U.S. Department of Commerce - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

• Google slams proposed US export controls on security tools

  A proposed set of software export controls, including controls on selling hacking software outside the U.S., are "dangerously broad and vague," Google said Monday.

• FBI director calls for greater police access to communications

  Apple and Google should reconsider their plans to enable encryption by default on their smartphones, and the U.S. Congress should pass a law requiring that all communication tools allow police access to user data, U.S. FBI Director James Comey said.

• President Obama honors standout computer scientists with National Medals

  These awards, along with the National Medal of Science, are the nation's highest honors for achievement and leadership in advancing the fields of science and technology.

• 33 equipment manufacturers oppose public-utility broadband

  The U.S. Federal Communications Commission should resist calls to reclassify broadband as a regulated public utility as a way to enact strong net neutrality rules, more than 30 broadband equipment manufacturers, including Cisco Systems, IBM and Intel, have said.

• Dozens of US tech firms violate EU privacy promises, advocacy group says

  Thirty U.S. data brokers and data management firms, including Adobe Systems, AOL and Salesforce.com, are violating privacy promises they've made regarding their handling of the personal information of EU residents, a privacy group said in a complaint to be filed Thursday.

• Solar power war between U.S. and Asia escalates

  New tariffs imposed by the U.S. on Chinese imports of solar cells and (for the first time) Taiwan has infuriated some in the solar power industry who believe the steep taxes will adversely affect businesses and consumers.

• US government OKs sharper satellite images

  The U.S. government has lifted a long-standing restriction that meant companies like Google and Microsoft didn't have access to the most accurate pictures taken by imaging satellites.

• Unruffled by surveillance language, US praises NETmundial conference

  U.S. officials applauded the outcome of this week's NETmundial conference on Internet governance while downplaying its strong language on surveillance and disagreements on net neutrality.

• What's the problem with DMCA takedown notices?

  A U.S. government effort to encourage agreement among copyright holders and Web-based services on how to improve the notice-and-takedown process in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act began Thursday with some disagreement about what direction the discussions should take.

• USPTO to examine DMCA take-down process

  The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is looking for ideas on how to improve the controversial notice-and-take-down provisions of the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act, amid complaints that the current process is cumbersome for small musicians and filmmakers.

• Level 3, 11 other companies settle FTC privacy complaint

  Twelve U.S. companies, including Internet service provider Level 3 Communications and BitTorrent, the company behind the popular peer-to-peer file-sharing protocol, have agreed to settle U.S. Federal Trade Commission charges that they falsely claimed to abide by an international data privacy framework.

• Immigration reform 'doable this year,' US commerce secretary says

  Reforms to the U.S. immigration system that would allow high-tech companies to hire more skilled employees from overseas are possible this year, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce said on Wednesday.

• US agencies explore cybersecurity incentives for the private sector

  U.S. government agencies are exploring new ways to provide incentives for private companies to invest more money in cybersecurity, President Barack Obama's administration has announced.

• Agency destroys $170K worth of IT gear over non-existent malware threat

  The U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration (EDA) destroyed about $170,000 worth of IT equipment including computers, printers, keyboards and computer mice last year on the mistaken belief that the systems were irreparably compromised by malware.

• Growing mobile malware threat swirls (mostly) around Android

  Mobile devices are getting hit by a boom in malware similar to the one that hit PCs starting with the rise of the Web, a security software executive said Tuesday.