February 2011

The congressional assault on network neutrality regulations adopted by the Democratic-led Federal Communications Commission in December continues Wednesday, when the House Energy and Commerce Communications and Technology Subcommittee votes on a "resolution of disapproval" designed to derail the requirements, which prohibit the blocking or degrading of online competitors.

The panel is headed by Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., who successfully added an amendment to the Continuing Resolution that would bar the agency from using its funding to implement the rules. Net neutrality advocates insist the regs are necessary to prevent broadband providers, especially major players such as AT&T, Comcast and Verizon, from dominating the Internet. But critics argue that the rules leave the Internet vulnerable to government intervention while imposing burdensome restrictions on communications companies.

The vote is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on March 2. To see the resolution, click here

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk released a report today reaffirming China's role as the world's leading source of counterfeit goods - both online and offline.

The "Notorious Markets" report cites four websites and dozens of shopping areas on the mainland and in Hong Kong as hubs of pirated products. But the report also underscores that copyright infringement is a global problem, with Canada, Ecuador, Philippines and Russia (which ranks second after China) among the countries doing brisk business in illicit products.

"The United States urges the responsible authorities to intensify efforts to combat piracy and counterfeiting in these and similar markets, and to use the information contained in the Notorious Markets List to pursue legal action where appropriate," the document states. The list used to be part of a more comprehensive analysis of intellectual property protection known as the "Special 301" report, published annually in late April. For the first time, it has been published as a separate document to highlight the growing piracy problem.

"Some of the sites identified in this report, such as The Pirate Bay or isoHunt, wear this badge with honor," said Neil Turkewitz, executive VP, international, for the Recording Industry Association of America. Those to sites enable illegal downloads of copyrighted music. "Others like Baidu or vKontakte purport to be legitimate but in fact operate network services that include features that intentionally induce the theft of copyrighted music," Turkewitz added in a statement.

To access the entire report, visit the website of the USTR

Speaking to a group of religious broadcasters on Sunday, House Speaker John Boehner said that the Federal Communications Commission's December network neutrality decision is proof that the FCC "is creeping further into the free market" and could impede the freedom of speech, the Washington Times reports.

"The last thing we need, in my view, is the FCC serving as Internet traffic controller, and potentially running roughshod over local broadcasters who have been serving their communities with free content for decades," he said to the National Religious Broadcasters.

Boehner worries about the reinstatement of something akin to the Fairness Doctrine, an FCC policy in effect from 1949 to 1987 that required holders of broadcast licenses to strive for balanced reporting. When the Fairness Doctrine was revoked, it paved the way for talk-radio pundits on both sides of the aisle.

Free Press President Josh Silver accused Boehner of repeated misinformation provided by lobbyists.

"Speaker Boehner's cautionary stories and bold stands would be inspirational if they were connected to reality," Silver said in a statement. "Instead, he is parroting talking points from industry lobbyists, front groups and intentionally misleading the public. Speaker Boehner knows full well that real Net Neutrality has nothing to do with a government takeover of the Internet."

The Senate takes up patent reform this afternoon -- a seemingly boring and complicated issue that has the potential to create jobs at little federal cost.

CEOs and industry organizations say new ideas and products are dying on the vine while waiting for patent protection from an increasingly burdened U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The Harvard Business Review calls it "the biggest job creator you never heard of," but when the Senate takes up consideration of the Patent Reform Act of 2011 today, it will be revisiting legislation that has, in one form or another, been stalled in Congress for five years.

Patents are the "lifeblood of technological advancement, economic growth, and job creation," said Paul Michel, a retired chief judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which has jurisdiction over patent cases. "If companies can't get their products and ideas protected, they can't find investors or monetize their innovation."

To read the rest of this article, please visit Nationaljournal.com.

Seeking to ramp up their advocacy efforts in D.C., CompTIA and a range of regional trade organizations launched a website Monday aimed at representing small- and medium-sized technology companies.

Dubbed an "online public advocacy platform," TechVoice will help users connect directly with their representatives, stay updated on legislative actions and issues, said Liz Hyman, vice president of public advocacy for ComtTIA, an advocacy group that represents a group of IT companies.

"With technology issues coming up again and again on the Hill, small companies need their voices heard," she told Tech Daily Dose. "TechVoice will be a grassroots tool that we hope will build momentum on some of the issues that are important to these companies."

CompTIA partnered with the Technology Councils of America, or TECNA, which represents almost 40 regional technology trade associations and 16,000 companies. The website will address a range of issues, including workforce development, small business concerns, healthcare IT, green IT, cybersecurity, cloud computing, data breach and privacy.

While TechVoice represents a push for more technology advocacy on Capitol Hill, its designers hope to reach policymakers and the media as well.

"Although the TechVoice community consists primarily of CompTIA and TECNA's member companies, it is also geared towards anyone with a vested interest in technology policy," said Matthew Nemerson, president and CEO of TECNA. "At a time when our nation is becoming increasingly reliant on technology, TechVoice is a valuable resource for anyone in the business or public policy realm."

The Obama administration is exploring an overhaul of the nation's television ratings, potentially enabling the use of alternatives from religious, parental, and other groups that utilize more-rigorous standards, government, industry, and advocacy sources told National Journal.

Parents could program their televisions to filter content based on guidance from Focus on the Family and similar organizations that have independent ratings, the sources said.

To read the rest of this article, visit Nationaljournal.com.

Chinese telecom manufacturer Huawei Technologies called on U.S. officials on Friday to investigate accusations it is in cahoots with the Chinese government,

Huawei deputy chairman Ken Hu posted a letter on the company's website hoping to "clarify some long-standing and untrue rumors and allegations."

"The allegation that Huawei somehow poses a threat to the national security of the United States has centered on a mistaken belief that our company can use our technology to steal confidential information in the United States or launch network attacks on entities in the U.S at a specific time," Hu said in the statement. "There is no evidence that Huawei has violated any security rules."

In its efforts to invest in the U.S., Huawei has faced increasing suspicion, including allegations of being influenced by the Chinese government. Earlier this month the company gave up on its effort to acquire a California start-up after several senators objected.

Hu said the concerns have had a "significant and negative" impact on the company.

"The American telecommunications market is the largest in the world and Huawei has been striving to demonstrate our capabilities with a view to becoming a key contributor in this important market," he wrote. "However, unfounded accusations have jeopardized our business activities, with many false claims driven by competitive interests, which we understand because competition can be difficult."

Several freshman Republicans will be joining the influential Senate Communications, Technology and the Internet subcommittee, which oversees the Federal Communications Commission.

Sens. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., will join Sens. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., and John Boozman, R-Ark. on the panel for the first time. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., will also be joining the subcommittee for the Democrats.

On the other side of the Capitol, Republicans on the House Communications and Technology subcommittee have led the charge to defund the agency's efforts to implement the recently enacted net neutrality rules. And a Senate resolution of disapproval, which would overturn the rules, still awaits consideration in the Democrat-controlled chamber.

The legions of workers glued to their "Crackberries" and other electronic devices in Washington, D.C., have become the stuff of legend.

Now, just in time for some light Friday reading, Intel has released 2011 State of Mobile Etiquette survey, confirming what many veterans of D.C. traffic and public transit already know: 75 percent of respondents say mobile manners are worse than they were just one year ago.

Nine out of ten people who responded to the online survey said they have seen people misuse their mobile devices, according to the survey. Among the top pet peeves? Texting while driving, talking loudly in public places, and a Capitol Hill oldie but goodie - sending emails while walking.

"New digital technologies are becoming a mainstay in consumers' lives, but we haven't yet worked out for ourselves, our families, communities and societies what all the right kinds of behaviors and expectations will be," said Intel's Genevieve Bell. "Our appropriate digital technology behaviors are still embryonic, and it's important for Intel and the entire industry to maintain a dialogue about the way people use technology and our personal relationships with technology as they continue to help shape societal and cultural norms."

Etiquette (e-tiquette?) author Anna Post of The Emily Post Institute offers some advice on how to manage "public displays of technology."

"The premise of etiquette and how we socialize with one another is not a new concept. Whenever we interact with another person directly or through the use of mobile technology, etiquette is a factor," she said in a statement. "We can all be more cognizant of how we use our mobile technology and how our usage may impact others around us - at home, in the office and whenever we are in public."

The survey, sponsored by Intel and conducted online by Ipsos, asked a nationally representative sample of 2,000 American adults about their experience with mobile etiquette. It has a margin of error of +/- 2.2 percentage points.

Lobbying has picked up in recent weeks as the Federal Communications Commission prepares to launch a proposed rulemaking on possible changes to the current rules governing the process by which cable operators and other video content distributors negotiate to retransmit broadcasters' programming.

The FCC has included on its agenda for its March 3rd monthly meeting a proposed rulemaking seeking comment on changes to the retransmission process. Cable firms and other multichannel video programming distributors negotiate fees to allow them to carry programming from ABC, CBS, Fox and other broadcast networks.

A parade of cable firms and other stakeholders have met with FCC officials in recent weeks to press for changes to a process they say is outdated and broken. Among the proposals they would like to see the commission adopt is some sort of binding arbitration process and a requirement that broadcasters continue to allow cable firms to carry programming while disputes are being resolved.

The issue has gained increased attention in the last year after high-profile disputes between cable firms and broadcasters have led to short blackouts in some areas including in the New York area last fall when some Cablevision viewers lost access to Fox programming during the World Series because of a retransmission fee dispute.

In a letter Wednesday to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, Full Channel, a small Rhode Island-based cable provider, was the latest in a long list of cable firms pushing the FCC to "rectify the imbalance of power" between broadcasters and cable firms, the company said. Full Channel cited a recent dispute it had with Univision that led the Spanish-language broadcaster to pull its programming from Full Channel's customers after the cable firm balked at paying a 33 percent fee increase.

Time Warner Cable officials met earlier this week with aides to Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Michael Copps on the retransmission issue. "At these meetings, we urged the commission to seek comment on a broad range of reforms, including new dispute-resolution procedures and interim carriage requirements, to address the consumer harms arising under the existing rules," Time Warner said in a filing with the FCC. "We explained that the commission has ample authority to adopt such remedies and that it would be counterproductive to foreclose debate on these important issues.

In addition to these individual cable firms, a coalition known as the American Television Alliance made up of cable companies, satellite television providers, public interest groups and others also have held several meetings with a variety of FCC officials in recent weeks on the retransmission issue. In some of their meetings, the coalition's members have provided a long list of issues they believe should be included in the questions the FCC will be seeking comment on as it weighs possible changes to the retransmission process.

While not as active in recent weeks in lobbying the FCC as the cable firms, broadcasters have been arguing that the current process is not broken and does not need fixing. They say they are only seeking fair compensation for their programming.

Officials from the National Association of Broadcasters and some of its member companies met with Commissioner Robert McDowell earlier this month, according to a letter filed with the FCC by the NAB. In the letter, the officials said they urged the commission to approach the issue in a "balanced manner, and should not proceed from the incorrect assumption that the current system is not working. We emphasized that any notice should ask questions about the roles that both broadcasters and pay television providers play in the retransmission consent marketplace. ... We noted that changes proposed by the pay television industry would tilt the market-based retransmission consent system in their favor, harming competition and local stations' service to their communities."

Responding to the controversy related to information Google sought as part of an art contest for children, the two House co-chairmen of the Congressional Privacy Caucus said Thursday they plan to convene a caucus hearing into industry practices surrounding online privacy, particularly how they affect children.

In a statement, Reps. Joe Barton, R-Texas, and Edward Markey, D-Mass., both senior members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said Google's decision to ask parents to provide the last four digits of their children's Social Security numbers in submitting artwork for the firm's Doodle for Google contest was "unacceptable."

"We are deeply disturbed by recent media reports that Google may have engaged in sketchy practices with its Doodle 4 Google contest by collecting the Social Security numbers of children who participated in the contest," Barton and Markey said. "This is unacceptable."

The statement follows calls from some privacy advocates for lawmakers to examine Google's privacy practices, particularly in light of the most recent controversy.

Google said the information was sought only to prevent duplicate entries. It stopped asking for the last four digits of the Social Security numbers of children participating in the contest after realizing it didn't need the data to administer the program. The firm added that it will "safely discard" the data.

Both lawmakers have expressed an interest in crafting online privacy legislation. Markey is in the process of crafting legislation aimed at barring firms from tracking children while they surf the Internet.

NASA's most traveled space shuttle safely took off for its 39th, and final, mission Thursday.

The 27-year-old Discovery carried six astronauts into space Thursday afternoon as crowds cheered. Two more shuttle missions are planned before the entire program comes to an end.

"Good to be here," Discovery Commander Steve Lindsey radioed soon after reaching orbit, according to NASA.

Although the launch looked smooth, foam could be seen falling off in television coverage of the liftoff. Damage from broken off foam insulation was blamed for the 2003 Columbia disaster, in which all seven astronauts died.

House Science, Space and Technology Chairman Ralph Hall, R-Texas, joined several members of his committee in traveling to Florida's Kennedy Space Center to witness Discovery's final launch.

"Our nation's Shuttle Program has been a point of pride for the last 30 years, ferrying astronauts into earth orbit to build and utilize the International Space Station, and launching a multitude of scientific satellites that have expanded our knowledge of the universe," said Hall, who added the "space" to the panel's name after taking over the chairmanship at the beginning of the year. "The Space Shuttle is a truly remarkable capability that will be missed after it is retired."

Internet crime has become increasingly pervasive and 2010 had the second-highest number of complaints of any year in the past decade, according to a new government report released Thursday.

Last year the Justice Department's Internet Crime Complaint Center, known as IC3, received 303,809 reports of Internet Crime. On Thursday the center released its 2010 Internet Crime Report, outlining the extent of online criminal activity.

"Internet crime has affected millions across the country, and the great thing about IC3 is that we have adapted our resources to meet this threat," said Don Brackman, director of the National White Collar Crime Center, which oversees IC3 in partnership with the FBI. "We have implemented new tools to help law enforcement bring online criminals to justice."

The most common complaint was non-delivery of payment or merchandise, while scams using the FBI's name and identity theft also accounted for many of the complaints. Americans reported an average of 25,317 crimes a month, with almost half of those complaints referred to law enforcement for further investigation, according to the report.

The full report is available online, with data on various crimes, victims and perpetrators, as well as state-specific data.

When the Patent Reform Act of 2011 reaches the Senate floor on Monday, analysts predict it will face amendments seeking to strip away some of the bill's most controversial proposals.

Now lobbyists familiar with discussions about the legislation say Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., may support or even cosponsor a likely amendment by Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., which would remove a provision that would grant patents on a "first to file" rather than "first to invent" basis.

Under the bill, which is sponsored by Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., if a certain product is almost simultaneously invented by separate people, patent protection would be awarded to the first applicant to file for a patent on the product, rather than whoever is determined to have actually invented the product first.

Feinstein's amendment was briefly discussed but not voted on when the bill was approved by the Judiciary Committee in January.

Reid, who has not publicly weighed in on one side or another, has been lobbied for years by groups in his home state of Nevada, said Tim Casey, a partner at SilverSky Group, a Reno-based intellectual property firm.

"Despite all the casinos, 95 percent of Nevadans are employed by small businesses," Casey said. "The first-to-file change could likely have a greater impact on small businesses than any other part of that legislation. And Senator Reid has been pretty aggressive in seeking input from his state on this issue."

Casey said he met last week with Reid staffers and he welcomed any potential support from the senator. A Reid spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Some small businesses have argued that they rarely have the resources or money to rush to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, which means a first-to-file system gives larger companies an advantage. On Wednesday several small business associations sent a letter to Reid and the rest of the Senate specifically targeting the first-to-file proposal in Leahy's bill.

Other likely amendments include measures that would allow the Patent and Trademark Office to keep all its fees, as well as restrict so-called business-method patents.

Despite the criticism, Leahy insists the bill enjoys broad support, touting a long list of companies and associations that have signed on to the measure.

A frequent Google critic Thursday called on the House co-chairmen of the Congressional Privacy Caucus to push for hearings into Google's request for the last four digits of the Social Security numbers from children seeking to participate in an art contest the Internet firm sponsored.

In a letter to Reps. Joe Barton, R-Texas, and Ed Markey, D-Mass., Consumer Watchdog cited the recent controversy over Google's Doodle 4 Google art contest for children and its request that parents include the last four digits of their children's Social Security numbers on the registration form that is supposed to be submitted with the artwork.

"The Doodle 4 Google incident is not a one-time event, but part of a consistent pattern of disregarding privacy rights," Consumer Watchdog's John Simpson said in the letter to Barton and Markey, senior members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. "Consider the Wi-Spy scandal in which private data was gathered from Wi-Fi networks around the world and the breach of privacy when
Google's ill-fated social networking service, Buzz, was launched."

The letter urged the lawmakers to push for a congressional hearing on the issue and the group's other concerns about Google's privacy policies, including the controversy over what Google has described as the mistaken collection of data from unsecured home Wi-Fi networks. Among the issues the group said lawmakers should examine include where is the information Google has collected for the contest stored; who decided to change the entry requirements; and what is the process for authorizing such programs before they are launched.

Aides to Barton and Markey did not respond immediately to requests for comment.

In a statement, Google noted that the contest was opened up to more children this year and that it sought the Social Security information to ensure that there were not duplicate entries. It also said that it removed the request for the last four digits of a child's Social Security number after some parents had raised questions about it and "when we recognized that we could sufficiently separate legitimate contest entries while requesting less information."

Google added, that, "To be clear, all data concerning students that is collected by Doodle 4 Google is used only to administer the contest. The last four digits of the Social Security number were not entered into our contest records, and any forms containing this information will be safely discarded."

Despite the controversy, the contest is ongoing, Google said. The registration deadline for the contest is March 2, while artwork must be submitted by March 16.

The budget and questions related to congressional compensation appear to be among the top concerns of the nearly 200 people who have taken time to submit questions to House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, for an interview he will be conducting with YouTube on Tuesday.

Like a similar event President Obama did with the video sharing site last year, Boehner will sit down with YouTube's Steve Grove to answer the top questions chosen by YouTube. It's not the first time Boehner has answered questions submitted via YouTube, according to Nick Schaper, Boehner's director of digital media.

Boehner answered questions from the "YouTube community" following Obama's address to Congress last year on health care. "That video is still one of our highest-viewed," Schaper said.

Since announcing the event on Wednesday, about 191 text and video questions have been submitted.

The top rated question so far was from John Braun of Fairfield, Conn., who asked why defense spending has been spared from serious budget cuts. This concern was echoed by an Illinois YouTube viewer called "Kamikaze34," who with the second-highest rated question asked, "Instead of cutting the budget on education, science, and Social Security, why can't you cut the military budget and bring the soldiers, all of them, home?"

There were several questions related to congressional pay and benefits, including whether members of Congress would be affected by a possible government shutdown if lawmakers and the White House are unable to agree on a spending bill for the rest of the year. "Forwillal" of Georgia asked if Congress is "willing to take pay cuts since the rest of the US work force is?" While "46inportland" asked whether members would still get paid if there is a government shutdown, adding "Get out of the ivory tower."

Other top-rated questions, those that have received the most "likes" from visitors to Boehner's YouTube channel, include one dealing with tax reform and the possibility of implementing a flat tax system and another asking why "investment in nuclear power has stopped and will Republicans support legislation to revive it?"

As with many of these YouTube question-and-answer sessions, there also were several questions calling on lawmakers to legalize marijuana, with some arguing that it will create jobs.

Nextgov.com reports that if Congress forces the government to shut down, then agencies and employees might have to shut down office Web-based e-mail and power off BlackBerrys, according to federal law.

The so-called Antideficiency Act prohibits agencies from accepting voluntary labor for services that are not essential -- vital to the protection of life and property -- during a shutdown. Federal officials or employees who violate the rules can be fined up to $5,000 or sent to prison for two years. In other words, it's illegal for employees to work and for agencies to allow work to be done.

Read literally, the law presents a conundrum in the 21st century where portable Internet devices, such as smart phones and networked laptops, have erased the boundaries between work and home. Would information technology managers have to block network access to all nonessential employees during the shutdown? Will agencies play Big Brother and use monitoring technology to detect when employees are working remotely?

Unless the Obama administration issues a governmentwide policy, expect agencies to be all over the map in their approaches to enforcing the law, say former federal officials. Click here, to read more.

A White House official said Wednesday that not many broadcasters have to participate in a proposal that would give them a share of the proceeds from the auction of spectrum they voluntarily give up for the initiative to be a success.

During a forum sponsored by the Wireless Innovation Alliance on ways to expand the availability of spectrum, Phil Weiser, the National Economic Council's senior adviser for technology and innovation, said broadcasters' top concern with the incentive auction proposal is not how much money they would get from the proposal but the process that will be used for relocating broadcasters who choose to give up some spectrum.

"Most are not going to participate," Weiser said. "Most don't need to participate for it to be a win."

Broadcasters have said they are open to incentive auctions as long as they are truly voluntary.

When asked what share of the proceeds broadcasters will want in order to give up spectrum, Weiser said he did not believe it would be much given that they will still have "the same business model but it is done ... more efficiently." He said lawmakers, when crafting legislation authorizing the Federal Communications Commission to conduct incentive auctions, will have to decide what share of the auction proceeds broadcasters should receive in exchange for giving up some spectrum.

The incentive auction proposal is one of the initiatives the White House and others have called for to free up more spectrum for wireless broadband and other wireless technologies. Last summer, the White House set a goal of freeing up 500 megahertz of spectrum for wireless broadband within 10 years.

Demand in the coming years for mobile broadband and the spectrum needed to enable it will be 35 times the level it was in 2009, FCC Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Chief Ruth Milkman said. She added that while regulators are making additional spectrum available, there will still be a "big bap between supply and demand."

As part of this effort, the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration wrote the FCC recently identifying 115 megahertz of spectrum that can be reallocated from the federal government for use by the private sector for wireless broadband in the next five years, Larry Atlas, a senior adviser to NTIA Director Larry Strickling said.

But several participants also talked about the need to use broadcast white spaces to experiment with ways to more efficiently use available spectrum.

"It's a problem that we will have to find multiple ways of attacking," Microsoft Regulatory Affairs Counsel Paula Boyd said. While there is a need to clear more spectrum, another piece will involve spectrum sharing, she added.

The incentive auction proposal like other aspects of the wireless initiative announced by President Obama earlier this month would require congressional action, Weiser said. Other provisions that will likely require congressional approval include Obama's call for the creation of a wireless innovation fund and calls for federal spectrum users to share some of their spectrum with commercial users. Atlas said such a move would require Congress to appropriate funds to help pay for the cost of planning for such arrangements.

Arguing that Sen. Patrick Leahy's patent reform legislation favors multinational companies, foreign firms and market incumbents, several small business associations have joined conservative groups in opposing the bill, according to a letter obtained by Tech Daily Dose.

Leahy's Patent Reform Act of 2011 is scheduled for consideration in the Senate Monday, and the legislation has sailed through the process so far. But several of the most controversial amendments to the bill were not debated or voted upon in committee and several vocal groups have called for a more streamlined bill. This latest criticism may signal a stiff fight over the specific provisions of the proposal.

Tech Daily Dose obtained a letter sent to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and the rest of the Senate Wednesday, in which groups such as the National Small Business Association, American Innovators for Patent Reform, and the California-based CONNECT coalition call on the Senate to scuttle Leahy's plan in favor of a more basic bill that would just address funding issues at the Patent and Trademark Office.

"We urge Congress to shift its attention away from the broad and technically difficult S. 23, and instead pass a streamlined, targeted bill that focuses only on long-term PTO funding," the letter reads. "Furthermore, both chambers of Congress should renew their oversight of PTO operations, to ensure that new funding is properly administered, and that PTO addresses its operational challenges."

The letter is also signed by the U.S. Business and Industry Council, which joined other conservative organizations such as Eagle Forum in sending a letter to Congress on Feb. 1 opposing the bill.

In Wednesday's missive, the groups specifically criticize Leahy's proposal to change the "first-to-file" provision, as well as the post-grant review process. The letter says the bill "changes the rules to favor global companies," which disadvantages American companies.

"America's patent system has always focused on the needs of inventors, not bureaucracies. For 200 years, it has demonstrated its singular ability to foster and grow the country's small-business inventors, to help America achieve its status as the global leader in technological innovation and job creation," the groups argue. "Changing U.S. patent law to be like the less-successful patent systems of Europe and Asia cannot be regarded as positive 'reform'."

Leahy, a Vermont Democrat and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, called his bill a "commonsense, bipartisan" approach and insists it will help stimulate the economy.

"In his State of the Union address, President Obama challenged the nation to out-innovate, out-build and out-educate," Leahy said in a statement last week. "Enacting the Patent Reform Act is a key to meeting this challenge. Reforming the nation's antiquated patent system will promote American innovation, create American jobs, and grow America's economy."

Four Democratic senators urged Senate leaders Wednesday to resist an effort by House Republicans to block the Federal Communications Commission from implementing the network neutrality rules it approved in December.

The four wrote Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., attacking last week's House vote on the continuing resolution would bar the FCC from using its funding to implement its FCC rules. They also objected to attempts to block the network neutrality rules by filing a resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act, which gives lawmakers a limited amount of time to halt a federal rule from going into effect.

In addition to co-sponsoring the defunding amendment to the continuing resolution, House Energy and Commerce Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., has filed a resolution of disapproval under the CRA.

"We ask you to object to any similar efforts here in the Senate. Such action aims to strip the FCC of its legal authority over modern communications and hand control of the Internet over to the owners of the wires that deliver information and services over them," Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., Al Franken, D-Minn., Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and John Kerry, D-Mass., chairman of the Senate Commerce Communications Subcommittee wrote.

Critics of the net neutrality rules argue that they will stifle innovation and investment into broadband and say the FCC is overstepping its authority by dealing with an issue that should be left to Congress.

"There are those who claim to oppose the order because Congress should write a new law to deal with broadband communications instead," the senators wrote. "We are willing and interested in working with our colleagues on modernization of the Communications Act. But that does not mean that the agency should stop doing its job under current law."

McConnell, however, is unlikely to be sympathetic to the senators' pleas given that he co-sponsored with Senate Commerce ranking member Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, a Senate version of the resolution of disapproval under the CRA.

The European Commission Wednesday outlined steps it is taking to shore up the security of its carbon emissions trading system after several of the system's national registries were hit by cyber attacks last month that resulted in the theft of millions of dollars.

The commission last month suspended most transactions in all the European Union emission trading system national registries following several cyber thefts from a number of the registries. Ten registries have been allowed to resume operations after meeting minimum security requirements, the commission said in a statement.

Commission officials said last month that the cyber thefts may have resulted in the loss of as much as 30 million Euros ($41 million), according to the Financial Times.

The EU emission trading system, launched in 2005, is based on a cap and trade system aimed at limiting greenhouse gas emissions. The emission trading system allows companies that receive emission allowances to buy and sell them as needed.

During a meeting of the Climate Change Committee, the commission recommended several short-term measures to bolster the emission trading system's security, including regular reviews and updates of registry security plans; strengthening and updating policies related to the opening of registry accounts; cooperation in sharing information about suspicious requests to open accounts; and improved training for registry users.

"The commission has identified a range of actions that member states can already take in the short term to further improve security for example by regularly reviewing security plans, by reinforcing registry account policies and identity checks, by training registry users etc.," European Commissioner for Climate Action Connie Hedegaard said in a statement.

Long-term measures proposed by the commission include changes to EU registry regulation, soliciting comment on greater carbon market oversight and engaging in discussions on enhancing security with the relevant stakeholders.

With a possible government shutdown looming, agencies face a tough decision that was barely an issue in 1995, the last time they had to furlough employees: Which computer security personnel should be required to continue working?

Nextgov.com reports that the stalemate between Congress and the White House over funding levels for the rest of the fiscal year could force the government to suspend services and employees who are not "essential" -- or critical to the safety of life and property. The lists of essential security personnel drawn up 15 years ago are irrelevant, computer specialists say. Pinpointing essential information technology personnel today is more important than ever, they note, because many crucial activities have moved online at agencies, notably at the Social Security Administration and Treasury Department.

"In 1995, the government wasn't really doing anything about security, with the exception of three-letter agencies and the military," said Jeffrey Wheatman, a security and privacy analyst with the Gartner research group, referring to such entities as the CIA and the FBI.

Agencies immediately should be determining which systems need daily surveillance and strategic defense, as well as evaluating the job descriptions of the people operating those systems, according to former federal executives citing government policy. To read more, click here.

After conquering the world of social media, is comic book stardom next for Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg? The folks at comic book publisher Bluewater Productions apparently hope so.

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz says the commission is looking closely into concerns raised about Apple's "In App" purchases on mobile devices and other applications that are free to download but generate charges later on for products and services within those applications.

In-App purchases are part of new programs on Apple's iTunes store that allow companies to charge for products and services, and in some cases, items that act like electronic tokens to be used in games. Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and other lawmakers raised questions about the services earlier this month after parents complained in a Washington Post article about the charges they received stemming from games their children played on an iPhone, iPad or another device.

"We fully share your concern that consumers, particularly children, are unlikely to understand the ramifications of these types of purchases," Leibowitz wrote in a letter to Markey last week. "Let me assure you we will look closely at the current industry practice with respect to the marketing and delivery of these types of applications."

In response, Apple noted that a password is required to purchase any goods on the company's App Store including In Apps. In addition, she said that iTunes includes parental control settings that allow parents to restrict app downloading or to turn off the In-App purchasing feature.

A new government study shows that using a cell phone for as little as 50 minutes increases activity in brain cells, but whether that constitutes a health risk remains unclear.

The potential risks of using cell phones near the head have long been the focus of studies and a point of debate, and although the issue is far from resolved, many major medical groups have said the existing scientific findings are encouraging.

This latest study, conducted by the National Institutes of Health and scheduled to be published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on Wednesday, found that the human brain is sensitive to the effects of the electromagnetic radiation emitted from cell phones. The researchers, led by Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse Nora Volkow, measured increases in glucose metabolism, a process sparked by cell activity.

The research may undermine the assertion that cell phone signals are too weak to stimulate the brain. But the study's authors were quick to emphasize that the clinical significance of the findings is unknown.

"The study did not show that this activity is by itself harmful," Volkow said during a conference call with reporters Tuesday. "The question now becomes, does repeated exposure cause problems?"

Almost half a dozen advocacy groups waded into Verizon's lawsuit against the Federal Communications Commission's network neutrality rules Tuesday, seeking to protect regulations that many of the groups had criticized for not going far enough.

Free Press, Media Access Project, Media Mobilizing Project, Public Knowledge and others all filed motions in the case to protect their ability to challenge any appeals.

The groups argue that the lawsuit, brought by Verizon and later joined by MetroPCS, was improperly filed and poses a threat to the FCC's ability to protect an open Internet.

"We hope the D.C. Circuit recognizes that the companies' suits are brought improperly and dismisses them, but we're filing today to preserve our rights to challenge the appeals if they're not dismissed outright," Free Press Policy Counsel Aparna Sridhar said in a statement. "We don't believe the FCC's order goes far enough to protect free speech online, but Verizon's and MetroPCS's efforts to ensure that the FCC has no role in protecting Internet users in the broadband marketplace are self-serving and dangerous."

In a statement at the time Verizon filed its lawsuit, Verizon Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel Michael Glover said, "We are deeply concerned by the FCC's as,sertion of broad authority for sweeping new regulation of broadband networks and the Internet itself."

But Andrew Jay Schwartzman, senior vice president and policy director of Media Access Project, called Verizon's challenge a "sideshow."

"Verizon adopted a bizarre legal theory to obtain a tactical legal advantage," he said. "We are confident that the D.C. Circuit will dismiss this appeal in short order."

Advertisers are urging the Federal Trade Commission to abandon a proposal included in the commission's staff privacy report calling for the creation of a "do-not-track" mechanism that would allow consumers to opt out of being tracked on the Web.

In comments filed with the FTC on its draft privacy report, groups representing advertisers and marketers argued that a self-regulatory approach allows for more flexibility to adapt to changing technologies while still enabling online advertising that helps pay for much of the free content on the Internet.

Friday was the deadline for filing comments on the FTC's draft privacy report, which was released December 1, and more than 400 groups provided their input.

In calling for the creation of a do-not-track mechanism, the FTC report said technology has bypassed current self-regulatory approaches. The report also called for companies to build privacy into their products and services, provide adequate security for consumer information, limit collection and retention of data, and provide reasonable procedures to promote data accuracy. The commission left open for further comment whether Congress should pass legislation providing baseline privacy protections.

Many firms now track consumers as they surf the web. The information is used to help target ads at consumers based on their preferences, a concept known as online behavioral advertising.

In its comments on the report, the Interactive Advertising Bureau said while it supports the FTC's "concept of a uniform choice" for online behavioral advertising, the group said a do-not-track mechanism mandated by the federal government is "unnecessary" given the steps online firms are taking on their own to provide consumers with more choices.

"Indeed, IAB is concerned that the 'Do Not Track' proposal unfairly sows consumer distrust of online advertising practices that are widespread and legitimate," the group said in its comments.

The Direct Marketing Association echoed such concerns, saying government intervention is unwarranted.

Updated: 4:30 p.m.

A federal judge Tuesday issued a preliminary injunction against the online content provider ivi TV, barring it from offering television programming over the Internet without the permission of the broadcasters who own that content.

Several broadcasters including CBS, Fox and NBC sued ivi TV and its CEO Todd Weaver in September for copyright infringement.

Ivi has argued that it is a cable service and is not breaking the law because it is offering the programs under the compulsory license law, which allows cable systems to use programming as long as they make payments to the Copyright Office. Ivi offers access to network shows online for a monthly fee of $4.99.

New York federal district court Judge Naomi Buchwald, however, concluded in her decision granting broadcasters' request for an injunction to block ivi.tv from offering their programming online that the online firm does not meet the standard for a cable system under the compulsory license law.

The "plaintiffs have demonstrated the need for a preliminary injunction," Buchwald wrote. "As it is extraordinarily unlikely that ivi will ultimately be deemed a cable system under Section 111, plaintiffs have demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits of their copyright claim."

In her ruling, Buchwald noted that ivi appears to be trying to have it both ways, arguing that it is a cable system "for purposes of the Copyright Act, and thus may take advantage of the compulsory license, but that it is not a cable system for purposes of the Communications Act, and thus it need not comply with the requirements of that Act and the rules of the [Federal Communications Commission] promulgated thereunder."

National Association of Broadcasters spokesman Dennis Wharton said in response to the ruling that, "In granting the injunction, the court found that ivi should not 'be allowed to continue to steal plaintiffs' programming for personal gain until a resolution of this case on the merits'. We agree."

In a statement, Ivi TV' s Weaver said his firm would appeal the ruling and also "explore congressional and administrative solutions, and will continue to advance the public's interest in a balanced reading of the Copyright Law."

"This fight is for the people and their right to choice and control over their own entertainment -- and it will continue," Weaver added.

Some public interest groups, however, say firms like ivi TV provide a needed online alternative.

"We are disappointed that Judge Buchwald chose to shut down ivi at all, much less so early in the legal process," Public Knowledge staff attorney John Bergmayer said in a statement. "Her decision showed clearly the ambiguities in current law and regulation which online video providers like ivi face."

The group urged the FCC and the Copyright Office to "move quickly to update their rules" to address the growth of new online content distributors.

The website of U.S.-funded broadcaster Voice of America Persian was attacked by an Iranian pro-government group, according to a correspondent for sister station Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty. The main VOA site also appeared to have been hacked, as of 9:04 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, Nextgov.com reported.

"Website of VOA Persian Service was Hacked today by #Iran 's Cyber army #Iranelection," Golnaz Esfandiari wrote on the social media tool Twitter.

A VOA story said the incident may have been prompted by the U.S. State Department's recent Arabic- and Persian-language Twitter campaigns in support of pro-democracy opposition groups overseas. To read more, click here.

Three senators representing largely urban states are urging the Federal Communications Commission to address disparities in contributions between their states and others as part of the agency's overhaul of the Universal Service Fund, which subsidizes telecommunications service in rural and high-cost areas.

In a letter late last week to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, Sens. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and John Kerry, D-Mass., chairman of the Senate Commerce Communications Subcommittee, argued that on average their states pay much more into the fund than they receive back. New Jersey had the biggest disparity of the three states, paying an average of $4.68 into the fund for every dollar they get back.

The FCC this month launched an effort to overhaul the fund to transition it to support broadband service over traditional telephone service and reform which providers are required to pay into the fund. But the senators said the current FCC proposal does not adequately account for or address disparities between states.

"Although we support the concept of universal service and recognize the importance of universal access to broadband for all Americans, the USF desperately needs to be changed to address the numerous inequities and inefficiencies in its current administration," the lawmakers wrote.

Some members of Congress, particularly in the House, have said they plan to draft their own universal service overhaul measure.

The top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee is calling on the Justice Department to "carefully review" Google's proposed acquisition of travel software provider ITA Software to ensure competition in the online travel search market is protected.

"This is a significant matter, as travel and tourism play a critical and ever increasing role in the U.S. economy, with the online travel industry accounting for $80 billion and nearly 40 percent of all e-commerce activity in 2009," Judiciary ranking member John Conyers of Michigan said in a letter Friday to Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Christine Varney. "I urge you to review the proposed deal carefully to ensure competition and transparency will be protected in the online travel industry."

Noting the "difficulties" in weighing such transactions, Conyers said many of these issues were highlighted in a report released last week by the American Antitrust Institute, "which concludes that an investigation of the proposed transaction is warranted."

Justice has been weighing the proposed deal for months. It is opposed by several online search sites that worry that Google will leverage its dominance in search to hamper competition in online travel search.

The AAI report urged close scrutiny of the deal by the Justice Department. "Google would own what many consider to be the premier technology that online travel agents, travel meta-search websites, and airline websites license from ITA to afford Internet users the ability to search real-time pricing and seat availability data in the course of shopping for airline tickets online," the report said. "Neither Google nor ITA currently competes in the provision of this data to Internet users by "online travel search" firms, but together they seem to have such firms surrounded."

The Federal Communications Commission is defending embattled associate general counsel Mark Lloyd, who has been tagged as a "diversity czar" by congressional Republicans who voted Thursday to slash his salary.

Lloyd, who serves as the commission's chief diversity officer, has been criticized for his opinions on talk radio and the Fairness Doctrine, an old rule that used to require equal airtime for opposing views.

On Friday, a senior FCC official defended Lloyd and his work at the FCC.

"As Congress recognized when it directed the FCC to promote diversity in communications, diversity is important to American prosperity and its strength as a nation," the official said. "For more than 18 months, Mark Lloyd has helped the Commission pursue this Congressional objective, contributing on many important initiatives - like working to bridge the digital divide by increasing broadband adoption among hard-pressed Americans."

Unlike most so-called "czars" targeted by the GOP, Lloyd is not a political appointee and holds a mid-level position.

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., introduced legislation Friday that would authorize the Federal Communications Commission to hold incentive auctions to free up wireless spectrum.

The auctions would allow license holders to return underused spectrum to the government, freeing the space for other wireless uses.

"By providing an incentive for license holders to sell their spectrum back to the government, we'll be able to create new efficiencies in spectrum use," Warner said. "By all indications, we're facing a dramatic spectrum crunch over the next decade, and this legislation is a step toward promoting more innovation and creating more economic opportunities as Americans increasingly rely on mobile technology."

Federal officials have estimated that such auctions could generation more than $100 billion in revenue over the next five years. What to do with that money, however, promises to be a divisive political question, said Paul Glenchur, a senior telecommunications analyst for Potomac Research Group.

"The debate will be between those who want to use any extra money to decrease deficits, and those who support using it to fund new programs," he said.

While the bill does not specify how the money would be used, Warner said the funds could go toward a combination of causes, including deficit reduction, expanding access to high-speed Internet, or establishing a nation-wide broadband network for emergency responders.

The National Broadband Plan calls for the FCC to free up 500 megahertz of new spectrum for wireless broadband within five years, a plan that has made current broadcasters, who own the license to much of that spectrum, sweat.

Warner said this bill is just one element in his effort to reform spectrum policy. He also plans on introducing legislation to "encourage greater efficiencies in government uses of spectrum as well as creating incentives for other spectrum licensees to vacate underutilized spectrum."

In a letter sent to the FCC Tuesday, a bipartisan group of lawmakers said they are not opposed to spectrum auctions as long as they are truly voluntary, a stance that mirrors statements made by the National Association of Broadcasters.

"NAB has no quarrel with incentive auctions that are truly voluntary," said the association's president, former Sen. Gordon Smith, in response to President Obama's budget, which endorsed incentive auctions. "We will oppose government-mandated digital TV service degradations that would result in a loss of service for the tens of millions of viewers who watch free and local broadcasting every day."

While the House vote to bar the Federal Communications Commission from using any funding to implement net neutrality rules sent vibrations around the Washington telecom scene, analysts say the road ahead for Internet providers remains largely unchanged.

Republican critics of the regulations, enacted in December, had long threatened to target FCC funding and the amendment to the federal spending bill was approved Thursday night.

In the long run, the cut potentially "has a shot" of actually making it past the Senate and President Obama's pen, but final passage is not likely, said Paul Glenchur, a senior telecommunications analyst for Potomac Research Group.

"Its passage in the House really wasn't a surprise, but the odds aren't great that it will make it," he said. Democrats, who control the Senate, have largely supported the FCC rules, and Obama has also voiced public support for the regulations.

The same goes for resolutions of disapproval that have been introduced in both the House and the Senate, Glenchur said. These legislative actions target the rules themselves, not simply the funding.

And for now, companies must still act according to the still somewhat undefined regulations, all the while keeping an eye on the legislative battle and undecided court challenges.

Meanwhile, the rhetoric continues to fly. Conservative commentators called the vote a "stern congressional rebuke" aimed at keeping the FCC in its place.

"There has been a bipartisan consensus in Congress for years to stop the FCC from micromanaging the Internet via a strict net neutrality regime, so it's good to see our elected representatives finally take a stand," said the Heartland Institute's Jim Lakely.

The amendment passed along a largely party-line vote, with four Republicans voting no (including Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., who said he didn't mean to). The defunding effort gained the backing of 10 Democrats, including some who signed a letter last year calling on the FCC to drop its net neutrality plans.

FCC officials have not issued a comment on the vote.

Telecom and tech hit the jackpot in President Obama's budget, and the lobbyists and groups representing them are in the enviable position of shaping big investments with White House backing, National Journal Daily reported.

Technology issues are at the forefront of the political and legislative battles over how to stimulate the economy while reducing government spending, and tech companies and consumer organizations largely praised Obama's plan as a step in the right direction.

But even more than what the budget may or may not fund, the coming political fight over that money will likely define lobbying efforts in the near future.

To read the rest of this article, please visit Nationaljournal.com. (Subscription required)

President Obama has tapped a prominent Silicon Valley executive and critic of the White House's $787 billion stimulus plan to serve on his newly-created advisory council tasked with helping him bolster a sluggish U.S economy, National Journal reported.

The appointment of Paul Otellini, the president and CEO of Intel, to the President's Council on Jobs and Competiveness comes ahead of Obama's visit today to the high-tech company's Hillsboro, Oregon campus for a tour of its semiconductor manufacturing facility.

To read more of this article, visit Nationaljournal.com.

Responding to charges that their legislation would establish an Internet "kill switch," the top members of the Senate Homeland Security Committee introduced legislation late Thursday that would specifically keep the president from shutting down the Internet.

The committee's chairman, Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and ranking member, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, joined Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., in revising and reintroducing their Cybersecurity and Internet Freedom Act.

The bill is almost identical to legislation proposed last year, but after concern that the bill could allow the president to control the Internet in an emergency, the three senators included language that prohibits the president from blocking all access to the Internet, as Egypt's government did during the recent protests.

"We want to clear the air once and for all," Lieberman said. "As someone said recently, the term 'kill switch' has become the 'death panels' of the cybersecurity debate. There is no so-called 'kill switch' in our legislation because the very notion is antithetical to our goal of providing precise and targeted authorities to the President. Furthermore, it is impossible to turn off the Internet in this country."

To overcome that criticism, the act states: "Neither the President, the Director of the National Center for Cybersecurity and Communications or any officer or employee of the United States Government shall have the authority to shut down the Internet."

In another change from last year, the bill also allows operators of systems and assets that are deemed "critical infrastructure" to appeal any action taken under the act's provisions.

The legislation's sponsors called debate over a "kill switch" a distraction.

"The so-called 'Internet kill switch' debate has eclipsed discussion of actual, substantive provisions in this bill," Lieberman said. He went to note that the bill is likely part of comprehensive cybersecurity legislation.

Updated 9:00 p.m.

The House passed an amendment Thursday that would bar the Federal Communications Commission from using any funding to implement the net neutrality order it approved in December.

The amendment, approved on a 244-181 vote, was offered by Energy and Commerce Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., and Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., to legislation that would fund government agencies for the rest of fiscal year 2011.

Walden and other critics of the FCC's net neutrality order argue it will stifle innovation and investment in broadband. The order aims to bar broadband providers from discriminating against Internet content, services or applications.

"We are grateful to the Appropriations Committee for helping us push the pause button on these harmful rules so that we can advance permanent protections for innovators and consumers," Walden and Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., said in a statement following the vote. "Together we and our colleagues send a strong message to the FCC that they have overstepped their authorities."

If the defunding effort fails, Republicans are pursuing a second route to try to block the FCC's open Internet order. Walden and other Republicans in both the House and the Senate introduced on Wednesday a resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act, which would give lawmakers a limited amount of time to try to block the FCC's net neutrality rules.

Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., a senior Energy and Commerce member who supports the FCC's net neutrality order, argued that by voting for the amendment, "you give control to the Broadband Barons ... and then you will see an inevitable decline in innovation, in investment, in the private sector, in the new products, the new technology, the new applications, these new devices which are basically invented by hundreds and thousands of smaller companies in our country."

President Obama, who also has come out in support of the FCC's net neutrality order, has threatened to veto the spending measure if it cuts government programs too deeply.

NEWS UPDATE: The House approved a controversial GOP amendment Thursday that would terminate the salary of Mark Lloyd, the Chief Diversity Officer for the Democratic-led Federal Communications Commission.

When the FCC hired Lloyd, a former civil rights activist and professor, in 2009 for this newly created position, Republicans in Congress were outraged because he had criticized conservative talk radio and suggested that the Fairness Doctrine, a long-defunct rule requiring equal airtime for opposing views, was never formally repealed. Dubbed the FCC's "Diversity Czar" by critics, Lloyd received death threats but hung onto his job.

Now it's political payback time.

The measure from Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., which passed 249 to 179, was added to the Continuing Resolution that would fund the government for the remainder of fiscal 2011. Lloyd also holds the position of Associate General Counsel for the FCC.

The amendment further targets the salaries of other so-called Obama administration czars on automotive issues, climate change, energy, executive compensation, health care, urban affairs and closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention center.

In another swipe at the FCC, the House Thursday approved a measure from Energy and Commerce Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., that would block the commission from using its 2011 appropriations to implement network neutrality rules approved by the agency's Democrats in December. See related coverage here.

"It is time that we end this practice by President Obama of creating a shadow government run by czars with cabinet-level powers who circumvent the accountability and scrutiny that comes with Senate confirmation required by the Constitution," said Scalise, a member of Walden's panel, in a statement.

"Hardworking American families should not be forced to pay millions of dollars to fund these czars who are implementing radical policies under the cloak of darkness rather than going through the open and transparent process that we were promised," Scalise added.

Defending Lloyd on the floor was Rep. Anna Eshoo, the subcommittee's ranking Democrat, who said the FCC official should not be targeted because he's tasked with expanding opportunities for women and minorities "in the marketplace."

"Mark Lloyd, a respected civil rights activist and historian, is the victim of a Fox News-fueled conspiracy theory that has no basis in reality," insisted Craig Aaron, managing director at Free Press, a media watchdog group, in a Thursday statement. "For the House of Representatives to target a public servant for abuse based on the incoherent ranting of Glenn Beck is appalling and absurd," he said, referring the Fox TV host, who has denounced Lloyd on his show.

"Anyone who believes the media should strive to represent the diversity of this country should be nauseated by this disgraceful attack," Aaron added.

Among the lawmakers incensed back in 2009 over Lloyd's hiring was Walden, who told National Journal at the time that he finds the regulator's views "offensive."

President Obama will be enjoying an intimate dinner tonight in San Francisco with some of the high-tech world's biggest names, National Journal reported.

Here's the list of attendees for tonight's meeting provided by the White House:

• John Doerr, Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers

• Carol Bartz, President and CEO, Yahoo!

• John Chambers, CEO and Chairman, Cisco Systems

• Dick Costolo, CEO, Twitter

• Larry Ellison, Co-Founder and CEO, Oracle

• Reed Hastings, CEO, Netflix

• John Hennessy, President, Stanford University

• Steve Jobs, Chairman and CEO, Apple

• Art Levinson, Chairman and former CEO, Genentech

• Eric Schmidt, Chairman and CEO, Google

• Steve Westly, Managing Partner and Founder, The Westly Group

• Mark Zuckerberg, Founder, President, and CEO, Facebook

The FBI came to Congress Thursday to outline the problems law enforcement officials are increasingly facing in executing court ordered wiretaps, but did not offer a proposed solution for lawmakers to consider.

During a hearing before the House Judiciary Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security Subcommittee, even critics acknowledged law enforcement faces a problem but there was much debate over what should be done to address it. Under the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, telecommunications companies are required to develop and deploy solutions to enable court-ordered wiretaps.

However, FBI General Counsel Valerie Caproni and Smithfield, Va., Police Chief Mark Marshall, who testified for the International Association of Police Chiefs, argued that they increasingly find that some telecom providers, particularly those not covered by CALEA, are unable to execute the requested wiretaps.

Caproni said law enforcement officers need to know that when they go to a communications provider with a wiretap order, that the provider will have the technical ability to carry out that court order. She said as technology has advanced, law enforcement has faced challenges getting even basic information sought by a pen register request, which seek the names and telephone numbers of suspected criminals.

When asked what specific changes the FBI is seeking, Caproni said the Obama administration is still developing its policy proposal and expects to release something soon. After the hearing, she said such a proposal may be done by spring.

The New York Times reported last fall that the administration would like all communications providers whether it's a telephone company or Internet messaging service to be able to comply with a wiretap order seeking real-time access to communications.

While the administration has yet to detail a specific proposal, some Democratic members of the committee and others said they worry that the FBI wants to require telecom providers to build back-door access into their networks.

"Forcing telecom providers to build backdoors into their systems will actually make us less safe and less secure," House Judiciary ranking member John Conyers, D-Mich., said.

But when Rep. Ben Quayle, R-Ariz., questioned whether law enforcement is seeking a back-door to the Internet, Caproni said the administration does not want "wiretapping of the Internet. We just want the ability to serve a targeted order on a targeted person on a provider."

Caproni said the FBI would like to see a solution that would get at the bulk of the cases law enforcement investigates and acknowledged that cases involving the use of encryption or other sophisticated means of securing communications will require more technical solutions. "The reality is that ... criminals are sometimes lazy and often resort to what is easy," she said.

But Susan Landau, a fellow at Harvard University's Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study and a former Sun Microsystems engineer, said any requirement that seeks to build access into a communication system would be vulnerable to hackers who could exploit the same access that the law enforcement is seeking.

She added that a system that would allow bulk access is likely to be exploitable.
"I don't think we can possibly build into various communications infrastructures wiretapping solutions that allow bulk access" that isn't also easy to subvert, Landau said.

Instead, she said the FBI needs to invest more in research into intercepting new technologies as they are being deployed in the marketplace and to share the expertise it does have with local law enforcement officials who may not have the budgets to tackle new technologies on their own.

Senate leaders have scheduled consideration of Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy's patent reform legislation for February 28.

The Vermont Democrat pushed the bill out of the Judiciary Committee earlier this month and has pressed for its passage, calling the bill key to America's economic success.

"Innovation drives the nation's economy, and that entrepreneurial spirit can only be protected by a patent system that promotes invention and spurs new ideas," Leahy said in a statement.

On Wednesday Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and other top Democrats included the legislation in a packet of bills designed to boost innovation.

"It has been nearly 60 years since the last meaningful reforms of the nation's patent system were enacted," their agenda states. "Technological advances, improvements to manufacturing, and an evolving marketplace make it critical for the United States patent system to allow inventors and innovators to compete in the global marketplace."

Federal officials Thursday released their interactive online map of Internet access around the country, promising to provide new ammunition to all sides in the debate over national broadband deployment, National Journal Daily reported.

The map has been much anticipated and already hotly debated, with Republicans criticizing the Obama administration for allocating economic stimulus money for broadband build-out without the map, and consumer advocacy groups insisting the map will back up their claims that Internet service providers are gaming the system.

Among the key findings laid out in the map and a companion report: Between 5 percent and 10 percent of Americans still lack access to basic broadband. But overall access to high-speed Internet continues to grow, with 68 percent of Americans within reach of broadband technology. To read more, click here. (Subscription required)

House Republicans plan to offer six amendments this afternoon seeking to block the Democratic-led FCC from using its funds to implement controversial new "network neutrality" regulations as the GOP escalates its attacks on the rules.

The move follows the introduction of resolutions of disapproval in both chambers Wednesday that also seek to derail the rules. Five of the amendments would target the FCC's broader FY 2011 funding under the Continuing Resolution being debated in the lower chamber, while a sixth would cut the salary of an FCC official involved with the implementation process.

The enforceable net neutrality regulations, which impact telecom and cable providers of broadband, seek to preserve the Internet's openness by barring anticompetitive online behavior. Critics insist the restrictions amount to government overreach and represent a federal takeover of the Internet.

The regulations were adopted in December by the agency's three Democrats over objections from the commission's two GOP members and Republicans on Capitol Hill.

Earlier this afternoon, Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore, chairman of the Energy and Commerce Communications and Technology Subcommittee, offered one of the amendments, to be voted on later today. To read more about it, click here

Amendments targeting FCC funding also have been filed by three Florida Republicans -- Cliff Stearns, Connie Mack and Mario Diaz-Balart, -- along with Rep. Tom Graves, R-Ga.

The House took up debate Thursday on an amendment that would block funding for the Federal Communications Commission to implement the net neutrality order it approved on a 3-2 party-line vote in December.

Lawmakers debated the amendment offered by Energy and Commerce Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Mich., to legislation providing funding for government agencies for the rest of fiscal year 2011. A vote on the amendment was postponed until late Thursday afternoon.

Walden and other critics of the FCC's net neutrality order say it would stifle innovation and investment in broadband. The order aims to bar broadband providers from discriminating against Internet content, services or applications.

In addition to trying to quash the order by blocking funding for the FCC to implement it, Walden and other Republicans in both the House and the Senate introduced on Wednesday a resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act, which would give lawmakers a limited amount of time to try to block the FCC's net neutrality rules.

Walden described his defunding amendment as a "stop gap measure while we work toward passing a more permanent solution, our resolution of disapproval." He added that the FCC's order expands the agency's authority. "It's important to realize that the FCC's underlying theory of authority would allow the commission to regulate any interstate communication service on barely more than a whim and without any additional input from Congress," he said.

Rep. Anna G. Eshoo of California, the top Democrat on Walden's subcommittee, however, argued in a statement that "without clear 'rules of the road,' large corporations will be able to carve up the Internet into fast and slow lanes, charging a toll for content, and blocking innovators from entering the information superhighway."

A bipartisan group of House Energy and Commerce members are calling on the Federal Communications Commission to provide more details about how its proposal to incentivize broadcasters to give up some of their spectrum would ensure that consumers and broadcasters are protected under the plan.

The letter Tuesday to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski also echoes calls from other lawmakers to complete action on a spectrum inventory so that lawmakers have a "complete picture of who is licensed to use what airwaves and how effectively they are being used."

Signatories of the letter include Energy and Commerce Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., former Energy and Commerce ranking member Joe Barton, R-Texas, and Rep. Gene Green, D-Texas.

The FCC has called on Congress to pass legislation that would allow the commission to conduct incentive auctions aimed at persuading broadcasters to voluntarily relinquish some of their spectrum in exchange for a share in the proceeds from the auction of those airwaves.

In their letter, the lawmakers said such a proposal "will need to address several questions." They include what the effect will be on broadcasters who decide not to give up any spectrum when others agree to voluntarily hand over some of their airwaves; how these broadcasters will be relocated to other bands; and what assurances will be given to these volunteers that the new bands will be "as strong and robust" as their previous channels. In addition, the letter also asked what the FCC plans to do to "protect and educate" viewers who rely on over-the-air television.

Broadcasters have said repeatedly that they "have no quarrel" with incentive auctions as long as they are truly voluntary.

The demand for spectrum is being driven by the growing popularity of smart phones and other mobile wireless devices.

"Opening up additional spectrum for wireless broadband capabilities is critical to innovation and job creation in America, as is protecting our local television broadcasting system," the lawmakers said.

After being mistreated by a policewoman and ignored by municipal officials, Mohamed Bouazizi, 26, doused himself with gasoline and set himself on fire Dec. 17, 2010, in the Tunisian town of Sidi Bouzid. He died Jan. 4.

Bouazizi's act, which was videotaped and posted on Facebook, sparked the revolution that overthrew Tunisian President Zine el Abidine Ben Alithe on Jan. 14, Nextgov.com reported.

"The revolution would have been impossible without Facebook," said Mohamed Al-Yahyai. The video of Bouazizi's suicide ignited rage among Tunisia's unemployed, oppressed and impoverished.

Bouazizi's friends then used Facebook to call for protests, and 10 protesters turned into 100 and then 1,000, said Al-Yahyai, a reporter for the Middle East Broadcasting Network's Alhurra Television.

A similar suicide shortly before Bouazizi's received no Internet coverage and provoked no reaction, Al-Yahyai recalled during a Feb. 15 discussion of new media and U.S. government efforts to use it to spread democracy.

Social networks also are being credited for rallying hundreds of thousands of Egyptian protesters who drove President Hosni Mubarak from power Feb. 11. Click here to read more.

No stranger to controversy, FCC member Michael Copps wants the Democratic-led agency to require full disclosure of the companies and political parties behind all those shadowy ads during election season. The regulator, one of three Democrats on the five-member commission and a long-time consumer advocate, revealed during a Tuesday speech that he's been promoting the idea internally.

"We the people have a right to know who is bank-rolling these ads beyond some wholly unidentifiable group set up to mask the special interest it really represents," Copps said, according to the text of his remarks. "If 'Citizens for Spacious Skies and Amber Waves of Grain' is really underwritten by a chemical company that doesn't want to clean up a toxic dump, I think viewers and voters would probably want to know that."

The regulator's call for a greater FCC role in overseeing political ads comes as the agency conducts its congressionally mandated quadrennial review of its media ownership rules, and as the nation begins to focus on the 2012 presidential race. In December, Copps created a stir with a proposal that TV stations be subject to a "public values test" that would gauge their commitments to news and other civic-minded programming to determine if their licenses should be renewed. That idea could make it more difficult for some stations to secure license renewals.

Underscoring his penchant for controversy, Copps was the only commissioner to oppose the Comcast-NBCU deal and one of three Democrats to back tougher net neutrality rules that have riled Republicans.

After congressional Republicans made good on their promise to try to overturn the FCC's net neutrality rules, advocacy groups weighed in Wednesday, urging Congress to improve the regulations, not revoke them.

"We are disappointed that many leaders in the House and Senate have chosen to introduce job-killing legislation that would throttle the greatest job-creating mechanism we have ever seen," Public Knowledge President Gigi Sohn said in a news release. "Congress would be ill-advised to proceed with resolutions to reverse the FCC rules. The result would be to turn the Internet over to AT&T, Comcast/NBC, Verizon and the other big telecom companies to administer at their whim. That type of regime helps no one other than those companies."

Other groups echoed this concern. Free Press political adviser Joel Kelsey said reversing the FCC's Internet freedom rules would undermine the agency's ability to protect free speech and put corporations in charge of what users can do online. His group was critical of the FCC for not implementing stronger rules to protect the openness of the Internet.

"Undoing the FCC's rules is akin to putting BP in charge of protecting our Oceans or Goldman Sachs in charge of protecting the nation's economy," he said. "Congress should be working to improve Net Neutrality policies, not revoke them, so that Comcast, AT&T and Verizon don't get to run the Internet like it's their private ATM, and we're the ones handing over the cash."

Republicans and other net neutrality critics argue that the FCC's order, approved in December, will stifile innovation and investment in broadband.

As Congress continues to battle over efforts to implement net neutrality rules, a group of state utility regulators Wednesday approved a resolution calling on the Federal Communications Commission to examine the issue of "content neutrality" to ensure all multichannel video programming providers have equal access to content at a fair price.

At its winter meeting, the board of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners approved the resolution, which voices concern about the ability of smaller and mid-sized cable firms to obtain access to programming at a fair price.

The resolution notes that in "recent years the transfer of networks from large to mid-sized carriers has been followed, in some areas, by significant increases which [have] been attributed, in whole or in part, to wholesale price increases sought from those small to mid-sized carriers."

The resolution also referenced progress made on the issue of content neutrality as a result of the conditions imposed on Comcast's merger with NBC Universal. Critics of that merger voiced concern about the ability of both cable and emerging online video providers to gain access to Comcast-NBCU content.

The NARUC resolution noted that while such conditions helped "to provide non-discriminatory access to content in some settings, [it] has not dealt more broadly with the availability and potentially discriminatory pricing of content which disadvantages small and mid-sized [local exchange carriers] and comparable small and medium-sized cable providers."

As a result, the group urged the FCC to refer the matter to a committee set up following passage of the 1996 telecommunications act that provides a forum for state utility regulators and federal officials to work together on ways to implement a section of that law aimed at encouraging the "reasonable and timely deployment of advanced telecommunications capability" for all Americans.

The final version of the resolution was not as strong as a draft measure that urged the FCC to "take appropriate action to rebalance the 'competitive playing field' to assure the ability of residents in small and rural markets to obtain the benefit of robust broadband is not impaired."

As promised, Republicans in both the House and Senate introduced legislation Wednesday aimed at blocking the Federal Communications Commission's network neutrality rules.

In the House, Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., and Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., offered a resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act, which gives lawmakers a limited amount of time to try to block agency rules like the FCC's net neutrality order from going into effect. An identical measure was introduced in the Senate by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Senate Commerce ranking member Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas.

The resolutions were introduced on the same day that all five FCC members appeared before Walden's subcommittee to defend their party-line vote in December approving the rules, which are aimed at barring broadband providers from discriminating against Internet content, applications or services.

"We held a hearing today in which we gave the commissioners of the FCC one more opportunity to provide sufficient evidence of a crisis that warrants government intervention," Upton said in a statement. "They failed. One of the greatest threats to job creation in our current economy is runaway regulation that is all cost and no benefit. The controversial Internet regulations stifle innovation, investment, and jobs."

While the resolution only requires a majority vote in both the House and the Senate, it must still be signed by the president to go into effect. President Obama has voiced support for the FCC's net neutrality order.

The chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee vowed Wednesday to pass legislation that would allocate a controversial chunk of spectrum known as the D-block to public-safety officials for an interoperable broadband network before the 10th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, National Journal Daily reported.

At a hearing on how to build such a network, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said legislation he introduced last month is the committee's top priority. His bill would reallocate the D-block to the public-safety officials instead of auctioning it off, as is required by current law. To help pay for the network, the bill would authorize the Federal Communications Commission to conduct incentive auctions aimed at persuading broadcasters to give up some of their spectrum in exchange for some of the proceeds from the auction of those airwaves.

"This is my highest legislative priority for this committee," Rockefeller said. "We'll work to get it done before we reach the 10th anniversary" of the September 11 attacks.

Those attacks highlighted several communications problems facing first responders, and the commission that investigated the attacks called for the creation of a national interoperable network. To read more, click here. (Subscription required)

Reps. Dan Lungren, R-Calif., and Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., Wednesday introduced a nonbinding resolution calling on lawmakers to reject attempts to impose new sales taxes on small online retailers.

The resolution says Congress should not enact any legislation that would grant state governments the authority to "impose any new burdensome or unfair tax collecting requirements on small online businesses and entrepreneurs, which would ultimately hurt the economy and consumers in the United States."

States have long called on Congress to enact legislation that would allow them to require online retailers that do not have a physical presence in their states to collect sales taxes from those states' residents. States have complained that they lose billions in sales tax revenues when their residents buy from out-of-state retailers. The controversy stems from a 1992 Supreme Court decision that found retailers are not required to collect sales taxes from customers in states where they do not have a physical presence.

In response to complaints from some retailers about the burden of having to comply with differing state sales tax regimes, several states have banded together in recent years to form a compact known as the Streamlined Sales Tax Project, which is aimed at simplifying sales tax rules among the participating states. Legislation introduced last year by former Rep. Bill Delahunt, D-Mass., would have allowed states that are part of this project to require remote sellers to collect sales taxes from residents in their states.

That bill, however, was staunchly opposed by some major Internet firms.

The nonbinding resolution from Lungren and Lofgren is aimed at small online retailers, such as a solo entrepreneur who might sell products online from their House or over eBay, according to a House aide.

"The possibility of new taxes being levied on online retailers will have a negative impact on the online marketplace," Lungren said in a statement. "We should send a clear message that Congress should not burden small businesses with unfair tax schemes."

Two House Energy and Commerce members are urging the Federal Communications Commission to find out more about Google's unauthorized collection of information from unsecured Wi-Fi networks.

In a letter Monday to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, Reps. John Barlow, D-Ga., and Mike Rogers, R-Mich., who also chairs the Intelligence Committee, noted that nine months after Google acknowledged vehicles that take images for the firm's Street View service had collected data from unsecured home and business Wi-Fi networks not enough is known about the incident.

The lawmakers urged FCC action given that the Federal Trade Commission dropped its inquiry in the fall and that probes by state attorneys general have yet to yield access to the information Google collected, even though foreign governments have managed to gain access to the data that Google Street View cars collected in their countries.

"Nine months after Google first admitted to collecting this data, we still don't have answers as to how this privacy breach was allowed to take place and how many Americans were affected, let alone a credible assurance that it will not happen again," the letter said. "The lack of progress in this investigation is concerning, particularly in light of the progress made by authorities in other countries."

The lawmakers said a "serious inquiry" would require authorities to meet with the engineer that Google claims was responsible for the data collection mishap. Google has argued that data was collected by "mistake' and has pledged to cooperate with authorities on the matter.

Barlow and Rogers urged the FCC to provide information about the incident to consumers regardless of whether Google violated the law or not.

The FCC said in November that its Enforcement Bureau was investigating whether Google violated any communications laws in relation to the Wi-Fi incident but has yet to release any information related to this probe.

President Obama will head for the West Coast on Thursday to meet with technology leaders and tour an Intel Corporation semiconductor manufacturing facility, National Journal reported.

The trip comes as the president is seeking to defend his 2012 budget proposal, which allocates funding to establish a nationwide broadband overhaul and to increase and better train the country's science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) teachers.

Obama will depart Washington on Thursday afternoon, and he'll meet with technology business leaders that night in San Francisco.

"The meeting is a part of our ongoing dialogue with the business community on how we can work together to win the future, strengthen our economy, support entrepreneurship, and get the American people back to work," said a White House official. To read more, click here.

When he appears before a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee Wednesday, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski will defend both the recently approved net neutrality rules as well as the process that developed the open Internet regulations, according to the text of his prepared remarks obtained by Tech Daily Dose.

"I believe we did the right thing, and I am proud of the fact that our framework has attracted support from the broadest consensus ever assembled on this challenging topic," he said in his prepared testimony for the hearing before the Communications and Technology Subcommittee.

Genachowski and the FCC's four other members are scheduled to appear at the hearing and will likely face withering criticism from the panel's top Republicans.

Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., indicated Tuesday during his remarks at a state regulators conference that he is not happy with both the substance of the net neutrality rules and the process the commission used to approve them. Walden and other Republicans have vowed to try to block implementation of the net neutrality rules, which they say are an attempt by the commission to regulate the Internet that will stifle innovation and investment in broadband.

At the same time, he also complained that the FCC's process in crafting the rules was a "due process embarrassment." He noted that hundreds of pages of documents related to the net neutrality order were dumped on the other commissioners by the chairman's office the night before the December vote on the order.

In his remarks for the Wednesday hearing, Genachowski argues that he reformed the process that led to the net neutrality rules and insists that the rules promote innovation, job creation, U.S. competitiveness, and private investment.

In her written testimony, Democratic commissioner Mignon Clyburn also dismisses criticism of the rules, approved in December on a party-line 3-2 vote, addressing some of the major concerns one by one.

"I do not think we acted recklessly, nor do I believe that we have harmed the Internet," according to her prepared remarks. "What we did was put a policy in place that will ensure and enable users to access lawful websites, applications, and services, so that they, not their Internet service providers, can choose which companies, products, services and ideas will succeed."

After describing a litany of technology and telecommunications issues, Democratic commissioner Michael Copps reiterated in his written testimony his wish that the net neutrality order went further in its protections.

"This is not about government regulating the Internet. It is about ensuring that consumers, rather than Big Telephone or Big Cable, have maximum control of their experiences when they go online," Copps said.

While GOP commissioner Robert McDowell largely avoids explicit criticism in his written testimony - he simply attached a copy of his dissenting opinion on net neutrality - fellow Republican Meredith Baker joins House critics in blasting the new regulations.

"I believe that net neutrality was both the wrong policy and the wrong priority," she says in her prepared statement. "This action also exceeded our statutory authority--establishing a national policy is Congress's role, not the FCC's role."

Former Federal Communications Commission Chief Counsel Bruce Gottlieb (now National Journal's general counsel) discussed in National Journal Tuesday Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's speech on Internet freedom. Part of his commentary appears below:

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has delivered a bold and -- given the context -- important speech Tuesday about freedom on the Web

It connects the dots between an open Internet, on the one hand, and political liberty, economic prosperity, and the crisis in Egypt and the Middle East, on the other.

Her major premise is that political liberty begets economic prosperity. Her minor premise is that, in the 21st century, protecting Internet openness is essential to maintaining a free society -- and thus is crucial to achieving economic well-being, as well.

For decades, the major premise was up for debate. The dilemma was posed most sharply by the (apparent) flourishing of the Soviet Empire. Was freedom a luxury we could not afford? (Just ask Senator McCarthy.) Even after the Wall fell, there was still great hand-wringing over the rise of Asian city-states like Singapore, which married eye-popping export growth with canings for spitting gum on the street. To read more, click here.

More than 130 companies, business groups and others signed a letter to members of Congress Tuesday urging lawmakers to move legislation that would give law enforcement more tools to crack down on websites that offer pirated content and counterfeit products.

"Legislation to disrupt these efforts is a major step to make the Internet safer and protect consumers from the dangers of buying in the online marketplace," according to the letter signed by such groups and companies as the Association of American Publishers, Ford Motor Co., the Motion Picture Association of America, Reed Elsevier, the Recording Industry Association of America and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "IP-intensive industries are a cornerstone of the U.S. economy, employing more than 19 million people and accounting for 60 percent of our exports. Rampant online counterfeiting and piracy presents a clear and present threat that we must do more to address."

The letter praised legislation offered in the last Congress by Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., aimed at cracking down on Internet piracy and counterfeiting, particularly on foreign websites.

"We urge you to support bicameral introduction and enactment of carefully balanced rogue sites legislation this year and look forward to working with you in support of that goal," the letter from the companies and groups added.

Steve Tepp with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Global Intellectual Property Center said he hoped the "show of support" by the groups and firms who signed the letter would "serve as a further catalyst to congressional action this year."

Leahy's bill was approved on a unanimous vote in November. Leahy is expected to reintroduce the bill again. His committee is holding a hearing on online piracy on Wednesday. Critics of that bill, however, say its provisions that would allow for the seizure of domain names linked to sites that offer pirated content or counterfeit products could stifle free speech and embolden foreign governments that might imitate such efforts to stifle political speech.

Among those scheduled to appear at the Senate Judiciary hearing is Go Daddy Executive Vice President and General Counsel Christine Jones, whose firm is the biggest supplier of Internet domain name registrations. Go Daddy supports efforts to crack down on online piracy and counterfeiting but would like to see "some tweaks" to the bill Leahy offered last year, she said in an interview with Tech Daily Dose.

In particular, Jones said her company would like to see more focus on trying to take down infringing content before law enforcement goes after domain names. She said if intellectual property owners are unable to get action by that route, than law enforcement should have the authority to go after a domain name linked to an infringing site and then if that fails, seek action from the firms that operate domain name registries, which are the databases of all the domain names under a particular Internet address.

"Go after the content, that is where infringement" is happening, Jones said. "The infringement is not in the domain name itself."

A coalition of tech associations and privacy groups Tuesday released a "statement of concern" about the FBI's proposals to expand a current law requiring communications providers to ensure law enforcement can conduct wiretaps on their networks.

The statement was released by a dozen groups including the Business Software Alliance, Center for Democracy and Technology, Computer and Communications Industry Association, the Net Coalition, and TechAmerica, and comes two days before a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing Thursday on ensuring lawful government surveillance with the rise of new technologies.

"Lawful electronic surveillance plays an important role in enabling government agencies to fulfill their obligations to stop crime and to protect national security," according to the statement from the groups. "These goals, however, must be reconciled with other important societal values, including cybersecurity, privacy, free speech, innovation and commerce."

The statement calls on the FBI and the Obama administration to answer several questions before lawmakers consider any proposals to expand the law known as the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, which requires telecom providers to design wiretapping capabilities into their networks.

These questions include explaining what problems would expanding CALEA address, have alternatives to a new CALEA-like mandate been considered sufficiently, and have narrower approaches been pursued.

Once these questions are answered, the groups say any effort to expand CALEA must address several issues including preserving the trust of communication users, safeguarding cybersecurity, protecting innovation, continuing to allow the use of strong encryption without introducing new vulnerabilities, avoiding unfunded mandates, and anticipating international demands that may result from expanding U.S. surveillance laws.

House Energy and Commerce Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden said Tuesday that he has filed an amendment that would bar the Federal Communications Commission from using any funds to implement the network neutrality order it passed in December.

During a speech at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners winter meeting, the Oregon Republican said he filed the amendment to the continuing resolution that would provide continuing funds for government operations, which the House is set to start considering Tuesday.

Walden said his effort to block FCC funding for the net neutrality rules is an attempt to "lay down a marker and try to put this on hold."

He said he and other Republicans are still also likely to seek to block the net neutrality rules by offering a resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act, saying it's a "cleaner way to go." But said trying to block funding offers "another path forward."

In reiterating his opposition to the rules aimed at barring broadband providers from discriminating against Internet content, services and applications, Walden said it is "absurd" when the FCC claims it is not regulating the Internet. He also argued that the rules disadvantage broadband providers over other Web companies.

"Why is the FCC shielding Web companies and selectively applying these rules only against broadband providers," he said. The FCC "should not be picking winners and losers by advantaging Web companies over broadband providers."

Net neutrality is expected to dominate a hearing Wednesday before Walden's subcommittee, where all five FCC commissioners are scheduled to appear.

Unlike many of his federal government peers, Patrick Gallagher had some good news to tout in explaining the fiscal year 2012 budget proposal for his agency, the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

While the Commerce Department overall would receive $242 million less under President Obama's budget released Monday, NIST would get an 8.9 percent increase over last year's budget plan and a 16.9 percent boost over the amount appropriated for fiscal 2010.

In an interview with Tech Daily Dose, Gallagher, director of NIST, said the $1 billion budget request is "the result of priority setting by the administration." He noted that while the administration was tough on some programs, the president also tried to "set some real priorities where we have to make investments."

Gallagher added that NIST's mission to promote innovation and industry competitiveness are "very well aligned" with the priorities Obama outlined in his State of the Union speech.

He pointed to the proposed increase in NIST's laboratory programs, which received the biggest boost, as among the "key investments" in the budget plan. He said it would help the agency to "refocus on our core mission, basic measurement science" and allow it to work closely with industry to apply science in a way "that is meaningful to industry."

"Investments in that type of activity at NIST have fallen," Gallagher said. Investments in the agency's core missions are "imperative for us to stay relevant."

Among the other new proposals in the budget is $12.3 million for an Advanced Manufacturing Technology Consortia aimed at helping to bring industry together to tackle big technological challenges. He said it modeled after the Nanoelectronics Research Initiative and an initiative launched by the semiconductor industry in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

"The trick is how do you get competing companies to work together," Gallagher said. "The magic sauce has to be a shared technological challenge," one dealing with a "pre-competition technology" where all the companies involved are willing to share the benefit," he added.

Other tech-related priorities in the budget request include a $43 million increase for cybersecurity-related research and a $22.8 million boost for interoperability standards for emerging technologies related to smart grid technologies, electronic health records and cloud computing. Gallagher noted that funding for smart grid and health IT standards came in recent years from economic stimulus funding allocated to the Energy and Health and Human Services departments. The budget request for this area would provide a steadier source of funding for these initiatives, he said.

The agency's budget request also includes a proposal to shift $500 million, from an estimated $27 billion in revenues from proposed spectrum auctions, to NIST between 2012 and 2016 for the Public Safety Innovation Fund, part of the Wireless Innovation Fund outlined by Obama last week. As part of the new Public Safety Innovation Fund, NIST will work with industry and public safety officials on research and development and demonstration projects aimed at helping to develop an interoperable public safety broadband communications system.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is taking on privacy issues with Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., designated to chair a new subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law, while Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., has been named as ranking member, according to an announcement Monday.

Other senators on the subcommittee include: Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.

"The boom of new technologies over the last several years has made it easier to keep in touch with family, organize a community and start a business," said Franken. "It has also put an unprecedented amount of personal information into the hands of large companies that are unknown and unaccountable to the American public. As chairman of this new subcommittee, I will try to make sure that we can reap the rewards of new technology while also protecting Americans' right to privacy."

On the Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights Subcommittee, Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., has been named as chair with GOP freshman Sen. Mike Lee of Utah as ranking member.

Other members of this subcommittee will include: Schumer, Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., John Cornyn, R-Texas, Franken, and Blumenthal.

President Obama's budget, released Monday, included a nugget of help for a strained Patent and Trademark Office. The budget proposed a plan to give the PTO "full access" to the fees it collects. Obama also proposes a temporary fee surcharge, as well as regulatory and legislative reforms.

According to the proposed budget, such changes will bring in an additional $2.7 billion for the PTO in 2012, or 34 percent more than 2010 levels. Even as congressional lawmakers consider legislative fixes for the PTO backlog, Obama as well as the agency itself have outlined plans to reform the system.

The budget also targets intellectual property enforcement as laid out in the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator's Joint Strategic Plan.

This week promises to be an active one for the technology industry.

On Tuesday, the House Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet will hear testimony on Internet competition and net neutrality. Witnesses include:

Larry Downes
Senior Adjunct Fellow, TechFreedom

Brett Glass
Proprietor, LARIAT

Gigi B. Sohn
President and Co-Founder, Public Knowledge

On Wednesday the House Communications and Technology Subcommittee will take a crack at net neutrality as well. The House Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security Subcommittee will hold a hearing on new electronic surveillance technologies.

On the Senate side, the Commerce Committee will hear testimony about plans for a nationwide first responders network on Wednesday.

Wednesday will also see a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on intellectual property theft. Scheduled witnesses for this hearing include:

Tom Adams
President and CEO
Rosetta Stone Inc.

Scott Turow
President
Authors Guild

Christine N. Jones
EVP, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
The Go Daddy Group, Inc.

Thomas M Dailey
Vice President and Deputy General Counsel
Verizon

Denise Yee
Senior Trademark Counsel
Visa, Inc.

President Obama's latest budget indicates that the White House is playing a larger role in shaping telecommunications policy than ever before, Nationaljournal.com reported. And while some of its positions dovetail with the Federal Communications Commission's agenda, others don't.

Regarding the FCC's annual budget, the administration proposes that the agency receive $354 million in fiscal 2012, an increase of $18 million over its current operating budget, an FCC official said. Although the budget technically recommends $358.8 million for the commission, that number includes $3.9 million in FY 2011 pay increases that were frozen, the official explained.

To read more of this article, please visit Nationaljournal.com.

President Obama's controversial vision for America's space program may have already come face to face with fiscal reality, Nationaljournal.com reported. NASA largely dodged major cuts under his proposed budget released today, but the plan reveals some significant reallocation of funds and doesn't appear to include any of the $6 billion boost that he promised to provide over five years.

The total amount budgeted for NASA matches 2010's funding of $18.7 billion, but the plan strips nearly $2 billion from the Space Operations program, which is responsible for operating the space shuttle and International Space Station.

To read the rest of this article, please visit Nationaljournal.com.

Science and technology research got a boost in President Obama's budget released Monday.

The National Science Foundation, which funds such research at universities and colleges across the country received a 13-percent increase in its budget over last year.

In a move that the administration says will help drive economic growth and stimulate innovation, the budget allocates $7.8 billion for NSF.

"NSF's research programs and high-tech workforce development programs help drive future economic growth, global competitiveness and the creation of high-wage jobs for American workers," the budget report states.

The budget also calls for more science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education, as well as a reduction in funding for low-performing and lower-priority education and research programs.

Like most items on the president's budget, however, NSF faces a Congress focused on budget cuts, and House Republican appropriators have called for a $139 million cut in the foundation's budget.

Just in time for Valentine's Day, a new Zogby Interactive poll confirms what many love birds already know: social media is transforming the dating scene.

The poll found that Facebook has become a primary means of finding and expressing romance for millions of Americans, with 94 percent of young Facebook users viewing the page of a potential date within a day or two of becoming single. Forty-three percent say they would post information about breaking up.

While breaking up via text message is still taboo (only 2 percent of all adults admit they've done it), 43 percent of all adults say they've told someone they love them by text message, according to the poll.

Taking that new relationship public still has some limits, according to the poll, with only 7 percent of respondents saying they've used Twitter to say something romantic.

The poll was conducted from January 27 to January 31 and surveyed 2,100 likely voters.

Representatives from General Electric and Intel got an earful Friday while testifying about patent reform at a House subcommittee meeting.

Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, and Maxine Waters, D-Calif., used the hearing to grill the industry officials about outsourcing jobs overseas.

While the officials were on hand to testify about the economic benefits of reforming the U.S. patent system, the congresswomen objected to providing the companies with government help, only to see them send more money to foreign workers.

"We keep giving companies gifts but not getting anything in return," Jackson Lee said.
While both company representatives admitted that up to half their workforces are outside the United States, they disputed the assertion that reforming the patent system wouldn't lead to more American jobs.

Protecting American patents will result in more high-tech products, which need a highly trained workforce to produce - a workforce only found in the U.S., argued Carl Horton, chief intellectual property counsel for GE.

"IP protections level the playing field for American workers," he told Tech Daily Dose. "With more high-tech products, companies will need more workers here in the U.S. Companies will always pay for work where it's cheapest, but if you have a product that needs high quality workers, then the U.S. has the edge."

Just a day after Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., rolled out his latest online privacy legislation, Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., unveiled a package of bills Friday that includes a "do-not-track" requirement giving consumers the option to opt-out of being tracked while browsing online.

One bill features the "do-not-track" option while a second bill would "give consumers control of their own financial information."

"These two bills send a clear message--privacy over profit," Speier said in a statement. "Consumers have a right to determine what if any of their information is shared with big corporations and the federal government must have the authority and tools to enforce reasonable protections."

Speier said the "Do Not Track Me Online Act of 2011" would require the Federal Trade Commission to develop standards for Web browsers. The "Financial Information Privacy Act of 2011" would prevent financial institutions from sharing or selling personal financial information without a consumer's permission.

"People have a right to surf the web without Big Brother watching their every move and announcing it to the world," Speier said. "The internet marketplace has matured, and it is time for consumers' protections to keep pace."

Speier touted the support of advocacy groups, including Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, Consumer Action, U.S. PIRG, Consumer Watchdog, World Privacy Forum, the Center for Digital Democracy, and the ACLU.

"Signing on to the Internet shouldn't mean signing away your privacy," said ACLU legislative counsel Christopher Calabrese in a statement. "Americans must have a mechanism in place to opt out of having their online habits tracked so that they can protect their most sensitive information."

Rush's bill, announced Thursday, appears to not include a do-not-track feature, but would require user consent before information could be shared with a third party.

While reiterating support for a bill that "enhances patent quality, discourages frivolous litigation, harmonizes international patent principles, and enforces core rights," House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, urged lawmakers to focus on "doable, practical, and ultimately achievable patent reform," National Journal Daily reported.

Smith made his comments as the House Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet heard testimony from industry and judicial experts Friday.

"Politics is the art of the possible," he said. "I've supported stronger language on such issues as apportionment of damages, willful infringement, and venue. But we've reached a point where no one member, industry, company, trade association, or advocacy group is going to be completely happy with the outcome."

To read the rest of the article, click here. (Subscription required)

As the situation in the Middle East leaves the United States in an increasingly unpredictable situation, the State Department has launched a new Twitter feed, USA in Arabic, in which nearly all Tweets are sent in Arabic, Nextgov.com reported.

The new Arabic language feed @USAbilAraby by Thursday had about 700 followers, and was quickly growing in popularity. Its first Tweet referenced the fact that the recent uprisings in Egypt were organized in part through social media. "There is a huge vibrant conversation [happening] in the Arab world," said State spokeswoman Tanya Powell. "We want to make sure we are participating in that conversation."

To read more, click here.

The Federal Communications Commission has released the tentative agenda for its meeting on March 3.

The meeting will address changes to the rules that govern retransmission consent negotiations between broadcasters and programming distributors.

The commission will take the next step in the renovation of the Universal Service Fund by addressing waste, fraud and administration problems in the Lifeline/Link Up program that provides subsidies for low-income people to access phone service. Commissioners will also consider a plan to modernize the program and establish a pilot program for using the fund to finance broadband build-out, similar to a plan addressed in their last meeting to increase high-speed Internet access in rural areas.

Also on the agenda, a range of recommendations on how to increase access to broadband and other communications systems on Native American tribal lands.

Finally, the commission will consider items related to implementing the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010, which requires communications providers and device manufacturers to make their products and services available to people with disabilities.

Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., Thursday reintroduced his legislation from the last Congress aimed at enhancing consumer privacy online.

The bill appears to be similar to the legislation he offered in the last Congress that would allow for the collection and use of information from consumers but require firms to provide consumers with the ability to opt out from such collection.

It does not appear to mandate a do-not-track mechanisn that would give consumers an easy way to opt out of having their Web activities tracked for advertising purposes. The Federal Trade Commission endorsed such a proposal in its staff privacy report released in December and Rush, a senior member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, had been weighing adding such a provision to the bill.

The measure would require consent from consumers before sharing information with third parties. Although like last year's bill, it also would provide firms the option of obtaining a safe harbor from some of the bill's provisions if they adhere to a self-regulatory program approved by the FTC.

Jeff Chester with the Center for Digital Democracy said the self regulatory program approved by the FTC could include a requirement that firms allow consumers to opt out of being tracked on the Web for advertising purposes. He said such a provision would not go as far as he and other privacy advocates would like but is a first step toward providing some type of a do not track option.

Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., is expected to introduce legislation on Friday that would require the FTC to implement some sort of do-not-track requirement giving consumers the ability to opt-out of being tracked on the Web.

When Democratic FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski appears before the House Energy and Commerce Communications and Technology Subcommittee at a Feb. 16 oversight hearing, he should expect tough questioning about one of his signature claims: that under his leadership, the agency always operates in an open and transparent manner. During a Wednesday speech to the Ripon Society, a Republican group, panel chairman Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., revealed that he plans to hammer the Democratic FCC chief -- who was caught flat-footed last year conducting secret meetings with lobbyists that were not publicly disclosed as required by agency rules -- on the issue.

In particular, Walden wants answers as to why the chairman waited until nearly midnight on the eve of the agency's controversial December vote on new "network neutrality" rules for broadband providers to share a major rewrite of the regulatory proposal with the FCC's two GOP members. At the time, Robert McDowell, the agency's senior Republican, complained that his office received the latest draft from the chairman at 11:42 pm the night before the vote. He also accused the chairman of "dumping" roughly 3,000 pages of public comment into the docket just days or hours before the final deadline for public input.

"It's not a good way to do business. We've certainly done that here [in Congress], and the public said, 'Stop it,' " Walden told the audience during a breakfast event, noting that his concerns about a lack of FCC transparency extend to previous commissions. Under Genachowski's predecessor, Kevin Martin, the agency's Democratic regulators (including Michael Copps, who continues to serve on the commission) routinely accused the GOP chairman of using similar tactics, which they always characterized as unfair and an abuse of power.

(photo: Genachowski tours 2011 CES showroom floor; credit: David Hatch, National Journal)

In a speech outlining his new initiative to expand wireless access and innovation, President Obama Thursday compared the effort aimed at connecting 98 percent of Americans to "next-generation, high-speed" wireless to past infrastructure projects such as building railroads and highways that also were aimed at advancing the nation's economy.

"This isn't just about a faster Internet or being able to find a friend on Facebook," Obama said during a speech at Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Mich. "It's about connecting every corner of America to the digital age."

His initiative calls for generating funds from the auction of spectrum that would be provided by federal government users and through a proposal that would encourage broadcasters to give up some of their spectrum in exchange for a share of the proceeds from the auction of those airwaves. Some of this funding would go to help build a national interoperable broadband network for public safety and to help provide wireless broadband in rural areas. The plan also contemplates that $9.6 billion would be left over for deficit reduction.

"Now, access to high-speed internet by itself won't make a business more successful, or a student smarter, or a citizen more informed. That takes hard work. It takes those late nights. It takes that quintessentially American drive to be the best," Obama said. "But we have always believed that we have a responsibility to guarantee all our people every tool necessary for them to meet their full potential."

Energy and Commerce Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden said Thursday that he will be introducing a resolution of disapproval aimed at trying to block the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rules but is unsure when he will act.

"We don't have a date specific, but it would be within the time period allotted under the Congressional Review Act," Walden, R-Ore., said after a subcommittee hearing.

The Congressional Review Act gives lawmakers a limited amount of time to try to block a federal regulation after its been issued by an agency.

Republicans in both chambers have vowed to use every means possible to try to block the FCC's net neutrality order, which was approved in December. Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., said earlier this week that another possible option for blocking the net neutrality rule would be to try to cut off funding for the FCC to implement the order.

Republicans argue that the order, aimed at blocking broadband providers from discriminating against Internet content or applications, will stifle investment and innovation. Net neutrality supporters, however, have criticized the FCC's order for being too weak because it excludes wireless broadband providers from some of the rules.

The issue is expected to be a hot topic when the FCC's five members come before the Energy and Commerce Committee next week for a hearing.

Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., chairman of a key House subcommittee that shapes telecom policy, is holding firm to his position that spectrum claimed by public safety groups for a nationwide emergency communications network should be auctioned. The stance of the powerful congressman, who heads the House Energy and Commerce Communications and Technology Subcommittee, puts him on a collision course with President Obama and influential Democrats in Congress, including Senate Commerce Chairman John Rockefeller. Police, fire and rescue squads want to couple the frequencies in question with spectrum they already control, and warn without the additional megahertz, safety could be compromised during the next national tragedy.

President Obama will officially endorse handing over the spectrum, known as the D-block, to public safety in the administration's budget set for release on Monday. Meanwhile, Rockefeller has introduced legislation to reallocate the D-block to first responders and will hold a Feb. 16 hearing on the topic. In an ironic twist, Walden's position dovetails with that of Democratic FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, with whom the congressman has clashed on several other regulatory matters. Sprint and T-Mobile, which want to bid on the frequencies to expand their commercial wireless footprints, insist that the needs of public safety can be met without the D-block.

Speaking Wednesday morning to the Ripon Society, a Republican organization named for the Wisconsin town where the GOP was born, Walden said, "I'm in the category that believes it is the public's auction. It's the public's spectrum. And it should be auctioned." Nevertheless, he emphasized that "public safety has needs that we need to help them address." Walden warned that if the D-block is not auctioned, a significant revenue-generating opportunity would be lost. "You open a three billion dollar wound in a rather bleeding budget," Walden said, referring to the estimate of how much the airwaves would raise. "Spectrum is a really valuable commodity that the taxpayers own."

President Obama was expected Thursday to unveil a major wireless initiative today aimed at bringing wireless access to 98 percent of the country within five years, build a national public safety broadband network, and promote wireless innovation and research and development, National Journal reported.

Obama will detail his Wireless Innovation and Infrastructure Initiative during a speech at Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Mich., where he will highlight how local businesses there have benefited from having access to broadband. Last June, Obama endorsed the Federal Communications Commission's goal of freeing up 500 megahertz of spectrum over the next decade for wireless broadband and other technologies.

"Taken together, [the latest proposal] makes better use of our existing spectrum and resources," Jason Furman, deputy director of the National Economic Council, said in a conference call late Wednesday.

As part of this initiative, the White House has embraced a FCC proposal that calls for legislation to allow the agency to conduct incentive auctions, which are aimed at incentivizing broadcasters and other commercial spectrum users to give up some of their airwaves in exchange for a portion of the auction proceeds. Click here, to read more.

The FCC could make up to a billion dollars or more available to telecom carriers beginning next year to encourage them to expand high-speed Internet connectivity to rural areas that lack service. The money would be made available from savings achieved through the agency's proposed extensive overhaul of the $8 billion federal universal service fund. The fund now subsidizes phone service in low-income and rural areas, but the FCC wants to redirect the money to promote broadband deployment and adoption, and cut waste and inefficiency in the process.

On Tuesday, all five FCC regulators approved a tentative version of Chairman Julius Genachowski's proposed changes for universal service. Buried within the 289-page text of the proposal, released tonight, are details of the recommended expenditures, which the document describes as a "one-time infusion of support."

To dole out the money, the FCC would conduct so-called reverse auctions that would award funds to companies willing to agree to build high-speed infrastructure (the agency is agnostic about the technology) at the lowest costs. The auctions would be held in 2012 and possibly 2014. To guide its decisions on where the money should be spent, the commission would rely on the National Broadband Map to be released by the Commerce Department on Feb. 17. The interactive map, which details which communities have broadband, will arrive too late, however, for the $7.2 billion in broadband stimulus funding the Obama administration already has doled out to carriers to reach unserved and underserved areas.

Read the FCC's proposed rule changes for universal service here

Federal auditors charged with overseeing the two programs that provided grants to spur broadband access and adoption say absent close oversight, there are potential risks for fraud and abuse of the two programs.

In written testimony obtained by Tech Daily Dose for a hearing Thursday before the House Energy and Commerce Communications and Technology Subcommittee, the inspectors general for the Agriculture and Commerce departments and a Government Accountability Office official outlined several areas that will need close scrutiny. They will be joined at the hearing by two industry officials affected by the broadband stimulus program.

The hearing will focus on the $7.2 billion in funding from the 2009 economic stimulus package provided to spur broadband access and adoption, which has been awarded through grants and loans from the Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration and Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service. NTIA was given $4.7 billion for its Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, while RUS received the remaining $2.5 billion for its Broadband Initiatives Program.

GAO's Mark L. Goldstein noted in his written testimony that both NTIA and RUS have adopted many of the agency's past recommendations aimed at providing successful oversight of the 553 projects funded by the stimulus funds such as developing oversight plans.

Still, he added that, "GAO remains concerned about the oversight of the broadband programs. In particular, GAO believes the agencies, and especially NTIA, need to do more to ensure their oversight plans reflect current fiscal realities."

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said Wednesday he plans to reintroduce cybersecurity legislation designed to boost international cooperation to confront digital threats.

"If we don't get real about this, we could have some catastrophic events that could really hurt the country," Hatch told reporters after an appearance at a forum hosted by The Atlantic.

He said the bill would be "basically" the same as the measure he offered in the last Congress with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. Hatch did not specify when he would offer the bill, but he expressed surprise that it wasn't already filed and said the exact timeline would depend on his staff and Gillibrand's office.

In 2010, Hatch and Gillibrand introduced the "International Cybercrime Reporting and Cooperation Act" that would have required, among other things, an annual cyber security report from the president; increased goals and benchmarks for combating foreign cyber attacks; increased foreign assistance for countries fighting cyber crime; and more State Department employees focused on cyber security.

Hatch said his bill is not comprehensive but would "go a long way in at least getting serious about this problem."

He declined to comment about potential competition with other cyber security bills, including a highly controversial measure offered in the last Congress by Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee leaders that would give the president emergency authority to protect the nation's critical infrastructure in a national emergency. Some critics say the bill would allow the president to shut down the Internet in a national emergency, which the bill's sponsors have adamantly denied.

A new report released Wednesday from the Pew Hispanic Center found that while Hispanics have much lower levels of home broadband use compared with whites, the gap narrows when it comes to cell phone use.

The report found that only 45 percent of Hispanics use broadband at home, compared with 65 percent of whites and 52 percent of blacks. While Hispanics and blacks had about the same levels of Internet use in 2010, about 65 percent, they still lagged behind whites, 77 percent of whom reported going online.

The technology gap narrows when it comes to cell phone use by Hispanics. Hispanics reported having the lowest levels of cell phone ownership at 76 percent, compared with 79 percent for blacks and 85 percent for whites.

The report suggests that the lower levels of technology use by Hispanics are linked to their income and education levels.

"Hispanics, on average, have lower levels of education and earn less than whites," according to the report. "Controlling for these factors, the differences in internet use, home broadband access and cell phone use between Hispanics and whites disappear."

The report found that Hispanics and whites both access the Internet using their cell phones at similar rates. Unlike most whites, Hispanics report using their cell phones to go online because they lack a home Internet connection. The survey found 6 percent of Hispanics who use their cell phones to access the Internet say they do not have Internet access at home, compared with only 1 percent for whites.

Overall, 41 percent of blacks reported using their cell phones to access the Internet compared with 31 percent of Hispanics and 29 percent for whites. "This ethnic difference in dependency upon a cell phone for internet use is partially, but not entirely, related to ethnic differences in educational attainment and income," according to the report.

When it comes to text messaging, Hispanics lag a little behind whites and blacks, 55 percent to 61 percent for both whites and blacks, the report found.

The survey of 3,001 adults was conducted Aug. 9-Sept. 13 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.

There is "no bigger opportunity" to spur economic growth than to help businesses maximize their use of high-speed Internet and other technological resources, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski said Wednesday.

America needs to accelerate technological innovation in order to compete with the rest of the world, he said at a forum on jobs and the economy hosted by The Atlantic.

"If the U.S. is moving forward slowly, we're not moving fast enough," Genachowski said.

While the United States is still among the most advanced countries in the world, its pace of improvement is nearly last among developed nations, Genachowski said. In areas where high-speed Internet is available, the United States also lags other countries in the rate of adoption.

The chairman emphasized the importance of increasing adoption of and access to high-speed Internet, underscored by Tuesday's FCC vote to revamp the Universal Service Fund to funnel funds to support broadband service.

As part of increasing America's global competitiveness, Genachowski said, U.S. companies also need to become international leaders in technology innovation. He specifically urged the adoption of tablet devices and electronic textbooks for students.

Deserting and embarrassing their GOP House leadership, 26 Republicans--including several members of the Tea Party Caucus--bolted Tuesday night to join Democrats in a surprise rejection of a centerpiece of Bush-era powers to fight terrorism that curbed American civil liberties, National Journal reported.

The House Republican leaders had expected an easy victory in their efforts to reauthorize three expiring powers under the PATRIOT Act--among them, allowing ''roving wiretaps'' and searches of people's medical, banking, and library records. It is likely the GOP will succeed in a later vote, but Tuesday night's rebuff sent a strong message.

By a 277-148 margin, the bill fell just shy of the two-thirds majority needed to pass the House under suspension of the rules, representing somewhat of an embarrassment for House Republicans on a matter of national security. Republicans were accusing Democrats, many of whom had supported the extension of the provisions in the 111th Congress, of hypocrisy.

The American Civil Liberties Union applauded the House's action and urged critics of the PATRIOT Act to push lawmakers to continue to resist efforts to extend the law.

"For the nearly 10 years it has been law, the over-reaching Patriot Act has been abused by law enforcement to violate innocent Americans' privacy," Laura Murphy, director of the ACLU's legislative office, said in a statement. "We urge both the House and the Senate to keep up this momentum and continue to fight the extension of these provisions that put Americans' privacy at risk." To read more, click here.

President Obama late Tuesday issued an executive order calling for the creation of two intellectual property enforcement advisory committees aimed at enhancing the efforts of the U.S. government to protect U.S. intellectual property.

The executive order created a Senior Intellectual Property Advisory Committee that will be headed by Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator Victoria Espinel. It will be made up of the heads or deputies of nine agencies including the Agriculture, Commerce, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Justice, State and Treasury departments as well as the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

The committee will be charged with "the effective and efficient enforcement of laws protecting copyrights, patents, trademarks, trade secrets, and other forms of intellectual property, both in the United States and abroad, including matters relating to combating infringement, and thereby support efforts to reinvigorate the Nation's global competitiveness, accelerate export growth, promote job creation, and reduce threats posed to national security and to public health and safety," according to the order.

The committee's members also will be charged with helping Espinel craft the joint strategic plan, which is required every three years by law, for enforcing U.S. IP laws.

The order called for the creation of a second interagency Intellectual Property Enforcement Advisory Committee, which is made up of officials from various agencies involved in IP enforcement such as Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the FBI, the Patent and Trademark Office and the State Department's Bureau of Economic, Energy, and Business Affairs.

The leaders of the House Judiciary Committee applauded the administration's order. Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, called the executive order "a good start."

"By encouraging cooperation and communication between the federal agencies tasked with protecting IP, these committees can target counterfeiting trends and recommend responses," Smith said in a statement.

Smith and Judiciary ranking member John Conyers, D-Mich., both noted that the executive order was made under authority granted by legislation they helped pass in 2007, which created Espinel's post. "We hope these committees implement an effective plan to protect consumers and spur innovation," Conyers added.

Two years in the making, a national, interactive map that pinpoints which communities do -- or don't -- have access to broadband is set to be unveiled by the Commerce Department on Feb. 17. The map, required by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, is expected to play a critical role in guiding both the Federal Communications Commission and Congress on policymaking related to broadband deployment and adoption.

A source tells National Journal that the map is expected to prove embarrassing to some major telecom carriers, including AT&T and Verizon, because it will highlight rural communities in their service territories that have been left high and dry without broadband connectivity. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration, a division of Commerce tasked with preparing the map, plans to hold a press conference on Feb. 17 to roll it out. Stay tuned for details on the state (and territory) with the lowest per capita access to broadband -- revelations certain to create more embarrassment for telecom carriers and policymakers.

A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee will hold an oversight hearing Thursday on the Obama administration's program to provide grants to spur broadband access and adoption in unserved and underserved areas while also examining what should be done with any unused funding or money that was improperly used or allocated.

The Communications and Internet Subcommittee will examine how well the administration did in allocating the $7.2 billion included in the 2009 economic stimulus package for broadband. The funding was split between the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which got $4.7 billion, and the Agriculture Department's Rural Utilities Service, which received the remaining $2.5 billion.

The panel, chaired by Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., also will debate draft legislation that would require the return to the federal treasury of any broadband funds that have been found to have "demonstrated an insufficient level of performance or wasteful or fraudulent spending," according to copy of the draft bill obtained by Tech Daily Dose.

Both NTIA and RUS distributed the funds through grants, loans or grant-loan combinations during two rounds. All of the awards were made by the Sept. 30, 2010 deadline included in the stimulus law but so far only about $400 million has been disbursed by the two agencies, according to a congressional memo on the program.

The CEO of a small telecommunications firm in Kansas will likely raise his concerns with how the funding was allocated. Eagle Communications President Gary Shorman, who is slated to testify, wrote Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and RUS Administrator Jonathan Adelstein last March to voice concerns about a $101 million grant that RUS announced in January 2010 to the Kansas-based Rural Telephone Service Company, which is supposed to provide broadband service to an area 99.5 percent unserved or underserved now.

Shorman, however, argued in his letter that the funding is directed at providing broadband in "one of the best-served communities in western Kansas." He noted it is served by his firm and other carriers.

During a National Journal Live event Tuesday, Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton, D-Mich., was asked about the hearing. He wouldn't predict what the panel might do in response to the oversight hearing, saying that "I can't tell you how the hearings will unfold."

Updated: 5:45 p.m.

Two key lawmakers Tuesday waded into the growing controversy over so-called "In-App" purchases on mobile devices that have sparked criticism from parents.

In-App charges are part of new programs on Apple's iTunes store that allow companies to charge for products and services, and in some cases, items that act like electronic tokens to be used in games. The service caught the attention of Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., chairman of the Senate Commerce Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Insurance Subcommittee.

Responding to a report Tuesday in The Washington Post that described children running up more than $1,000 in charges playing games on devices like iPhones and iPads, Markey and Pryor sent separate letters Tuesday to Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz asking the agency to investigate the matter. Markey wanted to know if such payments and similar industry practices constitute "unfair or deceptive acts or practices."

"I am concerned about how these applications are being promoted and delivered to consumers, particularly with respect to children, who are unlikely to understand the ramifications of In-App purchases," Markey wrote.

Markey also urged the agency to provide consumers with more information about "the marketing and delivery" of such apps, while Pryor asked for more information on what the agency is doing to "mitigate" consumer confusion about such services.

"Children, in particular appear to be confused by In-App purchases, leaving parents with an unexpected bill for virtual smurfberries, snowflakes or other products," Pryor wrote. "In the end, it would appear that these app companies may be the ones having all the fun and games at our children's expense."

Updated:
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who sits on the Senate Commerce Committee, joined in the wave of correspondence to Leibowitz Tuesday raising concerns about the In-App service.

Klobuchar, who has been active in pushing for greater transparency in wireless phone billing practices, called for "common-sense safeguards to ensure that in-app sales are not misleading and gouging consumers."

An Apple spokeswoman noted that a password is required to purchase any goods on the App Store including In Apps. In addition, she said that iTunes includes parental control settings that allow parents to restrict app downloading or to turn off the In-App purchasing feature.

The Federal Communications Commission took the first step Tuesday toward funding new broadband networks by diverting fees collected to help subsidize affordable telephone service in rural and high-cost areas, National Journal Daily reported..

But the opening move, while unanimous, prompted immediate criticism from a leading Republican lawmaker and will surely be the first of many confrontations as the agency struggles to reform an outdated system.

Under the plan, the FCC will seek to "modernize and streamline" the Universal Service Fund and the associated intercarrier compensation system, which were designed to help companies build telephone lines in underserved areas. Click here, to read more. (Subscription required)

House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton said Tuesday that he is keeping an open mind as to whether Congress needs to pass legislation to enhance consumer privacy online.

The Michigan Republican told Tech Daily Dose after appearing at a National Journal Live event that he will wait and see what comes out of hearings that could take place in the Energy and Commerce Committee as early as this spring on the issue.

"I don't have a pre-set destination" on the issue, Upton said. He noted that privacy is split between the Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade Subcommittee, headed by Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif., and the Communications and Technology Subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., "We need to explore what's going on," Upton said.

Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., a senior member of the committee who chaired Bono Mack's subcommittee in the last Congress, is expected to re-introduce privacy legislation he offered in the last Congress this week.

The Senate Judiciary Committee announced Tuesday that it would be holding a hearing February 16 on websites that infringe intellectual property and ways to combat those who offer pirated content and counterfeit products online.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., introduced legislation in the last Congress, which was approved by his committee in November, that aimed to combat online piracy and counterfeiting from foreign websites by among other things allowing the Justice Department to seek a court order to revoke the domain names belonging to foreign websites engaged in piracy or counterfeiting. Leahy has said he will reintroduce the bill again.

Federal authorities led by the Homeland Security Department's Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency have been using current laws to go after some websites engaged in piracy or that offer counterfeit products.

"Congress can take action to complement these efforts by passing legislation to curb online intellectual property theft," Leahy said in a statement. "This is neither a Republican nor a Democratic priority. It is another essential part of our efforts to strengthen and protect our nation's economy."

The ICE website crackdown and Leahy's legislation have been criticized by some tech groups and privacy advocates who argue such approaches undermine legitimate speech and also give foreign regimes that want to stifle political opponents an excuse to shut down websites they don't like. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., is among the lawmakers who have been critical of both the Leahy bill and the ICE crackdown known as "Operation In our Sites."

The committee said it would release a list of witnesses expected to testify at next week's later this week.

Among the other possible "tools" House Republicans could pursue to block the Federal Communications Commission's network neutrality rules would be to try to block funding to implement the order on the issue, House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., said Tuesday.

During an interview as part of a National Journal Live event, Upton repeated his earlier pledge that House Republicans will use "all the tools in the toolbox" to try to block the net neutrality order the FCC approved in December that aims to ensure that broadband providers do not discriminate against Internet content and applications.

Upton was asked about the Republicans' pledge to try to block the rules by passing a resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act. Upton said while the resolution "is probably the most likely vehicle," he also suggested that denying funding to allow the FCC to carry out the order is another option.

He noted that the first opportunity to cut off such funding could come next week when the House is expected to take up a continuing resolution to keep the government funded.

After the event, Upton said he did not know if an effort to deny funding would "happen as early as next week" but said it is among the possible options available to lawmakers.

During the event, Upton would not say when the resolution of disapproval would be introduced but noted he would not be the one to offer it. Such a resolution under the Congressional Review Act gives lawmakers a limited amount of time to try to block a federal agency's rule. It is binding and only requires a majority vote in both chambers. Upton said he expects bipartisan support in both chambers for such a resolution.

Energy and Commerce Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., is supporting the effort to block the FCC's net neutrality order and could take the lead on offering the resolution in the House. In the Senate, Commerce ranking member Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, also has indicated she will offer a resolution of disapproval to block the net neutrality rules.

Upton said that his committee will be holding a hearing on Feb. 16 during which all five FCC commissioners are set to appear. He predicted net neutrality will be "the big issue they will be quizzed on."

Upton also noted that the FCC's order will be tested in the courts. Verizon filed a challenge to the FCC's order last month. "I'm not a lawyer but I'll bet they lose, the FCC loses," he said.

Nextgov.com reported that beginning Oct. 1, the White House will penalize agencies that fail to outfit facilities and information technology systems with electronic identity card readers by withholding funds for other programs, according to a new White House memo.

Federal employees and contractors are required to carry ID badges embedded with digital fingerprints and photos to access federal buildings and networks, under the 2004 Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12. But agencies have long struggled to employ the electronic features of the badges.

The Feb. 3 Office of Management and Budget guidance directs agency heads to submit implementation policies by March 31 on required uses of the smart cards, and stipulates that funds be frozen at offices that do not follow the rules. The memo stops short of restricting bonuses and awards at agencies that have not fully complied with HSPD-12, a penalty that the nonprofit Center for Strategic and International Studies recommended during the presidential transition. To read more, click here.

On Monday White House officials released the first report on intellectual property enforcement since the Joint Strategic Plan was enacted last year.

The report, compiled by the Office of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator, describes efforts to enforce intellectual property laws in the United States and around the world since the first Joint Strategic Plan was released last year.

"Lowering barriers to entry and creating global distribution channels, the Internet has opened markets and opportunities for American companies," wrote Victioria Espinel, U.S. intellectual property enforcement coordinator. "The Internet, however, has also allowed piracy and counterfeiting to occur on an unprecedented and global scale."

Unsurprisingly, the report is largely a pat on the back for its authors, who tout successes around the world, including the seizure of more than 90 websites accused of hosting pirated content. The report also won plaudits from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Global Intellectual Property Center, which also called on the administration to "expand on current efforts" and further protect intellectual property rights.

The Federal Communications Commission insists that it has the legal authority to dramatically overhaul the $8 billion dollar universal service fund -- and doesn't require congressional action to shift its focus from subsidizing phone service in rural and poor areas to instead reducing broadband connectivity costs. In a speech today, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski outlined his vision for recalibrating the fund to help the agency achieve its goal of connecting at least 90 percent of Americans to the Internet over the next decade (roughly 2/3rds of U.S. citizens use broadband now).

But there are lingering legal questions as to whether the agency has the authority to craft new policies affecting broadband following a federal appeals court decision last year that struck down another commission attempt to regulate the technology. Speaking this afternoon to reporters, a senior agency official said the FCC, which votes Tuesday morning on the latest in a series of proposals designed to revamp the fund, will draw its legal authority from section 254 of the 1996 Telecom Act, which created the subsidy program. The official also insisted that congressional legislation is not required for the commission to pursue its planned changes, a view that some lawmakers have previously disputed.

Federal Communications Chairman Julius Genachowski set the stage Monday for Tuesday's vote on a plan to revamp subsidies designed to provide telephone services to rural areas.

Speaking at an event sponsored by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, Genachowski said the current universal service fee system is outmoded, prone to fraud and a waste of money.

"In the 21st century, high-speed Internet, not telephone, is our essential communications platform, and Americans are using wired and wireless networks to access it," Genachowski said. "But while the world has changed around it, USF - in too many ways - has stood still, and even moved backwards. The program is still designed to support traditional telephone service. It's a 20th century program poorly suited for the challenges of a 21st century world."

At Tuesday's commission meeting, the FCC will consider a plan to revise the system and reroute funds to help build broadband infrastructure.

A Homeland Security Department program that was supposed to automate the processing of immigration papers still has not launched, after the agency responsible failed to complete a required pilot test and then continued to spend four years and more than $6 million to build the system, Nextgov.com reported.

Just last week, in her state of the department address, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano said, "We will begin transitioning from a paper-based system to a new customer-focused, centralized electronic case management system for immigration benefits."

Documents obtained by Nextgov indicate the project has fallen behind schedule and increased significantly in cost, however.

To read the rest of this article, click here.

Following through on a proposal he debuted during his State of the Union speech, President Obama plans to outline his "national wireless initiative" during a Thursday appearance in Marquette, Mich. Obama called for extending the next generation of wireless service -- presumably a reference to 4G, or 4th generation technology -- to 98 percent of the country over the next five years. "This isn't just about a faster Internet and fewer dropped calls," the president said during his address to Congress. "It's about connecting every part of America to the digital age."

While the president is bullish about the prospects for making 4G available to most Americans, increasing broadband adoption and access are other matters. The Federal Communications Commission is seeking to tackle those goals in a national strategy that calls for expanding broadband's reach from about two-thirds of U.S. citizens today to 90 percent or more over the next decade.

Just weeks after the U.S. eased defense industry export restrictions on India, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke will start a five-day trade mission to the country Sunday, leading 24 American businesses in an effort to promote high-tech development.

The delegation is largely composed of top defense and security companies, including Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Palantir Technologies, and night-vision manufacturer FLIR Systems, as well as nuclear power companies and software developers like Intuit.

"Exports are leading the U.S. economic recovery, spurring future economic growth and creating jobs in America," Locke said in a statement. "The business leaders joining me on this mission see the great potential to sell their goods and services to India, helping drive innovation and create jobs in both countries."

The delegation is scheduled to stop in New Dehli, Mumbai and Bangalore.

The White House released its Strategy for American Innovation Friday, outlining plans to "out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world."

Topping the list of proposals were the administration's wireless initiative, patent reform, and clean energy. The report also laid out goals to increase science and math education as well as a program to encourage entrepreneurship.

The proposed wireless initiative aims to help businesses extend high-speed wireless Internet to 98 percent of Americans within five years, as well as expand the amount of spectrum available for commercial use.

On patent reform, White House officials say they support both administrative and legislative plans to fix the "enormous" backlog at the patent office.

The report calls for a clean energy standard to of delivering 80 percent of America's energy from clean sources by 2035. President Obama also calls for more funding to help develop more advanced technology vehicles.

"The next waves of innovation and economic growth may come from many corners," the report states. "In areas of well-defined national importance, public investments can help catalyze advances, leveraging key breakthroughs and U.S. leadership."

Unlike with the recent approval of the Comcast-NBC Universal merger, critics of Google's proposed acquisition of the travel software firm ITA are unlikely to be pacified by the possible conditions that federal regulators are reportedly weighing.

The Justice Department is reviewing Google's proposed acquisition of ITA, which provides its search technology to many travel search sites, and appears close to wrapping up its deliberations, according to several sources following the matter closely.

Some recent reports have speculated that the department is considering whether to require Google to offer a compulsory license for those who want to ITA's technology. A Google spokesman would not comment on the deliberations at Justice or on what conditions it has proposed to the department to gain approval of the deal.

Google has said publicly that its $700 million acquisition of ITA will "create a new, easier way for users to find better flight information online, which should encourage more users to make their flight purchases online." The firm argues that the deal will benefit passengers, airlines and online travel agencies by "making it easier for users to comparison shop for flights and airfares and by driving more potential customers to airlines' and online travel agencies' websites. Google won't be setting airfare prices and has no plans to sell airline tickets to consumers."

But critics of the merger, which include a group of travel search sites that compete against each other, have been lobbying to have the merger blocked. Some say that conditions would not address the overall harm to competition they see from the merger.

"The only way to truly avoid competitive harm is to block the transaction," said Expedia counsel Thomas Barnett, who headed the Justice's antitrust division during the administration of former President George W. Bush.

Many of the travel and other online sites including Expedia, Kayak, Microsoft and Travelocity have joined together as the FairSearch coalition to oppose the Google ITA deal. Several of these travel sites including Kayak, Hotwire and major airlines such as Continental and United Airlines, use ITA Software.

When asked about the possibility of requiring Google to offer ITA software under a compulsory license, said Kayak Chief Marketing Officer Robert Birge said it would be difficult to enforce. He said he is concerned that a compulsory license would not guarantee that innovations are passed on to the licensees or ensure that the software performance is not degraded. Kayak uses ITA software for its travel search services but also has its own proprietary technology layered on top of the ITA software, an arrangement that gives ITA access to Kayak's own software.

"We don't think conditions will protect competition," Birge sad.

Expedia, Kayak and other travel search sites worry that unlike ITA, which licenses its software to travel sites but does not compete with them, Google also will be a competitor. In addition, they voice concern that Google will leverage its dominance in Internet search to travel search by offering its products at the top of a search page when someone is looking for travel options, which it does with other its other services such as Google maps.

"Right now ITA doesn't compete with us. The second they do their incentive has changed," Birge said.

He added that Kayak asked Google and ITA whether they would agree to renew Kayak's license to use ITA software, continue to grant access to software upgrades and put up a firewall to protect Kayak's intellectual property but were turned down on all three requests.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency used social media tools to inform the public as a major winter storm moved across the country this week, but experts said the agency should make it a two-way street and listen to what the public is saying as well, Nextgov.com reported.

On its Twitter page, FEMA has been Tweeting updates about storm preparedness and its effects to more than 29,200 followers. The Tweets are informative, such as linking to new data about the storm on the agency's website, as well as service-oriented: "If you'll be removing snow/ice in the next few days, take frequent breaks: Cold temps & exertion can cause a heart attack #blizzard." The agency also posted daily blizzard updates on Facebook for its nearly 26,000 fans. To read more, click here.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., is concerned about an effort by the Homeland Security Department's Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency and the Justice Department to combat online piracy and counterfeiting by seizing Internet domain names, National Journal Daily reported.

Wyden wrote Attorney General Eric Holder and ICE Director John Morton on Wednesday seeking more information about their "Operation In Our Sites" crackdowns, saying they represent a "major shift" in how the United States combats online infringement.

ICE announced its latest targets on Wednesday when it seized the Internet addresses of 10 websites accused of illegally offering access to sports events and other copyright-protected content.

Wyden noted that until Operation In Our Sites was launched last summer, the government generally tackled online piracy under the "notice and takedown" provision of the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which enabled copyright holders to contact websites that contain infringing content and ask them to take that content down. To read more, click here. (Subscription required)

David Blumenthal announced Thursday that he is stepping down from his post as national coordinator for health information technology.

Blumenthal, appointed by President Obama in March 2009, said he plans to return to Harvard University. During his tenure, Blumenthal oversaw the deployment of funding included in the 2009 economic stimulus package to give doctors and hospitals incentives to switch to electronic records.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius praised Blumenthal for helping to encourage the adoption of new technology.

"David will leave his post having built a strong foundation, created real momentum for [health IT] adoption, charted a course for the meaningful use of [electronic health records] and launched a new phase of cooperative and supportive work with the healthcare community, states, and cities across the nation," she said in a statement.

The Federal Communications Commission Thursday established rules for the first-ever test of a nationwide "Presidential Alert" system.

The system, which is designed to allow the White House to send a national alert across the country in case of a major national emergency, was first tested regionally in Alaska last year. The coming test will be the first test to actually go nationwide, FCC spokesman Robert Kenny said.

"The test will assist the FCC, in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Weather Service, with assessing the current system and better determining what improvements need to be made to further strengthen the Nation's EAS, particularly as broadband technologies continue to emerge," according to a FCC statement.

Thursday's actions simply get the ball rolling, Kenny said, with the test likely not taking place before the end of the year.

"It will take a lot of coordination between our agencies and broadcasters, and we will be doing a lot of public outreach so people know it's coming," Kenny said.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski said Thursday that he has hired a former key aide to ex-Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., as his new special counsel.

Amy Levine, who advised Boucher on technology and telecommunications issues before he was defeated for re-election in November, will work in the FCC's Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis.

She will be responsible for such issues as public safety and spectrum. She will be working with the FCC's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau to help create a national interoperable public safety broadband network and on implementation of an enhanced E911 network and next generation 911 technologies.

She also will be charged with working with other bureaus to help make more spectrum available for wireless broadband and other new technologies through such proposals as voluntary incentive auctions. The proposal calls for giving broadcasters a share of the proceeds from auctions from any spectrum they voluntarily relinquish.

Levine worked on many of these issues for Boucher. Her background also includes stints working for Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., and Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. She also spent five years as an associate at Covington & Burling, where she worked on communications, media and technology issues.

Genachowski described Levine in a statement as "a dedicated public servant, who has been able to work in a bipartisan fashion to develop smart, sensible approaches to complex problems and her knowledge and expertise will be invaluable to the agency."

A new report by the Pew Research Center released Thursday shows that older Americans are catching up to younger generations in their use and ownership of electronic devices.

According to the report, 85 percent of adults own cell phones, with 90 percent of all adults living in a household with at least one mobile phone. Perhaps more surprising, more than 60 percent of adults 75 and older live in households with cell phones.

Despite the increase in mobile electronics, desktop computers remain the most popular with adults ages 35-65, while 70 percent of younger adults own a laptop, the report states. Mp3 players are also most popular among adults ages 18-34, but almost half of all adults say they rock out with a mobile music player.

Where do the generations agree? On game consoles, tablets and e-book readers, according to the report. Sixty-three percent of American adults say they own an electronic game system. E-books and tablets readers remain new, and relatively rare, electronic devices for Americans. Only 4 percent of adults said they own an iPad or other tablet computer and 5 percent reported owning e-book readers.

As expected, the oldest Americans tend to lag behind their younger neighbors in use of new technologies. While 9 percent of all Americans said they do not own any of the devices in the study, 43 percent of adults over 75 say they don't own any such devices.

According to the study, younger "Millennials" between 18 and 34 years old not only owned more devices, but used a wider range of functions.

"For instance, most cell phone owners only use two of the main non-voice functions on their phones: taking pictures and text messaging," the report states. "However, most Millennials also use their phones to surf the internet, send email, play games, listen to music, and record videos."

The study, which included 1,000 interviews by cell phone, was based on a survey of 3,001 American adults and was conducted in August and September 2010. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

The latest patent reform legislation was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee as expected Thursday, with support from both sides of the aisle, National Journal Daily reported.

Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., shepherded his first bill of the year through the committee with unanimous support. Sixteen senators voted in favor of the Patent Reform Act of 2011, while Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Tom Coburn, R-Okla., passed. To read more, click here. (Subscription required)

Egypt's shut down of the Internet in response to the pro-democracy riots taking place there was not only costly to its citizens when it comes to having access to key communications, it also proved costly to the nation's economy.

Preliminary figures released Thursday by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development showed that Egypt's decision to block Internet services for five days cost the country an estimated $90 million. The OECD said the blocked telecommunications and Internet services accounted for about 3 percent to 4 percent of the country's gross domestic product, which accounted for about $18 million a day.

"The long-term impact could be greater ... as it has cut off domestic and international high-tech firms who provide services globally and will make it much more difficult in the future to attract foreign companies and assure them that the networks will remain reliable. To date, attracting such firms has been a key strategy of the government," the OECD said in an e-mail to reporters Thursday.

Internet penetration in Egypt is still low compared to other OECD countries. Fixed and wireless broadband penetration was still under 10 percent as of December 2009, the OECD said. The average for OECD countries was about 23.3 percent as of December 2009.

In the United States, Egypt's move to cut off Internet access has prompted new debate over cybersecurity legislation that some critics say includes an emergency power provision that could be used by the U.S. president to shut down U.S. access to the Internet.

In response to such concerns, Senate Homeland Security Chairman Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., ranking member Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., issued a statement Tuesday insisting that the bill they offered in the last Congress, and are expected to reintroduce, would not allow the president to shut down the Internet.

Still, Free Press said late Wednesday that the last version of the bill included "broad, ambiguous language" that does not provide adequate safeguards.

"It's good to see the senators have heard the outcry from Americans troubled by this bill, but their promises that the bill won't give the president 'kill-switch' powers aren't very reassuring," Timothy Karr of Free Press said in a statement. "The devil is always in the details, and here the details suggest that this is a dangerous bill that threatens our free speech rights."

The Internet hit an important milestone Thursday. The group that manages the Internet's domain name system just handed out the last five blocks of addresses that use the original Internet protocol system known as IPv4.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Number made clear that this news will not affect average Internet users. But it will require websites to eventually transition to the next generation Internet protocol known as IPv6.

At a news conference in Miami, ICANN CEO Rod Beckstrom described the event as "one of the most important days in the Internet's history. It marks far more than a transition from one Internet address protocol to another. It marks the successful growth of the Internet."

Still, Beckstrom and other officials stressed that Internet users should not notice any difference. "This event is insignificant" for Internet users, Internet Architecture Board Chairman Olaf Kolkman said. "Next week the Internet won't be significantly different than it was a week ago."

ICANN's Internet Assigned Numbers Authority allocated the last blocks, containing about 60 million IPv4 addresses, to the five Regional Internet Registries on Thursday.

When asked how long it will take each region to exhaust their final allocation of IPv4 addresses, Raúl Echeberría, chairman of the Number Resources Organization that represents the regional registries, said it will depend on each region but said he expects the Asia-Pacific region will run out first. An official with that organization added that the Asia-Pacific regional registry, like the others, has a plan in place to ration the remaining IPv4 addresses and expected it would take five to 10 years to completely exhaust them all.

There are about 4.3 billion IPv4 addresses in total, with most of those now in use, but the transition to IPv6 will provide a "billion-trillion times" more addresses, Beckstrom said. Kolkman added that IPv6 will help enable the rollout of new technologies and innovations that are not possible under the current IPv4-based Internet.

ICANN and the other officials from Internet-technical groups called on companies, organizations and governments to help bring attention to the need to transition to IPv6.

"The older generation will not go away. It still has a lot to contribute," Internet Society President and CEO Lynn St. Amour said. "But the sooner we all move to adopt IPv6, the better."

In the meantime, many companies, organizations and others who use the Internet will have to make technical modifications to accommodate both IPv4 and IPv6 and eventually will only be given IPv6 addresses.

While major Internet firms like Google and Facebook have adapted their systems for IPv6, the Internet Society has helped organize World IPv6 Day on June 8 "to motivate organizations" around the world to transition to IPv6, St. Amour said. As part of this effort, Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Akamai and others will offer their content over IPv6 for a 24-hour "test drive," she added.

With Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy's patent legislation on the docket for markup Thursday morning, amendments are trickling in, National Journal Daily reported.

The Vermont Democrat has resurrected his patent proposals from last year, and with them, similar concerns from industry groups and members of Congress.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., was a major player in past patent debates but had been largely silent of late. She is now circulating at least two amendments to the bill, including one eliminating a provision that would award a patent to the first inventor to file a patent application, not the first to invent an item. To read more, click here. (Subscription required)

The National Weather Service experienced nearly six times its normal volume of Web traffic as a major winter storm moved across the country Sunday night, leading to a slowdown and partial shutdown of its website and NWSChat, the tool the agency uses to communicate with emergency managers across the country, Nextgov.com reported.

The agency began receiving up to 20 million hits an hour on its Weather.gov site starting Sunday evening, compared to the typical rate of 70 million hits per day, said National Weather Service Deputy Director Laura Furgione. The storm is having a far greater impact than most land-falling hurricanes, she said.

By Monday, the "catastrophic" service overload was "severe to the point where we had equipment failures," said NWS Spokesman Curtis Carey. "The volume was so extreme, so historic, that I think the equipment held out for as long" as possible, he said. Read more here.

The top executives of two of the nation's leading tech companies said Wednesday that they believe the nation is facing a crisis in terms of maintaining its competitiveness in the coming years given the aggressive steps taken by China, India and other countries to compete internationally.

During a forum on technology and innovation sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, IBM Chairman and CEO Samuel J. Palmisano and Dell Chairman and CEO Michael Dell discussed how the United States can maintain its innovation edge, while also outlining ways the federal government can reduce its deficit.

It's a "real crisis," Dell said in discussing the need for the country to take steps to maintain its competitive edge. "We can't afford to ignore these issues. We also don't believe its too late. We think if we take decisive action, a lot of progress can be made."

Dell, Palmisano and other tech CEOs met Tuesday with President Obama to talk more about some of the issues he raised during his State of the Union address last week including his call for more focus on ways to help spur U.S innovation.

Palmisano said during the White House meeting there "was a sincere and keen interest in addressing why the U.S. is not more competitive."

The IBM chief summed up the "three biggest inhibitors to competitiveness" in the United States as taxes, trade and education. On taxes, Palmisano noted in a global economy, big international companies like IBM can locate their operations anywhere in the world and said many companies will question why they should invest in the United States when it has one of the highest corporate tax rates at more than 30 percent, while other countries are as low as 10 percent.

Palmisano and Dell also brought this message to key lawmakers on Capitol Hill. They met Wednesday with Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont. as well as Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, to talk about the need to lower the corporate tax rate, a move Obama echoed in his State of the Union speech, and implement several pending free trade agreements, Tim Sheehy, IBM's vice president of governmental programs, said after the forum.

When it comes to education, Palmisano said companies are having trouble getting access to top talent in the United States, noting that some countries are graduating twice as many students with doctorates than the Untied States.

On trade, he noted Obama urged the CEOs to help the administration make the case for some of the pending free trade agreements. The data shows that the "United States is better off" when it has free trade agreements in place, Palmisano said. However, he acknowledged that this is not the "perception of the average American." He added that business leaders "have to sell the case ... That's very, very difficult in a high unemployment environment."

Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., wants you to tell him about "burdensome" federal regulations.

Stearns, chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, said Wednesday he is working to set up a website where people can identify regulations that they think are stifling economic growth.

"It is the American people who must comply with these regulations and pay their costs, and I am asking them to report any burdensome regulations that hurt the economy," Stearns said. "I am working with the Energy & Commerce Committee to establish this section on the Oversight & Investigations Subcommittee's web page."

Until that page is set up, Stearns has established a section on his website where constituents can report offending regulations.

House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., launched a similar effort before officially taking over his post, reaching out to a range of businesses to tell him which government regulations are stifling economic growth.

The concerns that two key lawmakers the House Energy and Commerce Committee raised Wednesday about Facebook's proposal to share its users' mobile phone and addresses with third parties will likely continue as lawmakers begin to craft legislation to provide online privacy safeguards for consumers.

In a letter Wednesday to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Reps. Edward Markey, D-Mass., and Joe Barton, R-Texas, requested answers to a long list of questions about changes Facebook outlined last month to expand the user data shared with third parties to include mobile phone numbers and addresses.

Markey said in a statement that he wants answers "to better understand Facebook's practices regarding possible access to users' personal information by third parties. This is sensitive data and needs to be protected."

In a blog post about this proposal last month, Facebook's Douglas Purdy said the proposal would allow Facebook users to improve their online e-commerce experiences by streamlining the checkout process at online retail sites and added that mobile phone and address information would only be shared with user permission. However, he also announced that Facebook was suspending the service and planned to relaunch it to make it easier for users to know when they are granting access to the use of their data.

In their letter to Zuckerberg, Barton and Markey wanted much more information about the service including whether the proposed feature called for sharing any other information beyond mobile phone numbers and addresses with third parties and whether any data was shared before the service was suspended; the process for vetting new services like this; why the company suspended the rollout of the new service; whether the changes will prompt a more prominent notice to users; and whether the company considered the risks to teens and children of sharing this information.

This is not the first time Barton and Markey have questioned Facebook's privacy practices. The lawmakers, who are the House co-chairmen of the Congressional Privacy Caucus, wrote Facebook last fall about reports that Facebook user data had been breached by third parties.

Facebook released a statement Wednesday that said it believes there is "tremendous value in giving people the freedom and control to take information they put on Facebook with them to other websites. We enable people to share this information only after they explicitly authorize individual applications to access it."

While noting that this permission system was designed with privacy experts, the social networking site acknowledged based on user feedback that "there may be additional improvements we could make."

The answers Markey and Barton receive could help inform legislation that they and other lawmakers plan to offer to bolster online privacy.

Privacy advocates say they would like to see more attention paid to information collected by sites like Facebook and more focus on whether their opt-in systems are as robust as they should be, according to Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy. He said it's an issue he plans to raise with lawmakers and in his comments with the Federal Trade Commission on its proposed online privacy guidelines.

Markey is working on a measure, which a spokeswoman said he will introduce early this Congress, aimed at preventing children from being tracked on the Internet for advertising purposes. Barton has said he plans to work with a bipartisan group of House lawmakers on broader online privacy legislation.

Just days before the Super Bowl, federal officials seized the Web addresses of 10 websites accused of illegally offering access to sports events and other copyright-protected content.

In the seizure warrant unsealed Wednesday, investigators estimated that "each year sports leagues and broadcasters lose millions of dollars from the illegal distribution of copyrighted, live sporting events over the Internet."

The 10 sites provided links to other websites that hosted pirated sports events and Pay-Per-View content, according to the unsealed documents.

Federal officials from the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and Immigration and Customs Enforcement seized the website addresses on Tuesday.

The targeted sites were: atdhe.net, channelsurfing.net, hq-streams.com, hqstreams.net, firstrow.net, ilemi.com, iilemi.com, iilemii.com, rojadirecta.org and rojadirecta.com.

"The illegal streaming of professional sporting events over the Internet deals a financial body blow to the leagues and broadcasters who are forced to pass their losses off to fans by raising prices for tickets and pay-per-view events," said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in a statement.

Federal attorneys say they will ask that the domain names be forfeited.

Even as street protests took a turn for the worse Wednesday, analysts and observers on the ground are reporting that Internet access seems to have returned in Egypt.

After a five-day blackout, analysts noticed a spike in Internet traffic at about 11:30 a.m. in Egypt, according to James Cowie of the Internet intelligence firm Renesys.

U.S. Internet companies also reported the surge. "Good news: Internet access being restored in Egypt," Google wrote in a Tweet Wednesday morning as the company's
"Transparency Report" recorded a spike in traffic.

Egypt's tight control of communications networks earned condemnation but also sparked concerns about Internet freedom in the United States.

"Those in Congress who have proposed an 'Internet Kill Switch' for the U.S. should realize the danger of their proposal now that Egyptian President Mubarak has flipped such a switch to stifle dissent in Egypt," said TechFreedom President Berin Szoka on Saturday. "This incident also demonstrates a more subtle point: Maintaining the rule of law in times of crisis demands judicial review for the president's decision to designate something a "critical asset" subject to government diktat in the name of protecting 'cybersecurity.'"

The authors of the legislation Szoka referenced, however, denied that their measure would allow the president to shut down U.S. access to the Internet.

In a statement Tuesday, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Chairman Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., ranking member Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., said their "cybersecurity legislation is intended to protect the U.S. from external cyber attacks. Yet, some have suggested that our legislation would empower the president to deny U.S. citizens' access to the Internet. Nothing could be further from the truth."

They added, "We would never sign on to legislation that authorized the President, or anyone else, to shut down the Internet. Emergency or no, the exercise of such broad authority would be an affront to our Constitution."

They argued that the legislation they introduced in the last Congress includes provisions to protect Americans' First amendment rights and ability to access the Internet, while giving the president "ample authority to ensure that those most critical services that rely on the Internet are protected."

The U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Wednesday turned down Verizon's request to have the same panel that ruled in favor of Comcast's challenge to the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality enforcement action take up Verizon's lawsuit against the agency's latest action on the issue.

The D.C. appeals court panel, which Verizon wanted to hear its challenge filed last month to the FCC's December net neutrality order, ruled last year that the commission had overstepped its authority when it tried to sanction Comcast for violating the agency' network neutrality principles.

The court Wednesday denied Verizon's request without explanation. The court has not taken any action on the merits of Verizon's challenge to the FCC network neutrality order. Verizon claimed in its challenge that the FCC once again overstepped the authority provided by Congress by trying to impose network neutrality rules on broadband providers.

"We're pleased with the Court's swift action and look forward to the dismissal of the other part of Verizon's request," Public Knowledge said in a statement.

Nextgov.com reports that two years after President Obama announced his open government initiative, federal agencies still face numerous organizational, technical and resource challenges in its implementation, according to a new report from the IBM Center for the Business of Government.

Obstacles to progress include outdated information technology infrastructure, risks of violating online privacy, relatively weak public engagement, the need to enforce accountability and responsibility, and a lack of resources, wrote the report's authors, Gwanhoo Lee, an associate professor of business at American University, and Young Hoon Kwan, an associate professor of business at The George Washington University.

When the Obama administration in May 2009 officially launched its long-awaited open government initiative, it included ambitious plans for facelifts to federal websites that would offer raw data the public could download and adapt. It garnered encouraging reviews from government transparency activists. Yet implementation has been slow, in part because of perceived risks that agencies might violate citizen privacy. To read more, click here.

Several members of the Technology CEO Council met with President Obama Tuesday to discuss some of the proposals announced in his State of the Union address, as well as how to streamline government with new technology.

The tech CEOs who attended the White House meeting included Ursula Burns of Xerox, Sam Palmisano of IBM, Dell's Michael Dell, Michael Splinter of Applied Materials, Steve Appleton of Micron Technology, and Joseph Tucci of EMC Corp.

The meeting at the White House was closed to the press, but according to White House officials Obama and the executives discussed future investment in the economy, improving science and math education to improve the pool of potential employees, the trade deal with South Korea, and "the benefits of investments in research and development and ways to work together on corporate tax reform."

The business leaders also talked about "reforming and reorganizing the government to streamline the process and improve efficiency through the use of technology."

The council, a tech industry advocacy group made up of CEOs from top U.S. tech firms, usually meets about twice a year with the president.

Dell and Palmisano are set to appear together Wednesday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies to discuss "technology, innovation and deficit reduction."

The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners has proposed a draft resolution that its members may vote on at its winter meeting later this month that would urge the Federal Communications Commission to ensure that all cable providers have equal access to content at a fair price.

NARUC's draft resolution noted the need for small and mid-size cable providers to be able to have access to content at a reasonable price in order to provide "triple play" packages, which usually include video, Internet and voice services. The resolution also discusses the FCC's recent actions on network neutrality and conditions included with the commission's approval of the Comcast-NBC Universal merger that dealt with the issue of content neutrality. The resolution also referenced the potential impact of possible changes to the universal service fund on smaller providers and those who primarily serve rural areas.

The draft resolution from the group, which represents state utility commissioners, also details the price hikes forced on some smaller and mid-sized cable firms by content providers. For example, the resolution noted that when Frontier Communications started serving some households formally served by Verizon in Indiana, Oregon and Washington, content providers demanded price hikes of between 30 percent and 45 percent.

In response, the draft resolution "strongly urges the FCC to carefully examine the damage these pricing practices may inflict on the business opportunities of midsize and small LECs [local exchange carriers] and comparable small and medium-sized cable providers and take appropriate action to rebalance the 'competitive playing field' to assure the ability of residents in small and rural markets to obtain the benefit of robust broadband is not impaired."

Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., plans next week to reintroduce the online privacy legislation he offered in the last Congress, a Rush spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Rush's bill from the 111th Congress would have allowed websites and other firms covered by the bill to use online information collected about users but they were required to provide clear notice about the information being collected and its use, while also giving consumers an opportunity to opt out. It also would have required third parties to obtain consent before using consumer information. In addition, the bill would have allowed companies and others covered by the legislation to obtain a safe harbor from some of the bill's provisions if they comply with a self-regulatory program approved by the Federal Trade Commission.

Among the possible changes Rush has considered including to his bill this Congress is some sort of do-not-track provision, which would give consumers more control over whether they are tracked online for advertising purposes. Rush, a senior member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, said earlier this month that he was leaning toward including such a provision in his bill.

Unlike a draft privacy bill floated last year by Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., and former Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., Rush's bill won the backing of some tech firms such as eBay, Intel and Microsoft.

In its comments last week on the Commerce Department's draft privacy report, Intel noted it supported Rush's bill, with the exception of a provision giving consumers' a private right of action, because "it was technology neutrality and gave flexibility to the Federal Trade Commission to adapt the bill's principles to changes in technology."

In order to bridge the so-called "digital divide" between those with access to new communications technology and those who lack it, communities will need to consider new business models, according to a new report by the New America Foundation.

At an event Tuesday, telecommunications researchers discussed innovative ways that communities are providing modern communications systems to low-income users and underserved areas.

"For over a decade community wireless networks all around the globe have been flourishing, and the technologies behind them have been flourishing, but we've heard very little about their successes and challenges," said Sascha Meinrath, director of the foundation's Open Technology Initiative.

The report highlights "global best practices" from the United States and Europe.

"By leveraging local capacity, which can range from the technological smarts of community residents to antennae mounts on buildings, it is clear there are many alternative models cities can utilize to advance their communications infrastructure," the report concludes.

The U.S. government Tuesday began testing new airport screening technology that does not generate an image of a person's body, in an effort to address concerns raised by privacy and civil liberties organizations, National Journal reported.

The use of whole-body scanning machines at airports has been controversial largely because the machines create an image of a person's body without clothes. The Transportation Security Administration has said the machines give airport screeners the best chance of finding hidden objects on travelers.

But TSA is now testing new software that will only generate a generic outline of a person. Threatening items will be marked on the outline.

"We are always looking for new technology and procedures that will both enhance security while strengthening privacy protections," TSA Administrator John Pistole said. "Testing this new software will help us confirm test results that indicate it can provide the same high level of security as current advanced imaging technology units while further enhancing the privacy protections already in place." Click here to read more.

Updated: 4:23 pm EST:
One of the strongest critics of the TSA's scanner program, Electronic Privacy Information Center Executive Director Marc Rotenberg, dismissed the agency's latest moves to address concerns about the scanners.

"It's not for the TSA to decide whether the TSA has done enough to protect privacy," Rotenberg said. "There has to be an independent evaluation and that is what the TSA
has opposed."

Rotenberg's group has filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the TSA seeking documents about the agency's latest screening technology. He said since the TSA has yet to respond to this request, EPIC plans to file a lawsuit this week to compel the agency to turn over the documents.

Meanwhile, the ranking member on the House Homeland Security Committee called on TSA Tuesday to conduct an updated assessment of the new system's impact on privacy and civil liberties.

"While I commend TSA for its continuing effort to improve our aviation security, we must also continue to protect the privacy of the flying public," Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said in a statement.

Juliana Gruenwald contributed to this story.

A group of public interest groups have filed a brief in support of an Internet firm that is trying to provide online competition to traditional cable firms and other multichannel video programming distributors.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, Media Access Project, Open Technology Initiative and Public Knowledge urged the U.S. District court in New York to turn down a request for a temporary restraining order made by a group of broadcasters against ivi TV.

Broadcasters filed a lawsuit in the fall against ivi TV, claiming the online content provider was infringing their copyrighted programs. Ivi TV offers subscribers access to many network shows for a $4.99 monthly subscription.

Ivi TV counters that it is following the law by paying broadcasters under the compulsory licensing system. The online firm filed a pre-emptive lawsuit against broadcasters in September requesting a declaratory judgment that it is not violating copyright laws.

"Online video distributors like ivi serve a vital role in increasing competition and
innovation in the video distribution market, and an injunction would not only remove ivi from the market, but also chill further potential entrants," the public interest groups wrote in their amicus brief filed with the court.

The groups added that in its review of Comcast's merger with NBC Universal, the Justice Department recognized the growing role online video providers like ivi.tv have in providing competition to cable firms and others by "playing a valuable role in restraining MVPDs from raising prices, and promoting innovation in the distribution of video programming."

A hearing on a request for temporary restraining order against ivi TV is set for Wednesday.

A recent internal test by a federally-funded broadcaster shows that the U.S. government has the power to bypass foreign Internet censors by feeding news over a special e-mail system. How that capability might affect events in Egypt, where leaders have cut off Internet services despite appeals by the Obama administration to restore them, remains unclear, Nextgov.com reported.

Between March and June 2010, the Broadcasting Board of Governors successfully used the tool in China to transmit news feeds from broadcasters Voice of America, CKXX and China Weekly, according to a report the nonprofit website GovernmentAttic.org obtained this month through a Freedom of Information Act request. The experiment offers a glimpse into the secret measures the State Department and U.S. broadcasters have taken -- and may currently be taking -- to enable the free flow of information when oppressive regimes cut off Internet access. Click here to read more.

Meanwhile, Google announced Monday that it has worked with Twitter to post messages on Twitter from those cut off from the Internet in Egypt. Those who want to Tweet a message can call three phone numbers and leave a message that will be tweeted using the hashtag #egypt. Those without Internet access can dial the same numbers (+16504194196 or +390662207294 or +97316199855) to listen to Tweets from Egypt.

Updated at 2 p.m. EST: More than 20 conservative organizations and activists officially released a letter Tuesday urging congressional leaders to scuttle a patent reform bill proposed by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. Among the signatories: Kevin L. Kearns of the U.S. Business and Industry Council, and Phyllis Schafly of Eagle Forum.

Tech Daily Dose got its hands on the letter from conservative activists on Monday. The comments may give a glimpse into some of the concerns the new GOP majority in the House could have about the patent legislation. The full text of the letter, as obtained by Tech Daily Dose on Monday, follows:

"Dear Speaker Boehner, Senators Reid and McConnell, and Rep. Pelosi:

We are writing to ask that you prevent the passage in this Congress of patent legislation that hampers U.S. competitiveness and threatens American jobs by undermining property rights. With our economy in crisis and millions of Americans out of work, this is the wrong time to jeopardize our recovery by passing legislation to remove incentives for innovation and commercialization of new products and processes.

Now being discussed is so-called "patent reform" legislation, like that offered by Rep. John Conyers and Senator Leahy in the 111th Congress, which would cripple most of America's smaller inventors, research consortia and universities, and even the larger industrial firms that depend on patents. Downgrading patent rights -- which are fundamental property rights -- will hamper innovation and domestic manufacturing. Unfortunately, some Members of Congress are poised to move ill-considered patent legislation through the House and Senate this year. Diminishing patent rights would be dangerous to the future of our economy and our country's global leadership, and must be stopped.

The Federal Government does many things that exceed its constitutional authority and hamper our free- enterprise system. In contrast, issuing patents is one of the few things specifically mentioned in the Constitution. According to Article 1, Section 8: "The Congress shall have Power . . . [t]o promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries." The Founders understood that protection of intellectual property was vital to innovation and progress. President Washington urged the first Congress of the United States to pass laws encouraging American innovation. James Madison wrote in the Federalist Papers, "The utility of this power will scarcely be questioned." Yet, today it is being threatened in the Senate and the House - at the behest of a minority of large technology companies.

Sadly, the Federal Government has fallen down in its patent responsibilities and has become a bottleneck to genuine innovation. According to the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO), the average patent applicant must wait 25 months before his or her application is first acted upon. The logical remedy to this problem is to fully fund the USPTO, allowing it to set user fees and keep them to run USPTO efficiently and effectively, rather than letting them be diverted to other parts of the government. In recent years, approximately $700 million originally allocated to the USPTO has been used for general government spending, causing a huge backlog of approximately 720,000 patent applications. This is the situation that must be reformed immediately.

Instead, some in Congress - again following the lead of several large IT companies -- want to make it easier to infringe patents, easier to challenge patent rights in administrative proceedings and in the courts, and more expensive for inventors to defend their patents. By creating a new, expensive procedure to challenge the validity of a patent throughout its life, the benefits to patent-holders become far less certain. Incentives to seek patents are severely weakened, and venture capitalists face much higher risks when backing new ideas. The cumulative effect of such "reforms" would be to raise barriers to innovation and dis-incentivize commercialization of those ideas. Changes along these lines will certainly not help us to remain economically competitive in the world economy, which is why officials in China and India have hailed the proposed "reforms" as helpful to their economic interests.

Additionally, some of these so-called reforms have been proposed in the name of "harmonization" with foreign law. Frankly, this notion is misguided. Our competitors should have to "harmonize up" to our superior intellectual property regime, rather than our having to weaken our patent system and "harmonize down" to their levels. Does the United States really need to be "harmonized" with a calcified European system or the impossibly unfair Japanese system, not to mention the Chinese system, where intellectual property theft is a way of life? Such "patent reform" will lead to the plundering of American intellectual property and the loss of American factories and jobs to overseas competitors.

The proposed reforms really benefit large, established corporate market players at the expense of U.S. economic growth. Start-up companies drive innovation and job creation. About one-third of all patent applications are made by independent inventors, small companies, universities, and nonprofit research groups. Some larger IT companies, however, which ironically benefited greatly from the current patent system when they were start-ups, fear having their market positions disrupted or constrained by new ideas outside their control. They want current law rewritten to make challenges to patents easier and more frequent after they are granted.

This phony, market-distorting "patent reform" is bad for America. We ask that you stop any such legislation from reaching the floor and protect the property rights enshrined in the Constitution. Our nation's economic future depends on your cooperation."

Phyllis Schlafly
Eagle Forum
Kevin L. Kearns
US Business and Industry Council
Morton Blackwell
Chairman, Weyrich Lunch
Colin A. Hanna,
Let Freedom Ring
Larry Hart
American Conservative Union
Dr. Richard Land
Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Convention

Jim Martin
60 Plus
C. Preston Noell
Tradition, Family, Property
Larry Pratt
Gun Owners of America
Ron Pearson
Council for America
Susan Carlson
American Civil Rights Union
Jim Backlin
Christian Coalition
Kenneth R. Timmerman
Author and Former President,
Maryland Taxpayers Association
Col. Charles Thomann (Ret.)
Patriotic Veterans, Inc.
Frank Gaffney
Center for Security Policy
Paul Caprio
Family Pac Federal
Gary Aldrich
Liberty Central
William H. Shaker
Republican Pac.com
Jeff Gaynor
Americans for Sovereignty
Dr. John Holmes
Association of Christian Schools International
Suhail A. Khan
Conservative Inclusion Coalition
Peter Knickerbocker
we read the constitution.com

From the latest edition of National Journal Daily:

Supporters of the latest legislation designed to reform a cumbersome patent system are heartened by what they see as increased momentum for change.

President Obama made innovation and economic competition the keystone of his State of the Union speech a week ago, and on Monday administration officials kicked off a program to jump-start entrepreneurship in America.

Speaking at the event to launch the "Startup America" initiative, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke singled out patent reform as an important step to help American companies compete.

All that attention bodes well for Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy's newest version of patent reform, scheduled for markup on Thursday, said Bill Mashek of the Coalition for 21st Century Patent Reform.

To read the rest of this article, visit Nationaljournal.com. (Subscription required)