Overnight Tech: New rules changes at FCC | Hatch meets with tech firms | Blockchain Caucus launches

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER PROCESS REFORM: Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai continued his shake-up of the agency on Thursday, announcing his fifth reform measure in four days.

The latest process reform would prohibit FCC staffers from making substantive changes to any rules passed by the commission after they have been voted on.

This week, Pai also pledged to brief commissioners on proposals before they go public, release one-page fact sheets of proposals and require consent decrees to be approved by the commission.

The moves come as the new Republican chairman has promised to improve the agency’s reputation for transparency, but also as he takes heat for setting his sights on what were some of his Democratic predecessor’s last actions before stepping down.

{mosads}He drew Democratic criticism for retracting an agency report on its E-Rate program — which provides internet access to libraries and schools — and for scrapping an investigation into zero-rating data programs.

Pai has also been on the defensive about his controversial decision to remove nine companies from Lifeline, a program that gives subsidies for internet access to low-income households. On Tuesday, he penned a blog post criticizing the media for exaggerating the impact that action would have on the Lifeline program.

The post itself also drew some fire.

“Like his boss in the White House, Pai should spend less time worrying about his media coverage and more time on his job,” Matt Wood, policy director at Free Press, said in a statement. “And his job is not to cheerlead for more corporate welfare for the biggest internet access providers in the form of tax breaks for their existing deployment plans. His job is to bring the benefits of open networks to all, something he’s failing at so far.”

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HATCH MAKING THE TECH ROUNDS: Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) met this week with major tech firms including Apple and Amazon and will release an “innovation agenda” next week at a Capitol Hill event, a Republican aide confirmed to The Hill.

Hatch also met with Oracle, Cisco and Qualcomm, the aide said. In the meetings, which Politico first reported on, discussion topics included intellectual property protection reform, data privacy and high-skilled immigration.

Read more here.

THAT’S OFF THE (BLOCK) CHAIN: Reps. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) and David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) officially launched the Blockchain Caucus on Thursday. The caucus will be focused on advocating for “sound public policy toward blockchain-based technologies and digital currencies.” The technology has made strides in the past year. Bitcoin, which is based on blockchain technology is approaching it’s all-time high. In 2016, major companies started looking at moving towards employing blockchain in their businesses.

“Blockchain has the potential to transform the 21st century economy,” Polis said. “Lawmakers need to understand that as the world rapidly changes, it’s our responsibility to ensure that we craft policies and adapt laws that match our ingenuity.”

Read more here.

FROM MTV TO FACEBOOK: Facebook hired MTV executive Mina Lefevre who was executive vice president and head of scripted programming at MTV. She will be Head of Development at Facebook. She will be in charge of Facebook’s scripted and unscripted content and will work closely with Ricky Van Veen of CollegeHumor fame, reports Deadline.

IVANKA + PRISCILLA: Since moving to Washington, D.C., Ivanka Trump has reportedly met with Priscilla Chan who is married to Facebook CEO and Founder, Mark Zuckerberg, writes Politico. Trump’s eldest daughter has reportedly had a slew of meetings with high profile leaders including JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon, General Motors CEO Mary Barra and Pepsi CEO Indra Nooyi. All of them sit on Trump’s President’s Strategic and Policy Forum, along with Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

ORACLE EMPLOYEES AGAINST TRUMP: As of tonight, 635 Oracle employees have signed a letter asking CEO Safra Catz to add Oracle to the list of companies who have filed an amicus brief in support of a lawsuit against Donald Trump’s travel ban executive order, reports BuzzFeed. Over 1,800 IBM employees have signed a similar letter.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Intel, Trump tout new $7 billion investment to create 10K jobs

Dem rips FCC chief for scrapping report on broadband in schools

Facebook introduces features to curb discrimination

Trump, Pence to talk with tech leaders amid tensions over travel ban

Twitter stock took a hit after missing analysts’ projections, reports Business Insider.