Transcripts For CSPAN2 The Communicators 20140106

Extension of Unemployment Insurance for over one million americans whose benefits expired late last month. Later in the day, senators will continue debate on the nomination of janet yellen to be the Federal Reserve chair, and theyll hold a vote at 5 30. A simple majority is needed for her confirmation. Live coverage of the senate here on cspan2. And over in the house, members return tomorrow at 2 00 eastern for a pro forma session, no legislative business is scheduled, but the chamber will recess until 6 30 and then hold a vote to establish a quorum known as a call of the house to mark the start of the second session of the 113th congress. Later in the week members plan to vote on bills related to the federal Health Care Law including one to protect personal information used on the web site, healthcare. Gov. Live coverage of the house over on cspan. Cspan, created by americas Cable Companies in 1979, brought to you as a Public Service by your television provider. Host and joining us this week on the communicators is gary shapiro who is president and ceo of the Consumer Electronics association. Mr. Shapiro, who do you represent in that association . Guest we have over 2,000 u. S. Technology companies. Everyone whos involved in innovation and has electricity going through it. Or. Host and what are some of the issues that youre concerned about . Guest well, we for example on the issues you would expect the Tech Industry. We are focused laserlike on innovation. We want to make sure innovation is a National Strategy and American Companies can keep introducing the neatest products to the world. You know, we dominate in so many areas. We have a lot of foreign multinationals, its a global phenomenon be of innovation, but the u. S. Is the world leader, and we want to keep it that way which requires best immigration policies, the best and the brightest, it requires additional spectrum, it also requires a rational patent policy. You can invent things, but youre not being sued all the time. And it requires free trade. Host i also want to talk about an issue that the fcc is currently hashing out, and thats a consumer issue. The unlocking of cell phones. Do you guys have a position on that . Guest actually, we dont. You know, generally, were very free market. We like consumer choice. We think that products that consumers buy they should be able to establish their own contractual relationships as long as they understand what they are and theyre disclosed clearly and, obviously, the government has decided that once you buy a phone and the contract runs out, you should be able to have it unlocked, and we have no problem with that. Host how important is the fcc to your members . Guest well, the fcc implement it is communication strategy for the nation, and if you think about all of the growth in our economy and where its come from, its really with products that hook up through telecommunications, telephone lines, now the internet. And we believe that the strategy our nation should have is focused on broadband and choice in broadband. You know, it used to be just broadcast, then cable and broadcast, then satellite, but now theres the internet, and we want to make sure people have choice of getting all those damages different ways. Fast speeds and lots of choice. So theres all different sorts of flavors of wireless broadband, and were reaching the point in the major cities weve run out of spectrum to have that broadband. So congress and the president passed legislation mandating a spectrum auction, and we want to see that happen. Host what do you think about tom wheeler, the new chair . Guest you know, i like the pact that hes bringing gravitas, maturity and business experience. Hes head of an association which is a great background to do almost anything. I serve on a committee that he chaired until recently, a state department committee. He led the u. S. In a very unanimous industry government approach on some major world issues. He also allowed that state department and industry to gather together as volunteers and help when theres a crisis around the world in terms of restoring the telecom infrastructure, and i like the fact that hes not looking for his next job. Every other fcc chairman has been relatively young, and theres nothing wrong with a guy with a little gray hair every thousand and then. Thats a good thing. Host joining you are conversation is ad lex byers, Technology Reporter for politico, he also puts out the morning tech newsletter. Mr. Byers. Gary, lets start with innovation, thats been one of the core issues for you this year, and yet things have been pretty stalled in the house, obviously. A comprehensive bill passed the senate a couple months ago is it time for the Tech Industry and perhaps democrats by extension to support more of a piecemeal approach to passing the immigration bill, especially because one of the bills that, you know, may have some legs in the house is the act that is very, you know, would look at raising the number of h1b visas or green cards that some of your members might be able to out to use . Guest well, thanks, alex, and youve done a great job covering the issue. As you know, the Tech Industry and, indeed, democrats and republicans are united that we should get the best and the brightest people to the u. S. , we should want them at the universities, we should hire the ph. D. S and masters in s. T. E. M. , so we have a decision that we want this, its important to our future, and were sending jobs and revenue overseas which is a bad thing. So how do we get there . Well, the democrats have taken the position, led by the president , this that this that this must be part of a comprehensive package. Sadly, steve jobs predicted four years ago as he spoke to president obama, you are killing then our future as a Technology Industry with this strategy because that immigration overall reform so difficult. Wed love to see a standalone bill, but we have to go with what the president wants, hes the president. Frankly, its not the president whos Holding Things up, its the speaker of the house of representatives. Until or unless he makes a decision for that to go forward, were just marking time. Were very disappointed that something didnt happen under a democratic congress. So you guys wouldnt have a problem if the skillsby act or a similar bill were the one to move through the house and, you know, obviously, theres a lot of questions on what would happen then with a conference report or what the senate or the president would do, but just from your perspective, that would be a fine approach, to focus on that specifically and leave Everything Else to a later time . Guest oddly happy with any way of getting that legislation true. Of its a shame that were holding our innovation strategy, getting the best and brightest here hostage for other purposes which are very, very important. Obviously, we have huge immigration issues, and its the job of congress to address them. We would like to see a vote on the house floor on all the legislation, and we believe skills visa will be the one thing everyone will agree upon. Do you have any confidence . Obviously, were sort of at the end of 2013 here, 2014 is an Election Year and certainly as we get closer to november of next year, theres going to be probably less legislating going on as members are out, you know, campaigning again. Do you have confidence that in the earlier part of 2014 theres an opportunity for movement here at all . Guest i have confidence that if Speaker Boehner brings something to the floor for a vote, it will pass. And thats a good thing. Then it can be worked out in conference. Our nation is slowing down while others are going up. We see canada advertising on build boards in san francisco. Were seeing members of our best companies in the United States between our tax laws and visa policy, theyre being forced to invest overseas rather than the u. S. Thats a national shame, and its incumbent upon be congress to change it. So its not been just the immigration issue that hasnt moved very swiftly this year. Frankly, there hasnt been a ton of things getting done in congress, and thats even more true when you look at the technology or Telecommunications Sector in general. How do you guys approach washington with, while knowing that there hasnt been a lot of successful legislation especially on some of the issues that you care about most . What is the strategy to get something done whether its at an agency or in the executive branch or this congress . Guest actually, i think weve been fairly successful. We got patent legislation through the house with an overwhelmingly were going to talk about that more soon. Guest and that happened quickly. We got the market place fairness through the senate, and were hoping it will get through the house. Thats really important legislation that makes it so that brick and mortar retailers are in the same Playing Field as the, those that are selling on the internet. And thats an important piece of legislation. Theres a lot of support for free trade right now in congress. Thats very important. In terms of also, like everyone, sometimes were defensive, and we want things not to happen. So, you know, i think its a matter of sometimes the senate and the house have as much problems as the democrats and republicans, so our job is to try to get them to see that theres a National Interest here. Weve been a big supporter, for example, of the nolabels movement which is members of congress in the middle that are willing not necessarily in the middle philosophically, but theyre willing to recognize their job is not to be idealist, and Business People are prague maists. I could go pragmatists. Im happy to be in the middle of that and say lets solve these major problems, because we are i wrote a book last year, or this year, and it did well, and i went around the world talking about it. Other countries are going for the best and brightest, theyre focusing on free trade, they have great education. They want to be centers for innovation. We have to keep our first place status by having policies which favor innovation. Im not looking for government money of any type. What im looking for is basic education, free trade and the access to the best and the brightest and a reasonable litigation and patent system. So lets actually pivot to patents, because you brought that up. As you point out, recently the house assed the innovation passed the innovation act, and theres certainly at least some appetite in the senate for pursuing a bill, perhaps a particularly similar bill. How important was that to your members . There has been a lot of sort of back and forth about whether this bill would sort of stop the trolls, as people like to say, or whether it would sort of weaken b the judicial system in terms of how patents are concerned. Walk us through your thinking on that. Chairman goodlatte moved tremendously quickly on that with bipartisan support. It is very important. From the shawlest oneperson smallest oneperson company. What were finding, what were hearing is that the ceo, the cxo, the executive level, time is increasingly taken up defending threats of litigation. So every companys getting letters all the time, and theyre extortion letters. Sadly, its legalized extortion. And its not good for the competitiveness of the United States. So even those that are patent owners, and almost all my members are at tent ownsers of some type, they say were getting to the point where we have to do something. This is the strongest, most passionate issue that i represent our members on, and this is equivalent to where card check was four years ago. You mention bed the demand letter issue which i think is a particularly interesting one given that there were a lot of members of the house that wanted to see sort of stronger reform provisions on demand letters put into the goodlatte bill. I guess well see sort of where the senate goes on that aspect. But i think one of the concerns that seem have with that sort of lahr part of the particular part of the patent reform debate is the First Amendment concern. To what extent can you say what a person or a company is allowed to say in any letter whether it be, um, you know, a demand letter, you know, malicious or not . Do you have similar concerns that the government shouldnt go too far in saying, hey, heres what you can and cant say in some type of legal document . Well, we have so many laws that already regulate how we solicit people, how we call people up for consumer debt, how we what we even say to each ore because of the antitrust laws, how we do so many other things. The First Amendment is the bulk work of what we are, but the First Amendment just protects the government interfering with the press and free speech. That has nothing to do with threatening an extortion letter to a commercial business enterprise. I dont think its a First Amendment issue here, but i do understand the concern. We do have to address it, but the bottom line is if the lawsuits are, if the spurious lawsuits are thrown out, thatll affect the demand letters. And you have to respond be and the process thats already in the goodlatte bill is carried forth, i think thatll cut down significantly on the number of demand letters or at least those receiving demand letters will get a quick answer from a lawyer rather than having to spend 100,000 just to get legal advice on how they should settle something. Host gary shapiro, when you look at the framework of Telecommunications Laws in this country now, do they need to be updated for our current world . Or could they possibly be with updated for our current world . Guest well, the 96 telecom act really doesnt even mention the internet. And, certainly, it is healthy for government to understand why theres regulation going on. And we should look at that. The world has dramatically changed in almost the last 20 years. I mean, phenomenally changed in how we get information, education and entertain. Entertainment. There is an argument theres too much regulation. I believe and i would point to the merger proposed of at t tmobile where when the fcc chairman, with one sentence, could cause at t to spend almost 4 billion despite having the best legal advice this the world and to have to pay a penalty to tmobile because he has squashed the merger and theres ambiguous laws out there, we should not have ambiguous laws of any type. We should have legal certainty. And having this standard about the Public Interest and necessity and things like that is not healthy. It goes to how we live our lives as american. I think you have a right to know what law youre violating. Weve seen where boeing was blocked from building a factory in south carolina, weve seen it with gibson where they were stormed by federal agents for violating indias law when india says they werent violating the law. Weve seen it over and over again. And now were also seeing regulation that is basically collapsing our business community. You see 2,000page laws like obamacare and the doddfrank law, its out of control. And its hurting business. So if we want to look at whether theres too much regulation in the fcc, absolutely, we should. But we should do it with the principle that we want to be competitive, we want to have the best system, the most competitive system in the country in the world. And we want to do it without, basically, sending thousands and thousands of pages of unclear things where youre throwing something to a Government Agency so businesses dont know what is legal and is what is not. Host so that said, is the 96 law outdated, outmoded, should it go away . Should it be replaced . 1934 communications law, we still operate under some aspects of that as well. Guest i think we have to ask yourselves some fundamental questions. We should be asking ourselves why is it that broadcasters get free spectrum in a huge swath that fewer than 10 of the population is relying on . Why is it that broadcasters have a law that says a Cable Company must carry their signal . And not only that, they have a choice. They can require the Cable Company to pay them if they dont want it. When we have a world where you have broadcast competing with cable competing with satellite competing with the internet, and increasingly citizens are choosing to get their information not from broadcast and not necessarily from cable, but from totally other sources. And why do we have laws which favor one medium over another . I think the principles should be competition, fairness, and if the government is imposing laws, they should be on all media. Host one of the issues that has been discussed over in this past year is the issue of privacy. The nsa taking data, a lot of your Member Companies are involved in this issue. What has the cea said about privacy of . Guest well, privacy is dear to us not only as an industry which relies upon trust with consumers, but also because were americans, too, and it hurts us to know that our government has been doing all sorts of things that we just didnt expect they were. So theres two issues here. One is what is the government doing and requiring businesses to do, and the other issue, what are businesses doing and what rights do consumers have. So in terms of what the government is doing, i think we have to establish some principles, and if the government is requiring businesses like a google or a hoft or a yahoo to do something, i think there has to be a little bit of disclosure there. There has to be a hearing of some part where the other side and the googles can be heard, and there should be be some principles established, and it should be min halley intrusive to accomplish the National Safety that we all want. This terms of businesses and how were dealing with consumers, i think businesses have an obligation of transparency, disclosure, clarity, putting things so people can understand them, and i personally would like us to see us go with a little more standardization. Im always clicking on i accept, and i have no idea what im accepting, and if there was a little more standardization, i think thats a good thing. The way we do with disclosure of mileage, for example, when you buy a new or car, epa standards. The government has a role, and i think its a very important role. Im not saying dont regulate. A government can really encourage some standardization, uniformity in how we communicate so we all understand where we are, what were getting and what were getting as consumers. And also i think the government that a lot to say, and this goes to the unlocking thing, if the Company Changes the rules and this could also go to Net Neutrality if the Company Changes the rules, then you maybe as a consumer have the right to do something different. You can get out of your contract. So between disclosure and the ability to change your contract if the company has changed the rules, i think we have some solutions. On, you were talking about the governments role in regulating or not regulating sort of on the Consumer Privacy issue. One of Big Questions has been is this a space where there should be some kind of law that says, for example, chairman rockefeller has put forth his do not track bill which would basically prevent companies or allow force web sites to allow users to opt out of crossbrowser tracking or crosssite tracking whereas a lot of other people say that is too heavyhanded, especially when you look at a sector Like Technology whereby the time the law is drafted, voted on and implemented, whatever was written in the statute will be obsolete. The Obama Administration has pursued what they call a hullty stakeholder multistakeholder model where we hash things out and whatever sort of agreements come out of that are either, you know, sort of de facto not law, but sort of guidelines and sort of if a company doesnt follow those, theyre, i guess, shunned or looked down upon. Where do you see what do you think is the best approach for handling Consumer Privacy . Is it this sort of multistakeholder model, or is there a role for the government to weigh in this and perhaps give some clarity with this is the statute, heres what youre allowed to do and heres what youre not allowed to do . Guest well, what keeps me awake at night is our nation which will do something which will choke off the future of innovation. Because i think innovation is our destiny and will keep our country great. We have innovative businesses. So i think whether its because the goth is protecting the status the government is protecting the status quo business lobbying or because theres well meaning like, of course, senator rockefeller, rather, is correct, we are concerned about our privacy and our ability to do things, thats well meaning, thats well intentioned. But the problem with good intentions, we know what happens. If you were choking off new development and new technology, so i think a multistakeholder approach where youre listening and agreeing on what you want to accomplish. You want to accomplish where something as people, as human, as consumers, we feel comfortable in our privacy, and we have choices, and theyre very clear to us. If we could reach that goal together rather than have something forced by either side, thats a good thing. The internet is free, and its a great source of information. But what is often being sold is the fact that you as a consumer are being exposed to something through ads, all sorts of information, so people can know about you and market to you. Thats whats being sold. Host gary shapiro, you talked about innovation. Just kicking off is International Ces which is what . Guest its the Worlds Largest innovation event, its a handson experience. 3300 companies con eventualing for a week in las vegas converging for a week in las vegas where you are seeing the future, and you are seeing where innovation actually can come to market, and anyone with a good idea can expose it to investors, to retailers, to media. And theyll make it or break it. Some investors are life savings, some companies their entire marketing budget. But the point is, this is where the worlds innovators come together. We get 35,000 people from outside the United States. We have a big portion of washington which comes there, legislators, government people, all the commissioners of the fcc, many others from other countries as well in government, and theyre all there for one purpose, because they know thats where innovation is going to be a reallife experience where they can see, feel, hear, touch, listen, meet people, learn things and totally be with inspired. What we have there is solutions to real types of problems were talking about. Safe driving . We have a whole bunch of stuff with technology solving some of the problems, including a special area for driverless cars. We have all sorts of stuff for disabled, allowing them to experience things. We have a whole focus on robots, 3d printing, highresolution audio. Theres a whole new wave of technology. This 3d printing thing is going to be wig as big as well. We have drones being shown there. How do you want something . Do you want it air shipped from a krone . Do you want to create it yourself in 3d, or do you want to have a driverless car drop it off at your house . Host now, youve also got during this week this vegas youve got several leading telecommunications Corporate Leaders speaking as well. Guest absolutely. We have the leader of almost every Company Involved in the world of innovation there from the head of verizon and at t to the head of twitter. You name it, they are there. John chambers of cisco, the new president of intel, the head of sony worldwide, the head of yahoo . So many different people. We have 900 different speakers at ces, and they all have their or creative, bright people and theyre focused on the future and solving robs. And we as a society through innovation and technology. Host is it open to the media is it open to the public . Guest despite being called the Consumer Electronics show, it is open to those who have a business connection or reporters who can cover those that are there, but thats a pretty big we have to keep the crowds low because we invest, its las vegas has more hotel rooms than any city in the room, but they can only handle so many people. We look to keep it around 150,000 people, plus or minus b 10,000. I remember there was a talk about patent reform a year ago, and i imagine they will continue to talk about it this year, especially because theres still work to do in terms of legislation. On the patent issue, i remember when that bill was being voted on in the house, cea said that you were going to score this bill as part of your Technology Legislation scorecard. Can you tell us what that is . Guest so, basically, we have a Political Action committee, and when we are making decisions about whether to give money to members of congress, what were saying is were looking for members of congress that we are scoring as aligned with the world of innovation. And what their positions on immigration, on intellectual property, on trade, very important. We support members who are philosophically consistent. So for the patent reform legislation we thought it was significant and important, so we announced we were scoring this lets. When we have a pac meeting, we want to know how members have voted on different pieces of legislation. Its not a quid pro quo and, certainly, no member of Congress Gets a perfect score by be us. But we do score them that way and other things. Are they speaking about innovation, do they care about it as a national priority, those are the things that are important to us. Certainly, there are similar scorecards, i guess, out there, you know, from the nra or from a group like the club for growth, for example. Do you have the sense that lawmakers are particularly tied into Something Like a Technology Legislation scorecard . Are they saying, boy, i better be on the right side of the patent bill, or are they more say, you know, i could get in trouble if im on the wrong side of the debt ceiling or budget debate in. Guest what i think legislators share in common, theyre trying to do whats best. Somehow constituents, you know, if only one constituent whos a patent troll talks to them, likely a large donor, they hay go one may go one way. This is really not just a patent troll whos not producing anything and extorting americans, but this is 2,000 Technology Companies that care about this legislation, and theyre saying this is very important. Thats why we do things like that. Thats why we do a lot of things we do. We want members of congress to understand that when the Technology Industry can speak as one voice, and it has on most of these issues, this is important for the future of not only our industry, its important for the future of our country. Because our job growth and our growth in Small Businesses relies upon innovation. And thats what this country is built on. And they need to hear that voice. Host gary shapiro, how much discussion at ces will be about spectrum . Guest we will have, certainly, be talking about spectrum, the auctions. Well have every fcc commissioner there. Its a very important issue, and what i like to think is ill explain that, when we talk a lot about an issue, theres action on it that were. By gosh, we had a pipa sopa press conference two years ago, and it was defeated within a month. Patents were certainly talked about very visibly in january, and members of Congress Told us by listening to that conversation and hearing the anguish of reallife entrepreneurs and innovators that are being killed by these trolls, they were willing to step up and act. Spectrum isen r an issue where its like a ticking time bomb. We know its a problem, we have to do something about it. Congress did do something about it, its a matter of execution. But its not enough. Legislation that was just passed recently which says that the government spectrum this is bipartisan government spectrum should be put out there and usable, and theres some incentives and ways of doing it. It doesnt get a lot of attention because it was bipartisan, and there was no opposition. This is like a lot of things, theres many different ways and solutions, and you have to keep chipping away. Spectrum issues going to be around for a long time. Host so when tom wheeler comes out to ces this year and you get ten minutings with ten minutes with him, what do you want to do . Guest actually, ill just be the neutral questioner, ill take questions in writing from the audience, but ill be asking about spectrum and how he feels about telecom act reform, what he wants his legacy to be, you know . Tom is a very articulate guy, and, you know, with prior fcc chairmen sometimes its a challenge. A lot of people, especially early on in their careers, theyre very careful of what they say because theyre not that confident or theyre afraid theyll make a mistake. What i like about chairman wheeler is hes really at a point in his career where he knows the fcc, he knows the issues. Hes had a long time waiting to be confirmed by the senate to think about these issues, and i look forward to a very lively discussion with him. Host what technology are you most excited about this year . Guest you know, thats a difficult question because theres so many. I really think 3d printing is going to change the world. Because it will allow not only local manufacturing, its been around for a while for prototyping, but its becoming a consumer product. And theres things you can do and the way you can inspire kids, great things for their School Projects or become innovators and entrepreneurs themselves, its very exciting. Theres 100,000 downloadable free things you can build be, but the next step is you design your own things and build them. To me, that is incredibly exciting. It allows the spirit of innovation to be tapped, and its a killer product. And, of course, ultra 4k is just beautiful tvs. Guest it is fabulous. I am, in the long term, you know, robotics, driverless cars, theyre going to solve real problems, theyre going to save lives, make life better. And also all the Different Things that are changing o