September 2011

Gawker has doubts about a House bill aimed at allowing companies to call customers' cell phones, questioning whether it will really benefit consumers.

Ireland is probing how Facebook treats private data, the Financial Times reports.

Mashable examines the dicey relationship between Apple and Facebook.

For more e-Reads, click here.

Reuters reports that Deutsche Telekom has disavowed comments made earlier in the week by the telecom firm's chief technology officer, who said the company was weighing possible backup plans if its deal to sell its T-Mobile USA unit to AT&T is blocked.

The FCC has named new members to its diversity committee.

Great minds appear to think alike when it comes to Twitter study headlines.

Microsoft has reached deals with Comcast, Verizon, and HBO to distribute content directly to the tech firm's Xbox 360 gaming system.

Check out all of today's e-Reads here.

Vice President Joe Biden made another push on Thursday for giving emergency first responders the spectrum and funding they need to build a national broadband public safety network.

"You guys have been telling us now for ... 20 years that you have no band [that] is specifically dedicated for cops to be able to talk to firefighters, to be able to talk to National Guard, to be able to talk to the military, to be able to talk to anybody who responds to a genuine national emergency," Biden said during a stop at the Alexandria, Va., police department.

"After 10 years, we are finally fulfilling the promise that we have been fighting to fulfill for you for a long time."

In addition to funding to help localities rehire laid-off police officers and firefighters, the White House jobs bill sent to Congress earlier this month also includes spectrum legislation. The proposal would re-allocate a swath of spectrum known as the D-block to public safety for their broadband network and authorize funding to help build it. Under current law, the D-block is slated to be auctioned to commercial bidders.

Biden noted the communications problems that occurred during the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

"We knew why there was such devastating loss among firefighters and law enforcement officers, especially in New York," Biden said. "Why? [They] couldn't communicate with each other. "

The Senate Commerce Committee approved legislation in June favored by public safety groups that also would re-allocate the D-block to public safety and authorize funding to build it. But top Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee have resisted giving the D-block to public safety. The committee's Communications and Technology Subcommittee is aiming to mark up its own spectrum bill next week and it's unclear at this point how the panel's leaders will deal with the D-block issue. A draft bill released by subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., in June would maintain current law on the D-block.

Biden has been vocal on the issue. He hosted a White House summit in June aimed at rallying support for the public safety network.

The Justice Department has asked Google for more information about its proposed $12.5 billion acquisition of handset maker Motorola Mobility, Google said Wednesday.

Google already has a strong foothold in the mobile market with its Android mobile phone operating system but the deal to buy Motorola Mobility, announced in August, will allow it to get into the hardware market and expand its patent portfolio.

In a blog post, Google Senior Vice President Dennis Woodside said the request for additional information is "routine" and the firm remains confident that the deal will be approved. Still, the company has come under increased scrutiny by lawmakers and antitrust regulators. The Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee held a hearing last week on whether the company favors its own products in its search results, a subject the Federal Trade Commission is currently investigating.

"While this means we won't be closing right away, we're confident that the DOJ will conclude that the rapidly growing mobile ecosystem will remain highly competitive after this deal closes," Woodside said. "We'll be working closely and cooperatively with them as they continue their review."

Amazon unveils an iPad competitor for $199.

South Koreans armed with digital tools are turning in their neighbors, the New York Times reports.

The Atlantic says Facebook's new political action committee is a sign that the social network is just another big business.

A report says up to 41 percent of North American cellphone users plan to buy Apple's next iPhone, TechCrunch reports.

For more of Today's e-Reads, visit out Tech page.

President Obama plans to appoint the CEO of CenturyLink to a panel that advises on national security and telecommunications issues, the White House announced on Tuesday.

Glen Post III will serve on the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee, which includes up to 30 top executives from major U.S. telecom, aerospace, and IT companies.

The committee provides advice on the relability and availability of U.S. communications systems, including cybersecurity and emergency communications. It is chaired by the CEO of Level 3 Communications and includes CEOs from Twitter, McAfee, and all the largest telecom providers.

Post started at CenturyLink in 1976, holding a range of positions from treasurer to chairman of the board.

Ed Weiler, who helped send missions to the Moon and Mars and oversaw the Hubble space telescope, is retiring from NASA, the space agency said Tuesday.

Weiler will retire effective Sept. 30, NASA said.

Weiler is currently associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington, directing research and science programs in Earth science, heliophysics, planetary science and astrophysics. Chuck Gay,deputy associate administrator, will become the acting associate administrator until a permanent replacement is announced.

"Ed leaves an enduring legacy of pride and success that forever will remain a part of NASA's science history," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. "His leadership helped inspire the public with each new scientific discovery, and enabled NASA to move forward with new capabilities to continue to explore our solar system and beyond."

Weiler was chief scientist for the Hubble Space Telescope from 1979 to 1998; associate administrator for the agency's Space Science Enterprise from 1998 to 2004; and director of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., from 2004 to 2008.

"The successes under Weiler's leadership include NASA's great observatory missions, unprecedented advances in Earth science and extensive exploration of Mars and other planets in our solar system," NASA said.

Weiler's most recent project: the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission that launched to map the Moon earlier this month.

His full biography is here.

The emergency roadside service provider OnStar is backing off plans to track data from vehicles even after the service is canceled.

The company argued that continuing data links could be used to guide future services and help consumers, but the plans came in for strong criticism from lawmakers and civil libertarians concerned about the privacy implications.

Now, users who cancel their service plans can opt in to continue the data link, OnStar President Linda Marshall said in a statement on Tuesday.

"We realize that our proposed amendments did not satisfy our subscribers," she said. "This is why we are leaving the decision in our customers' hands."

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who criticized OnStar over the weekend, praised the decision and said it sets an important precedent.

"This announcement puts decisions about personal privacy back where they belong, in the hands of individuals," Schumer said in a statement. "OnStar's reversal of its policy to automatically track ex-customers is a major victory for personal privacy and the company's commitment that it would offer an opt-in, if it were ever to move forward with a program to track ex-customers, rightly restores the individual as the ultimate decision-maker as to what personal information they are willing to share."

New net neutrality rules have little chance of standing up in court, Forbes reports.

That experiment at CERN that seems to show a neutrino moving faster than the speed of light? Probably an error, physicist Michio Kaku writes in the Wall Street Journal.

Companies are still struggling to figure how to limit what employees can say about work on Facebook, according to the AP.

Former FCC Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth criticizes the agency's efforts to reform Universal Service Fund.

China launches its Tiangong 1 rocket this week and Scientific American reports crewed missions could be next.

Google helps put the Dead Sea scrolls online, according to Bloomberg.

For more of Today's e-Reads, visit our Tech Page.

Months after the revolutions started to sweep through countries in the Middle East and North Africa, debate continues over the role social media played in toppling governments.

A new study by the University of Washington has concluded Twitter did, in fact, play a major role in the revolutions of the Arab Spring.

"Until now, most of what we have known about the role of social media in the Arab Spring has been anecdotal," the report said. But after analyzing more than 3 million tweets, "for the first time we have evidence confirming social media’'s critical role in the Arab Spring."

The report, conducted by the university's Project on Information Technology and Political Islam, noted that the number of tweets from Egypt went from 2,300 to 230,000 in the week before Egypt's president, Hosni Mubarak, resigned.

This latest study counters a Yale researcher who argued last month that social media likely hindered the unrest as much as it helped. In fact, Mubarak's decision to shutdown the Internet further inflamed the situation, rather than helping to stop the protests.

More about how governments are exercising more powerover--and through--the Internet than ever beforehere.

Controversial federal rules targeting anticompetitive behavior online are scheduled to be published in the Federal Register Friday, clearing the way for them to go into effect in November.

The Federal Communications Commission's network neutrality regulations were passed last December, and are designed to prohibit Internet companies from blocking or hindering competing companies online.

The rules will take effect on Nov. 20. Once published, the rules can be legally challenged. Verizon has already sued to block the rules but a court said the company had acted prematurely.

The House has also already voted to overturn the rules, and on Thursday, Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., called on the Senate to do likewise.

"Net neutrality is a net loser," she said in a statement. "These regulations were approved last December and the FCC has been slow-walking them to avoid the lawsuits that are certain to be filed. It is just another example of a federal agency defying the will of the people."

Public advocacy groups, meanwhile, praised the rules while vowing to fight for even stronger measures.

Always happy to accommodate its groupies, NASA has launched a new service on its website - space ringtones.

Neil Armstrong can now announce an e-mail has landed with "One small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind," while Apollo 13's Jack Swigert can warn you the bossis calling with "Houston, we have a Problem".

"NASA has been making historic sounds for over 50 years," Jerry Colen, NASA App project manager Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., said in a statement. "Now we're making some of these memorable sounds easy to find and use."

The New York Times reports that some tech industry watchers say ex-eBay CEO Meg Whitman is the wrong choice to head Hewlett-Packard.

Google's rivals tried to drive home their claim during a Senate Judiciary hearing Wednesday that Google has become a monopoly, e-Week reports.

A CNET columnist argues that in spinning off its DVD rental business, Netflix may be setting itself up to be bought by Amazon.com

All of today's e-Reads can be found here.

Former e-Bay CEO and California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman was named CEO of Hewlett-Packard after the markets closed on Thursday, the AP reported.

Earlier on Thursday The Wall Street Journal reported that HP's board met on Wednesday to consider ousting current CEO Leo Apotheker. HP's market value has dropped by nearly half during Apotheker's 11 months at the company.

Whitman, a Republican, unsuccessfully ran against Democrat Jerry Brown in the 2010 race for California governor. In the most expensive campaign in California history, Whitman spent $177 million, including $144 million of her own fortune. Her fortunes were often compared with those of Carly Fiorina, herself dumped as CEO of HP, who ran for Calfornia's open Senate seat as Whitman ran for governor.

Whitman joined HP's board earlier this year and the speculation had been that she was a candidate for the top spot.

Last month HP announced a plan to split or sell off its personal-computer business, a move that sent HP stocks even lower.

A range of companies say the latest continuing resolution proposed in Congress lacks promised language designed to prevent appropriators from raiding fees paid to the Patent and Trademark Office.

ISeveral groups that advocate on a behalf of both large and small companies complained that the CR undermines the gentleman's agreement that allowed the landmark patent reform bill to be passed earlier this month.

In a compromise with House appropriators, the sponsors of the America Invents Act agreed to strip out language that prohibited Congress from allocating patent fees to different programs.

"Unfortunately, now, just days after the enactment of the act, we are deeply concerned to learn that the CR does not contain the promised language," the Innovation Alliance, which represents a range of smaller tech companies, wrote in a letter to leaders in the Senate and the House. "We strongly believe that for the reforms to work as intended, the promised language ending fee diversion must be included in all bills making appropriations for the USPTO."

In a letter of its own, the Coalition for 21st Century Patent Reform, which includes companies like Johnson & Johnson and General Electric, pointed out that even if Congress doesn't actually take patent fees for other purposes, without the language, the PTO cannot access new fees.

"Unless an anomaly is included in the CR, the USPTO will lose $50 million each month the CR is in effect," the letter said. "The problem is that during the 7 weeks of the CR, the USPTO is held to a spending rate based on last year's appropriations - this rate ignores the fact that the USPTO will be collecting significantly more fees to support implementation of the act."

The America Invents Act was signed by President Obama on Friday and is the most significant reform of the U.S. patent system in about 60 years.

The Intellectual Property Owners Association also sent a letter urging lawmakers to include the language in the latest CR.

Twitter will start selling political ads this week and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney is among the first to sign up, the Washington Post reports.

Promoted political tweets get their own special little purple check mark. Commercial tweets have an orange arrow. Five campaigns have already signed up, including the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the Post reports. Campaigns can also pay to appear on the top of search trends or to appear as suggested accounts to follow.

Lawyers for AT&T and the Justice Department head to court on Wednesday for the first hearing in what could become a months-long trial over AT&T's bid to acquire T-Mobile.

Judge Ellen Huvelle is expected to limit the meeting to logistical issues about how she wants the case to proceed. She may announce the date of the trial.

As though they weren't already disagreeing about enough, AT&T has requested that the trial begin in January of next year, while the Justice Department would rather wait until March, one year after the deal was first announced.

The government moved last month to block the merger, the biggest deal of the year and the largest merger in wireless history. It says the merger is anti-competitive and anti-consumer.

The merger is still under review at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and that agency that agency is unlikely to take any actions that could undermine the Justice Department suit.

Who needs a lobbyist when you can hire a mime to get your message across to lawmakers?

While talk is currency in Washington, Consumer Watchdog is taking the opposite tack by hiring people who don't talk to highlight the group's concerns over how Google collects information about Internet users.

Consumer Watchdog plans to deploy a group of mimes wearing white track suits emblazoned with Google's "Don't Be Evil" motto Wednesday, just as Google Chairman Eric Schmidt is set to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The mimes will mercilessly track senators and their staffers as they move through the Dirksen Senate office building..

Consumer Watchdog and other groups have been critical of Google's privacy policies and business practices.

Wednesday's hearing before the Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee will focus on whether Google's dominance over the online search market is harming competition or helping consumers.

"We want to dramatize Google's online tracking and focus attention on the issue," Consumer Watchdog's John Simpson said via e-mail. "If you track people in the real world, it's stalking, if you do it online it's just business. Besides, mimes can be creepy and tracking is creepy."

In addition to the mimes, Consumer Watchdog also will be playing off a previous anti-Google stunt by having an ice cream truck on Capitol Hill to give out free ice cream along with information about Google's data collection activities. It's playing off a video that Consumer Watchdog displayed in New York's Times Square last fall showing a cartoonish Schmidt offering free ice cream to children while he collected personal information about them.

As for Wednesday's hearing, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., a member of the Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee, told reporters Tuesday that senators will ask Google about how it uses its power in the marketplace.

"I'm going to be asking questions that will be challenging on those issues of Google's power in the marketplace and whether it has acquired the kind of dominance that means it has certain legal responsibilities and whether it has complied with those responsibilities," Blumenthal said.

As Connecticut attorney general, Blumenthal launched a probe last year after Google revealed that its Street View vehicles, which collect images for its mapping service, had "mistakenly" collected personal data from unsecured home and business Wi-Fi networks.

The Internet makes small-town gossip especially vicious, The New York Times reports.

Comcast is rolling out its cheap broadband plans for poor families, CNET reports.

Don't look for a "dislike" button when Facebook releases new features this week, MSNBC says.

See more of today's e-Reads here.

Cellular South announced on Monday that it would join Sprint and the U.S. Department of Justice in challenging AT&T's proposed $39 billion merger with T-Mobile in court.

"AT&T's proposed takeover of T-Mobile would profoundly impact the interests of the wireless industry as a whole," Eric Graham, Cellular South vice president for strategic & government relations, said in a statement. "If AT&T were to complete this deal, not only would it substantially lessen competition, but it would essentially consolidate the market into the hands of the 'Big Two' - AT&T and Verizon."

The Justice Department filed suit to block the merger last month and on Sept. 6 Sprint announced a lawsuit of its own.

Cellular South now joins the legal fight, despite doubts from legal experts who wondered why Sprint would enter the court fight.

Netflix spins its DVD service off as a new company.

The Washington Post breaks down what this means for customers.

But is it a good idea? Engadget says yes, Huffington Post says no.

In other news, The New York Times takes a look at Google's antitrust woes.

For more of Today's e-Reads, visit our Tech page.

The Federal Communications Commission has sent its network neutrality regulations to the Federal Register for publication, an FCC spokesperson said on Monday.

The rules, designed to prevent Internet companies from engaging in anticompetitive behavior, were sent to the Register on Friday.

The Federal Register usually publishes such regulations within 1-3 weeks of receiving them, and the regulations will then take effect 60 days after publication.

Once published, the rules will likely face a new round of challenge from critics who say they are unneeded and overly broad. Earlier this year Verizon sued to block the regulations but a court ruled that the company had to wait until they were published in the Federal Register.

The House has also voted to overturn the rules, with a similar measure awaiting action in the Senate.

President Obama signed the America Invents Act into law on Friday, enacting the most expansive reforms to the U.S. patent system in almost 60 years.

Ahead of the ceremony at an Alexandria high school, White House officials played up Obama's role in breaking the logjam of disagreement that had scuttled earlier attempts at patent reform.

Jason Furman, deputy director of the National Economic Council, told reporters on Thursday that when companies admitted that they agreed on 80 percent of reform proposals, Obama encouraged them to resolve the remaining disagreement.

The bill, which passed Congress overwhelmingly, has been trumpeted as a key way to help businesses create more jobs.

"It's about turning American ingenuity into American jobs," said David Kappos, director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, on a conference call with reporters on Thursday. He said the bill would help his agency approve patent applications much faster.

Kappos said new funding could help him hire 1,500 to 2,000 more patent examiners, further helping the PTO keep up with the flow of patent applications.

Businesses remained somewhat divided over the final patent reform bill, but most agreed that it was a step in the right direction.

"The signing of the America Invents Acts into law today will help to rev up the engine of American innovation, improving the patent system and giving greater assurance to our nation's inventors," Christopher Padilla, IBM vice president of Governmental Programs, said in a statement.

Among other changes, the bill transitions the United States to a "first-to-file" system, under which the inventor who files an application first is awarded a patent.

Seven states announced on Friday that they would join the Justice Department in challenging AT&T's proposed merger with T-Mobile.

Attorneys general from New York, Washington, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Ohio and Pennsylvania will argue along with federal lawyers that combining the two major wireless providers would hurt competition and harm consumers.

The list of states was included in an amended complaint filed by the DOJ.

"We have had an excellent working relationship with a number of state attorneys general and they have provided invaluable assistance throughout our investigation," the Justice Department said in a statement.

If a judge allows the $39 billion deal to go forward, and the Federal Communications Commission approves the transfer of spectrum licenses, the merger would create the largest wireless company in the U.S.

"Our review of the proposed merger between AT&T and T-Mobile has led me to conclude that it would hinder competition and reduce consumer choice," California AG Kamala Harris said in a statement.

Critics of the merger hailed the decision by the attorneys general to challenge the merger.

"Their participation is an indication that states, too, recognize the tremendous harm that this deal would cause to consumers across the country and to our economy generally, and that they do not agree with AT&T's claims of benefits from the deal, including the creation of new jobs," Public Knowledge President Gigi Sohn said in a statement.

At least 11 state attorneys general voiced support for the merger before the Justice Department announced that it would go to court to block it, according to AT&T.

"It is not unusual for state attorneys general to participate in DOJ merger review proceedings or court filings," an AT&T spokesperson said in a statement. "At the same time, we appreciate that 11 state attorneys general and hundreds of other local, state and federal officials are publicly supportive of our merger."

AT&T says it will continue to press for an expedited court process and remains confident that the merger will go forward.

Google's Executive Chairman gets his own seat at the table next week when the Senate Judiciary's antitrust subcommittee holds a hearing on whether Google is a boon or a bully.

Schmidt has been schmoozing a bit ahead of time .

Ranking member Mike Lee, R-Utah, has said will focus on "a number of important issues relating to Google and Internet search competition." But the title of the hearing makes it clear who's on the carpet: "The Power of Google: Serving Consumers or Threatening Competition?"

Other invited guests include: Jeff Katz. CEO of Nextag, Inc; Yelp co-founder and CEO Jeremy Stoppelman; and antitrust experts Thomas Barnett of Covington & Burling LLP and Susan Creighton of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, PC.

They all have to share a table, however.

Customers are fleeing Netflix after its price hike, Reuters reports.

Google loads up on patents, again, according to the Los Angeles Times.

A Washington Post columnist argues that the United States would have better wireless service if the federal government imposed more rules on how the nation's wireless infrastructure was built.

Several possible bidders have contacted Yahoo about buying some or all of the Internet firm, The Wall Street Journal reports.

To see all of the today's e-Reads, click here.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy's efforts to mark up two pieces of legislation to prevent damage from cybercrime came to a grinding halt on Thursday when all but one Republican left.

That left the Judiciary Committee without a quorum and at least four amendments piled up without a vote.

Two bills were on the agenda. One, sponsored by Leahy, a Democrat from Vermont; and Sens. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.; and Al Franken, D-Minn.; would required companies that collect consumer information to protect the data from hackers and notify customers if their information is lost. It also increases some penalties for stealing information online.

The second bill, sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., would just require companies to report data breaches.

Republicans, led by ranking member Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, voiced concern that the bills could overburden businesses with new regulations that they can't afford. Grassley put forth four amendments but only one was passed before every other Republican senator disappeared.

Franken also proposed an amendment that would limit the information a company can collect. That provision was also set aside for a later vote.

The markup was adjourned subject to Leahy's decision to reconvene. A Judiciary aide said votes on the amendments could occur as soon as later Thursday, potentially in simple gatherings off of the Senate floor.

Facebook feted lawmakers, congressional aides, and other tech stakeholders at a Capitol Hill reception Wednesday evening as it promoted its efforts to protect teens online.

The social networking service attracted a decent congressional turnout including Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., Senate Commerce Consumer Protection Subcommittee Chairman Mark Pryor, D-Ark., Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif., who heads the Energy and Commerce panel with jurisdiction over consumer privacy, and Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., who authored a federal law dealing with children's privacy online known as the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.

Congressional aides spotted at the event included Matthew Hussey, a telecom and technology aide to Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and Vince Morris, spokesman for Senate Commerce Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.

At the event coinciding with the start of school, Facebook Associate General Counsel Chris Sonderby outlined some of the steps his company has taken to ensure children, who must be at least 13 to use Facebook, safely use it. These include measures to reduce bullying online and to identify teens who might be considering suicide.

Facebook has been criticized for not doing enough to ensure children under 13 are not logging on. Consumer Reports released a study earlier this year that found that 7.5 million elementary-aged children were on Facebook. During a hearing in May, Rockefeller called on Facebook to do more to prevent this.

LightSquared plans to unveil a prototype global positioning device designed to be compatible with its planned nationwide wireless network, a company executive said on Wednesday that the company

Jeff Carlisle, vice president of public policy and regulatory affairs for LightSquared, said the wireless startup had partnered with an unidentified GPS manufacturer to build a test receiver. That receiver, Carlisle told reporters in a conference call, will help prove that GPS and LightSquared can coexist.

The device, to be officially revealed next week, is a high-precision receiver and will be compatible with LightSquared's revised operating plan, which uses spectrum further away from GPS bands. The receiver will not solve the interference between GPS and LightSqaured's transmissions on higher bands.

GPS manufacturers have argued that it is impossible to build a receiver that will allow the two systems to exist together, and Jim Kirkland, vice president of Trimble and a founding member of the Coalition to Save Our GPS, said any receiver developed by LightSquared would be limited.

"There are two broad and challenging issues that must be solved," Kirkland said in an e-mail statement. "One is that there are many kinds of high-precision GPS devices engineered to support a wide variety of uses, including agriculture, construction, aviation and the many scientific and safety-of-life applications described at last week's House Science Committee hearing. So, a single prototype has very limited relevance to the substantial interference issues affecting this whole range of devices."

The second issue, Kirkland said, is that a new receiver doesn't help existing devices that will experience interference. "LightSquared must take responsibility for solving both problems," he said.

On Thursday, the House Armed Services Committee will hear testimony from a range of government officials on how LightSqaured's plans could affect national security uses of GPS.

As copyright and trademark owners continue to make their case for stronger laws to go after online pirates and counterfeites, a top executive with Paramount Pictures detailed Wednesday how easy it is for users to find and stream movies and other content online.

With four clicks, Paramount's chief operating officer Frederick Huntsberry pulled up a new movie and began streaming it at a a symposium on online intellectual property theft hosted by the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center.

Huntsberry was detailing the growth of "cyber lockers," where pirated movies, music and other content are stored and shared. He said not only do these sites offer recent releases, but they make profits by offering subscriptions or through advertisements.

One of the sites Huntsberry pulled up was solarmovie.eu, which indicates the site is likely based in Europe. The site offered links to files of several recently released movies such as "Bad Teacher" and the latest Harry Potter film.

Huntsberry and federal officials said current law can help them shut down such sites if they are in the United States or are linked to the United States in some way. For example if a site uses a U.S.-based company to register its domain name, U.S. officials can seize the domain name. So far, federal customs and Justice Department officials have seized 142 domain names in six separate crackdowns under their "Operation in Our Sites" effort, which is focused on shutting down websites engaged in piracy and counterfeiting.

"Not all the sites are going away but it is making an incremental impact," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Brown, who noted that more than 80 sites have voluntarily shut down since federal officials began conducting the operations.

"On foreign-based websites, we have absolutely no tools at our disposal, nothing available to us," Huntsberry said.

This is why Paramount and other movie studios, record companies, trademark owners and others have been pushing lawmakers on Capitol Hill to pass legislation that would give them more tools to go after foreign websites that offer pirated content or counterfeit goods. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved such legislation in May and House Judiciary Committee leaders are set to introduce their own version of the legislation at the end of this month or in early October, a spokeswoman said.

Some tech firms, entrepreneurs, Internet engineers and others oppose the legislation, saying it could stifle innovation and free speech and undermine trust in the Internet's domain name system.

IBM's Watson proved to a national audience that the computer system can handily defeat Jeopardy champions in a game show. Now the 100-year-old tech giant is on a mission to demonstrate that Watson is the Next Big Thing for industries ranging from call centers to government security.

First on the list is health care. On Monday IBM announced that health insurance company Wellpoint had agreed to use the Watson system to provide doctors with more up-to-date information and possible solutions.

"With medical information doubling every five years and health care costs increasing, Watson has tremendous potential for applications that improve the efficiency of care and reduce wait times for diagnosis and treatment by enabling clinicians with access to the best clinical data the moment they need it," said Manoj Saxena, general manager of IBM's Watson Solutions.

The Wellpoint deal marks IBM's first effort to transition the system from a game-show oddity to an effective data analysis platform, which the company says could streamline a wide range of data-intensive programs, including tech support and efforts to curb fraud and abuse.

At an event at the National Press Club on Tuesday, IBM demonstrated Watson's capacity to help diagnose a patient based on his or her symptoms, as well as recommend potential treatments. Physicians at the event agreed that Watson has the potential to revolutionize the way information is shared in the health care industry, but IBM may have a way to go to prove the powerful new technology can move beyond parlor tricks.

Rep. Bill Cassidy, R-La., a doctor, was enthusiastic about Watson's "tremendous potential" to become a lingua franca, but during brief remarks at Tuesday's event he seemed unsure about the specific impact of the artificial intelligence system.

And Cassidy is not alone. "I would want to make sure Watson was being directed as an objective tool," Dr. John Glaspy, an oncologist at the University of California, Los Angeles., told The Wall Street Journal, expressing concern that the system could be programmed to emphasize cost over effectiveness when making medical recommendations.

Still, Watson has sparked enthusiasm among IT managers, as more and more industries are inundated with data.

"The ability to analyze the meaning and context of human language and quickly process information to find precise answers can help unlock important knowledge and facts buried within huge volumes of information," IBM said in a statement.

Facebook will have some new ammunition this fall when lawmakers from both parties dig into the company's operations, particularly its privacy and data sharing policies.

Facebook has hired Privacy lawyer Erin Egan to become senior policy adviser and director of privacy in October and Louisa Terrell, former special assistant to the president at the White House, as director of public policy at Facebook.

Our colleague Chris Frates adds in his new blog, Influence Alley:
The company has also gone on a communications hiring spree, bringing on former Obama White House aide Sarah Feinberg, former Clinton press secretary Joe Lockhart and former McCain presidential spokesman Tucker Bounds.

President Obama will be passing the plate in Silicon Valley when he visits the epicenter of the U.S. tech industry at the end of September.

According to an invitation from his campaign, Obama will be making an appearance at a fundraising reception at the home of Symantec chairman John Thompson in Woodside, Calif.on Sept. 25.

General admission is $2,500 while $7,500 (Two people in one photo is bargain priced at $10,000) will get you in the door as well as a photo with the president.

Then deep-pocketed supporters can move on to dinner at the Atherton, Calif., home of Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's chief operating officer. A seat there will cost $35,800 and includes a Q&A event after Obama's remarks.

In the first half of 2011, the president raked in more than $1.7 million from Silicon Valley donors, according to numbers compiled by TechNet.

AOL announced Monday that TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington is leaving the company, confirming previous reports and ending a tussle over editorial integrity prompted by Arrington's decision to take a lead role at a new venture fund. The Wall Street Journal recounts the saga.

Reuters reports that Google is struggling to to break into the daily deals scene and challenge Groupon and LivingSocial.

Dolby is dropping a patent suit against RIM because the pair became business partners, Reuters says.

Can cheap tablets save newspapers? Philadelphia papers are offering discounts on tablet computers as they attempt to attract more digital subscribers, the Associated Press reports.

Find more e-Reads here.

Comcast has hired analyst Rebecca Arbogast, currently a managing director handling communications, media and technology at Stifel Nicolaus.

Arbogast is a former lawyer for both the Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission -- both of which approved Comcast's recent merger with NBCUniversal.

"As Vice President for Global Public Policy, Ms. Arbogast will oversee the development and coordination of the company's public policy efforts across the corporation. Ms. Arbogast will be located in Comcast's government affairs office in Washington, DC and will report to Kyle McSlarrow, President of Comcast/NBCUniversal for Washington, DC," Comcast said in a statement.

"Rebecca has had a distinguished career and is widely respected for her insightful understanding of the telecommunications and media landscape from a strategic business, legal and regulatory perspective," McSlarrow added in a statement.

Arbogast, who has a law degree from Yale Law School, clerked for Judge Fletcher on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and was a Fulbright Fellow in European Community Law.She joined Stifel Nicolaus in 2005 when it acquired Legg Mason's Capital Markets Group.

GOP asks FCC - What were you thinking on LightSquared?

Did anyone think Carol Bartz was wise to mouth off about Yahoo?

Bloomberg reports that AOL is looking to combine with Yahoo.

Is Twitter one of the last bastions of anonymity in social networking?

Sprint may be offering an unlimited data plan with its new iPhones, according to Bloomberg.

For more of today's e-Reads, visit our Tech page.

Right before President Obama outlined his new jobs plan in a speech to Congress on Thursday, lawmakers handed him an economic bill that both parties are celebrating.

The America Invents Act, which enacts sweeping changes to the American patent system, was approved by the Senate for the final time and it now goes to the president for his signature. In his speech Thursday, Obama called the bill "the kind of action we need."

Although it eventually passed overwhelmingly in both chambers, the America Invents Act was six years in the making. It was sponsored by Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Democrat, in the Senate, and Texas Rep. Lamar Smith, a Republican, in the House.

Despite some lingering concerns and criticism, many businesses and lawmakers praised the bill as a way to help businesses develop more products, hire more workers, and get more money moving.

"The America Invents Act is the kind of reform that is necessary to set America back on track toward a prosperous future," said Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., chairman of the House Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet Subcommittee.

David Hill, president of the American Intellectual Property Law Association, called the bill a "momentous accomplishment" and a good example of a bipartisan effort to stimulate the economy.

"For a cutting-edge industry like software, operating under a 60-year-old patent system has sometimes felt like sailing with an anchor overboard," said Robert Holleyman, president of the Business Software Alliance. "Today's passage of the America Invents Act is like cutting the rope. It marks a momentous change that will help accelerate technology innovation."

Companies like Google, Dell, IBM, Apple, Cisco, and others also applauded the bill's passage.

Innovation Alliance, which represents smaller tech companies, was more muted in its response. The bill was criticized by some in Congress for favoring larger businesses. Nevertheless, Innovation Alliance President Brian Pomper said he appreciated lawmakers' efforts and his group would work to help implement the bill.

The America Invents Act left some controversial issues unsolved, including efforts to give the Patent and Trademark Office full control of the fees it collects. Pomper said Innovation Alliance, for one, will continue to lobby to keep Congress from using patent fees for other programs.

AT&T is using President Obama's new push for job growth as a way to advocate for its proposed mega-merger with T-Mobile despite that same administration sued to block the deal last month.

AT&T's top Washington executive Jim Cicconi issued a statement Friday praising the wireless component of a White House jobs plan, which reiterated the goal that 98 percent of Americans will have access to next generation mobile broadband services.

Cicconi framed the merger is a prerequisite to achieving Obama's goal for wireless availability. AT&T has promised to make service available to over 97 percent of Americans if federal regulators approve the deal.

After commending Obama's short-term spectrum proposals, Cicconi said: "It is also important, though, to recognize that other more immediate measures will be needed - including approval of AT&T's merger with T-Mobile -- if our Nation is to realize the President's goal of providing mobile broadband to 98 percent of all Americans."

The White House doesn't seem to agree that the merger is a prerequisite to achieving its wireless goal. The goal, after all, was announced during the State of the Union address in January, well ahead of the the merger announcement in March.

AT&T is expected to try to settle with the Justice Department over its concerns that the deal is anti-competitive. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is also reviewing the deal.

Senate Commerce Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., is using Sunday's 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks to make a last-minute appeal for his legislation aimed at building a national broadband public safety network to improve communications for emergency first responders

While it looks like he won't meet his goal of passing his bill before Sunday's anniversary, Rockefeller oushed hard Thursday for his measure, which would transfer a swath of spectrum known as the D-block to public safety for a national broadband network and authorize funding to build it. Police and firefighters in New York found to their horror they could not easily talk to each other during the attacks.

"Shouldn't a firefighter be able to wirelessly download a floor plan of a burning building before running into it? Shouldn't a police officer be able to receive an immediate digital snapshot of a dangerous criminal," Rockefeller asked in statement submitted into the Congressional Record Thursday. "If the average American traveler is able to wirelessly pull up a map to route a summer road trip, why shouldn't our first responders be able to utilize the same type of technology to save lives?"

Will $17 million get you a custom-made amendment in the United States Congress? Sens. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., and Tom Coburn, R-Okla., seem to think so.

The pair are seeking to strip a provision from the patent reform bill that they say amounts to a bailout for one law firm and its drug company client. WilmerHale, acting on behalf of The Medicines Company missed a key patent filing deadline, potentially costing both companies millions.

Since 2005, Medicines Company has spent $17 million on lobbying and current patent legislation includes language potentially saving the companies millions of dollar.

And Sessions and Coburn aren't alone in seeing the sweeping patent legislation as a gift wrapped for special interests.

Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., proposed an amendment to remove a provision she says would help banks infringe on patents.

Both amendments are up for a vote Thursday afternoon, before the Senate votes on the full bill.

For more on the patent reform debate, visit our new Tech page.

Carol Bartz gave an expletive-laden interview to Fortune after being fired this week as Yahoo's chief executive.

Google has acquired Zagat Survey, which provides reviews of hotels, restaurants and other places and services.

Twitter's CEO revealed Thursday that Twitter has 100 million active monthly users and 400 million monthly visitors to its website.

To read more of today's e-Reads, click here.

Consumer advocates are calling on European and U.S. regulators to reject the online advertising industry's new self-regulatory program, saying the effort does not protect privacy well enough.

The online advertising industry's self-regulatory program "fails to effectively address contemporary digital data collection practices used to profile an online user", the Trans Atlantic Consumer Dialogue said in a letter sent Thursday to the Federal Trade Commission and the European Union's privacy working group.

The Trans Atlantic Consumer Dialogue is made up of nearly 180 European and U.S. consumer groups including the American Civil Liberties Union, Center for Digital Democracy, Economic Frontier Foundation and Consumers Union, which have been pushing Congress to pass stronger privacy legistlation.

The groups are taking aim at the self-regulatory program rolled out last fall and currently being implemented by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and other marketing and advertising groups. The effort centers around an icon on websites that consumers can click to opt out of online behavioral advertising, which targets ads to consumers based on their interests. Online companies gauge users' interests by tracking their Web surfing habits.

IAB Senior Vice President and General Counsel Mike Zaneis told Tech Daily Dose last week that online advertisers have developed an effective program that gives consumers notice and choice and proves there is "little to no need for federal legislation." His group's members were required by last week to be in compliance with the program.

But the consumer groups argued in their letter that the icon program is weak and fails to inform consumers that they will continue to be tracked and profiled by advertisers even if they choose not to have ads targeted at them.

Center for Digital Democracy Executive Director Jeff Chester said despite the program's flaws, online advertisers have "come up with a powerful political tool in this tiny icon that at the moment is repelling the call for privacy regulation and legislation."

The European Union is revising its privacy law, which bars the transfer of personal data about EU citizens to countries that do not have "adequate" privacy protections. At the same time, EU and U.S. officials are trying to come up with a similar approach to commercial online privacy protection. Advertisers are pushing the EU to embrace self regulation and bring its laws closer in line with the U.S. approach, Chester said.

Chester said the consumers groups hope their letter "will stiffen the resolve of the EU to reject" calls for self-regulation and force the United States to adopt a stronger approach to protecting consumer privacy.

Entrepreneurs associated with some of the nation's top tech start-ups urged lawmakers Thursday to reject a Senate bill cracking down on foreign websites engaged in piracy of movies, music and other intellectual property.

Foursquare co-founder Dennis Crowley, LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman and Twitter co-founder and ex-CEO Evan Williams joined 136 other tech entrepreneurs to
voice concerns with the Protect IP Act, which was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee in May.

"We appreciate the stated purpose of the bill, but we fear that if PIPA is allowed to become law in its present form, it will hurt economic growth and chill innovation in legitimate services that help people create, communicate, and make money online," they wrote in a letter.

They argue that the bill's focus on websites "'dedicated to infringing activities is vague and ripe for abuse" and could target legitimate sites. They also noted that content owners have a dubious history of trying to block popular technologies that they believe will promote piracy pointing to the VCR and MP3 digital music player as examples.

In addition, they echoed concerns raised by Internet engineers that the bill's provisions aimed at blocking access to infringing web sites could harm the Internet's domain name system.

"As Web entrepreneurs and Web users, we want to ensure that artists and great creative content can thrive online. But this isn't the right way to address the underlying issue. Introducing this new regulatory weapon into the piracy arms race won't stop the arms race, but it will ensure there will be more collateral damage along the way," the letter added.

Supporters of the anti-piracy legislation, however, say U.S. law enforcement need more tools to target foreign websites that provide pirated content or sell counterfeit goods, saying the growing theft of U.S. intellectual property is hurting the U.S. economy.

The Senate Judiciary bill has been blocked so far from moving to the Senate floor by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who has voiced many of the same concerns about the measure raised by the entrepreneurs in their letter Thursday.

The House Judiciary Committee, led by Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet Subcommittee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., is working on its own legislation.

"The success of our economy relies in part on the success of America's IP industries. Unfortunately, our intellectual property continues to be stolen, marketed and distributed by rogue websites operated outside of the U.S.," the committee said in a statement Thursday announcing that the online piracy legislation is among the panel's top priorities for the fall.

Erskine Bowles, who co-chaired President Obama's fiscal responsibility commission, has joined the Facebook's board of directors, the social network said on Wednesday.

Bowles, a former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton, serves on the boards of several other companies, including Morgan Stanley, Cousins Properties Inc., Norfolk Southern Corp. and Belk Inc.

"Erskine has held important roles in government, academia and business which have given him insight into how to build organizations and navigate complex issues," Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, said in a statement. "Along with his experience founding companies, this will be very valuable as we continue building new things to help make the world more open and connected."

In February 2010 Obama appointed Bowles to co-chair his bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform with Alan Simpson, a former Republican senator from Wyoming. The commission's recommendations became key debating points in the fight over government spending.

Yahoo's Board of Directors fired the company's CEO, Carol Bartz, late on Tuesday, sparking speculation that the company could soon be bought.

The move had analysts and bloggers buzzing over the future of the Internet company, which attracts large amounts to Web traffic to some of its sites, but has struggled to fully establish an identity.

"For Yahoo, it looks the beginning of the end," wrote Forbes's Eric Savitz. He noted that Bartz is the latest in a string of unsuccessful CEOs at Yahoo. "I suspect there will be increasing concern on (Wall) Street that Yahoo is simply not governable in its current state."

After the news, Yahoo's stock jumped 6 percent, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Stifel Nicolaus analyst Jordan Rohan concluded that "after all of the drama of the Bartz administration,we think the Yahoo! board of directors may be more receptive to a deal now than it has been in the past."

And at Ars Technica, Anders Bylund speculates that the shake-up open another chance for Microsoft to make a bid for Yahoo.

Bartz's departure was first reported by All Things D, which noted that the executive was fired over the phone.

Yahoo CFO Tim Morse has been named interim CEO.

AT&T and the Justice Department are scheduled to appear before Judge Ellen Huvelle on September 21 to set up the trial schedule for the government's suit against AT&T's proposed merger with T-Mobile, according to people familiar with the matter.

The government complaint against the $39 billion mega-deal cites harm to competition as the main reason to contest the combo. The suit was announced last week and could potentially take months, although Huvelle has a reputation for speedy decisions.

Sprint made Huvelle a little busier this week by filing its own suit against the merger. Huvelle is the judge for that case, too. More on Sprint's suit here.

House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., said Tuesday that Federal Communications Commission reform, spectrum legislation and privacy would be among the panel's top tech and telecom priorities for the fall.

Upton said Energy and Commerce, like other House panels, will be focused on ways to reduce regulation in order to help spur new jobs.

Among the issues that the panel's Communications and Technology Subcommittee, headed by Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., will focus on: spectrum legislation and FCC process reform. As part of efforts to reduce what they view as unnecessary regulation on business, Walden and Upton succeeded in recent weeks in pushing the FCC to remove the fairness doctrine, which requires broadcasters to provide equal airtime to opposing views but hasn't been enforced for more than two decades and get rid of other unnecessary media-related rules.

"Broadband and wireless spectrum policy are vital jobs issues and spectrum legislation and FCC process reform will be at the forefront to advance wireless broadband, promote deployment of an interoperable broadband public safety network, create jobs, and reduce the deficit," according to the Energy and Commerce statement.

Walden unveiled a draft spectrum bill in July that was criticized by public safety officials because it did not give them a chunk of spectrum known as the D-block for a national broadband network. Walden's measure would maintain current law, which requires that the D-block be auctioned to commercial bidders.

The wireless industry group CTIA praised the committee's continued focus on spectrum legislation. "We are pleased Chairman Upton recognizes the urgent need to make additional spectrum available for wireless broadband services," Jot Carpenter, the group's vice president of government affairs, said in a statement. "There should be bipartisan support for such an effort, which can help reduce the deficit, enhance the availability of broadband services and spur investment and job creation."

The committee's Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade panel will focus on privacy and data security with special attention on consumer knowledge and control over online data collection, the role data plays in providing free Internet content and how privacy rules in foreign countries impact U.S. firms.

The subcommittee's chairwoman, Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Calif., has indicated she plans to hold more privacy hearings. Bono Mack also suggests she wants to move legislation through the full committee that would set national standards on when companies need to notify consumers about a security breach involving their personal information. Bono Mack's subcommittee approved a bill in July but it was panned by the committee's top Democrats for being too weak.

In addition, the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee will examine ways to improve the nation's cybersecurity. It will also continue its probe into federal assistance to solar panel maker Solyndra, which announced last week it was filing for bankruptcy.

The first NASA chief technologist in a decade is leaving the agency to return to Atlanta's Georgia Institute of Technology.

Bobby Braun, who came to the space agency two years ago through an agreement with Georgia Tech, will leave in October, NASA said. As NASA's chief technologist, Braun was a top adviser on technology policy and programs.

"Bobby has rebuilt our basic and applied research capabilities, created technology programs to enable our agency's future success, and clearly articulated the importance of NASA's technology investments as an integral component of our nation's space policy," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement.

Joseph Parrish, the deputy chief technologist, will serve as acting NASA chief technologist.

In a preliminary report released last week, the National Research Council concluded that NASA's technology base is "largely depleted." Uncertainty over the agency's goals have undermined efforts to develop new technology, the report found.

The federal government must release information about how and when it uses cellphone data to track criminal suspects, a U.S. appeals court ruled on Tuesday, saying the public's interest outweighs any privacy concerns, CNN reports.

The American Civil Liberties Union declared victory in the decision, one of several involving technology such as GPS that can be used to track the movements of people using smartphones, laptop computers and other devices.

"The disclosure sought by the plaintiffs would inform this ongoing public policy discussion by shedding light on the scope and effectiveness of cellphone tracking as a law enforcement tool," the three-judge District of Columbia panel said in a 35-page ruling. "It would, for example, provide information about the kinds of crimes the government uses cell phone tracking data to investigate."

"I highly doubt that the 90 percent of Americans who carry cellphones thought that when they got cellphone service they were giving up their privacy in their movements," Catherine Crump, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union who argued the case, was quoted by Reuters as saying.

One of the Republicans' top anti-trust watchdogs, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, is meeting with Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt on Wednesday for a one-on-one interview, according to a source familiar with the plans.

The meeting in Lee's office precedes Schmidt's visit to the Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee later this month, where he will take questions on the expanding dominion of the world's largest search company.

Lee has written to Google on previous occasions to question whether the company treats competitors fairly in its search results.The company had initially resisted, instead offering Chief Legal Officer David Drummond. Without specifically threatening to use its subpoena power, the subcommittee warned that it would prefer to work out its request by agreement "rather than needing to resort to more formal procedures."

T-Mobile USA parent Deutsche Telekom says the break-up fee package it negotiated with AT&T for the sale of T-Mobile USA is not in danger of being derailed if the deal falls through, according to Dow Jones. But the New York Times says T-Mobile parent Deutsche Telekom is looking for ways to help save the deal.

AT&T/T-Mobile deal is "essential" for California, says Carl Guardino, president and CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. But the San Francisco Chronicle argues otherwise in an editorial.

For more of today's e-Reads, have a look here.

The Washington Post describes Tim Cook's first actions as Apple's new CEO.

The failure of AT&T's merger with T-Mobile to gain approval is a result of failed government spectrum policies, argues a blogger on TechCrunch.com.

And a private spacecraft suffered a serious accident, according to the Wall Street Journal.

See more of today's e-Reads here.

If AT&T wins its court battle with the Justice Department it could cause wave of new government regulation, according to telecom analyst Tom Wheeler.

In a blog post on Friday, Wheeler, a former president of the National Cable Television Association and CEO of the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association, argued that conditions imposed on AT&T's merger with T-Mobile could end up being extended to the whole market.

"If the Justice Department prevails in court the backdoor to imposing a new regulatory regime on wireless will have swung shut," he wrote. "On the other hand, an AT&T court win will trigger government regulation that could ultimately spread to all wireless carriers."

On Wednesday, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit to block the merger, setting the stage for a legal battle and creating an uncertain future for T-Mobile.

The latest on the merger can be found here.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski named David Robbins as the agency's new managing director on Friday.

Robbins comes to the FCC from the Small Business Administration, where he was an associate administrator for the Office of Management & Administration.

"David's leadership and management experience will be invaluable as we continue our efforts to do our work on behalf of the public more efficiently and effectively," Genachowski said in a statement.

The managing director oversees the administration and management of the budget, finance, human resources, purchasing, and other day-to-day operations at the commission.

One day after AT&T vowed to fight a Justice Department lawsuit to block the firm's acquisition of T-Mobile USA, the Communications Workers of America appears to be following them into battle by taking aim at one of the deal's fiercest critics: Sprint.

The CWA Thursday launched a new website called "eyeonsprint" aimed at highlighting what the union says are Sprint's true reasons for opposing the AT&T-T-Mobile deal.

CWA represents about 40,000 AT&T wireless workers and has been hoping to add to its ranks if the non-unionized T-Mobile is brought into the AT&T fold. With the exception of about 70 Verizon Wireless employees in New York, AT&T is the only U.S. wireless firm that is unionized and has enjoyed strong backing for the T-Mobile deal from its union.

The new CWA website aims to rebut claims made by Sprint and other critics who say the merger will lead to job losses, higher prices and less innovation. It also outlines why the union opposes a possible merger between Sprint and T-Mobile. Sprint, the nation's third biggest wireless carrier, was seen as a possible suitor for T-Mobile before AT&T announced its surprise $39 billion deal in March with the fourth biggest wireless operator.

"Current topics include Sprint investment, how its technologies are incompatible with T-Mobile and more," the CWA said in a news release announcing the new site. "Learn why a Sprint-T-Mobile merger would be a disaster for consumers and workers."

Sprint spokesman John Taylor dismissed the site as a bid by CWA to "distract attention away from the actual issue at hand -- the Department of Justice has filed suit to block AT&T's proposed takeover of T-Mobile because it believes the takeover of T-Mobile, which CWA has embraced, will lead to higher prices, fewer choices and lower quality products for mobile wireless services.

"Sprint, which received just this morning another award from J.D. Power on Retail Satisfaction, is proud of its customer service, its employee relations practices and the company that we are today. CWA's claims are not only beside the point but, more importantly, they are inaccurate," he added.

Sprint has gone on the offensive on its own, releasing a report Thursday that tries to disputes AT&T's claims that the merger will ultimately produce a net gain in jobs.

The White unveiled a new webpage on Thursday designed to allow Americans to sign petitions and get their issues noticed by administration officials.

"We the People" is an online platform through which anyone can create or sign petitions seeking action by government agencies, White House adviser David Plouffe said in a statement. If enough people sign a petition, it will be reviewed and answered by White House staff or policy officials.

"We the People gives you a new way to join together with others to ask your government to address a problem, change a policy, or take action on a range of issues," Plouffe said.