Press Releases
Currently showing results related to Tech, Internet and Cybersecurity
Wyden Delivers Floor Speech on the Motion to Proceed to Protect IP
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) delivered the following remarks on the floor of the U.S. Senate after cloture was invoked on the motion to proceed to the Protect IP legislation when the Senate returns from recess. Protect IP will do serious damage to the free and open Internet in order to combat infringement of intellectual property. Wyden has been a staunch opponent of the legislation and has offered an alternative - the OPEN Act - which will combat IP infringement without … Continue Reading
December 17, 2011
Wyden, Moran, Cantwell Introduce IP Protection Bill that Will Not Break the Net
Washington, D.C. - As the House Judiciary Committee considers a bill that sacrifices innovation and an open and secure Internet, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and a bipartisan coalition of Senators including Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) introduced legislation to use import trade laws to protect intellectual property without catastrophic effects to the Internet. The Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade Act (OPEN) will build on the existing legal … Continue Reading
December 08, 2011
Wyden-Issa Release Draft Digital Trade Legislation
Washington, D.C. Unveiling a proposal that both fights the unauthorized sale of digital goods and protects Internet security, commerce and speech, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and U.S. Congressman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) today released a draft text of legislation that would use trade laws to address the flow of infringing digital goods into the United States. The draft legislation is based on the broad legislative framework that U.S. Senators Cantwell, Moran, Warner and Wyden and U.S. … Continue Reading
November 16, 2011
Wyden SOPA Statement Warns of Severe Repercussions to a Free and Open Internet if Bills are Passed
Washington, D.C. - As the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing for the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) a former member of the House of Representatives, included a statement into the hearing record warning of the dangers SOPA will pose to a free and open Internet. Wyden has put a hold on similar legislation in the Senate known as PROTECT IP and has vowed to "fight this every step of the way." "I would like to take this opportunity to commend Chairman Smith … Continue Reading
November 03, 2011
Wyden, Ayotte Introduce Resolution to Protect Online Business from Unfair Taxation
Washington, D.C. - Whether by purchasing hand-made jewelry from Etsy, a sweater from an independent retailer on eBay or some vintage vinyl from a Portland record shop, millions of Americans each year utilize the internet to purchase products from small online retailers. However, there is movement in the Congress to give states the ability to create burdensome and unfair taxes on these transactions that cross state lines -- imposing taxes on businesses of other states selling goods online and … Continue Reading
November 01, 2011
Wyden Statement on House Passage of Wireless Tax Fairness Act
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) issued the following statement in response to the House of Representatives' passage of the Wireless Tax Fairness Act. In March 2011, Wyden and Senator Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) introduced the legislation in the U.S. Senate. "Wireless is a prime example of how every time a new innovation hits the market - governments invent new ways to tax it. We should be encouraging wireless usage as it continues to revolutionize the way Americans work, … Continue Reading
October 18, 2011
Senator Kirk Joins Wyden as Cosponsor of Digital Surveillance Legislation
Washington, D.C. - Surrounded by technology that was considered cutting edge when major digital surveillance laws were written, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) welcomed U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R- Ill.) as a cosponsor of the Geolocation Privacy and Surveillance Act (GPS) which provides sorely needed legal clarity for the use of electronically-obtained location data that can be used to track and log the location and movements of individual Americans. The GPS Act was introduced in June by Wyden … Continue Reading
September 14, 2011
Wyden Calls for Ethics Rules to Prevent Revolving Door for Internet Domain Name Regulators
Washington, D.C. - As the online community prepares for a massive expansion in potential domain names and the expiration of the contract with the non-profit, non-governmental organization responsible for domain name regulation, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore) raised concerns about the potential for bias and unfair favoritism stemming from a revolving door between internet regulators and the multi-million dollar domain name industry they formerly regulated. In a letter to Acting Commerce … Continue Reading
June 15, 2011
Wyden, Chaffetz Introduce GPS Act
Washington, D.C. - New technologies - like cell phones, smart phones, laptops and navigation devices - are making it increasingly easy to track and log the location of individual Americans, yet federal laws have not kept pace with the technology. The lack of legal clarity surrounding the use of electronically-obtained location data, also known as geolocation information, means that there are no clear rules for how this data can be used, accessed or sold by law enforcement, commercial entities … Continue Reading
May 26, 2011
Wyden Places Hold on Protect IP Act
Washington, D.C. - Continuing his opposition to legislation that aims to protect intellectual property at the expense of free speech, technological innovation and the very foundations of the Internet, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden has issued the following statement announcing a hold on the motion to proceed to the Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act (PROTECT IP): "Consistent with Senate Standing Orders and my policy of publishing in the … Continue Reading
May 12, 2011
Wyden, Lofgren Statements on the Insufficient Responses Received from Agency on Internet Seizures
Washington, D.C. - After receiving insufficient responses from the Obama Administration regarding the seizing of Internet domain names believed to be housing copyright infringing content without a court order - a massive shift in the way the U.S. had combated digital copyright infringement in the past - U.S Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) released the following statements: Senator Wyden: "It is hard to imagine that the administration can effectively deter online … Continue Reading
May 12, 2011
Senator Wyden Response to the PROTECT IP Act Introduction
Washington, D.C. - Senator Wyden offered the following response to the introduction of the Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act: "I felt compelled to block senate action on COICA in December 2010 because it employed a "bunker buster" approach to a problem that could be solved with a "strategic guided missile." COICA's at-all-costs approach to protecting intellectual property would have inflicted collateral damage on the foundations of … Continue Reading
May 12, 2011
Wyden – Thune Promote Innovation by Protecting Digital Commerce from Overbearing Taxes
Washington, D.C. - Citing the crushing effect that multiple and discriminatory taxes can have on developing industries, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and John Thune (R-S.D.) introduced legislation today that will protect digital goods and services - like mobile smartphone apps and cloud computing -- from additional taxes. "Would consumers be as willing to try out a new I-Phone app if they have to pay taxes for every download? How many app's would even be available if every provider had … Continue Reading
March 10, 2011
Wyden, Snowe Introduce Bill to Protect Consumers from Overbearing Wireless Taxes
Washington, D.C. - In an effort to protect consumers from discriminatory and duplicative taxes on wireless goods and services that threaten mobile Internet access for many consumers, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) Olympia Snowe (R- Maine) have introduced legislation in the Senate to prohibit states from imposing any new discriminatory taxes on wireless goods and services for five years. A companion bill in the House of Representatives was introduced today by Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and … Continue Reading
March 10, 2011
Sens. Franken, Wyden to SEC: You’re Wrong to Tell Telecom Shareholders that Net Neutrality Not a “Significant Policy Issue”
WASHINGTON, D.C. [03/10/11]-Last night, U.S. Sens. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) reached out to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Mary L. Shapiro to object to a recent SEC staff ruling that AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon could exclude a shareholder proposal from its annual proxy materials. Staff at the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance based their decision on a finding that net neutrality is not a significant policy issue. The senators disagreed with the … Continue Reading
October 22, 2009
Wyden's Position on Net Neutrality Upheld at FCC
WASHINGTON, DC - Extolling the economic benefits of a free and open Internet provided by the policy of net neutrality, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) released a statement today in response to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) vote to begin writing net neutrality regulations. The FCC will prevent internet service providers (ISP) from being able to act as gatekeepers, favoring their own applications or services over those provided by others and blocking or slowing certain internet … Continue Reading
September 24, 2008
Senate Drops Civil Enforcement Provisions from Intellectual Property Act
Normal0falsefalsefalseEN-USX-NONEX-NONEMicrosoftInternetExplorer4/* Style Definitions */table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-style-noshow:yes;mso-style-priority:99;mso-style-qformat:yes;mso-style-parent:"";mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in … Continue Reading
July 16, 2008
Wyden and Snowe Propose Prize Competition to Spur Nanotech Innovation
Washington, D.C. - Working to stimulate innovation and private investment in nanotechnology, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) today introduced the Nanotechnology Innovation and Prize Competition Act. The bill would authorize the Department of Commerce to administer prize competitions in up to four nanotechnology categories: green nanotechnology, alternative energy, human health and commercialization of consumer products."This prize competition will prove that … Continue Reading
July 11, 2008
Wyden, Snowe Introduce Legislation to Help Grow Nation's Telecommunications Infrastructure
WASHINGTON, DC - Working to help American telecommunications networks keep pace with rising international competition, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) introduced legislation today that would enact a five year moratorium on new or increased taxes on wireless telecommunications infrastructure and services. Currently, telecommunications services are taxed at a rate that rivals - and in some places exceeds - taxes on tobacco and alcohol."Americans are being hit hard … Continue Reading
October 25, 2007
Wyden Says Bipartisan Senate Internet Tax Deal Would Protect E-mail and Other Key Web Services From Being Taxed
Washington, D.C. -- U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) released the following statement regarding the agreement reached tonight by key Senators involved in the Internet Tax Debate."Today, I raised serious concerns about the legislation introduced in the Senate to renew the Internet Tax Freedom Act. I am pleased that steps have been taken to address some of the most immediate concerns and I will not object to further action on the legislation given the short time before the moratorium expires. "The … Continue Reading
