In remarks today to a joint workshop of the FTC and NHTSA, EPIC President Marc Rotenberg called for the establishment of national safety standards prior to the deployment of "self-driving" vehicles on the nation's highways. "Given the current vulnerabilities of networked communications, self-driving vehicles are simply unsafe at any speed," said Mr. Rotenberg. EPIC has participate in numerous NHTSA rule makings on auto safety, proposed stronger data protection standards for connected vehicles, and sided with consumers in a case concerning the risks of autonomous vehicles. In extensive comments for the FTC/NHTSA workshop, EPIC pointed to known vulnerabilities with bluetooth communications, auto hacking, "level 3" control, malware and ransomware, auto repossession remote deactivation, and safety defects. EPIC urged the FTC and NHTSA to focus on "data protection, vehicle safety, consumer protection, and privacy." EPIC also said that the ability of states to develop safety standards must be maintained. EPIC warned that the failure to establish robust safety standards could be "catastrophic."
European antitrust officials have imposed a $2.7 billion fine on Google for favoring its own services over competitors on Google search, which now dominates 90% of the market in Europe. It is the largest antitrust fine in European history. European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager stated "Google has abused its market dominance in search by promoting its own services and demoting its competitors. What Google has done is illegal under EU antitrust rules. It has denied other companies the chance to compete on the merits and to innovate. And most importantly, it has denied European consumers the benefits of competition, genuine choice, and innovation." Google competitors and news organizations, based in the United States, favored the outcome. Over many years, EPIC had urged the US government to take a closer look at Google's anti-competitive practices. In testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2007, EPIC warned that Google's growing dominance of online advertising would diminish user privacy and market competition. In a statement to the FTC in 2011, EPIC explained that Google altered the search rankings of YouTube after it acquired the company to preference Google's content over that of competitors and NGOs, including EPIC. In 2012, EPIC told the FTC that "Google's business practices raise concerns related to both competition and the implementation of the Commission's consent order." EPIC later sued the FTC for its failure to enforce the consent order.
EPIC President Marc Rotenberg was elected by members of the Civil Society Information Society Advisory Committee to a two-year term on the CSISAC Steering Committee. CSISC is "the voice of Civil Society at the OECD" on the future of the digital economy. CSISAC facilitates the exchange of information between the OECD and civil society. CSISAC follows the Seoul Declaration set out at the OECD Ministerial in South Korea in 2008. CSISAC recently hosted a forum, "Toward an Inclusive, Equitable, and Sustainable Digital Economy," in conjunction with the 2016 OECD Ministerial conference in Mexico.
