McConnell backs broadband privacy CRA Presented by CTIA

With help from Ashley Gold, Alex Byers and Brianna Gurciullo

McCONNELL JOINS EFFORT TO KILL BROADBAND PRIVACY RULES — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has joined the list of co-sponsors of Sen. Jeff Flake’s (R-Ariz.) resolution to unwind the FCC’s broadband privacy rules, his office tells MT. It’s a noteworthy development: Lawmakers have plenty of Obama-era regulations they want to dismantle, but McConnell’s explicit support is a sign that the Flake resolution has a solid chance of making it to the Senate floor. McConnell’s office didn’t say if or when that would happen, but industry supporters of the Congressional Review Act resolution hailed McConnell’s move as a significant momentum boost.


— Over in the House, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) has the entire Republican roster of the House telecom subcommittee co-sponsoring her companion CRA resolution, she told us. Energy and Commerce Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.), however, has not signed on. Industry sources tell us that Walden is supportive of the resolution, but his stance — in public and in private — will be crucial, since strong backing from the full E&C committee could help convince House leadership to bring the measure to the floor. We’re tracking.

EU’S ANSIP WOULD 'LIKE TO TRUST' TRUMP ADMINISTRATION — Tony and POLITICO’s Katy O’Donnell sat down with Andrus Ansip, the European Commission vice president for the digital single market, about his swing through Washington. The message: the two sides are still building a relationship. “I would like to trust, but to trust, we have to build this kind of environment where we can fully trust each other," Ansip said. His meeting with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross touched on the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield data-transfer agreement — a sensitive topic for Europeans who are watching for signals about Trump’s commitment to the pact’s privacy protections.

TRENDING: SOCIAL MEDIA HAUNTS MILLENNIAL CANDIDATES — As twenty-somethings start to run for public office, their social media profiles offer a trove of fodder for opposition ads, as college shenanigans and other embarrassing posts on Facebook or YouTube are weaponized against them, Pro Campaign’s Elena Schneider reports. “It’s a political ad that media consultants from both parties expect to become a trope in the future, as candidates who were twenty-somethings during the rise of social media platforms — happily posting red solo cup pictures on Facebook and a cappella videos on YouTube — are now trying to run for office,” she writes. Read more.

GOOD FRIDAY MORNING and welcome to Morning Tech, where we’re waiting with bated breath to see how this adaptation turns out. Send your tech, telecom and transition tips to [email protected] and @liszhou. And, as always, catch the rest of the team’s contact info after Quick Downloads.

USPTO INTRIGUE CONTINUES — While Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) has told Ashley that he thinks Michelle Lee is a sure bet to be held over as USPTO director in President Donald Trump’s administration, not everyone on the Hill is so sure. “We think there are enough pieces at play that suggest that it’s not a done deal,” said an aide from Rep. Doug Collins’ (R-Ga.) office, who added that the agency “needs new blood.” The aide also said there are concerns that Lee may be bucking guidelines from President Trump on reducing the number of regulations introduced by federal agencies. Collins is the vice-chair of the House IP subcommittee, which Issa currently chairs.

STATES CHALLENGE TRUMP IMMIGRATION ORDER — At least five states are taking legal action to block parts of Trump’s new travel ban, POLITICO’s Josh Gerstein reports. “We’re asserting that the president cannot unilaterally declare himself free of the court’s restraining order and injunction,” Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson told reporters at a news conference Thursday. “This is not a new lawsuit. … It’s our view that that temporary restraining order that we’ve already obtained remains in effect. And the burden is on the federal government to explain why it does not.”

ARCHIVING TEXTS AND TWEETS — House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and ranking member Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) want White House Counsel Don McGahn to explain how the administration is preserving federal worker communications at a time when many are using encrypted apps like Signal and WhatsApp. They also want to know how Trump’s tweets are being archived in compliance with the Presidential Records Act. Tony and Nancy flagged the archiving issue in a story last month, writing about how Trump’s headline-grabbing tweets from his personal account, some of which are subsequently deleted, may never be properly collected and catalogued for future historians to parse.

SAMSUNG ON WIKILEAKS — After the latest WikiLeaks revelations that the CIA can apparently hack its way into Samsung smart TVs, the company is seeking to reassure customers: “The report describes a malicious software installed through a physically connected USB drive which applies to firmwares on TVs sold in 2012 and 2013, most of which have already been patched through a firmware update,” the company said in a statement. “We continually monitor for any security risks across our Smart TV platforms and if we find one, we promptly address it.” WikiLeaks said Thursday it will share the hacking tools with tech companies so the security holes can be fixed.

TAX REFORM TALK HEATS UP — Something to watch in the days ahead: The tech and telecom crowd is showing more interest in tax reform as members of Congress and the White House try to hammer out a plan. The Information Technology Industry Council will host a discussion at Google on Monday, and AT&T will hold a symposium on the issue next Wednesday.

THE GENDER GAP AT COMMERCE — The Commerce Department has one of the biggest gender disparities in the early Trump administration, with women accounting for fewer than 15 percent of appointees, Bloomberg reports. Based on an analysis of information obtained by ProPublica via a Freedom of Information Act request, Bloomberg found that women make up 27 percent of Trump appointees across the federal government, far below the 47 percent that women represent in the U.S. labor force. The list did not include roles that need Senate confirmation.

ANOTHER CONTENDER FOR ISSA’S SEAT — We thought the days of the #DailyDarrell updates, when we chronicled the tech-friendly lawmaker's squeaker of a victory in California’s 49th district, were over, but we may be in for more fun. Turns out retired Marine Col. Doug Applegate won’t be the only one vying for Issa’s seat in the next election. Per our friends at California Playbook: “Mike Levin, an Orange County environmental lawyer and former executive director of the Democratic Party of Orange County, announced his candidacy Wednesday, joining Applegate, who nearly knocked off Issa last year.”

QUICK DOWNLOADS

Rural broadband group meets with NEC: National Economic Council staffers met with NTCA — The Rural Broadband Association and other groups Thursday to talk about rural infrastructure.

Google’s getting a new HQ: The search giant has gotten the go-ahead for development of a massive new campus, the Mountain View Voice reports.

Airbnb’s cash infusion: The home-rental service raised more than $1 billion in a new funding round, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Uber’s Seattle battle: The company has been mobilizing to convince its drivers that unionization efforts in Seattle are not in their best interest, BuzzFeed reports.

Twitter adds another anti-harassment feature: The social network is marking certain users’ accounts as containing “potentially sensitive images or language,” so people receive a warning before viewing them, The Verge reports.

Droning on: Congress will take yet another look at integrating unmanned aerial vehicles into U.S. skies with a Senate Commerce hearing on March 15.

Tips, comments, suggestions? Send them along via email to our team: Alex Byers ([email protected], @byersalex), Eric Engleman ([email protected],@ericengleman), Angela Greiling Keane ([email protected], @agreilingkeane), Tony Romm ([email protected], @tonyromm), Nancy Scola ([email protected], @nancyscola), Margaret Harding McGill ([email protected], @margarethmcgill), Ashley Gold ([email protected], @ashleyrgold) and Li Zhou ([email protected], @liszhou)

Follow us on Twitter Heidi Vogt @HeidiVogt



Alexandra S. Levine @ali_lev



John Hendel @johnhendel



Cristiano Lima @viacristiano



Leah Nylen @leah_nylen



Steven Overly @stevenoverly



Nancy Scola @nancyscola