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A file released by the FBI on Steve Jobs, who was being considered in the late 1980s for a seat on a presidential council, reveals that friends and acquaintances of the late Apple co-founder discussed his past drug use and at least one claimed he had a "tendency to distort reality," according to the Huffington Post.

The Internet community's success in shelving controversial anti-piracy legislation is complicating efforts to pass unrelated cybersecurity legislation because some lawmakers fear doing anything that might anger Internet activists, The New York Times reports. Read National Journal's latest coverage of the cybersecurity legislation here.

As it works to exit from bankruptcy, Kodak plans to phase out its digital cameras, pocket video cameras and digital picture frame division and focus on digital printing, Bloomberg reports.

AT&T says mobile customers should not be too worried that they could be snagged by the wireless firm's policy of slowing down its biggest data users, The New York Times reports.

Oracle announced plans to buy Dublin-based cloud provider Taleo for $1.9 billion, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

Read all of today's e-Reads on our Tech Page.

A partner at a law firm that represented AT&T in its blockbuster merger case has been nominated by President Obama to head the Justice Department office that moved to block the merger.

William Baer, a partner at Arnold & Porter, has been nominated to replace Sharis Pozen as an assistant attorney general over the DOJ's antitrust division, the White House officially announced on Monday. Last week Obama indicated he planned to nominate Baer.

Baer currently heads the antitrust office at Arnold & Porter, whose lawyers staffed top positions in AT&T's failed bid to buy T-Mobile last year. According to a confidentiality statement filed in May with the Federal Communications Commission, which also reviewed the merger, AT&T hired at least 32 lawyers from Arnold & Porter. Baer was not listed.

Pozen's antitrust division at DOJ spearheaded a court battle that ultimately led to AT&T's decision to abandon the deal. Pozen was serving as acting head of the division after Christine Varney left in August.

According to a profile on the Arnold & Porter website, Baer has represented clients like General Electric, Intel, Cisco, and Visa. He previously worked at the Federal Trade Commission when it blocked a1997 merger between Staples and Office Depot.

A top consumer protection official at the Federal Communications Commission is stepping down, the agency said on Thursday.

Joel Gurin, chief of the FCC's Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, oversaw efforts to crack down on abusive robocalls; companies that sneak unauthorized charges onto customers' bills, also know as "cramming;" and unclear billing practices known as "bill shock." He also worked on programs to help people with disabilities take advantage of modern communications.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said Gurin helped use technology to empower consumers as the communications market rapidly evolved. "We'll miss Joel's dedication as a stalwart advocate for consumers, working to solve real problems in smart ways," Genachowski said in a statement.

Kris Monteith, currently a deputy chief in the FCC's Media Bureau, will serve as acting bureau chief.

Gurin, a former science and medical journalist, joined the commission in 2009 after serving as acting president of NARSAD, a non-profit charity now known as the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation. He also spent almost a decade as vice president of Consumers Union, which publishes Consumer Reports.

Wireless carrier MetroPCS may be the frontrunner to buy assets that AT&T could be forced to divest to win approval of its bid to buy T-Mobile USA, Bloomberg reports.

Steve Jobs' biographer told 60 Minutes in an interview that the late co-founder of Apple refused surgery for his rare form of pancreatic cancer that could have saved his life.

A CNET columnist argues that those looking for another celebrity-like figure to replace Jobs will be disappointed.

Read all of today's e-Reads on our Tech page.

The Technology CEO Council is expected to announce Monday that Michael Dell, chairman and CEO of computer maker Dell, has been tapped as its new chairman.

Dell succeeds IBM Chairman and CEO Samuel J. Palmisano as head of the council, an advocacy group made up of chief executives from major tech firms and aimed at promoting U.S. innovation and competitiveness. This is the second time Dell has chaired the group, having last held the post from 2001-2003.

"At this time of economic uncertainty and challenges, it's more important than ever that the business community work closely with elected leaders and policymakers to help our economy grow and prosper and create jobs for Americans," Dell said in a statement.

Among the issues the council is pushing for include changes to the nation's tax structure, expanded free trade, reforms to the U.S. immigration system, and increased use of technology in government, health care and energy. Other members of the group include the leaders of Applied Materials, Intel, Motorola Solutions and Xerox.

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.

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.

Hewlett-Packard announced Tuesday that it has hired Gregg Melinson to head the firm's government affairs efforts.

Melinson will succeed Larry Irving as vice president of global government affairs and also will take on a new role as deputy general counsel. Unlike Irving, who was based out of Washington, Melinson will primarily work out of Hewlett-Packard's Palo Alto, Calif., headquarters.

Melinson, who starts his new gig on Sept. 19, has spent much of the last 20 years at Drinker Biddle & Reath and currently works out of the firm's Philadelphia office. He briefly left the law firm in the mid-1990s to serve as deputy general counsel to then-Gov. Tom Ridge, R-Pa.

"Gregg is an excellent leader with deep government affairs expertise, strong business acumen and a proven track record of building successful teams," HP Executive vice President and General Counsel Michael Holston said in a statement. Melinson will report to Holston.

Irving announced in June that he was leaving HP to return to consulting.

The Justice Department announced late Wednesday that Christine Varney, who heads the department's antitrust division, will be leaving her post early next month.

Varney's division is currently reviewing AT&T's proposed merger with T-Mobile USA. The $39 billion transaction would combine the nation's second biggest wireless provider AT&T with No. 4 T-Mobile and reduce the number of national mobile operators from four to three.

In a statement, the department said Varney will be leaving her post Aug. 5 - well before the agency is expected to finish its review of the AT&T-T-Mobile deal. The department did not say why Varney is leaving but several news reports said she plans to join the law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore.

"Christine Varney led the Antitrust Division with great distinction through a period when the department confronted a number of proposed mergers and other matters that could have led to higher prices, lower quality products and less innovation in a recovering economy," Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement. "There is no doubt that her tireless work helped protect consumers and businesses from anticompetitive conduct and preserved competition in America's economy."

Justice, with Varney as head of the antitrust division, has been criticized for approving some controversial tech and telecom mergers including Comcast's merger with NBC Universal and Google's acquisition of travel software maker ITA Software.

Computer and Communications Industry Association President Ed Black praised Varney's efforts to "reinvigorate" antitrust enforcement but said he hopes the Obama administration will pick an antitrust division leader who will vigorously enforce the law to promote competition. Black's group has called on Justice to block the AT&T-T-Mobile deal.

"We hope the Obama administration will appoint a strong antitrust chief who understands the new economy and how competition spurs innovation and economic growth," Black said. "Sound antitrust enforcement is particularly critical to the tech industry."

Sprint also opposes the AT&T-T-Mobile deal. Sprint Senior Vice President for Government Affairs Vonya B. McCann praised Varney's service and said the firm is "confident that the DOJ's dedicated staff, as well as Varney's successor, will continue to carefully and expeditiously evaluate the dangers of the pending AT&T takeover of T-Mobile and determine that the creation of a duopoly, with control of approximately 80 percent of the wireless market, is a clear violation of our nation's antitrust laws."

Larry Irving is leaving Hewlett-Packard to return to consulting, the company said Wednesday.

Irving, the company's vice president of global government affairs, has been with HP since 2009 and oversaw the company's government affairs office in Washington, D.C. During the Clinton administration, Irving headed the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

Irving is moving back to consulting and his first client will be Hewlett-Packard starting July 1.

"Larry's unique perspective on business, technology and government has been invaluable to HP," Michael Holston, HP's executive vice president and general counsel, said in a statement. "I fully expect that HP will continue to seek his counsel, especially in the area of federal technology policy, in years to come."

Holston said John Schultz, HP's vice president and deputy general counsel for litigation, will handle Irving's duties until a replacement is found.

In other personnel news, Courtney Sanders, who handles press issues for Senate Commerce ranking member Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, also is departing Capitol Hill for a job at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Wednesday is her last day on the committee. Hutchison is retiring from the Senate when her term expires at the end of 2012.