Senate Democrats set up net neutrality showdown Presented by Ericsson

With help from John Hendel, Ashley Gold and Margaret Harding McGill

SENATE DEMS SET UP NET NEUTRALITY SHOWDOWN — Senate Democrats are preparing to force a floor vote next month to restore net neutrality rules repealed by President Donald Trump's Federal Communications Commission, creating a public clash they hope will help them in the midterm elections, John reports. Democrats are planning to take the procedural step May 9 to compel the vote, a Senate Democratic aide told POLITICO. That could set up the vote as soon as the following week. Senate Democrats have 50 votes lined up — more than enough to force a vote under the Congressional Review Act, but one shy of the 51 required for passage. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) is the only Republican who has pledged support for the effort so far.


— Even with Senate passage, the Democrats' proposal would be unlikely to get through the House or earn Trump's signature, but the floor fight could help raise awareness of the issue. “We’re in the homestretch in the fight to save net neutrality,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement. “Soon, the American people will know which side their member of Congress is on: fighting for big corporations and ISPs or defending small business owners, entrepreneurs, middle-class families and every-day consumers.” Democrats are planning another net neutrality "day of action” to rally support on May 9, the Senate aide said.

T-MOBILE-SPRINT MAKE CASE TO TRUMP ADMIN— T-Mobile and Sprint are pitching their merger to the Trump administration as one that will give the president what he wants: a leg up on China, a U.S. jobs boost and an endorsement of GOP tax cuts, Margaret reports. The $26.8 billion all-stock transaction, announced Sunday, would combine the nation’s third- and fourth-largest wireless carriers. That kind of consolidation has sparked resistance in the past from government regulators fearful of the impact on prices and consumers. But the companies say this time it's different — and they're framing the deal as a win-win for Trump.

— T-Mobile CEO John Legere, who will lead the new company, and Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure are heading to Washington this week to make the case for their merger. Their argument: A combined T-Mobile and Sprint can help the U.S. accelerate development of next-generation 5G networks, amid fears that China is winning the race to build the technology. The CEOs are putting a strong emphasis on jobs as well, attuned to the president's "America First" focus on U.S. manufacturing and domestic job growth. The companies are touting plans to invest about $40 billion over three years in their combined network and business — creating jobs through construction of new 5G cell towers, expansion of U.S. call centers and opening new stores.

— Democrats aren’t convinced: Lawmakers on the left have some questions about the potential side effects of the union. “This merger by T-Mobile and Sprint raises serious antitrust issues, and is exactly why I urged the FCC and DOJ to investigate a potential merger last year,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said in a statement. “I remain concerned that increased consolidation could undermine benefits to consumers.”

GOOD MONDAY MORNING and welcome to Morning Tech, where we’re trying to figure out what all The Avengers fuss is about . Send your tech tips to [email protected] Catch the rest of the team’s contact info after Quick Downloads.

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CBC BACK IN THE VALLEY — Members of the Congressional Black Caucus are making a swing through Silicon Valley this week as lawmakers press tech giants on increasing the diversity of their workforces. Reps. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.), Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) and Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) will be part of the contingent huddling with several companies in the region. “The tech industry has created extraordinary wealth and opportunity, but a growing number of communities and Black employees are being left out of the growth,” Butterfield said in a statement. Recall that the CBC established its Tech2020 initiative to try to to increase African American representation in the industry. The group has recently pressed Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and CEO Mark Zuckerberg to add more people of color to the company’s board and top leadership ranks. As part of this trip, the CBC members will also unveil five principles they’ve compiled for building a more diverse workforce.

— Ashley caught up with Lee, who represents Oakland, right before the trip kicked off: “This is a very serious issue, because this is an industry which has in many ways excluded African-Americans in their workforce, startups, investment, capital and investment in small businesses,” she said. “[We’re] looking at the economic impact on communities where the tech sector has had a footprint — not only are African-Americans locked out of the jobs, but there have not been mitigation efforts to make sure they don’t get moved out of the communities where they’ve lived their whole lives.” She added: “We want them to succeed. In many ways they’re the innovators of our time, we believe in this sector.”

PAI TO GULF COAST — FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is also hitting the road this week. The agency head will participate in roundtables with House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and Rep. Gus Bilirakis as he makes his way to cities in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Pai is set to discuss how high-speed internet affects job growth and business development as part of his roadtrip across the Gulf Coast.

INTERNET ASSOCIATION PUSHES TRADE PRIORITIES — The Internet Association, a tech trade group that includes Google and Facebook among its members, is calling on the U.S. Trade Representative to ensure that copyright safe harbors and intermediary liability are addressed in NAFTA renegotiations. “Intermediary liability protections have enabled new business models to develop in the U.S. without getting sued out of existence,” the group writes. “As our trading partners build out their regulation of the digital economy, we should be insisting upon the same protections abroad.”

SILICON VALLEY MUST-READS

— Twitter and Aleksandr Kogan: “ Twitter Inc. sold data access to the Cambridge University academic who also obtained millions of Facebook Inc. users’ information that was later passed to a political consulting firm without the users’ consent,” Bloomberg reports. “Aleksandr Kogan, who created a personality quiz on Facebook to harvest information later used by Cambridge Analytica, established his own commercial enterprise, Global Science Research. That firm was granted access to large-scale public Twitter data, covering months of posts, for one day in 2015, according to Twitter.”

— Google founder warns of AI problems: “[Sergey] Brin says Alphabet is giving ‘serious thought’ to a number of … issues, including how AI will affect employment; the challenges of making unbiased and transparent algorithms; and the fears that this technology will be used to ‘manipulate people,’” The Verge reports.

— How Slack had made key strides on diversity: “At Slack, the absence of a single diversity leader seems to signal that diversity and inclusion aren’t standalone missions, to be shunted off to a designated specialist, but are rather intertwined with the company's overall strategy,” The Atlantic reports. “As the CEO, Stewart Butterfield, has said, he wants these efforts to be something ‘everyone is engaged in.’”

QUICK DOWNLOADS

Baidu takes action on its financial services division: “China’s Baidu Inc said it will sell a majority stake in its financial services business for about $1.9 billion to a consortium led by TPG Capital Management LP and Carlyle Group LP, as it seeks funding to take on established fintech firms in China,” Reuters reports.

Twitter feed update: “Twitter is now pushing links tweeted by your network into your home timeline and grouping the tweets mentioning the link underneath it,” BuzzFeed reports.

Tips, comments, suggestions? Send them along via email to our team: Eric Engleman ([email protected], @ericengleman), Kyle Daly ([email protected], @dalykyle), Nancy Scola ([email protected], @nancyscola), Margaret Harding McGill ([email protected], @margarethmcgill), Ashley Gold ([email protected], @ashleyrgold), Steven Overly ([email protected], @stevenoverly), John Hendel ([email protected], @JohnHendel) and Li Zhou ([email protected], @liszhou)

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