Overnight Tech: Senate bill aims to boost rural broadband | Tech pushes back against online sex trafficking bill | Lawmakers tackle internet device security

SENATORS UNVEIL RURAL BROADBAND BILL: A pair of senators introduced bipartisan legislation on Tuesday that aims to improve wireless networks in underserved rural areas of America.

In their Advancing Innovation and Reinvigorating Widespread Access to Viable Electromagnetic Spectrum (AIRWAVES) bill, Sens. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) and Maggie Hassan’s (D-N.H.) propose opening up spectrum space for commercial licensed and unlicensed use with the hope that doing so will drive down wireless costs and increase accessibility.

Gardner and Hassan say they believe this will bring increased broadband access to rural areas, whose connectivity coverage rates and speed lag severely with urban areas.

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“This legislation offers innovative ways to avoid a spectrum crunch, pave the way for 5G service, and provide critical resources to rural America to continue rural buildout in unserved and underserved areas throughout Colorado and the country,” Gardner said in a statement with the bill’s release.

Different bands of spectrum — ranges of radio frequencies — are used right now to transmit audio, video and data by different groups. Broadcasters, for example, transmit TV signals over spectrum bands, while wireless providers use them as a means to distribute wireless broadband.  

Some technology trade associations praised the introduction of the new bill, which they argue is needed to help rural communities. In a statement, the Information Technology Industry Council’s (ITI) Vice President of Government Affairs Vince Jesaitis applauded the bill, saying that it would help the rollout of 5G high-speed wireless.

“This legislation provides a much needed long-term plan to unlock valuable licensed spectrum as demand for wireless data and content continues to skyrocket,” echoed Kelly Cole Senior Vice President for Government Affairs at CTIA, a trade association representing wireless companies.

Read more here.

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TECH COMPANIES COME OUT AGAINST ONLINE SEX TRAFFICKING BILL: A new Senate bill aimed at cracking down on online sex trafficking ads is galvanizing opposition from internet companies who say that the legislation poses problems for free speech and many websites’ business models.

The Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act of 2017 follows a two-year Senate Homeland Security Subcommittee on Investigations probe into the site Backpage.com over allegations that it had knowingly facilitated sex trafficking.

The legislation would amend the Communications Decency Act in order to hold websites liable for “publishing information designed to facilitate sex trafficking.” It was introduced Tuesday by Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), the subcommittee chairman, and is sponsored by a bipartisan group of 19 senators.

Some of the biggest web companies have already come out against the bill. The Internet Association, which represents Silicon Valley giants like Facebook, Twitter and Amazon, said on Monday that the act would unfairly make companies responsible for what third parties publish on their sites.

Read more here.

INTERNET-DEVICE SECURITY BILL: A bipartisan group of senators unveiled legislation Tuesday to bring more security to internet-connected devices, often referred to as the “internet of things.”

Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) introduced the “Internet of Things Cybersecurity Improvement Act of 2017.”

“While I’m tremendously excited about the innovation and productivity that Internet-of-Things devices will unleash, I have long been concerned that too many Internet-connected devices are being sold without appropriate safeguards and protections in place,” said Warner in a statement announcing the bill.

“This legislation would establish thorough, yet flexible, guidelines for Federal Government procurements of connected devices,” he added.

The bill would limit government purchases of internet-connected devices to those meeting minimal security standards, require agencies to catalog internet-connected devices in their possession and tweak copyright laws to allow researchers to check device security, provided they responsibly disclose their findings. The bill would also call for the Office of Management and Budget to develop security standards for devices lacking the technological resources to be as big a threat and for the NSA to develop standards for researchers to contact government contractors with security flaws found in their products.

Read more here.

OVERSEAS DATA PRIVACY BILL MAKES A COMEBACK: Senators introduced bipartisan legislation Tuesday that would create a legal framework allowing law enforcement to access Americans’ electronic communications in servers located in other countries.

The International Communications Privacy Act from Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) would also require law enforcement to notify other countries of such data collection on their citizens in accordance with their laws.

The bill also allows law enforcement to get communications regarding foreign nationals in certain instances.

Read more here.

TRUMP SAYS FOXCONN CEO HINTED AT TRIPLING U.S. MANUFACTURING INVESTMENT: President Trump said Tuesday that the head of electronics manufacturer Foxconn privately told him that the company may invest as much as $30 billion in its U.S. manufacturing operations — three times as much as what it had promised last week.

Trump made the remark during a White House event for small businesses, praising Foxconn for its plan to open a factory in Wisconsin and invest $10 billion.

“He told me off the record — he thinks he may go $30 billion,” Trump said of Foxconn CEO Terry Gou. “But he told me that off the record, so I promised I wouldn’t tell anyone.”

Read more here.

ON TAP:

The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a confirmation vote for FCC nominees at 10 a.m.

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