By a bipartisan vote of 248 to 168, the House has passed HR 3523, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA). The bill now proceeds to the Senate which intends to take up cybersecurity early next month.

CISPA focuses on promoting better information sharing between the private sector and the federal intelligence community, and specifically includes utilities as entities with whom this information should be shared. Unlike some of the other cyber bills that have been proposed, there are no additional layers of regulation and does not put DHS as the federal overseer of critical infrastructure cybersecurity protections.

UTC has long been a proponent of better processes for sharing classified cyber threat information with owner and operators of our nation's energy and water critical infrastructure, and have worked in concert with other industry trade associations and groups in support of this legislation. We do not propose that this is a panacea; but it is an important component of a comprehensive cybersecurity ecosystem. In combination with the NERC-CIP standards and the cooperative public-private partnership framework of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), UTC is dedicated to supporting a flexible and dynamic framework to protect our systems from cyber threats and vulnerabilities.

The bill had come under criticism from both the White House, which supports additional requirements being imposed on critical infrastructure as well as putting DHS in charge of federal cybersecurity policy, and civil libertarian groups based on privacy concerns.

The margin of passage, including 42 Democrats, is significant in light of the veto threat of the White House should the bill in its current form reach the President's desk.

Several less controversial cybersecurity bills concerning research and development, training, public awareness and securing federal networks and IT were also passed by House.

The action now moves to the Senate where two bills are expected to take center stage: the Lieberman bill, which takes a more regulatory approach and establishes the Department of Homeland Security(DHS) as the lead federal agency on cybersecurity, and the McCain bill, which is similar to the voluntary information sharing approach of the House-passed CISPA.

The Energy secretary will have the power to issue emergency orders for imminent cybersecurity threats to the electric grid according to legislation passed unanimously by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Amending the GRID Act (H.R. 5026) that was passed by the House two months ago, the Senate Committee approved the bill to give authority to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for risks that are not as imminent. It also gives FERC the authority to order, without notice or hearing, and circumvent the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) process and directly order generation, transmission and select distribution utilities to address cyber vulnerabilities pertaining to programmable electronic devices or communications networks. FERC is directed to establish a cost recovery mechanism for utilities for prudently incurred compliance costs. A spokesperson for the Senate Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) told CongressDaily that these provisions will give  the bill a better chance passing the Senate this year. 

 A House appropriations bill (HR 4899) that was passed this week provides full funding for both the NTIA's Broadband Technologies Opportunities Program (BTOP) and RUS's Broadband Initiative Program (BIP). Initially, the House had balked and proposed to cut $602 million from the two programs. The House intended to take the money to offset deficits for the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, industry groups like the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) successfully lobbied against these cuts. As the Senate already had passed its own appropriations bill last week with full funding for BTOP and BIP, the passage of the House appropriations bill clears the way for its approval by President Obama. 

A new spectrum inventory bill (“Spectrum Measurement and Policy Reform Act”, S3610) has been introduced that calls for a study of Federal and non-Federal spectrum occupancy and use; a pilot program for sharing and reusing spectrum; a report on the cost-benefits for relocating incumbents in certain spectrum bands; and expanded authority for the FCC and NTIA to develop ways to promote spectrum efficiency, including spectrum fees and an auction revenue sharing plan. Read more »

U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke today announced the launch of an initiative designed to gather public input and to identify policies that will enhance: 1) the clarity, transparency, scalability and flexibility needed to foster innovation in the information economy; 2) the public confidence necessary for full citizen participation with the Internet; and 3) uphold fundamental democratic values essential to the functioning of a free market and a free society.

Commerce’s newly formed Internet Policy Task Force will seek public comment from all Internet stakeholders, including the commercial, academic and civil society sectors, on the impact of current privacy laws in the United States and around the world on the pace of innovation in the information economy. After analyzing the comments responding to this Notice, the Department intends to issue a report, which will contribute to the Administration‟s domestic policy and international engagement in the area of Internet privacy. A public meeting is scheduled for May 7, 2010.   A copy of the NOI is available HERE.