Politics

Reuters reports that the Federal Trade Commission has hired an outside lawyer to lead its antitrust investigation of Google.

The Washington Post looks at how Twitter has emerged as a key tool in Washington for building support for policy proposals.

Google disclosed that the Justice Department last May closed its probe into the controversy over Google's admission that its Street View cars had collected data from unprotected home Wi-Fi networks, Bloomberg reports.

An industry analyst predicts that unless Apple finds another charismatic leader like the late Steve Jobs, the tech giant is likely to face rough times ahead, Forbes reports.

All of today's e-Reads can be found on our Tech Page.

The Republican National Convention has tapped Microsoft to provide a range of technology services during the 2012 convention in Tampa, Fla.

Microsoft will be the RNC's "Official Innovation Provider," and will provide services like Skype video communication, Kinect, and other technology and consulting.

"Technology is changing the way we plan and conduct conventions," convention CEO William Harris said in a statement. "We are working with Microsoft to identify new ways to improve the convention experience for not only attendees in Tampa, but interested individuals across the country."

Last week the RNC announced a partnership with Google for live streaming videos as well as use other Google technology to publicize the events.

Las Vegas - GOP presidential contender Mitt Romney may no longer have Rick Santorum nipping at his heels but there's another stealth candidate out here that both he and President Obama may need to worry about: Betty White.

That's right. The nation's favorite nonagenarian actress said Tuesday at the National Association of Broadcaster's annual show that she's "just gonna stay running."

After announcing her presidential bid on CBS's "Late, Late Show" in October, White was asked how her campaign is going. "Not too well. Not too well," she told NAB CEO and President Gordon Smith. "I think I've got some opposition, but it's no more than they're having with each other out there right now. They can't agree on anything."

White was inducted into NAB's Broadcasting Hall of Fame for her more than seven decades of work on both the big and small screen, which has earned her multiple Emmys for television roles such as Sue Ann Nivens on the "Mary Tyler Moore Show" and as Rose Nylund on "The Golden Girls."

At 90, White is still on television, recently launching a new show on NBC called "Off Their Rockers" that enlists a group of senior citizens to prank the younger generation.

Asked what keeps her going, she quipped: "a little vodka never hurts." But she also credits her agent Jeff Witjas, who she said "he keeps me working. So that's the reason you can't get rid of me. I would go away if it weren't for Jeff."

With broadcast coverage of national political conventions waning, both parties are looking to Google to jazz up their 2012 confab.

As "Official Social Platform and Live Stream Provider", Google will provide a range of technology support for August's Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla, including streaming live video, GOP convention organizers said on Friday. A Google spokesperson told Tech Daily Dose the company is working on a similar partnership for the Democratic National Convention.

"Google and YouTube are transforming the political process, providing voters an unprecedented degree of participation and, for the very first time, giving every American who has access to a computer, tablet, video gaming system, interactive television, or video-enabled smart-phone an exclusive backstage pass to the podium of a national political convention," Republican National Convention CEO, William Harris, said in a statement.

He said he hopes Google services like YouTube, Google Maps, and Google+ Hangouts will help give voters a "virtual front-row seat" at the convention.

It's not the first time Google has worked to highlight the 2012 campaign. In September it joined with Fox News to host a debate for Republican presidential candidates.

Campaign videos uploaded to YouTube tend to be more positive than traditional television ads, particularly in the United States.

"YouTube videos are more positive than TV advertisements because they are more narrowly targeted to the highly informed, highly motivated, usually supportive people who view a candidate's online videos.," according to the report released Tuesday by the Brookings Institution. The study was conducted by Rob Salmond, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Michigan.

The study examined 3,118 YouTube videos uploaded by 72 parties in 12 countries and found videos posted only to YouTube tended to be more positive than those that appeared on both television and the video sharing site.

For example, the report found that most (73 percent) of the campaign videos that then-Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama put exclusively on YouTube during his successful 2008 run for the White House were positive, while 56 percent of videos that ran on both YouTube and television were negative. His Republican rival, John McCain, also tended to put more negative ads on television than on YouTube alone.

One reason for the differences in tone between the two mediums is that watching a campaign video on YouTube requires more action by a user than watching a political ad on TV, the study found. Plus, it costs next to nothing to post YouTube videos, so they can be longer and more detailed than TV ads, which need to make a quick and often negative point.

"TV attack videos, often limited to 60, 30, or even 15 seconds in length, have to make a general point quickly," Salmond wrote.

Salmond also found that the audience for YouTube-only campaign videos tends to be younger, richer, better educated and more politically active and partisan than the overall population.

The study also noted differences in the tone of YouTube videos based on the type of electoral system in each country studied. "This bifurcation between a sunny YouTube presence and a mean-spirited television ad campaign is stronger in US-style winner-take-all elections than in European-style proportional elections, and has major consequences for the character of campaigning and how candidates are seen by voters," the report added.

AUSTIN, Texas - A donkey and elephant in tow, Americans Elect showed up at the annual South by Southwest conference to promote its plan for the first national online presidential primary. The donkey and elephant mascots sparred in the conference halls to highlight what Americans Elect sees as the conflicts between Democrats and Republicans.

"The current candidates are good people who are trapped in a system that is making them say and do things that are not inspiring to American citizens," said Kahlil Byrd, CEO of Americans Elect, a successor to the 2008 group Unity08. "The issues are chosen for you, and the more contentious,the better."

Under the system, registered voters can sign up to nominate candidates to run separately from the two main political parties. Americans Elect has been criticized for not disclosing who its donors are, but organizers say 400,000 people have signed on to vote and the effort has caught the eye of the Obama campaign.

"Why should the primaries and the media define who we get to vote for?" asked Americans Elect chief technology officer Joshua Levine.

So far, the undeclared candidates look pretty mainstream, with Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas; former Gov. Jon Hunstman, R-Utah; and President Obama among the top "drafted" candidates. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg are also near the top of the list.

Among the candidates who have sought the nomination, former Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer leads the pack. California activist Michealene Risley (currently third among declared candidates) said she was drafted by someone else, but is grateful for the chance to run.

"It gives us an opportunity to start working and stop complaining," she said.

TechNet has flown in executives from several tech companies to lobby Congress on Wednesday to act on the group's top priorities, most of which are focused on boosting U.S innovation and competitiveness.

Among those in town for TechNet's 10th annual Washington visit include Cisco Chairman and CEO John Chambers, Sybase Chairman and CEO John Chen, and eHealth Chairman and CEO Gary Lauer.

More than 40 TechNet executives will be meeting with lawmakers from both parties to push for action on investment in research and development; clean energy technologies; tax and immigration reform; expanding free trade; and extending the research and development tax credit, which expired at the end of 2011.

The group also will be pushing lawmakers to pass legislation to free up more spectrum for wireless broadband technologies and to continue to oppose anti-piracy legislation that critics say could harm the integrity of the Internet and innovation.

TechNet has joined several leading tech groups and companies in opposing the two controversial bills, the Senate's Protect IP Act and the Stop Online Piracy Act in the House, aimed at curbing piracy and counterfeiting on foreign websites. The group is scheduled to meet with two of the leading congressional opponents of those bills, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., to discuss the issue.

Among the many other lawmakers the executives are scheduled to meet with Wednesday include Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis. The group also has plans to meet with Treasury Department officials and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk.

The TechNet executives also have meetings scheduled with representatives from President Obama's re-election campaign and the campaigns of GOP presidential contenders Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, and Rick Santorum.