SENATE JUDICIARY TAKES UP TECH ANTITRUST — Today's the day: The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to mark up S. 2992 (117), the bill that Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) say would prevent huge tech platforms from unfairly clobbering their rivals. Apple, Google, Amazon, Meta and the lobbying groups they fund have unleashed aggressive campaigns to stop the bill, while their biggest rivals have set up countermeasures of their own. MT is bracing for drama during the markup, as lawmakers spar over the nitty-gritty of the manager's amendment from Klobuchar and Grassley, which would expand the bill's scope to include two of China's biggest online platforms. (POLITICO obtained an early copy, as Pros read Wednesday.) A Democratic aide told MT that Klobuchar will "highlight how this legislation will help fuel the spirit of innovation that makes our economy strong and eliminate unfair practices tech giants use to suppress competition." Here's what we're watching for: — TikTok and Tencent enter the Thunderdome: Provisions in the manager's amendment would most likely sweep up those two Chinese-owned social media companies into the bill's limits on anti-competitive conduct. Some lawmakers have been pushing for that change for months, arguing that Congress should not burden large U.S. tech companies with rules their Chinese rivals don't have to follow. — The private right of action is still in limbo: Several lawmakers still want the antitrust bill to allow small companies to sue the tech giants for violations. That provision was included in a similar bill that cleared the House Judiciary Committee last summer. But it didn't make it into the Senate's companion bill, which mainly empowers the government, not individuals, to sue for anti-competitive conduct. — Do other companies need to worry about this bill? Would Walmart be affected? Tesla? Or any number of other companies with rapidly growing presences online? The bill would apply to companies with a huge user base (at least 50 million people based in the U.S., or 100,000 U.S.-based business users) and economic heft (either a $550 billion market capitalization or $550 billion in U.S. sales). A public U.S. company would also need to be considered a "critical trading partner" to fall under the bill's jurisdiction. Most people have seen that language as specifically targeting Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Google and potentially Microsoft. But it's unclear whether a brick-and-mortar retailer like Walmart, one of the country's largest employers, would also fall under the bill's jurisdiction — a fate that Walmart's lobbyists have sought to avoid. – New user privacy requirements: Klobuchar and Grassley's amendment would also add privacy protections that business leaders have called for, with language requiring platforms to obtain user consent before sharing non-public, personal identifiable information with other businesses. The privacy tweak is "one example of a change that was obvious and needed to happen. But quite frankly, it took more lifting than was necessary to get the kind of attention around it that it deserved," Neil Bradley, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's executive vice president and chief policy officer, told reporters Wednesday. AND DON'T LEAVE OUT THE WHITE HOUSE — The Biden administration hosted its own listening session on tech antitrust Wednesday. Participants included the CEO of Yelp (his take here). And, per the readout, White House officials said they want to work with Congress "to make bipartisan progress" on competition in tech. WHAT BIDEN SOUGHT IN THE 5G DRAMA — President Joe Biden donned the jersey of Team Delay on Wednesday, making it clear he had pushed for airlines to get more time to account for certain kinds of legacy aviation equipment. — "What I've done is pushed as hard as I can to have the 5G folks hold up and abide by what was being requested by the airlines until they could more modernize over the years, so 5G would not interfere with the potential of a landing," Biden told reporters at a news conference. He spoke the same day AT&T and Verizon began launching their new 5G service — and as the Federal Aviation Administration continued to work out details of what planes can safely land where. — Expect a bigger reckoning: This latest wireless squabble was public and messy enough to add pressure for the administration to smooth the interagency process for handling airwaves controversies in the future, as your MT host reported. That could mean anything from a national spectrum strategy to an updated memorandum of understanding between the FCC and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. Congressional Spectrum Caucus co-chair Doris Matsui (D-Calif.) told MT the occasion underscores why "Congress can and must play a role in developing a more collaborative process that allows career experts to negotiate solutions based on sound engineering and provides agencies with a structured avenue for voicing concerns when they arise." — Biden, meanwhile, didn't mention any of these potential government fixes , telling reporters the 5G spat was a collision of "two private enterprises" — wireless and aviation. "Anything that happens that's consequential is viewed as the government's responsibility," he added. — Despite hiccups, crisis averted (for now): Air traffic moved relatively smoothly amid Wednesday's deployment. AT&T said Wednesday's introductions started with C-band 5G in "limited parts of 8 metro areas across the U.S.," with plans for "rapid expansion" later this year. A defense official on Wednesday said the Pentagon is "studying whether 5G technology will scramble instruments aboard fighter jets," POLITICO's Lee Hudson reported for Pros. — Don't panic: T-Mobile, which also won some C-band licenses in last year's FCC auction, is cautioning people not to worry about it downing planes: Its service won't go live until next year. HOUSE SCIENCE SENDS R&D LEGISLATION TO FLOOR — Watch for action on the House floor in the coming weeks following voice votes Wednesday in the House Science Committee, which approved five bipartisan measures aimed at boosting high-tech R&D. The panel posted the approved measures as amended, which MT is eyeing in the context of larger debates about a tech R&D package still very much in flux. — Widening the lens: Congress is still figuring out what final provisions might land in the United States Innovation and Competition Act, a top priority for tech policy leaders like Senate Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.). Although the Senate passed a version, the chambers are still figuring out how to combine competing visions of the China competition bill. — Now, a new House batch: Parts of these new House measures could become tangled up in the broader talks, given the looseness of the process. One measure is the Promoting Digital Privacy Technologies Act, H.R. 847 (117), which aims to promote tech that safeguards consumers' personally identifiable information. Another, the Microelectronics Research for Energy Innovation Act, H.R. 6291 (117), aims to boost advanced semiconductor development R&D. KHAN SPEAKS — FTC Chair Lina Khan used her first live TV interview, which aired Wednesday, to counter the criticism she's been receiving from tech executives who say her agency has unfairly targeted their industry. She said the companies, which have gotten a "lighter-touch treatment in the past," are lashing out as cases and enforcement actions pile up against them. "We're here to apply the law," Khan said on CNBC, "and ensure we have a robust, thriving, open, competitive marketplace." She said her agency plans to focus on whether a lack of competition in tech worsens privacy protections. GOOGLE MADE IHEARTRADIO PERSONALITIES LIE IN RADIO ADS, TEXAS SAYS — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed yet another suit against the search giant Wednesday, alleging the company violated state law with radio ads meant to promote its Pixel 4 phones. Google had demanded that iHeartRadio personalities it hired record personal endorsements of the phones even though they had never used them, the complaint alleges. — José Castañeda, a Google spokesperson, said the allegations "misrepresent" what occurred. "We take compliance with advertising laws seriously and have policies in place designed to help ensure we follow relevant regulations and industry standards," he said. FLORIDA REPUBLICANS PRESS TECH CEOs ON ROLE IN OPIOID CRISIS: Sen. Rick Scott and Rep. Gus Bilirakis called on the chief executives of Meta, WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, Snap and TikTok to work more with law enforcement to combat the sale and spread of opioids on their platforms. In a Wednesday letter, the Florida Republicans asked whether the companies would create a "trusted reporter" program to monitor potential illegal activity. Responses are due Jan. 31. | 
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