The Big Story: Congress, FCC take steps to narrow the “digital divide” amid pandemic. As millions of Americans continue to depend upon reliable Internet services to work, learn, and connect amid the ongoing pandemic, policymakers are moving to address gaps in high-speed connectivity and broadband infrastructure across the United States. The issue of broadband access was in the spotlight this week as the Federal Communications Commission and a top House panel both took steps to improve connectivity and identify areas of the country where access is still lagging.
During an FCC meeting this week, acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced that the agency is launching a new task force to accurately map the number of U.S. households that lack access to high-speed Internet. The FCC has come under fire in recent years for inaccurately representing broadband access across the U.S.—a result of what critics say is over-inclusive reporting on the part of Internet service providers. The effort to identify the regions lacking Internet connectivity aligns with the FCC’s focus on increasing broadband access in rural and underserved areas in order to close the digital divide. Meanwhile, the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on communications and technology held a hearing this week to discuss broadband solutions to the pandemic, which also included a focus on expanding access in rural and underserved communities. The subcommittee hearing came a week after the full House panel passed a package of measures to include in the $1.9 trillion pandemic stimulus plan that, in part, allocated $7.6 billion for the creation of an Emergency Connectivity Fund. The fund, which would be overseen by the FCC, would be used to reimburse schools and libraries for Internet service and related devices as a result of the pandemic. Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.), the subcommittee’s chairman, used the hearing as an opportunity to evaluate the impact that the broadband-related assistance would have on impacted Americans.
Improving Internet connectivity in rural and underserved communities will open the door for new and innovative startups that are needed to drive the nation’s long-term economic recovery. The pandemic has also underscored the importance of reliable Internet connectivity, and efforts to mitigate these digital roadblocks will prove beneficial for all Americans.
Policy Roundup:
Democrats unveil sweeping immigration bill. Congressional Democrats, backed by President Biden, released immigration reform legislation yesterday that would create an 8-year pathway to citizenship for the approximately 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States. The legislation would make Dreamers—undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children—eligible for permanent legal residence and would also provide them with a pathway to citizenship. And the proposal would, in part, increase visa caps on employment-based immigration, allowing tech companies to hire more of the high-skilled, foreign-born workers needed to drive U.S. innovation. Access to qualified talent remains a top concern for the entrepreneurial community, and policymakers should take into account the numerous ways that immigrant talent bolsters the startup ecosystem as they pursue their immigration agenda.
Australian proposal would force tech firms to negotiate with media outlets for content. A proposed Australian news media code that would force large technology companies to pay news publishers when their content appears on the companies’ websites could fundamentally reshape the relationship between the tech industry and media outlets. Facebook announced this week that it is restricting the availability of news in Australia on its websites in response to the proposal, while Google struck a deal with News Corp. to include the media giant’s content in Google’s News Showcase product.
Tech companies come together to craft framework for addressing harmful content. A group of nine large U.S. tech companies—including Facebook, Google, and Twitter—launched a coalition this week to establish a set of best practice industry principles for handling harmful user-generated content online. The group, known as the Digital Trust & Safety Partnership, released a preliminary set of commitments to guide their framework, including adopting clear and consistent rules for user conduct and reviewing the effectiveness of enforcement policies.
Next USPTO director should reflect the country’s diversity. In a recent New York Times op-ed, Priti Krishtel—of the Initiative for Medicines, Access & Knowledge—called on President Biden to select a director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) who is well-suited to address structural inequities in the patent system. As she notes, while the USPTO should not be insulated from the consequences of its work, in reality it “interacts almost exclusively with people and entities seeking patents ... and very little with those who stand to suffer immensely from those monopolies,” and the next director should see equity as part of her mandate. In a letter to the Biden administration last month, Engine also encouraged the White House to choose a USPTO director who “reflects the current diversity of the startup ecosystem” and “can lead in the direction of even greater and sustained diversity.”
Startup Roundup:
#StartupsEverywhere: Atlanta, Georgia. With Georgia becoming a global destination for film and television production, an Atlanta-based startup named Film Connx is working to promote diversity and simplify the hiring process within the production industry—in the Peach State and beyond—by connecting stakeholders with local and vetted production professionals.
