The Electronic Privacy Information Center and other groups Wednesday launched the Privacy 2010 campaign that provides a list of 10 questions that can be posed to candidates for offices at all levels of government for this fall's midterm elections. The list includes whether candidates oppose the federal government's plan to install body scanners in U.S. airports and calls to expand the National Security Agency's surveillance authority and whether they support open Internet rules and online consumer privacy rights.

EPIC is not providing any campaign donations or backing any particular candidates. "The goal is to raise the visibility of privacy issues," EPIC Executive Director Marc Rotenberg said.

Lillie Coney, EPIC's associate director, noted that privacy cuts across both political parties. "It's a great unifier," she said.

Rotenberg said his group would be releasing a privacy report card next week for the Obama administration that will focus on such issues as civil liberties, consumer privacy, cybersecurity, and medical privacy.

The ad aims to push back against charges made by her Democratic opponent, Sen. Barbara Boxer, and other critics of Fiorina's tenure at HP. Fiorina has been criticized for laying off workers and shipping jobs overseas and for pushing through an unpopular merger with rival computer maker Compaq. She was eventually forced out as CEO at HP.

"As the CEO of HP, Carly Fiorina laid off 30,000 workers," one Boxer ad claims. "...And While Californians lost their jobs, Fiorina tripled her salary, bought a million dollar yacht and five corporate jets."

Fiorina's new ad, however, features several former HP employees defending her tenure and touting her leadership skills.

"We needed someone to come in and make changes and that's what they brought Carly in to do," Glenda Gilliland, former HP administrative supervisor, said in the ad. Former HP Process Supervisor Vince Blecha defended Fiorina's decision to layoff HP workers saying, "What would've Barbara Boxer have done. Would she have just raised product prices so we could have cut even more jobs." Former HP Chief Financial Officer Bob Wayman added that, "She's [Fiorina] a leader. She focuses on what needs to be done."

Fiorina has been locked in a close race to unseat Boxer. Recent polls, however, show Boxer edging ahead of Fiorina.

The top 10 congressional recipients of contributions from the communications and electronics sector are all Democrats. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., who is in a tight race for re-election, came in second behind Schumer, taking in roughly $700,000. Despite playing a major role in crafting tech and telecom legislation, House Energy and Commerce Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., came in tenth place with nearly $360,000.

None of the leaders of the Senate Commerce Committee and its Communications Subcommittee, which have jurisdiction over communications issues, made the top 20 list. On the House side, however, Energy and Commerce Chairman Committee Henry Waxman, D- Calif., ranked 17th, with $231,000 in contributions from the communications and electronics sector.

In total, the communications/electronics sector has given close to $58 million this campaign cycle with 65 percent going to Democrats and 34 percent going to Republicans. The party split is not much of a change from the 2008 cycle when 70 percent of the sector's contributions went to Democrats and 30 percent to the GOP.

The top five contributors of the Communications/Electronics Sector are not surprising.

AT&T donated the most, $3.3 million, followed by Comcast at $2.6 million. Microsoft trailed in third with $1.7 million while Verizon and the National Cable and Telecommunications Associations were close behind at $1.5 million and $1.3 million, respectively. The figures reflect the amount donated by a company's political action committee and employee contributions.

Out of CRP's list of top 50 industries giving to members of Congress this cycle, business grouped in the TV/Movie/Music category came in at 12th contributing $11 million, telephone utilities ranked 36th donating $5.1 million and telecommunications services/equipment squeaked in at 50th giving nearly $3 million.

Boucher received the most ($78,900) from the telephone utilities industry and Reid took in the most ($74,500) from the telecom services/equipment industry.

The computers/internet industry gave most generously to Schumer, who does not face a tough fight for re-election, filling his coffers with $240,000. Schumer took in another $424,800 from firms grouped in the TV/movies/music category, topping their list of congressional recipients this cycle.

CRP is a non-profit organization that tracks money in politics. The industries referenced in this story reflect some, but not all, of the industries grouped with in the communications/electronics sector. For a full breakdown, see here.

CDT examined a dozen cases in which YouTube and other online sites were sent notices demanding that online videos be taken down because they allegedly infringed the senders' copyrighted material. CDT claimed in its report that all 12 cases it examined involved short clips of copyrighted works that are covered under the U.S. doctrine of fair use and therefore should not have been removed.

The 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act provides protection from liability for Internet service providers, online sites and other intermediaries who take down infringing material when notified of its existence on their networks or Web sites.

"We actually think the DMCA notice and take-down process ... is a good and balanced approach," CDT Senior Policy Counsel David Sohn said during a conference call with reporters. "The problem is that the process is being abused."

Given the growing importance of online ads in modern campaigns, meritless requests for take-downs under the DMCA sent to sites like YouTube threaten online political speech, Sohn said.

"Advocacy organizations and individual candidates increasingly rely on [user-generated content] platforms to communicate more directly with voters. In addition, such sites have given individuals powerful new platforms for expressing their opinions and participating in the political process," according to the report. "Therefore, if spurious DMCA takedowns targeting such online advocacy are widespread, the impact on political speech - highly protected under the First Amendment - could be significant."

CDT noted that its report was prompted by an incident from the 2008 presidential campaign when Republican presidential nominee John McCain's campaign complained in a letter to YouTube about several incidents when online videos posted by the campaign on the site had been taken down after YouTube was sent take-down notices under the DMCA from parties claiming infringement. In the letter, the McCain campaign argued that such take downs were unjustified because the material at issue was covered under fair use.

The allegedly meritless take-down notices CDT identified involved a number of news organizations including Christian Broadcasting Network, Fox News, MSNBC and National Public Radio, CDT said.

CDT said the cases it examined were not motivated by copyright concerns but often related to issues not covered by the DMCA such as "concerns over reputation and false endorsement." CDT also argued that given the widespread use of what it deems as meritless take-down notices, safeguards included in the DMCA to challenge such notices "have not been effective," particularly when they involve ads from campaigns that may not have the time or resources to challenge take-down notices.

YouTube did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.

Those lawmakers who signed the letter but have not received campaign cash from Comcast this election cycle include Democratic Reps. Eliot Engel, Steve Israel and Edolphus (Ed) Towns.

House Energy and Commerce Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., who sent a letter Monday to the FCC in support of the merger, received $7,500 from the media giant.

Comcast spreads its support widely. Since 2008, 385 members of Congress have received contributions from the company's PAC or employees - nearly three quarters of Congress. The top recipients of these donations were Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter, who represents Comcast's home state of Pennsylvania and hauled in more than $106,000, and Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, home to NBC Universal. Schumer has received more than $38,000.

WeGov.com will move from testing status to a full launch by the end of this month. It bills itself as "the most comprehensive, nonpartisan platform for civic engagement, political participation, and organizational activism. . . . Our mission is to provide a place where citizens and groups can take REAL political action and make an impact."

The site was founded by David Gordon, a Bostonian who clocked some time in Washington as a lobbyist for the MWW Group and then joined his family's wine business. Gordon had been involved in some local races in addition to his Beltway experience. He was moved by efforts of people to group around pieces of legislation to affect an outcome. WeGov.com has been in the works for at least seven years, and it's had Gordon's full attention for the past year.

Gordon pointed out that as popular as Facebook is, especially in political circles, it generally serves as a way to alert users to a movement rather than to organize around it. His site allows groups to host pages on the site just like Facebook, but it goes a step further by enabling users to donate to campaigns, engage in letter-writing efforts and join petitions.

In that way, Gordon's creation takes a stab at an underlying problem of social networking: It's always been a way to get notice and lap up potential support, but it doesn't mean the supporters will do anything.

"A lot of people may 'like' something, but there's no way to take tangible action," Gordon said. To read more, click here. (Subscription required)

Reid's campaign last week created "The Real Sharron Angle" Web site that mirrored Senate GOP nominee Sharron Angle's old Web site and included some of her more controversial stands on issues such as her call to eliminate Social Security and support for storing nuclear waste at Nevada's Yucca Mountain. Angle re-launched her Web site after winning the Republican Senate nomination last month, removing some information that appeared on her original Web site.

"Apparently Angle and her new handlers think that scrubbing her Web site will make voters forget about her long-documented, radical positions," Reid's campaign said after launching therealSharronAngle.com.

In a statement Tuesday, Angle's campaign claimed that Reid was trying to "deceive" Angle supporters into providing personal information to his campaign. "Make no mistake, the Reid campaign was forced to take this site down because they were breaking several laws and trying to deceive the voters," Angle spokesman Jerry Stacy said in a news release.

The cease-and-desist letter claims Reid had misappropriated "copyrighted and proprietary materials and information under the guise of appearing to be the official Website of the Angle campaign."

The poll of 600 registered voters released Tuesday by Reuters showed Boxer leading Fiorina 45 percent to 41 percent.

But Fiorina was undeterred, saying in a news release that the poll "confirms California's junior senator is still unable to reach the 50 percent threshold of support expected of most incumbents. And despite the Obama administration's multiple attempts to prop up Boxer's political career, Carly Fiorina is today trailing by a mere four points."

In the race for California governor, the poll, which had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points, also showed former Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat who currently serves as California attorney general, leading former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, the GOP nominee, 45 percent to 39 percent.

"From running and staffing a campaign to engaging voters, today's candidates expect technologies that enhance their efforts in powerful ways," said Curt Kolcun, a vice president at Microsoft, in a statement. Raising money, getting out the vote, managing a donor base and promoting awareness are some of the features the new platform will provide. The announcement is the latest effort by Microsoft to expand its line up of "Campaign Ready" offerings.

YouTube's You Choose 2010 Campaign Toolkit allows politicians to create their own YouTube channel where they can upload longer videos and brand their own YouTube channel page, according to a Google blog post Thursday. It also gives them access to YouTube Insight, which measures the performance of their videos and provides data on who is watching them.

In addition, the toolkit provides links to paid YouTube services including tools that help customers promote their videos and provide an overlay to a video that allows viewers to link to a Web site such as fundraising page.

Facebook is also working hard to promote the social networking site as a key political tool for politicians with the launch Thursday of its Facebook U.S. politics page and other recent pages such as its new Congress page.

The latest poll released by the Public Policy Institute of California shows Whitman's lead over Poizner has dropped from nearly 50 points in the organization's March poll. She now leads Poizner 38 percent to 29 percent.

"Whitman's support has dropped at least 17 points across all demographic groups, with the sharpest declines among those who are not college graduates (29 points) and those whose annual household incomes are at least $80,000 (28 points)," according to a news release from the institute. The winner of the race will face Democratic Attorney General Jerry Brown, who leads both Whitman and Poizner in general election matchups measured by the poll.

Meanwhile, the same poll also found that former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina has a slight edge over former Rep. Tom Campbell in the race for the GOP Senate nomination, 25 percent to 23 percent, similar to the institute's March poll. Support for the third candidate in the GOP Senate race, Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, has doubled since the institute's March poll to 16 percent.

The winner of the June primary will face Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer in the fall. The poll shows Boxer now leads each of the potential Republican senate nominees in hypothetical matchups after trailing Fiorina and Campbell in the institute's March poll.

The institute interviewed a total of 2,003 people May 9-16 and has a sampling error of plus or minus 2 percent, while the subsample of 411 GOP primary likely voters had an error rate of plus or minus 5 percent.

Obama issued the warning at a fundraiser for Boxer, who will face the winner of the June GOP Senate primary, this fall. Republicans competing to take on Boxer include former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, former U.S. Rep. Tom Campbell, R-Calif., and Assemblyman Chuck DeVore. A Field Poll released last month showed Fiorina trailing Campbell by six points in the race for the GOP Senate nod, while DeVore was in a distant third place.

"Unless she's got our support, she might not win this thing. And I don't think that's an acceptable outcome," Obama said at the Los Angeles event.

In response to the president's visit, Fiorina held a conference call with reporters Monday in which she argued that Obama's support underscores the trouble Boxer is facing this fall. "The president is out here today because Barbara Boxer is vulnerable, and the Democratic establishment is working overtime to prop her up in a way they have never done before," Fiorina added.

When asked why Obama's visit to help Boxer is any different from a visit Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., recently made to California for Fiorina, she argued that "I think the president's time is quite a bit different from any senator's time. And I think it's quite early on in the game for the president of the United States to be helping an incumbent senator who's not even yet in a general election."

In an op-ed Sunday in the San Jose Mercury News, Barrett defended one of Fiorina's most controversial moves as HP's chief: the company's merger with rival computer maker Compaq. While noting that "there were plenty of skeptics to the bold actions taken by HP," including members of the Hewlett family, Barrett argued that the merger has turned out to be an "unqualified success. It helped transform HP into the largest computer manufacturer in the world and provided a strong foundation for HP's current success under its very capable management team."

He added that Fiorina "deserves great credit for her actions while CEO of HP. She understood the challenges of the marketplace, the dangers of the status quo, and the need for companies to move forward with bold actions to ensure their success."

Fiorina faces former U.S. Rep. Tom Campbell and Assemblyman Chuck DeVore in the June Republican primary. The winner will take on Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer in November.

The latest Field Poll shows Whitman leading Poizner 63 percent to 14 percent, while 23 percent of those polled said they were undecided or favored other candidates.

The poll also found that Whitman has taken a three-point lead over Attorney General Jerry Brown, who does not face significant opposition for the Democratic nomination. Whitman leads 46 percent to 43 percent for Brown - a 10 point swing for the Republican since a January poll. The survey found Brown leads Poizner 49 percent to 32 percent.

The survey of 748 likely voters was conducted March 9 through Monday and has a 3.7-point error margin. The subsample of 353 likely Republican primary voters has a 5.5-point error margin.

The bad news is that Fiorina still trails former Rep. Tom Campbell in their bid for the Republican Senate nomination. In a new Field Poll, Campbell had 28 percent, while Fiorina was at 22 percent followed by 9 percent for Assemblyman Chuck DeVore.

The good news for all three GOP candidates is that Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer's lead has shrunk since a similar poll in January. The poll showed Campbell with 44 percent to Boxer's 43 percent; while Boxer takes 45 percent to Fiorina's 44 percent. Boxer leads DeVore 45-41 percent. The three-term Democrat led all three GOP rivals by double digits in a similar poll conducted in January.

The survey of 748 likely voters was conducted March 9 through Monday and has a 3.7-point error margin. The subsample of 353 likely Republican primary voters has a 5.5-point error margin.