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US bill modernizing music royalties only needs the President's signature
The House of Representatives has given the Senate's version of the Music Modernization Act two thumbs up, which means the bill is now heading to the White House. MMA will update rules regarding royalties and licensing when it comes to streaming in an effort to make sure creators are properly compensated. It will lead to the creation of a publicly-accessible database that makes it easier to see which publishers and artists need to be compensated for particular songs. Further, it will update the royalty rates for artists behind pre-1972 songs and will update royalty rates to reflect market changes all around.
Bernie Sanders bill would tax Amazon and others over low wages
Critics have frequently accused Amazon of underpaying warehouse employees to the point where staff must live on food stamps and other government subsidies, and there's now a Senate bill that puts some added weight behind that criticism. Senator Bernie Sanders has introduced the Stop Bad Employers by Zeroing Out Subsidies Act (aka the not-so-subtle Stop BEZOS Act), a measure that would place a 100 percent tax on the government assistance workers receive at companies with over 500 employees. If an Amazon staffer had to live in public housing, for instance, the internet giant would have to either foot the bill or pay the person well enough that they didn't need help.
California lawmakers pass bill to phase out fossil fuels by 2045
Lawmakers in California have strengthened the state's commitment to clean energy by passing a bill to stop using fossil fuels entirely by 2045. The legislature passed S.B. 100 by 43 votes to 32, making California the second state to take such a step, following Hawaii. The bill now moves to a procedural vote in the Senate, and then to Governor Jerry Brown to sign it into law. Around 72 percent of the state's residents were in support of the move, according to polls cited by CBS.
Amazon: Bernie Sanders' working conditions claims are ‘misleading’
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is set to introduce a bill next week aimed at improving working conditions at large companies like Amazon and Walmart, a move that follows a number of public criticisms of the companies' working conditions and low wages. Yesterday he also asked Amazon employees to share their experiences at the company, tweeting a link to a form through which former or current Amazon employees could share stories and asking if they ever had to use public assistance such as Medicaid, subsidized housing or SNAP while working for the company. Now Amazon is responding.
California lawmakers just made it harder for companies to sell your data
The ruling is in: The Golden State will adopt the California Consumer Privacy Act. The law will give residents the right to know what kind of data companies have collected of theirs and to be able to tell said firms to not sell it.
California bill could be a major boost to personal data privacy
California legislators have introduced a bill that would give the state's residents more control over their online data and notably, would take the place of a proposed ballot measure that has been rigorously opposed by tech companies like Amazon and Microsoft. The bill was introduced by Assemblyman Ed Chau (D) and state Senator Robert Hertzberg (D) and is the result of a deal stuck between lawmakers, stakeholders and Alastair Mactaggart -- the California real estate developer and chair of Californians for Consumer Privacy who introduced the ballot initiative. "This legislation, like the initiative, would provide simple, powerful rights to Californians: tell me what you know about me. Stop selling it. Keep it safe," he said in a statement.
Proposed law would give DHS power to seize and destroy drones
The Senate is currently considering a bill that would give the Department of Homeland Security more power to research, surveil, seize and destroy drones flying in the US, Gizmodo reports. Yesterday during a hearing, DHS officials expressed support for the bipartisan legislation, saying current laws prevent the agency from effectively mitigating the potential threats presented by drones.
California Senate passes net neutrality bill
California just edged closer to establishing its own net neutrality law in the wake of the FCC's decision to kill federal measures. The state Senate has passed a bill that would not only institute rules like those the FCC implemented in 2015, but would forbid the practice of zero-rating services to give them advantages over competitors. Much like Oregon and other states making similar legal moves, internet providers would have to honor these neutrality rules if they wanted government contracts.
House Democrats want to step up the fight against robocalls
Some in Congress don't think the FCC's latest anti-robocall measures go far enough. Democrats in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce have put forward one bill and two drafts that would give further grief to spam callers. The fully formed bill, the HANGUP Act, would force federal debt collectors to get your permission before robocalling you. This had actually been part of the 1991 Telephone Consumer Protection Act, bill sponsor Rep. Anna Eshoo said, but the 2015 Budget Act rolled it back. She characterized these automated calls as harassment, whether it came from a government contractor or anyone else.
Proposed law would insist on work-life balance for New Yorkers
With all of us connected to our phones day and night, it's pretty easy to respond to work requests after official office hours are over. European countries like France have passed laws allowing employees to ignore employers after hours, giving citizens the right to disconnect. Now New Yorkers may have a similar freedom if a new bill proposed by the city council passes.
Senate set to approve bill that would make credit freezes free
In the aftermath of last year's Equifax data breach, a handful of Senators led by Elizabeth Warren introduced a bill that would allow consumers to freeze their credit at any time for free. Now the Senate appears to be set to approve a broader banking bill that includes that stipulation, the Wall Street Journal reports. Currently, eight states and Washington DC require credit-reporting agencies like Equifax, Experian and TransUnion to provide credit freezes at no cost to the consumer while the other 42 states allow those companies to charge fees in most cases. But this bill, on track to be approved by the Senate next week, would make it so all consumers across the country could request and end a credit freeze without having to pay any fees to do so.
California lawmaker introduces 'right to repair' bill
The Right to Repair Act is heading to the biggest tech corporations' home state. Lawmaker Susan Talamantes Eggman is introducing the bill in California, which is now 18th state in the country to look into making devices easier to repair. These days, you can either bring your broken phone, tablet or computer to their manufacturers'/retailers' repair facilities and wait a long time for them to be fixed or to an unauthorized kiosk that can fix your devices more quickly but don't have (legal) access to official parts.
House passes contentious anti-online sex trafficking bill
Sex-trafficking victims, prosecutors and state attorneys will be able to sue websites that host ads and content linked to the sex trade under the bill the House has just approved. The bill called "Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017" or FOSTA seeks to amend Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, which protects websites from lawsuits over user-generated posts. It was filed by Rep. Ann Wagner (pictured above) to target websites like Backpage, which hosts sex and child trafficking ads. Previous investigations have revealed that Backpage went as far as editing posters' ads -- it replaced words in ads trafficking minors with terms like "fresh," for instance -- to conceal evidence from law enforcement.
Bipartisan bill calls for study on economic impact of broadband access
Two Democratic and two Republican Representatives have introduced a bill that, if enacted, would require the Department of Commerce to research how access to broadband impacts a variety of economic factors like employment, income and population growth, Wired reports. The proposed legislation, called Measuring the Economic Impact of Broadband Act of 2017, was introduced by Representatives Ro Khanna, Brian Fitzpatrick, Anna Eshoo and Ryan Costello and is a companion bill to a bipartisan Senate proposal led by Senators Amy Klobuchar and Shelley Moore Capito.
Can legislation fix gaming's loot box problem?
Last year's gaming controversy has turned into this year's legislative battleground. Fans were outraged when Star Wars: Battlefront II launched with buyable loot boxes that unbalanced multiplayer combat, and other games like Need For Speed: Payback and Destiny 2 had their own pay-to-win controversies. Eventually, loot boxes unsettled enough constituents to rile their representatives. Legislators in Hawaii, Washington and Illinois have introduced bills to either study loot boxes or restrict access to young players, but how effective will they be? What else can lawmakers do?
Google's Indian mobile money app can pay bills in a few taps
Manually paying your bills online usually involves jumping between multiple apps or websites, but Google might have an easier way. Its Tez mobile money app for India now includes a bill payment feature that lets you handle all those recurring costs in one place. You can add from a list of 80-plus companies (including utilities and telecoms) and pay directly from your bank account with a few taps. You get notifications when bills pop up, so you shouldn't forget about a bill until it's too late.
US Senators want to give feds sole power to issue missile alerts
US senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii announced back in January that he wants take the responsibility of sending missile alerts away from state and local governments. Now he and fellow Senators Kamala Harris and Cory Gardner have introduced a legislation that would give feds the sole authority to send out missile threat notifications. Under the bill, called Authenticating Local Emergencies and Real Threats (ALERT) Act, the Department of Defense would be able to send notifications to the public using the same system US Presidents use to issue warnings in the event of national catastrophes.
Washington state bill would make hard-to-repair electronics illegal
A number of states are considering right to repair bills, legislation which if passed would make it easier for individuals and repair shops to replace or repair electronics parts. Repair.org reports that 17 states have already introduced bills this year and while most aim to make repair parts and manuals accessible, Washington's proposed legislation would straight up ban electronics that prevent easy repair. "Original manufacturers of digital electronic products sold on or after January 1, 2019, in Washington state are prohibited from designing or manufacturing digital electronic products in such a way as to prevent reasonable diagnostic or repair functions by an independent repair provider," says the bill. "Preventing reasonable diagnostic or repair functions includes permanently affixing a battery in a manner that makes it difficult or impossible to remove."
New bill seeks to ban Huawei from any US government contracts
Mere days since Huawei lost a deal with AT&T to sell its flagship phones in the US due to security concerns, the Chinese tech company faces a new challenge to its US expansion plans. Congress has just proposed a bill that prohibits any government agency from working with Huawei (and another Chinese tech firm, ZTE). The bill, titled H. R. 4747: "Defending U.S. Government Communications Act," cites several intelligence reports that these telecommunications companies are "subject to state influence."
Drunk droning in New Jersey could land you in prison
The law is pretty firm when it comes to drunk driving -- and the consequences are obvious. Now, officials are turning their attention to drunk droning. New Jersey has just approved a bill that, if signed by Governor Chris Christie, would make it illegal to fly one under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
