Looks like that cyber incident reporting bill is coming – Senator Mark Warner previewed the bill to Axios, which would require critical infrastructure businesses, federal contractors and agencies to report cyber incidents to the government, Warner said, giving law enforcement and private sector partners the chance to get involved as soon as possible during an attack. Warner said his bill would include limited immunity for businesses in connection with the reports, which would be kept confidential between the government and private sector partners.
That’s not the only one coming – five others rolled out on Friday. Ending Platform Monopolies Act, seeks to break up these companies by making it illegal for online platforms to own businesses that are essentially conflicts of interest because they advantage their own products over those of competitors. The American Innovation and Choice Online Act, this would prevent Apple and Google from setting prices and conditions for apps developers. The Platform Competition and Opportunity Act would ban Big Tech from purchasing competitors to remove them as threats. The Augmenting Compatibility and Competition by Enabling Service Switching (ACCESS) Act seeks to improve competition by forcing companies to let consumers move their personal data between platforms. And the Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act funds the FTC and DOJ by charging higher fees for large mergers.
In New York, the Senate there has passed the nation’s first bill focused on Right to Repair. In a overwhelming 51 to 12 vote, the Digital Fair Repair act is also simple. Quoting the bill. “requires OEMs to make available, for purposes of diagnosis, maintenance, or repair, to any independent repair provider, or to the owner of digital electronic equipment manufactured by or on behalf of, or sold by, the OEM, on fair and reasonable terms, documentation, parts, and tools, inclusive of any updates to information or embedded software.” We will know soon on this bill – it needs to pass by Thursday to be in this legislative session.
That said, also in New York, that bill that was passed to require ISPs to offer low cost broadband… was blocked by an injunction, just before it was due to go into effect.
For many small providers, a lot of those big Congressional acts seem far away. I get it. It’s the follow on effects you care about. The US Government uses its buying power to effect change in a market, because they are a very, very big customer. You may not be required to do these actions, but you will find competitors who do them.
We have that guidance in nearly every stage here – draft, on its way to passing, and just after, and the takeaway.. it’s fast changing. How are you managing this ever changing list?