Overnight Tech: White House pressured to oppose encryption bill

LEDE: The pressure over a coming encryption bill is moving to the White House.

The administration has said, despite several contrary reports, that it hasn’t decided to oppose an encryption bill from Senate Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and ranking member Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). The bill leaked in discussion draft form last week. Our own Cory Bennett was the first to report on the language in the draft, which includes a provision requiring companies to provide “technical assistance” to the government authorities trying to access encrypted data.

That’s led advocates who oppose the bill to ramp up pressure on the White House to oppose the provisions.

{mosads}”While news reports indicate that the administration will not ‘endorse’ the text, we call on the White House to outright oppose this draft bill ­­ and all legislation that would severely undermine digital security,” said a set of groups, academics and individuals in a letter to President Obama on Monday. “If the White House is unable to reject such an extreme proposal as this one out of hand, it raises serious concerns about the administration’s dedication to human rights and the digital economy.”

The letter, released by Access Now, but signed but many other public interest groups and individuals — 37 in total — came just after an Internet Association statement that also focused on the president’s deliberations. “Mandating the weakening of encryption will put the United States’ national security and global competitiveness at risk without corresponding benefits,” said association President Michael Beckerman. “As the Administration considers its response to the bill, we hope President Obama takes a position that supports the use of strong encryption without backdoors.”

The bill comes amid a heated debate on the role of tech companies in helping law enforcement access encrypted data. It was last month that the FBI backed down from its legal battle with Apple over whether the company should write software to let investigators access encrypted data on an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino attackers.

POLIS IN A GOOD PLACE ON EMAIL PRIVACY BILL: Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) one of the lead sponsors of the Email Privacy Act — heading for a markup Wednesday — said he is in a good place after negotiations to amend the bill he helped co-author: “Nothing is final ’til it is final,” Polis told The Hill. “So obviously we want to see what they actually circulate at the markup. But right now, I as one of the initial authors, am in a good place, and feel there has been a good faith negotiation, and the working language would address the glaring loophole in American’s privacy.”

CALL FOR BETTER DISCLOSURE OF JOINT SALES AGREEMENTS: The Government Accountability Office counted 86 “joint sales agreement” among broadcasters in which competing stations agree to jointly sell advertising to cut down on costs. GAO came to that number after looking through public disclosures. In a report Monday, the GAO told the Federal Communications Commission to make sure that stations disclose those agreements in their online files, after finding some evidence that all might not be fully complying with the disclosure rules. Joint sales agreements have become a hot topic on Capitol Hill in the past few years after the FCC created rules that would prohibit some of those agreements under rules meant to prevent consolidated media ownership.

CHARTER CEO MEETS WITH FCC CHAIRMAN: Charter chief executive Tom Rutledge last week met with FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and the agency’s top lawyer about the cable company’s proposed merger with Time Warner Cable, according to a filing disclosure. Reports indicate the FCC is likely to approve the merger with some conditions, and the agency’s informal shot clock to review the merger recently passed. Wheeler met with Time Warner Cable’s CEO last month.

SERIOUSLY, JUST SET YOUR SPOTIFY TO PRIVATE: Twitter is abuzz with lawmaker Spotify playlists, or at least playlists that allow Hill staffers to impersonate their boss’ musical preferences, released on Sunday. They are a mix of home-state references (Orrin Hatch’s includes a track from Utah’s Mormon Tabernacle Choir) and surprises (Fred Upton: Styx fan). There are also — despite the backlash! — some Hamilton tracks. You can find them all here.

CONTEXT: Spotify has been beefing up its presence in Washington over the last year, as Mario detailed in August when the White House joined the streaming service. So it never hurts to have the Speaker of the House as a user.

ON TAP:

At 5 p.m., the House Rules Committee will meet to decide the procedures for floor consideration of a bill to ban rate regulation at the FCC.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler said Monday it was important for the agency to move quickly as it considers reforms to the market for high-capacity internet connections used by certain businesses.

Airbnb is beefing up its federal advocacy presence, bringing on former Rep. Vin Weber (R-Minn.) and the public affairs firm Mercury.

A top industry organization on Monday joined the chorus of tech and privacy groups outraged by a leaked draft of an encryption bill that they say would force tech companies to make their products less secure.

Rep. Kevin Yoder has signed off on a series of changes to his widely supported legislation that would ensure the government obtains a warrant before forcing a tech companies to hand over customer emails.

An appeals court has ruled that the Mississippi attorney general can continue with his investigation of Google’s policies to police illicit or infringing content.

Please send tips and comments to David McCabe, dmccabe@digital-staging.thehill.com and Mario Trujillo, mtrujillo@digital-staging.thehill.com

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