Susan Ellen "Zoe" Lofgren is an American lawyer and politician serving as a U.S. representative from California. A member of the Democratic Party, Lofgren is in her 14th term in Congress, having been first elected in 1994. Lofgren has long served on the House Judiciary Committee, and chaired the House Administration Committee in the 116th & 117th Congresses.
The United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has been involved in oversight of the behavioral targeting techniques used by online advertisers since the mid-1990s. These techniques, initially called "online profiling", are now referred to as "behavioral targeting"; they are used to target online behavioral advertising (OBA) to consumers based on preferences inferred from their online behavior. During the period from the mid-1990s to the present, the FTC held a series of workshops, published a number of reports, and gave numerous recommendations regarding both industry self-regulation and Federal regulation of OBA. In late 2010, the FTC proposed a legislative framework for U.S. consumer data privacy including a proposal for a "Do Not Track" mechanism. In 2011, a number of bills were introduced into the United States Congress that would regulate OBA.
The No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act (NOPEC) was a U.S. Congressional bill, never enacted, known as H.R. 2264 (in 2007) and then as part of H.R. 6074 (in 2008). NOPEC was designed to remove the state immunity shield and to allow the international oil cartel, OPEC, and its national oil companies to be sued under U.S. antitrust law for anti-competitive attempts to limit the world's supply of petroleum and the consequent impact on oil prices. Despite popular sentiment against OPEC, legislative proposals to limit the organization's sovereign immunity have so far been unsuccessful. "Varied forms of a NOPEC bill have been introduced some 16 times since 2000, only to be vehemently resisted by the oil industry and its allied oil interests like the American Petroleum Institute and their legion of 'K' Street Lobbyists."
The Email Privacy Act is a bill introduced in the United States Congress. The bipartisan proposed federal law was sponsored by Representative Kevin Yoder, a Republican from Kansas, and then-Representative Jared Polis, a Democrat of Colorado. The law is designed to update and reform existing online communications law, specifically the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) of 1986.
The Honest Ads Act was a bill in the United States Senate intended to regulate online campaign advertisements by companies. The bill was proposed on October 19, 2017, as a response to Facebook's disclosure of Russia purchasing political ads during the 2016 United States presidential election. The Honest Ads Act was eventually incorporated into the For the People Act, which has passed the House but stalled in the Senate during the 116th and 117th Congresses.
Big Tech, also known as the Tech Giants, refers to the most dominant information technology companies. The term most often refers to American technology companies, notably the five largest: Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft. These companies are also known as the Big Five, or excluding Microsoft, the Big Four. Globally, Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, and Xiaomi (BATX) are the Chinese equivalent of the Big Five. Big Tech can also include smaller tech companies with high valuations, such as Netflix, or non-tech companies with high-tech practices, such as the automaker Tesla.
Amy Jean Klobuchar is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Minnesota. A member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, Minnesota's affiliate of the Democratic Party, she previously served as the Hennepin County Attorney. She ran for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2020 election, before pulling out in March and endorsing Joe Biden.
The SAFE Banking Act, officially H.R. 1595, full title Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Act, and also referred to as the SAFE Banking Act of 2019, was proposed legislation regarding disposition of funds gained through the cannabis industry in the United States.
The Digital Services Act is a Regulation in EU law to update the Electronic Commerce Directive 2000 regarding illegal content, transparent advertising, and disinformation. It was submitted along with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) by the European Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on 15 December 2020. The DSA was prepared by the Executive Vice President of the European Commission for A Europe Fit for the Digital Age Margrethe Vestager and by the European Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton, as members of the Von der Leyen Commission.
Regulation (EU) 2022/1925, commonly referred to as the Digital Markets Act (DMA), is an EU regulation that aims to make the digital economy fairer and more contestable. The regulation proposed by the European Commission in December 2020 was signed into law by the European Parliament and the Council of the EU in September 2022. It entered into force on 1 November 2022 and became applicable, for the most part, on 2 May 2023.
Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC) is a type of web tracking. It groups people into "cohorts" based on their browsing history for the purpose of interest-based advertising. FLoC was being developed as a part of Google's Privacy Sandbox initiative, which includes several other advertising-related technologies with bird-themed names. Despite "federated learning" in the name, FLoC does not utilize any federated learning.
The Open App Markets Act (OAMA) is a proposed antitrust bill in the United States Congress. The Senate version of the legislation, S.2710, was introduced on August 11, 2021, by Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN). On August 13, 2021, a companion bill in the House of Representatives was introduced by Hank Johnson (D-GA) and Ken Buck (R-CO).
The AmericanInnovationandChoiceOnline (AICO) is a proposed antitrust bill in the United States Congress. The legislation was introduced by David Cicilline (D-RI) in the House of Representatives as the AmericanChoiceandInnovationOnline Act on June 11, 2021. On October 14, 2021, companion legislation in the Senate was introduced by Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) as S.2992.
The State Antitrust Enforcement Venue Act of 2021 is a proposed antitrust bill in the United States Congress. The legislation was introduced in the House of Representatives by Ken Buck (R-CO) as H.R. 3460 on May 21, 2021. Companion legislation was introduced in the Senate by Mike Lee (R-UT) as S. 1787 on May 24, 2021.
The Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022, known as the Honoring our PACT Act of 2022, is an Act of Congress that spends $797 billion to significantly improve healthcare access and funding for veterans who were exposed to toxic substances during military service.
The Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act of 2021 (MFFMA) is a proposed antitrust bill in the United States Congress. The legislation was introduced in the Senate by Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) as S. 228 on February 4, 2021. Companion legislation was introduced in the House of Representatives by Joe Neguse (D-CO) and Victoria Spartz (R-IN) as H.R. 3843 on June 11, 2021.
The Augmenting Compatibility and Competition by Enabling Service Switching Act of 2021, or the ACCESS Act of 2021, is a proposed antitrust bill in the United States House of Representatives. The purpose of the legislation is to mandate data portability from Big Tech companies to provide users the ability to switch their data between platforms.
United States v. Google LLC is an ongoing federal antitrust case brought by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) against Google LLC on October 20, 2020. The suit alleges that Google has violated the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 through anti-competitive behavior in the search engine and search advertising markets.
Beginning in 2022 and especially in 2023, the United States Congress has introduced and passed numerous pieces of legislation tackling opioids, fentanyl, and the opioid epidemic within America. Many of these bills have been introduced by members of the Republican Party, and some pieces of legislation have attracted bipartisan support from members of the Democratic Party. Most legislative efforts have arisen during the 117th and 118th Congresses.
United States v. Google LLC is an ongoing federal antitrust case brought by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) against Google LLC on January 24, 2023. The suit accuses Google of illegally monopolizing the advertising technology (adtech) market in violation of sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. The suit is separate from an ongoing DOJ antitrust case launched in 2020 accusing Google of illegally monopolizing the search engine market.
