Obama Administration
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Senate: Obama Admin. wasn't prepared to handle Russian interference
Today, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence released a report (PDF) detailing the Obama administration's response to Russia's meddling in the 2016 election. The report says the Obama administration was not well-prepared to handle the unprecedented election interference and that the administration suffered from "paralysis of analysis."
Samsung's market value plummets following US presidential veto
Over the weekend, the Obama administration vetoed the US International Trade Commission's import ban pertaining to older generation iPhones and iPads. The move marked the first time since the '80s that a US president vetoed an ITC ruling. While Apple is of course thrilled with the Obama administration stepping up to protect FRAND rights, the same can't be said for Samsung, or its investors. In the wake of the ITC veto, Samsung's market value dropped by over US$1 billion. Also expressing concern regarding the veto was the South Korean government itself, which on Monday issued a statement exclaiming that the veto will have a negative impact on patent property rights. Reuters reports: "We express concerns about the negative impact that such a decision would have on the protection of patent rights," the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy, said in a statement. The ministry called on the U.S. trade body and the Obama administration to make "fair and reasonable decisions" as Samsung faces a decision on Friday as to whether some of its phones and tablets infringed on Apple's patents and should be banned from imports into the United States. As the legal drama between Samsung and Apple continues to evolve, the ITC will issue another ruling on Friday, this time regarding whether or not it should ban Samsung products that Apple alleges infringe upon its own intellectual property.
Editorial: We, the digitally naked
The iPhone 5. It is taller, and has incremental improvements under the hood, and is shiny. (I'm staying away. Typing on glass is wrong.) Of more import, the smartphone you carry is more than a communication device; it is potentially a government surveillance enabler. To whatever extent that is the case (depending on whose public pronouncements you believe), latent digital snooping was reinforced on the same day as the iPhone event. Two days after that, Google announced its intention to build a "Do Not Track" option into the Chrome browser, giving users some shielding from a different type of rampant surveillance -- the type that creepily delivers knowingly targeted ads. The two issues differ in seriousness, but are related as privacy concerns. As our mobile and desktop devices get sexier, we become increasingly naked.
Obama cracks down on Iran and Syria's surveillance of dissidents
President Obama may be quite cozy with tech -- what with his predilection for the iPad and those town hall meetings on Facebook -- but he's well aware of its dark side, too. Today he announced that the US will freeze assets and cancel the American visas of Iranian and Syrian agencies tracking dissidents and pro-democracy groups via satellite, computer and phone networks. Among the entities getting the blacklist treatment are the Syrian cellphone company Syriatel, the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iranian internet provider Datak Telecom. Amid election-year pressure to confront Iran, Obama addressed the ongoing threat of the country acquiring nukes, but also paid lip service to social media's role in democracy. "These technologies should be in place to empower citizens, not to repress them," he told an audience of 250 people, according to Reuters. Still, given the limited impact of previous sanctions against Iran, it remains to be seen just how much of an effect Washington's actions have on the human rights situation in either country.
White House appoints Todd Park as new Chief Technology Officer
The White House hasn't wasted any time replacing the vacancy left by Aneesh Chopra, who recently stepped down as our nation's first appointed Chief Technology Officer. Following in his well-accomplished footsteps is Todd Park, a federal employee who's no stranger to the position at hand given his former role as CTO of the US Department of Health and Services. Park is credited with the launch of HealthCare.gov and is now tasked with "applying the newest technology and latest advances to make the Federal government work better for the American people." While we're sure those tasks don't include setting up Sasha and Malia's personal Pinterest accounts, he certainly has a long road ahead, dragging 'ol Pennsylvania Avenue kicking and screaming into our digital age.
First White House Chief Technology Officer, Aneesh Chopra, steps down
He was appointed with a fair bit of fanfare as the United States' first Chief Technology Officer back in May of 2009, but it looks like Aneesh Chopra has decided that it's now time to make room for the nation's second CTO. The White House confirmed today that Chopra is stepping down from his position, noting that he has amassed a "dizzying array of accomplishments." Among those are his contributions to the Obama administration's national wireless strategy, a set of internet policy making principals, and a number of efforts related to the President's open government strategy, including the Data.gov platform. No word on his successor just yet, nor is there any official word on what Chopra plans to do next -- although The Washington Post reports that he's expected to run for lieutenant governor of Virginia.
The White House joins Google+, invites you to Hangout
President Obama may have been on Google+ since November, but the administration is now stepping up its presence on the social network even further in anticipation of next week's State of the Union address and the forthcoming presidential campaign. It now has an official White House Google+ page, where it plans to post the usual news, photos and videos, and also host regular Hangout video chats. There's no promises yet that the President himself will take part, but the White House says it will regularly have administration officials and policy experts take part in the conversations, which will also be streamed on YouTube and WhiteHouse.gov. Those interested can click the link below to add the page to their Circles.
White House responds to SOPA petition as hearing is delayed, DNS blocking on the outs
It's turned out to be a big weekend for those concerned about the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act. Yesterday came word that a key House hearing originally scheduled for Wednesday will be delayed until there is a "consensus" on the bill, and today the White House has issued an official statement on SOPA (and the Protect IP Act, its counterpart in the Senate) in response to a petition that drew thousands of signatures. While it doesn't go quite as far as to issue a firm veto threat from the President, it does lay out the administration's position in the clearest terms yet, including the condition that any proposed law "must not tamper with the technical architecture of the Internet through manipulation of the Domain Name System." That follows word late last week that Representative Lamar Smith and Senator Patrick Leahy would indeed pull the DNS provisions from SOPA and PIPA. The White House statement is less specific in other respects, but it broadly states that the administration will "not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet." In related news, the planned blackouts to protest SOPA and PIPA only seem to be increasing, with the popular xda-developers forum recently announcing that it will go dark at 8AM on January 18th, and return either at 8PM or as soon as it's able to get 50,000 people to sign a pledge to contact their local Senator or Representative.
White House releases early test code for Data.gov platform, moves closer to open source reality
The White House's Open Government Partnership inched closer to maturity last week, with the release of a new open data platform, designed to help other governments set up their own Data.gov portals. On Wednesday, Data.gov developer Chris Musialek posted the first pieces of early test code for the unfortunately named "Data.gov-in-a-box" -- an open source version of the US and Indian governments' respective data portals. Both countries, in fact, have been working on the platform since August, with the Obama administration pledging some $1 million to the effort. The idea, according to federal CIO Steve VanRoekel and federal CTO Aneesh Chopra, is to encourage "governments around the word to stand up open data sites that promote transparency, improve citizen engagement, and engage application developers," using Data.gov (and its 400,000 datasets) as a blueprint. Wednesday's release is just the first step in that plan, with the finalized Open Government Platform (OGPL) slated for launch by early next year.
White House unveils national strategy for secure internet IDs
This one's been in the works for some time now, but the White House has just today officially unveiled its plans for a national secure internet ID program -- or as it has dubbed it, the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC). As expected, that will be entirely voluntary and largely driven by various private sector companies, who will be responsible for verifying your ID and providing you with secure credentials that you'll be able to use across the internet -- the credentials themselves could simply be a secure application, or something like smart card or SecurID token. The administration is also quick to point out that the system is not a national ID program of any sort, and it's going to some length to play up the involvement of multiple credential providers, with Commerce Secretary Gary Locke saying that "having a single issuer of identities creates unacceptable privacy and civil liberties issues." Hit up the source link below for all of the finer details, or head on past the break for a quick video explanation.
White House backs plan to reserve 700MHz 'D Block' for public safety network
Public safety agencies in the US have been pushing for some time to have the so-called 'D Block' portion of the 700MHz wireless spectrum all to themselves, and it looks like they can now officially count on the support of the White House in that effort. The Obama administration announced today that it's backing plans to reserve the airwaves -- estimated to be worth $3 billion if they were auctioned off -- for a new national public safety network, and it also plans to ask Congress to approve the additional spending needed to actually build out the network, which the FCC estimates could cost as much as $15 billion. As The Wall Street Journal notes, the fate of the proposed network is now largely in the hands of House Republicans, who remain divided on the plan -- although some key members have come out in support of it in recent days.
Obama administration moves forward with unique internet ID for Americans, Commerce Department to head system up
President Obama has signaled that he will give the United States Commerce Department the authority over a proposed national cybersecurity measure that would involve giving each American a unique online identity. Other candidates mentioned previously to head up the new system have included the NSA and the Department of Homeland Security, but the announcement that the Commerce Department will take the job should please groups that have raised concerns over security agencies doing double duty in police and intelligence work. So anyway, what about this unique ID we'll all be getting? Well, though details are still pretty scant, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, speaking at an event at the Stanford Institute, stressed that the new system would not be akin to a national ID card, or a government controlled system, but that it would enhance security and reduce the need for people to memorize dozens of passwords online. Sorry, Locke, sounds like a national ID system to us. Anyway, the Obama administration is currently drafting what it's dubbed the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace, which is expected at the Department of Commerce in a few months. We'll keep you posted if anything terrifying or cool happens. Update: For clarity's sake, we should note that the proposed unique ID system will be opt in only, not a mandatory program for all citizens.
White House reportedly pushing for new internet privacy laws, policy office
It's not official just yet, but The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the Obama administration is about to make a major push for some new internet privacy laws, and for the creation of a new federal position to oversee the effort. According to the usual "people familiar with the situation," the Commerce Department is now drafting a report with a series of recommendations on the matter, which is expected to be released in the "coming weeks" -- although those same people also note that nothing is final, and things could still change. Assuming it does go through, however, a White House task force would then take the report and work on turning the recommendations into policy. As The Wall Street Journal notes, the new laws would be filing something of a significant gap, as the US doesn't currently have any comprehensive laws protecting consumers' internet privacy -- a fact fully evidenced by countries like Canada, Germany and the UK taking the lead in recent privacy battles with Google and Facebook.
Activision Blizzard contributing to Obama's STEM initiative
Through the corporate-backed "Change the Equation" program, Activision Blizzard is aiding the science, technology, engineering and math initiative enacted by the Obama administration. A press release this morning announced Activision's participation, with chief public policy officer George Rose adding, "STEM literacy is a business imperative for our nation's economic excellence, success and citizenship. Our collaboration will not only help students, but will revive our economy, fuel our competitiveness, and ultimately empower our nation." Change the Equation (CTEq) plans on working with "top companies" across "multiple sectors" with the intention of stimulating STEM literacy among youth, countrywide. Activision specifically will be "using video games to promote student interest in science and technology," which we have to imagine doesn't mean sending out leftover copies of Guitar Hero: Van Halen to middle schools. At least, we seriously hope not.
