Yvette Miller ⬥ 29 July
Eyes are on the Senate today as Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., released a “discussion draft” of legislation to “help prosecutors crack down on economic espionage and trade-secret theft.” The bill is designed to help fight the growing threat of foreign cyberattacks against U.S. businesses.
Senators Whitehouse and Graham say their draft “includes provisions to ensure that the Economic Espionage Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1831 et seq., covers foreign-sponsored trade secret theft, that victim companies can weigh in on how to protect trade secrets during criminal prosecutions, and to ensure that foreign hackers who victimize American companies can be held accountable.”
The discussion draft of the legislation comes on the heels of recent reports that estimate the cost of cybercrimes to the global economy to be as high as $500 billion, with 500,000 jobs lost in the U.S. alone.
For Your Radar
The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) – whose primary mission is to “make the Internet work better by producing high quality, relevant technical documents that influence the way people design, use, and manage the Internet” – is currently holding its public meeting until Friday, August 2 at the InterContinental Berlin in Berlin, Germany. The IETF targets the Internet’s technical engineers.
On Thursday, August 1, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet will hold a hearing on “Innovation in America: The Role of Technology” in Rayburn, House Office Building, Room 2141 at 9:30 AM.
ICANN’s Public Comment Periods
- August 1: Comment period closes on the final draft report from the Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO) Study Group on the Use of Country and Territory Names as TLDs.
- August 28: Comment period closes on the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) Structures Charter Amendment Process.
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