THE LEDE: The Senate Judiciary Committee will mark up a bill on Thursday that would permit the televising of Supreme Court proceedings. Allowing cameras into the Supreme Court has been a controversial topic for some time, but it has gained momentum thanks to the upcoming challenge of the Obama administration's healthcare reform law. Proponents argue the court's proceedings should be open to the public because transcripts are already distributed after the fact. Critics suggest the changes could lead to grandstanding and affect how the court does business.
DOT official knocks LightSquared network: Transportation deputy secretary John Porcari told the House Transportation and
Infrastructure's subcommittee on Aviation on Wednesday that LightSquared's planned wireless network
is "not compatible" with flight-safety GPS devices used in commercial
aircrafts. Porcari told lawmakers that LightSquared would
disrupt GPS systems that pilots use to help them navigate in low
altitudes, including devices that warn them when they are getting too
close to terrain. He acknowledged it was "quite unusual" that the Federal Aviation Administration had spent $2 million testing the network and said "further investment cannot be justified at this time."
FTC settles charges with alleged robocall scammers: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Wednesday settled charges with four defendants accused of cheating more than 13,000 consumers out of $13 million through a robocalling scam. According to the commission, the scammers claimed that for $995, they could dramatically reduce consumers' credit card interest rates. They falsely said they would refund consumers if they did not save at least $2,500, according to the complaint.
Transportation deputy secretary John Porcari told a House subcommittee on Wednesday that LightSquared's planned wireless network is "not compatible" with flight-safety GPS devices used in commercial aircrafts.
He told lawmakers on the House Transportation and Infrastructure's subcommittee on Aviation that LightSquared would disrupt GPS systems that pilots use to help them navigate in low altitudes, including devices that warn them when they are getting too close to terrain.
Porcari said the Federal Aviation Administration has spent $2 million testing LightSquared's network. He called spending that amount of money to review a private company "quite unusual."
A coalition of wireless carriers urged Congress on Wednesday to give the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) flexibility in how it manages proposed auctions of wireless airwave licenses, widely known as spectrum.
The companies signing onto the letter included Sprint and T-Mobile, as well as regional carriers such as Atlantic Tele-Network, Bluegrass Cellular, C Spire Wireless, Cricket Communications and NorthwestCell.
The groups warned that tying the FCC's hands would allow "the two largest, best-funded wireless carriers" to buy up all of the available airwaves in the auctions.
Verizon, the largest carrier, has largely stayed out of the debate over spectrum auctions, but the second-largest carrier, AT&T, is lobbying Congress to set strict rules for the auctions.
In a Wednesday editorial in The New York Times, Cary Sherman, chief executive of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), accused Google, Wikipedia and other websites of abusing their power to kill a pair of anti-piracy bills.
"The hyperbolic mistruths, presented on the home pages of some of the world’s most popular websites, amounted to an abuse of trust and a misuse of power," Sherman wrote. "When Wikipedia and Google purport to be neutral sources of information, but then exploit their stature to present information that is not only not neutral but affirmatively incomplete and misleading, they are duping their users into accepting as truth what are merely self-serving political declarations."
He noted that major television networks supported the anti-piracy legislation but did not use their platform to shape public opinion.
The major telecom providers have done a good job securing their networks and don’t require further regulation by the government, experts testified Wednesday.
James Lewis, the director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said telecom companies have addressed cybersecurity on a level that other sectors have not.
"The [telecom] sector is already heavily regulated and it is in the business interests of major telecommunication’s companies to provide reliable service," Lewis said during a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Communications and Technology.
"Their business models makes them the only sector with the expertise and incentives to take cybersecurity seriously, but even then there are issues and problems were uncoordinated private action is inadequate and government intervention is needed," he added.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) asked for volunteers Tuesday to help evaluate whether applicants for new Web domain endings should qualify for a reduced application fee.
ICANN, a California-based nonprofit that manages the Internet’s address system, began accepting applications last month for new Web addresses ending in almost any word or phrase, such as “.sport” or “.food,” instead of just traditional endings such as “.com” or “.org.”
The full application fee for a new address ending, or generic top-level domain, is $185,000, but public-interest groups with limited resources can qualify for a reduced fee of $47,000.
Sprint posted a smaller loss than expected in the fourth quarter, Bloomberg reports. The company sold 1.8 million iPhones in the first quarter that it offered the device.
THE LEDE: The House Energy and Commerce telecom subpanel will hold a hearing Wednesday morning on the cybersecurity threat to the nation's communications networks. The House has recently begun to move on cybersecurity legislation that would enhance information sharing between the government and private sector about cybersecurity threats and attacks. The various committees of jurisdiction have been considering separate bills that will likely be consolidated before a floor vote.
Two of the witnesses scheduled to appear have already spoken out against sweeping new security regulations for critical infrastructure providers, as proposed in the Senate and White House comprehensive cybersecurity plans. Juniper Networks vice president of government affairs Bob Dix and Internet Security Alliance President Larry Clinton will likely tell the panel to push for information sharing and industry incentives over new security regulations overseen by the Department of Homeland Security. The hearing also features Center for Strategic and International Studies Director James Lewis and representatives from McAfee and Entrust.
Google launches mobile version of Chrome: Google launched a mobile version of its popular Chrome browser on Tuesday that is available for phones using its Android 4.0 operating system.
The browser will allow users to transfer information, such as tabs and bookmarks, from their desktops to their mobile phones.
The House Committee on Science, Space and Technology reported a bill Tuesday that would update the government's investment plan for network and information technology (NIT) R&D.
H.R. 3834, The Advancing America’s Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Act of 2012, would overhaul the federal government's policies for funding R&D in the growing NIT space. The bill is an updated version of legislation that passed the Committee in 2009.
“H.R. 3834 ensures that the federal government develops a coherent vision and strategy for federal investments in NIT R&D, including all of the applications made possible by NIT," ranking member Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) said.
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