House Passes IoT Bill

The House has passed the H.R. 6032, the SMART (State of Modern Application, Research, and Trends) IoT Act. The House passed by a voice vote, meaning there was not head count.

Related: House Digital Subcommittee Approves IoT Bill

The bill, from Consumer Digital Commerce Subcommittee Chairman Bob Latta and Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), requires the Secretary of Commerce to create a study on "the state of the internet-connected devices industry."

Latta said at the bill's subcommittee markup that because IoT is pretty much ubiquitous, it is tough to know who is doing what, both in government and the private sector. The bill aims to change what he called a lack of collaboration and dialog, which creates unnecessary barriers. 

The bill stems from a bipartisan IoT working group helmed by Latta and Welch. It must still pass the Senate.

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.