Senate Judiciary Consideration of Data Bill Deferred

It does not look as though the Judicial Redress Act will get any Senate action until early next year.

The bill, which would give European citizens the right to access and correct data stored in the U.S. and legal redress if that information is illegally accessed, was scheduled for consideration in the Senate Judiciary Committee Dec. 10, but was "held over" for consideration at the next business meeting of the committee.

Computer companies and others are pushing the Senate to act on the bill as soon as possible given its importance to a new data flow security agreement with Europe.

And when will that be? Likely not before the holiday recess, according to a spokesperson for the committee. A computer company source said they were not expecting the committee to consider the bill before January.

"It is customary for bills on the agenda for the first time to be held over until the next meeting before holding a vote," said the spokesperson. "A date has not yet been set for the next business meeting, but it will likely be early next year."

The bill passed the House back in October.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.