Week of April 29, 2024
State of Play: Congress is back after last week’s foreign aid package made it across the finish line and to President Biden’s desk.
A bill to force the sale of TikTok caught a surprise ride on the foreign aid package, now the clock is ticking and the lawsuits are coming.
Members return to Washington today for a four-week marathon session before the Memorial Day recess.
What to Watch: The Senate will look to tackle FAA reauthorization this week, and there is speculation that a number of unrelated bills could be attached, including kids online safety legislation. Congress must reauthorize the FAA before the May 10 expiration. This is one of the final looming deadlines facing Congress until funding panic sets in at the end of September.
Appropriators are now hard at work with budget hearings as they gear up to draft FY25 funding measures.
The REPORT Act is scheduled for consideration on the House floor today, requiring more and stricter reporting measures for online programs regarding child exploitation.
The Biden Administration is out today with a new rundown of agencies that have met the most recent deadlines of the AI executive order including new hires, guidance, and frameworks for various AI implications.
On Tap: The Change Healthcare CEO will testify on the company’s recent healthcare data breach in both the House and Senate. Senate Commerce will be holding a markup of children’s online safety legislation. And we can’t forget AI. The Senate Judiciary IP Subcommittee will do a deepdive on the NO FAKES Act.
What We’re Watching:
Children’s Privacy Receives Senate Commerce Markup: The Senate Commerce Committee will be holding a markup on Wednesday to examine a number of telecom bills and notably, the Protecting Kids From Social Media Act. The bill, introduced by Senator Schatz (D-HI) last year, would limit access to social media platforms to children under the age of 13. The bill has faced disagreement from some members over certain age verification requirements that were removed from the bill. There were a number of AI bills originally scheduled to be marked-up, including the CREATE AI Act, but were removed from the final agenda. There is speculation that the Committee is looking to hold an AI-specific markup on a number of bills in the coming weeks.
NO FAKES' Time to Shine: The Senate Judiciary Intellectual Property Subcommittee will be discussing the NO FAKES Act in a hearing Tuesday afternoon with primarily industry witnesses in music, movies, and television, to hear their perspectives on the need to safeguard voice and image likeness of individuals from AI. The bill, which stands for the e Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe (NO FAKES) Act, would specifically hold companies and individuals liable for unauthorized AI digital replicas of individuals’ images, performances, and audio recordings. The move is the latest from the Senate on AI protections in the IP and copyright space. It remains to be seen if either chamber will be able to act on name, image, and likeness protections from AI, given the interest in both the Senate and House Judiciary Committees.
House to Hear Industry Perspectives on Cybersecurity Mandates: Cybersecurity is top of mind on Capitol Hill this week with hearings scheduled to hear from the Change HealthCare CEO in the wake of its massive cyberattack. But hearing at the forefront for industry is the House Homeland Security’s discussion with stakeholders on the future of the mandatory Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act (CIRCIA). The bill was signed into law in March 2022, and requires the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to develop and implement regulations requiring covered entities to report covered cyber incidents and ransomware payments to CISA. The agency issued a notice of proposed rulemaking earlier this month to seek industry input on how they should implement the bill’s requirements. There remains contention on how companies should be subjected to mandatory cybersecurity reporting requirements. The hearing is likely to touch on these perspectives, as well as the benefits and shortfalls of implementing such regulations on the private sector.
What’s Happening This Week:
Tech Hearings
House Small Business hearing on FinCEN’s implementation of the Corporate Transparency Act - Tuesday, April 30 at 10:00 AM EST
Senate Finance hearing on the Change Healthcare cyber attack and on hacking America’s health care - Tuesday, April 30 at 10:00 AM EST
House Ways and Means hearing with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen - Tuesday, April 30 at 10:00 AM ET
Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs hearing on how shrinkflation and technology impact consumers' finances - Tuesday, April 30 at 10:00 AM EST
House Appropriations Department of Homeland Security Subcommittee hearing on FY25 request on the cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency - Tuesday, April 30 at 2:00 PM EST
Senate Judiciary Privacy, Technology, and the Law Subcommittee hearing on the NO FAKES Act, focusing on protecting Americans from unauthorized digital replicas - Tuesday, April 30 at 2:00 PM EST
Senate Commerce markup on AI and telecom bills - Wednesday, May 1 at 10:00 AM
House Homeland Security Cyber Subcommittee hearing on CIRCIA - Wednesday, May 1 at 2:00 PM ET
House Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations subcommittee hearing on the cyberattack on Change Healthcare and how it impacts patients and providers - Wednesday, May 1 at 2:00 PM ET
Tech Events
The Wilson Center's Science and Technology Innovation Program – Crypto in Venezuela: Two Sides of a Coin - Monday, April 29 at 11:00 AM EST
PunchBowl News - The AI Impact with Sen. Mike Rounds - Tuesday, April 30 at 8:30 AM EST
New America's Open Technology Institute - Can Age Verification Help Kids Stay Safe Online?- Wednesday, May 1 at 10:00 AM EST
The National Press Club - Disinformation, Elections & Democracy: How Journalists Can Spot and Disarm Current Tactics to Influence Voters - Wednesday, May 1 at 11:30 AM EST
Commerce Department; National Institute of Standards and Technology - National Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee Meeting - Thursday, May 2 at 10:00 AM EST
Commodity Futures Trading Commission - Technology Advisory Committee meeting on a study of artificial intelligence in regulated financial services - Thursday, May 2 at 1:00 PM EST
The Government Executive Media Group - Virtual discussion on how AI is setting a new standard for protection and preparedness in cybersecurity - Thursday, May 2 at 2:00 PM EST
The National Institutes of Standards and Technology - Cybersecurity Resources for Small to Medium-Sized Manufacturers- Thursday, May 2 at 2:00 PM EST
What’s Interesting This Week:
You’ve Got Spam!.... On May 3, 1978, Gary Thuerk, a marketing representative for Digital Equipment Corporation, sent out an email promoting an open house for the company’s latest computer systems to 393 recipients on the ARPANET, a precursor to the modern Internet. While this number sounds small by today’s standards, this was all the ARPANET users on the west coast of the United States. Given that this was an unsolicited commercial e-mail, it is now considered the first of its kind, AKA the first spam message well before the term was coined. It brought a quick and negative response from many users and Thuerk was warned by ARPANET administrators that mass mailings were not an acceptable use of the network. The backlash notwithstanding, the open house was largely successful with over $12 million dollars of DEC equipment being sold. I guess it was better to ask forgiveness than permission in this case!
