The i2Coalition Public Policy Working Group is responsible for determining the specific responses for the i2Coalition in regards to global policy issues that are important to the Internet’s infrastructure. Recent achievements center around Net Neutrality and surveillance reform, achieved through engagement with the FCC and in support of the USA FREEDOM Act in the U.S., respectively. The Working Group is currently focusing attention on a number of important issues including patent troll reform.
The i2Coalition engages in policy matters in accordance with its General Mission Statement and meets regularly to discuss issues that arise that fall within our scope. Policy Group members take an active role in reviewing policy and writing briefs on behalf of i2Coalition that support the industry’s goals. The i2Coalition believes that an open and free Internet drives economic growth and enhances the lives of people around the globe. As an organization, we promote policies that foster continued development and expansion of the Internet.
Recent Public Policy Working Group projects include:
- We participate in the Digital Due Process Coalition (DDP) and delivered key Congressional sponsorships in a collective fight to reform the Electronics Communications Privacy Act (ECPA).
- We provided comments on the importance of an open Internet to maintain the continued growth of the cloud to the FCC in response to its Net Neutrality proposal.
- We led an aggressive advocacy campaign in five key cities to reform the patent system and to curb the patent troll litigation issues that devastate our industry.
- We were leaders in a coalition that helped drive core support for the USA FREEDOM Act, the largest reduction of U.S. surveillance authority in a generation, which passed in early 2015.
- We actively speak out against the expansion of Internet surveillance worldwide, including being a voice against Bill C-51 in Canada.
- We actively engage in the debate on the role of encryption in the digital economy.
- We submitted an amicus brief in the important Microsoft Ireland email privacy case.
- We’ve taken an important role in educating U.S. lawmakers on the IANA transition as part of our focus on the DOTCOM Act.
- We provided strategic counsel and comments on the proposed NIST cybersecurity framework.
Recent Updates On US Policy
Removal of Covered Business Method Patent Expansion From The Innovation Act A Disappointment
i2Coalition appreciates Chairman Goodlatte’s leadership on patent reform; Covered Business Method patent expansion still needed Washington, DC – According to a recent study by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), Patent Assertion Entities, or “patent trolls,” cost defendants and licensees a staggering $29 billion in 2011. While The Innovation Act takes steps to address many of […]
Patent Trolls Are All Trick And No Treat
The i2Coalition is just past our first year of existence. This is our second Halloween. It’s our first Halloween working on patent reform. While we didn’t start out with patent reform as one of our main issues, it has certainly become a top priority. When I helped found the organization, I assumed patents were ‘big company’ […]
i2Coalition, Broad Coalition Unite in Support of Expanded CBM Program
Over the past few years, members of the Internet infrastructure industry have become increasingly aware of the destructive impacts that patent assertion entities, or patent trolls, have on innovation and the economy as a whole. The frivolous lawsuits filed by patent trolls cost companies valuable time and resources to the tune of $29 billion in […]
The Difference Between the NSA and “Everyone Else”
The following post originally appeared on The WHIR. A frequent statement making the rounds among those debating the PRISM disclosures is that most every other country’s intelligence agencies do the same thing. While I don’t doubt that they do, and in some cases expect that their activities are more intrusive, the revelations about the NSA […]