OVERNIGHT TECH: Tech giants help Microsoft in DOJ fight

THE LEDE: Some big names are supporting Microsoft’s case against the Justice Department over a warrant for emails and other data stored on a foreign server. 

Verizon, Apple, Cisco, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Civil Liberties Union were among the organizations filing friend-of-the-court briefs on Monday in the computer giant’s case in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

{mosads}The case centers on Microsoft’s challenge to a warrant ordering it to hand over information on a data server in Ireland, which the company says the U.S. cannot do without the host nation’s permission.

The Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers, Center for Democracy and Technology, ACT | The App Association and BSA | The Software Association filed a joint brief claiming that the government’s arguments would lead to “substantial” negative impacts for the U.S. economy. Additionally, the groups pointed to the Supreme Court’s recent unanimous ruling ordering police to obtain a warrant before searching a suspect’s cellphone. As in that case, the government wants “to leverage a significant real-world difference between physical evidence and electronic data… to expand its authority,” they claimed. 

Verizon, Cisco, Hewlett-Packard, eBar, Salesforce and Infor issued similar warnings that the lower court’s ruling in favor of the government would “upset” international agreements and “spur retaliation by foreign governments, which will threaten the privacy of Americans and non-Americans alike.”

In a blog post, Microsoft executive vice president Brad Smith called the support “an important milestone” in the legal battle. Earlier in the day, Smith joined some of the tech industry and civil liberties backers of his company’s position to press for congressional and administrative action. 

VA getting help from Watson: IBM’s Watson supercomputer is going to work at the Department of Veterans Affairs to keep better tabs on vets’ health records. The “Jeopardy”-champion technology will help VA doctors keep track of and analyze electronic medical records, the company announced on Monday.  

Senate Commerce Committee shakeup: The Senate Commerce Committee is seeing the biggest shakeup in its membership, among panels important to the technology community. Seven new members are joining, including four Republicans: Sens. Jerry Moran (Kan.) and Sens.-elect Dan Sullivan (Alaska), Cory Gardner (Colo.) and Steve Daines (Mont.). On the Democratic side, Sens. Tom Udall (N.M.), Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Sen.-elect Gary Peters (Mich.) are joining. 

The committee is losing Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) to retirement and Democratic Sens. Mark Pryor (Ark.) and Mark Begich (Alaska) to reelection losses. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) is giving up her Commerce assignment, and GOP Sens. Dan Coats (Ind.) and Tim Scott (S.C.) are too. 

The Senate Judiciary Committee is getting three new Republicans: Sens. David Vitter (La.), and Sens.-elect David Perdue (Ga.) and Thom Tillis (N.C.). Democrats are losing one member: Sen. Mazie Hirono (Hawaii).

The Intelligence Committee will bring on Hirono, along with three new Republicans: Roy Blunt (Mo.), and Sens.-elect James Lankford (Okla.) and Tom Cotton (Ark.). The committee is losing Rockefeller, ranking Republican Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) to retirement, while Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) lost reelection. 

Addressing Executive Order 12333: The Electronic Frontier Foundation said it is a “good sign” that Congress attempted to address Executive Order 12333 in its Intelligence authorization bill last week. But it added the measure does not go nearly far enough and was not given adequate time for debate. The group did not read the provision as granting the government any new authority to collect Americans’ communications, as some have claimed. 

“The procedures in Section 309 try to protect the communications of non-targets, but include massive loopholes,” wrote analyst Mark Joycox in a blog post. “These loopholes do not grant any new authority, but they do allow the President to continue the egregious retention and sharing of innocent users’ communication, which is a practice that must be stopped.”

ON TAP:

The Capitol Forum is hosting a conference on broadband competition featuring top legal, regulatory, advocacy and industry minds starting at 10 a.m. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) is giving the keynote address.

The FCC’s deputy chief information officer will talk about how the government uses cloud storage at 2 p.m.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Sony Pictures is asking news outlets not to publish troves of emails and other information stolen in a massive hack at the film studio. 

Two leading senators on the Commerce and Finance committees expressed confidence Monday that a ban on taxing Internet access will be approved in the new Congress. 

Months after a Supreme Court decision limited the types of patents that could be issued for software, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is releasing new guidelines for complying with the order.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and the broader intelligence community are pushing back on the assertion that an authorization bill approved last week expands U.S. authority to collect Americans’ communications.   

The FBI wants to weaken Americans’ digital security, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) argued in a Los Angeles Times op-ed. 

Please send tips and comments to Julian Hattem, jhattem@digital-staging.thehill.comand Mario Trujillo, mtrujillo@digital-staging.thehill.com

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