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Net neutrality still faces an uphill battle in Congress
The Senate voted today on whether to reject the FCC decision to remove net neutrality protections -- and though it was unclear for some time whether the Democrats would gain enough Republican support to pass the measure, they did. Along with the 49 Senate Democrats, three Republican Senators -- Susan Collins (ME), John Kennedy (LA) and Lisa Murkowski (AK) -- voted to repeal the changes put into place by the FCC in December, resulting in a 52-47 tally. The new regulations are currently scheduled to go into effect June 11th. However, while this battle may have been won by those in support of net neutrality, there's still a long, hard road ahead, and the Senate measure isn't likely to survive.
Warrantless data searches narrowly miss Senate approval
A Senate amendment that would have allowed the FBI to search a suspect's phone and online records without a court order came very close to becoming a reality today. The legislation, introduced by Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Richard Burr (R-NC) in the wake of the recent mass shooting in Orlando, missed the necessary 60 votes it needed to pass by just two votes.
Senators warn NFL about resisting blackout policy changes
Despite the FCC voting to repeal the NFL's decades-old blackout protection, the league still has the power to include sellout provisions in TV contracts. However, if it chooses to do so, a pair of US Senators warn that it could lose its antitrust exemption and tax benefits. In a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell yesterday, Senators John McCain and Richard Blumenthal urge the league to end the policy that's "no longer justified in today's environment" by nixing "rules that punish those same fans." The Senators have already introduced a bill that ties the NFL's perks to its complete elimination of the blackout rules in last year's Furthering Access and Networks for Sports (FANS) Act. "If the NFL fails to show leadership to finally end blackouts once and for all, Congress will be forced to act," the letter continues. It'll certainly be interesting to see how Goodell reacts, but he's got his hands full with a load of other issues, too. [Photo credit: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images]
John McCain applauds Tim Cook for automatic app updates in iOS 7
Back in May, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) asked Apple CEO Tim Cook, after grilling him on Apple's tax practices, why he constantly finds himself needing to update the apps on his iPhone. "What I really wanted to ask," said McCain in a lighthearted moment, "is why the hell do I have to keep updating apps on my iPhone all the time?" Cook smiled politely and responded, "We're trying to make things better all the time." Now I'm guessing that McCain was far too busy handling more important matters than keeping up with the latest developments from Apple's WWDC keynote, but he did manage to get wind of one of the one upcoming features in iOS 7. In a tweet sent out on Monday afternoon, McCain said: Thanks to Tim Cook for the automatic iphone app updates! #apple #wwdc - John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) June 10, 2013 So now the waiting game begins -- will Tim Cook sign up for Twitter and give it a re-tweet?
Ireland says it has no special "tax deal" with Apple; Senators Levin and McCain dispute claim
Despite claims to the contrary, Ireland Ambassador Michael Collins this past week penned a letter to US Senators Carl Levin and John McCain exclaiming that Ireland has no special tax deal with Apple. The letter reads in part: First, Ireland's tax system is set out in statute - so there is no possibility of individual special tax rates being negotiated for companies. All tax resident companies in Ireland are liable to corporation tax on the chargeable income at the rate of 12.5% on trading income and at 25% on non-trading income. The tax rates attributed to Ireland in the Memorandum appear to be calculated by reference to the companies' entire profits, as if those companies are tax-resident in Ireland. This is despite the fact that the Memorandum clearly states that the companies concerned are not tax-resident in Ireland. The tax rates attributed to Ireland are wrong and misleading. Second, building on this analysis, the Memorandum refers to Ireland as a "tax haven". As you will be aware, the OECD has identified four key indicators of a tax haven. None of these criteria applies to Ireland. Understandably, many politicians are upset over Apple and other multinationals leaving billions upon billions of profits overseas. However, in their ostensible effort to paint Apple as the bad guy, they are not only ignoring the tax code which allows Apple to do what it does, but have also gotten a number of key facts wrong. For instance, Carl Levin initially stated that Apple's operation in Ireland was nothing more than a ghost operation with no employees. Come to find out, Apple actually employs upwards of 4,000 employees in Ireland. In any event, both Carl Levin and John McCain responded to Collins' letter wherein they disputed his assertions. Their statement reads: Records obtained by the subcommittee clearly reflect that, for years, Apple paid Irish tax authorities a nominal rate, far below Ireland's statutory rate of 12.5 percent, on trading income. Testimony by key Apple executives, including CEO Tim Cook and Head of Tax Operations Phillip Bullock, corroborates that Apple had a special arrangement with the Irish government that, since 2003, resulted in an effective tax rate of 2 percent or less. Most reasonable people would agree that negotiating special tax arrangements that allow companies to pay little or no income tax meets a common-sense definition of a tax haven. Well, this clearly isn't a topic that's going to die down anytime soon. Note, though, that until Congress changes the law in some regard, Apple will continue to keep its $100 billion cash hoard overseas.
FCC net neutrality rules enter drafting process, face McCain challenge
Our old friends at the FCC have started to put words into action, as the net neutrality regulations proposed by Chairman Julius Genachowski have now entered the rule-drafting stage. The provision of most import here is that broadband providers would be forbidden from traffic discrimination or "management," and compelled to provide equal access and services to their users, irrespective of the type or bandwidth uptake of their internet activity. Of course, this is hardly a bumpless road, with Senator John McCain proposing the Internet Freedom Act of 2009, whose sole reason for existing will be to prevent the FCC from putting those rules through. Even if things do go smoothly, though, "reasonable network management" will still be an available recourse for telecoms, where it is necessary to block spam and illegal content, such as child pornography. Which sounds kinda like censorship to us. Look, we have no more interest in child porn than we do a pair of Lady Gaga Heartbeats, but any time we hear of internet providers having either the right or responsibility to block content, we get an uneasy feeling in the pit of our libertarian stomachs. Anyhow, the great big gears of regulation have finally started turning, and we can look forward to more political wrangling as the rules take shape over the coming months.
John McCain, inventor of the BlackBerry
Politics aside, we're totally cracking up that McCain policy adviser Douglas Holtz-Eaken told reporters today that his BlackBerry was "the miracle that John McCain helped create" -- dude, BlackBerrys are Canadian.[Via Wonkette, thanks to everyone who sent this in]
