Even in a presidential-election year, when partisan passions burn hottest, a number of issues transcend red and blue because they are in the interest of all Americans. Nurturing our tech economy is one issue on which lawmakers of both parties can find bipartisan consensus and work across the aisle.
Innovation is the driving force that makes our nation great. The following are five areas where Congress can promote American innovation and foster economic growth and job creation in our tech economy:
{mosads}1. Encourage Innovation: Patents play an important role in protecting many inventions. But some innovators who participate in high-tech industries also face extortion by so-called “patent trolls.”
It has been estimated that this excess litigation bleeds $1.5 billion a week from the U.S. economy in the form of meritless patent-infringement lawsuits filed against startups, entrepreneurs and other businesses. The money spent defending against these bogus lawsuits could be better spent on R&D, investments that would grow the economy and create jobs.
There are many proposals in Congress to help curb frivolous patent lawsuits, including the PATENT Act in the Senate (S. 1137), and the Innovation Act (H.R. 9) and the Trade Protection Not Troll Protection Act (H.R. 4829) in the House. We are committed to working together to pass laws that will truly protect American innovators from patent abuse.
2. Protect the peer-to-peer information marketplace: We also need to protect consumers’ online reviews and free speech from expensive “SLAPP” (strategic lawsuits against public participation) lawsuits. These suits are aimed at silencing bad reviews of businesses and other entities, regardless of their honesty and accuracy. To that end, we support the SPEAK FREE (Securing Participation, Engagement, and Knowledge Freedom by Reducing Egregious Efforts) Act, H.R. 2304.
These suits are patently ridiculous. Take the case of Terry Ellen Carter and Tracy Newell-Foutz of Montgomery County, Va., who were sued after complaining on their blog about a neighborhood developer’s shoddy cleanup job. The libel case made its way to Virginia’s Supreme Court, where it was finally thrown out. But the suit cost thousands of dollars and capital hours along the way.
3. Free up wireless spectrum: The smartphones, tablets and other technology we have all grown to depend on would not function without spectrum, the invisible airwaves that carry data to and from our wireless devices. Yet the United States is facing a serious spectrum shortfall.
The Developing Innovation and Growing the Internet of Things (DIGIT) Act would direct the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to complete a report assessing spectrum needs required to support the Internet of Things. The DIGIT Act, S.2607, was referred to the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on March 1. Meanwhile, the WiFi Innovation Act (S. 424 and H.R. 821), which would require the FCC to test the feasibility of opening the upper 5 GHz to unlicensed use, has been languishing in committees for more than a year.
4. Rebuild our infrastructure: A modern, reliable transportation network is necessary to get products to market, but the country’s infrastructure of highways and bridges is crumbling and in desperate need of repairs. The Federal Highway Administration estimates it would cost $170 billion a year to finance needed bridge and highway repair projects across the country.
Congress’ five-year, $305 billion reauthorization of the Highway Trust Fund is a good start — but only a start. We need a national strategy for rebuilding our infrastructure to keep our primacy as a world leader and to help U.S. businesses serve consumer demand. How will be pay for this without raising taxes? One solution is for Congress to establish a National Infrastructure Bank, capitalized by repatriated offshore profits, which is actually a tax decrease.
5. Enable disruptive innovation to thrive. Technology is fundamentally changing the way we live. Ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft provide transportation services to underserved areas. Drones are changing the last mile of delivery. And home-sharing companies like Airbnb allow anyone with a spare room to be an entrepreneur.
Government should work to promote and integrate these new, beneficial innovations, rather than stifling them with overly burdensome regulations.
These issues are too pressing, the needs too great, to be put on the back burner until the next president takes office in January. Republicans and Democrats should be able to find common ground on these nonpartisan and largely apolitical measures, just as we did.
A rational, bipartisan approach to these five problems will advance not only the tech economy, but also our broader economy and America’s standing in the world.
Jared Polis is a Democratic congressman from Colorado. Blake Farenthold is a Republican congressman from Texas. Gary Shapiro is the president and CEO of the Consumer Technology Association.