at the eleventh hour, including the nominations of Republican Joshua Wright to the Federal Trade Commission and Bill Baer to head the Antitrust Division at the Justice Department. Democratic Federal Communications Commission member Mignon Clyburn was also confirmed for a second term at the FCC, where she is expected to continue championing the causes of diversity and consumer protections in all matters telecom.
The real personnel question facing tech policy watchers is what will happen to FCC chairman Julius Genachowski, which is anyone's guess. There was widespread speculation that Genachowski would step down at the end of President Obama's first term, but as of now there has been no news on that front, and the chairman has given no indication of whether he's considering staying on for at least a portion of the president's second term. Genachowski's legacy is expected to hinge on the pending court challenge to the commission's net neutrality rules, and a decision is expected in the first half of the year. So we wouldn't be surprised if he decides to stick around until the court decides the fate of the rules.
A less scrutinized but equally important post will also likely open up at the Federal Trade Commission, where Chairman Jon Leibowitz is expected to step down after the FTC hands down its decision on the Google antitrust probe. The FTC delayed its findings in the Google probe after reports that the proposed remedies would not address the core complaint: that Google privileges its own products in its search results. Google's many critics pounced on the news, blasting the FTC for reportedly securing fewer commitments from the search giant than the agency's European counterparts. The FTC's proposed agreement with Google is not expected to change significantly from previous reports, but it will address some of the concerns cited by Google competitors, such as the use of local reviews and other information from sites like Yelp. If the FTC decides not to punish Google as harshly as competitors would like, expect to see calls for the Justice Department to take up the case. If it does so will say a great deal about how aggressive the Antitrust Division will be under Baer's leadership; President Obama's first term was notable for the considerable ramp-up in antitrust activity compared to his predecessor.
Cybersecurity Remains Top Tech Issue in 2012: CQ Homeland Security's Rob Margetta has a nice roundup of the top three policy issues in his domain for 2013, and unsurprisingly, cybersecurity is one of them. The impasse in Congress over new security standards for critical infrastructure providers has also prevented lawmakers from enabling greater information sharing between the public and private sectors, a notion that has bipartisan support. Both parties say they want to move the ball forward on cybersecurity in 2013, but doing so will require one side to show enough flexibility to bring both to the table. We remain more optimistic about the odds of an information sharing bill passing Congress than comprehensive cybersecurity legislation, which remains an uphill climb. The wild card is the administration's threat of an executive order; there are also reports of the White House secretly authorizing some aspects of its cybersecurity interactions with the private sector, but little information is available at present. Regardless, one thing seems clear: Cybersecurity will continue to dominate the tech policy agenda in early 2013. Markey Takes Aim At Kerry's Seat: Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., was one of the first Democrats to announce his intention to run for the Senate seat vacated by fellow Democrat John Kerry, who will take over as Secretary of State. It appears Markey has the support of his colleagues in the national Democratic party. A senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Markey has a long history of leadership on tech and telecom issues, including his position as chairman of the Bipartisan Privacy Caucus. Kerry's departure lowered the odds the 113th Congress will act on privacy, as the senior senator from Massachusetts was one of the strongest advocates for government regulation of how Web companies treat consumers' personal information. But if Markey should replace Kerry, privacy advocates may find themselves with an even stronger ally in the battle to increase privacy protections online. Tech Specialist Leaves the Hill: The last issue of CQ Weekly for 2012 included an acknowledgement that longtime technology specialist Erin Sheerin has decided to leave the Hill after 29 years working for lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. Hill's career has allowed her to witness the shift from handwritten to electronic communications; we're sure part of her wishes we could go back to the days when it took 28 cents and a lot more time to contact one's congressman.