News and Events

The Computer & Communications Industry Association applauds Senators Jerry Moran, R-Kan., Mark Warner, D-Va., Chris Coons, D-Del., and Roy Blunt, R-Mo., for introducing the Startup Act 3.0, a farsighted proposal to unleash the power of U.S.-educated entrepreneurs to create jobs.  In particular, the bill’s focus on attracting and retaining entrepreneurial talent through the creation of Entrepreneur’s Visas and STEM Visas is a keen recognition of the critical need for us to actively engage in the global competition for talent. 

The Computer & Communications Industry Association continues to oppose legislation, such as the Marketplace Fairness Act introduced today, which would impose burdensome tax collecting requirements on online retailers -- regardless of physical presence.  While we understand and share the desire for state and local governments to be adequately funded in these times, we believe this is the wrong approach.  Far from being fair or leveling the playing field, such legislation would create a new imbalance by requiring small online retailers to administer a tax collection regime for multiple jurisdictions, while brick-and-mortar stores need only collect for the jurisdiction of its physical location.       

Washington - The Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) welcomes the introduction the Immigration Innovation Act today. CCIA has long promoted skilled immigration reform as critical to maintaining and strengthening the global competitiveness of U.S. companies in an increasingly innovative economy.  This bill includes such reforms as:  increasing the H-1B visa cap and making it market-flexible; exempting advanced STEM degree holders from both the H-1B and employment-based green card cap; rolling over unused employment-based green card numbers. 

As privacy advocates mark Data Privacy Day Monday, the Computer & Communications Industry Association is calling on Congress to update the nation’s 27 year old laws governing when and how the government can obtain peoples email and other online documents.

Brussels - The Computer & Communication Industry Association has released the latest economic study it commissioned, “The Sky is Rising,” just ahead of this year’s MIDEM music business conference in France. The latest study from Floor 64, co-authored by Mike Masnick and Michael Ho, is a follow up that broadens last year’s U.S.-focused analysis of entertainment industry economic data over the past decade. Using data from the entertainment businesses in France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain, and the UK, the study illustrates how the sky is not falling for the entertainment industry, but actually rising. 

After last year’s release of the study 'The Sky is Rising' looking at the global, economic state of the entertainment industry, the Computer & Communication Industry Association (CCIA) is convening a media briefing Thursday  15:00 CET/ 9am EST to present the main findings of our new, European study focusing on the entertainment businesses in France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain, and the UK. Mike Masnick, of Floor 64 and co-author of our study will discuss findings and implications of the study as they relate to the music, film, book and video game markets.

Computer & Communications Industry Association Vice President Cathy Sloan will be part of a telecommunications panel discussion at 11:30am at the State of the Net conference sponsored by the Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee at the Capitol Hyatt today. The panelists including author Larry Downes, Corie Wright of Netflix and University of Pennsylvania law school professor Christopher Yoo asks “Should Congress Rewrite the Telecom Act?”

Many in Washington and around the country are celebrating a key battle in the war against Internet freedom today – the one year anniversary of the defeat of the Stop Online Piracy Act or SOPA. The Computer & Communications Industry Association had been an early opponent of the bill and its two previous incarnations. We join in celebrating this step that woke up Internet users, and we urge all those who we fought this battle to remain focused on the many challenges to Internet freedom and openness that we will continue to face.

The following can be attributed to Computer & Communications Industry Association President & CEO Ed Black:

With the news that the Federal Trade Commission has closed its antitrust investigations of Google, the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) is convening a panel of experts to discuss the outcome of the 20-month investigation. Our panel of legal experts will discuss the core issues that were examined by the FTC as part of their investigation as well as the implications of the announcement for future innovation and competition in the fast evolving high tech market.

Who:      Moderator:

Ed Black, President & CEO of the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA)

Speakers:

Jorge Contreras, Associate Professor of Law at American University Washington College of Law and well-known patent and standardization expert.

Eric Goldman, Professor of Law at Santa Clara University School of Law and director of the school’s High Tech Law Institute.

Glenn Manishin, Partner at Troutman Sanders, he represented several competitive software trade associations in the United States v. Microsoft case.

Today, the FTC announced the closure of its 19-month antitrust investigation of Google.

The Computer & Communications Industry Association is pleased the Senate has reconfirmed the nomination of FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn for a full five-year term. She had been serving the remainder of former Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein’s term.