OVERNIGHT TECH: Senate Commerce subpanel to examine robocall scams

“Open source capability is key right now. FEMA is still changing the way that it makes its documents available,” Swalwell said.

{mosads}He noted that social media postings from the public have helped agencies better assist people on the ground, and for this reason, agencies need to keep pace with the latest technology.

“We owe it to those we serve to make sure the government can communicate with them in the most efficient way possible,” he said.

McCaul, Matsui call for tough IP protections in TPP: Reps. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) and Doris Matsui (D-Calif.), the co-chairmen of the Congressional High-Tech Caucus, urged the U.S. Trade Representative on Monday to push for strong intellectual property provisions during the ongoing Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) treaty negotiations. The two lawmakers issued a set of recommendations on IP protections to include in the treaty in a letter sent Monday to Michael Froman, the top trade representative for the Obama administration.

“We believe a TPP that achieves comprehensive, strong, balanced and binding intellectual property provisions will be a 21st century model for future trade agreements,” McCaul and Matsui write in the letter. “Therefore, any final agreement must meaningfully address any measure that specifically undermines the value of intellectual property protection, including with respect to pricing and reimbursement and regulatory transparency.”

ON TAP

The House GOP conference will hold a special closed-door meeting on Wednesday to discuss immigration reform.

The Hudson Institute will host a lunch discussion about net neutrality rules on Wednesday. The speakers will be former FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell, Federal Trade Commission Commissioner Maureen Ohlhausen and Verizon Vice President of Public Policy Craig Silliman.

 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Former judge calls for FISA court improvements: A former judge on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court argued on Tuesday that the court needs to hear an opposing view when weighing whether to approve a request for a surveillance warrant.

James Robertson, who formerly served on the secretive court, argued that it should adopt an adversarial system because its current process is “one-sided” when it considers requests for surveillance warrants.

Steptoe & Johnson snags former ITC judge: Robert Rogers, a former federal judge for the International Trade Commission (ITC), has joined the intellectual property division at Steptoe & Johnson as senior counsel, the firm announced Tuesday.

He recently retired from the agency after serving as an administration law judge since his appointment in July 2008. He will operate out of both the firm’s Washington office and its Century City, Calif., office, located just south of Beverly Hills.

Snowden leaks unlikely to sway cyber theft negotiations with China, expert says: Cybersecurity expert James Lewis told a House panel on Tuesday that recent leaks about American surveillance activities were unlikely to prevent the United States from confronting China over billions of dollars in intellectual property theft during this week’s dialogue between the two nations.

Lewis, from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the oversight arm of the House Energy and Commerce Committee that Chinese officials will test how much advantage over the U.S. they can get from former government contractor Edward Snowden’s revelations.

Civil liberties groups back tech giants’ requests to publish surveillance data: A coalition of civil liberties groups has filed a brief in support of Google and Microsoft’s requests to publish aggregate figures on the number of national security requests they receive for user data.

In an amicus brief filed late Monday with the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, the coalition voiced support for the tech giants’ argument that publishing those figures falls within their First Amendment rights.

Please send tips and comments to Brendan Sasso, bsasso@digital-staging.thehill.com, and Jennifer Martinez, jmartinez@digital-staging.thehill.com.

Follow Hillicon Valley on Twitter: @HilliconValley, @BrendanSasso, @JenMartinez