Some of Facebook's largest stakeholders are cashing out ahead of the company's IPO, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Google's plan to buy Motorola is still waiting for approval from China, The New York Times reports.

Scientists have discovered a way to allow paralyzed people to control robotic arms with their thoughts, according to the AP.

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It's not clear why access to 600 gazillion terabytes (or thereabouts) of free, machine-readable data covering traffic accidents, copper smelting, phytoplankton cell counts and other fascinating, everyday topics have only inspired, at last count, 85 mobile apps.

To counter this data ennui, and to launch a special section of Data.gov focusing on transportation and consumer product safety, the administration hosted a data pep rally on Wednesday, with U.S. Chief Technology Officer Todd Park acting as cheerleader-in-chief.

Senior officials from Labor, Transportation, Consumer Product Safety Commission and others, made presentations (some live, some via recorded video) designed to stimulate interest in translating raw data into simple, navigable apps that consumers can use on mobile devices.

Seth Harris, Deputy Labor Secretary, announced a contest with a $30,000 prize to build a work safety app that uses Occupational Safety and Health Administration data to encourage workers to recognize and report safety violations. A successful app, Harris said, would ultimately reduce OSHA inspector visits by encouraging workplaces to respond directly to worker safety complaints.

Currently, Data.gov website lists just four consumer safety applications. One app, SaferBus, designed to alert bus travelers to safety violations by operators, has inspired a measly three reviews on the Apple App Store.

The diverse ways that federal agencies use spectrum range from unmanned aerial vehicles to emergency radio communications. That, NTIA deputy associate administrator Karl Nebbia said, means it's not easy to completely clear government spectrum for use by private companies.

Nebbia and John Leibovitz, deputy chief of the Federal Communications Commission's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, joined congressional staffers for a Capitol Hill briefing hosted by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation on the growing demand for spectrum.

Nebbia's arguments sync with an increased push by NTIA officials to find ways to share scarce spectrum with private companies, rather than squeeze government users onto other bandwidths.

In March NTIA chief Lawrence Strickling announced a plan to seek such sharing, including finding ways to allow private and public users to operate without interference. That proposal aims to strike a compromise between civilian agencies that want to expand broadband coverage, and defense and law enforcement officials fighting to protect the spectrum they use.

"This will be getting people on both sides ... to think about this in a different way than it's ever been thought about before," Strickling said at the time.

Wireless companies say they will be hard pressed to provide service for new mobile devices like tablet and smartphones unless more spectrum is freed up.

But the FCC's Leibovitz said there is a broad range of measures that can be used to relieve the expected "spectrum crunch."

Among the steps the FCC is taking are incentive auctions designed to entice broadcasters to give up some of their spectrum; using satellite spectrum for ground communications; allowing devices to operate on less-used "white spaces" between transmissions; and encouraging companies to use smaller wireless cells to pack in more coverage, Leibovitz said.

Despite the hype over the social networking service's planned initial public offering, nearly half of Americans say Facebook is just a passing fad, Mashable reports.


The New York Times examines some of the security concerns raised about a program to allow for the introduction of an unlimited number of new Internet domain names.

ZDNet reports that two mobile phones developed by Chinese device maker ZTE contain a back door allowing for access to the phone's operating system.

The jury in the Oracle-Google infringement lawsuit has begun weighing Oracle's patent claims, Reuters reports.

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Issa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, posted the intellectual property section of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement to his "Keep The Web Open" site and urged Internet users to provide input on how the trade deal can be improved. Issa acknowledged that that language is likely out of date since the latest available draft is from February 2011. Still, he said he hopes to persuade the administration to release more details as it continues to negotiate the TPP.

"At a time when the American people and Internet users all around the world are rightfully wary of any closed-door negotiations that could adversely impact their ability to freely and openly access the Internet, the Obama administration continues to pursue a secretive, closed-door negotiating process for the Trans Pacific Partnership," Issa said.

Issa helped lead congressional opposition to anti-piracy legislation that he and other critics said would stifle innovation and free speech on the Internet.

The United States and eight other Asian-Pacific countries are meeting for a second week in Dallas for the 12th round of negotiations on the TPP. A spokeswoman for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, which is leading the negotiations for the United States, said Tuesday that trade talks require a certain amount of secrecy in order for the "negotiators for various governments to share information and have frank conversations that result in progress toward concluding a trade agreement."

And in a letter last week to a group of law professors who complained that the TPP negotiations were too secretive, USTR Ron Kirk said he was "strongly offended by the assertion that our process has been non-transparent and lacked public participation. USTR has conducted in excess of 400 consultations with congressional and private stakeholders on the TPP, including inviting stakeholders to all of the twelve negotiating rounds."

Many public interest and consumer groups also worry that the TPP will call for enhanced protections for intellectual property while excluding some of the rights for Internet users included in U.S. law, such as fair use.

"If the U.S.'s goal is to encourage innovation and leave breathing room for innovative new businesses to experiment and thrive, it must stop demanding copyright provisions whose only practical effect is to protect existing business models and discourage anyone else from trying something new," Jodie Griffin, a staff attorney for Public Knowledge, said in a blog post last week outlining her group's concerns with the TPP.

In the Business Software Alliance's ninth annual survey of global software piracy, 57 percent of computer users admitted they used pirated software.

"If 57 percent of consumers admitted they shoplift, authorities would react by increasing police patrols and penalties," BSA President and CEO Robert Holleyman said in a statement. "Software piracy demands a similarly forceful response -- concerted public education and vigorous law enforcement,"

The survey found that 42 percent of software used globally in 2011 was pirated. BSA estimated the commercial value of this pirated software reached $63.4 billion, up from $58.8 billion in 2010.

The report found that piracy is much worse in emerging markets than in developed countries, with piracy on average reaching 68 percent in emerging countries compared to just 24 percent in more developed countries. "Emerging economies, which in recent years have been the driving force behind PC software piracy, are now decisively outpacing mature markets in their rate of growth," the report said. "They took in 56 percent of the world's new PC shipments in 2011, and they now account for more than half of all PCs in use."

China continues to pose a huge problem. The report found that 77 percent of the business software used in China was pirated, compared with 19 percent in the United States, which had the lowest piracy rate.

The report also found that the typical software pirate is most likely to be a young male who tends to install more software on his computer than other users.

BSA has tried to use its annual reports to drum up attention to the problem and lobby the U.S. government to put pressure on other countries to penalize pirates.

"There is strong global support for [intellectual property] rights and protections in principle, but a troubling lack of incentive for pirates to change their behavior in practice," BSA said. "Just 20 percent of frequent pirates in mature markets -- and 15 percent in emerging markets -- say the risk of getting caught is a reason not to do it."

The report, which was conducted by the research firm IDC, is based on data on computer and software trends in 116 markets. For the first time, the report also included a survey of nearly 15,000 computer users in 33 countries, which was conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs.

The broadcasters attacked live TV services that in the words of the filing, "expropriate broadcast signals at will." This reads like a broadside against a category of companies that is looking disrupt the retransmission fee system that governs relations between broadcast stations and pay-TV systems.

There's Ivi TV, which tried to position itself as an online cable system, offering monthly TV subscriptions without offering any compensation to content producers outside of a $100 compulsory license fee to the Copyright Office. Ivi was sued by a long list of TV networks, stations, studios and others. The court issued an injunction and Ivi TV is are no longer providing any service while waiting for the case to be decided by an appeals court.

Aereo, a company that makes live TV available via PCs, tablets and phones through a network of miniaturized antennas, is another online TV pure play being sued by broadcast stations. Founded by Fox Broadcasting creator Barry Diller, Aereo offers New York City residents access to broadcast programming for $12 per month. It's described in the suit as "an unauthorized Internet delivery service that is receiving, converting and retransmitting broadcast signals for a fee."

The FCC's request stems from a dispute over access to programming between the Internet TV provider Sky Angel and Discovery Communications. Sky Angel is an Internet-based TV service that petitioned the FCC Media Bureau for relief after losing access to Discovery programming. Sky Angel argued that it qualified for protection under program access rules that prohibit exclusive deals between programmers and pay-TV providers.

The FCC ruled against Sky Angel, but subsequently put out a call for comments on a possible redefinition of multichannel video program distributor that might include providers like Sky Angel as well as Netflix and Hulu.

It's not surprising that NAB didn't want a piece of the bigger picture argument, considering that Hulu is a joint venture of three of NAB's network members (Fox, NBC and ABC) and that network production arms get licensing fees from Netflix.

It will be interesting to track what advocates for the cable industry and telecoms that offer TV services, which are more likely to view Hulu and Netflix as direct competitors, have to say in response to the public notice. Comments were due Monday; reply comments are due June 14.

At least not any lawmakers proposing major cybersecurity legislation on Capitol Hill. After blasting a controversial House cybersecurity information-sharing bill, then criticizing a White House-backed bill in the Senate, a group of nearly three dozen civil liberties and other advocacy groups is opposing proposals by Senate Republicans as well.

After Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman, ID-Conn., and a string of other committee leaders proposed the Cybersecurity Act of 2012 earlier this year, Senate Republicans balked at the bill's proposals to give Homeland Security officials more oversight of certain private networks.

In response, GOP committee leaders proposed their own Secure IT Act, which includes more industry-friendly provisions.

Neither bill adequately protects privacy and civil liberties, 33 groups said in a letter to members of Congress on Monday.

"In fact, both proposals are fundamentally flawed when it comes to privacy safeguards, oversight and accountability, and both bills require substantial amendments to address our concerns," Sharon Bradford Franklin, senior policy counsel at The Constitution Project, said in a statement.

Congress is considering ways to increase cybersecurity among federal agencies and private businesses. Republicans have favored voluntary and incentive-based ways to prod businesses to better protect their networks, but Democrats, led by the White House, say any meaningful legislation must give federal officials more authority to protect critical networks.

All those efforts so far have not impressed privacy advocates, who say the bills could give government and companies a license to monitor and collect private user information and communications.

Monday's letter was signed by groups that included the American Civil Liberties Union, the Center for Democracy and Technology, TechFreedom, and the Constitution Project.

Amazon is planning to release a new, front-lit Kindle e-reader, Reuters reports.

As pre-IPO requests pour in, Facebook will stop taking orders for stock on Tuesday, Bloomberg reports.

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The alliance includes T-Mobile, Public Knowledge, the Rural Telecommunications Group, and RCA-The Competitive Carriers Association, among others.

They argue that federal regulators should block or impose conditions on Verizon's plan to buy a swath of valuable spectrum and enter into some cooperative agreements with cable companies like Comcast and Cox.

"Verizon and the Cable Companies are truly creating an axis of broadband power that threatens competition and consumer choice to their very core" Carri Bennet, RTG's general counsel, said in a statement to reporters. "Very quietly, this Axis has entered into complex transactions that will forever change how consumers access voice, Internet and video service, which companies these consumers will purchase those services from, and at the end of the day, what those services will cost."

By giving Verizon control of the spectrum, the deal would cement a duopoly with Verizon and AT&T in the wireless market and reduce competition in cable and Internet markets as well, alliance members contend.

The coalition was instantly dismissed by Comcast as an astroturf group of businesses and organizations acting with "hypocrisy and self-interest."

Net Competition, a group that includes Comcast and Verizon, as well as Sprint, which opposes the Verizon deal, also called the new coalition a "publicity stunt."

"The purported 'Alliance for Broadband Competition' should be called the 'Alliance for Broadband Regulation' given the heavy broadband regulation they seek now and have lobbied for over the last several years," Net Competition Chairman Scott Cleland said in a statement.

Jessica Rosenworcel, a former Senate Commerce Committee senior communications counsel, will fill a Democratic seat on the FCC and Ajit Pai, a former FCC aide, will fill a Republican seat.

The Senate voted to confirm the two nominees a week ago. Meredith Attwell Baker, one of two Republicans on the five-member panel, left to work for Comcast in June last year. Democratic commissioner Michael Copps retired at the end of 2011.

According to the FCC website, Pai has brought on Matthew Berry as his chief of staff. Berry, a former FCC general counsel, comes from Patton Boggs LLP

Pai has also hired FCC litigation specialist Lori Alexiou as a confidential assistant. Alexiou served Baker and former FCC Chairman Kevin Martin in a similar role.

Both new commissioners will join the rest of the commission in testifying before the Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday.

The Office of Naval Research is backing a project designed to compile data on the activities of pirates, drug smugglers, rogue fishing operations and arms dealers. The International Collaborative Development for Enhanced Maritime Domain Awareness (ICODE MDA) will begin work with researchers at Chile's Technical University of Federico Santa Maria this fall.

Data on maritime malefactors will primarily come from commercial satellites. However, Augustus Vogel, Associate Director for Office of Naval Research Global, said in an e-mail that project developers are hoping to eventually include watch data from naval patrols.

The apps will be developed as open-source products. Vogel said that the U.S. and partner countries will be the "first beneficiaries". But, he added, "the apps will be open source and publicly available, so they could be adapted for systems that private vessels use."

Thirteen other projects were also awarded $1 million grants by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics.

Third Point holds a 5.8 percent stake in Yahoo, and has long been looking to put its own candidates on the board.

The sweeping executive shakeup, outlined in a news release, installs Ross Levinsohn as interim CEO and Fred Ameroso as board chairman. Additionally, three Third Point candidates, including hedge fund CEO Daniel S. Loeb, will join the Yahoo board.

New CEO Levinsohn was brought into Yahoo by previous CEO Carol Bartz and currently heads global media for Yahoo. He has ranging experience as a media executive and deal maker.

As head of Fox Interactive Media he led a $580 million acquisition of Myspace. His experience suggests he will steer the foundering web portal more in the direction of original content and strategic acquisitions, as compared to Thompson, who advocated a data-driven and e-commerce strategy during his four months in the top spot.

Many of the same groups that joined forces to lobby against AT&T's now-failed bid to acquire T-Mobile USA will be part of the loose-knit coalition targeting the Verizon-cable deal. The coalition, which is expected to be unveiled early next week, is being led by the Glen Echo Group, which helped organize opposition to the AT&T-T-Mobile deal.

The coalition is expected to include public interest groups such as Public Knowledge and smaller rivals that have voiced concern with the deal including Sprint and the Rural Cellular Association, which wants conditions imposed on the deal, as well as T-Mobile, which has called on the FCC to block the deal.

Verizon is seeking approval from the FCC to buy spectrum from a joint venture made up of Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks and from Cox Communications as part of a separate deal. In addition, Verizon and the cable firms plan to enter into a joint marketing agreement under which the companies will sell each other's services. The Justice Department is examining the marketing deal.

So far, the Verizon deal has yet to generate the same level of opposition as the AT&T-T-Mobile deal, which fell apart late last year after federal regulators announced their opposition.

Still, critics have been pushing to get more scrutiny of the Verizon-cable deal. The Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee held a hearing on the transaction in March, and critics are pushing House lawmakers to hold a similar hearing.

Opponents argue that the deal will harm competition in the wireless marketplace by allowing Verizon, the nation's biggest wireless provider, to acquire valuable spectrum that is needed more by smaller players. They've also raised concerns with the marketing agreements. They worry that Verizon and the cable firms will agree not to compete against each other, which could limit consumer choice for wired Internet, television and phone service.

Verizon says the spectrum will help it build its next-generation 4G LTE network and make use of spectrum not currently being used. At the same time, both Verizon and the cable firms told Senate lawmakers at the March hearing that they plan to continue to compete aggressively against each other.

Apple may be ready to find its own way in the world of maps, Ars Technica reports.

Facebook offers what it says is a more transparent data use policy, in a release put out on a Friday afternoon. Read it on the Facebook Privacy blog.

Techcrunch reports that Bing's share of U.S. Internet searches ticks up over 30%, per data from Experian Hitwise.

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