Good morning tech

Good morning!

Cybersecurity and privacy top the tech news Monday morning, with most of the papers lending copy to the din. Top takes:

VENTURE CAPITAL: The Wall Street Journal looks at how online protection is becoming an attractive investment. Companies who help keep our data and identities and children safe online — such as ReputationDefender, SafetyWeb and others — are fetching millions in new venture funding without having to look very hard. Top venture capital firms are making the investments, including Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Accel Partners.

CYBER-RECRUITS: USA Today explains what the government, academia and giant military contractors are doing to steer young people toward careers in cybersecurity. The recruitment tool of choice? “Competitions that pit tech-savvy youths in mock warfare against professional hackers.”

MAC ATTACKS: Mac users may be increasingly susceptible to security threats, prompting Apple to quietly add anti-malware to its software updates, according to cNet. 

A.M. NOTABLES: 

…Acer will overtake Hewlett-Packard as the world’s largest notebook vendor before the year is out, Acer chairman J.T. Wang predicted Friday (WSJ).

…Verizon will let customers try FiOS Internet and television for a month with no early termination fee if they decide to switch during a designated time (Reuters).

…Google is working on a one-click micropayment system allowing newspapers to charge surfers for content accessed through search (TG Daily).

WHO, WHERE

ERIC SCHMIDT hosts a fundraiser for SEN. MARK WARNER tonight at Hotel Monaco.

MARK ZUCKERBERG will take the stage at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival on Wednesday to try to convince marketers that Facebook is a good spot for branding. (FT)

ROBERT ATKINSON, SASCHA MEINRATH, MATTHEW WOOD and TOM GALVIN are on a panel today on broadband at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.

BARATUNDE THURSTON and ANIL DASH were in D.C. over the weekend for Blogging While Brown.

PETER CORBETT, ANDREW NOYES and DAVID ALL attended D.C. Week’s closing party at the 9:30 Club on Saturday.

ADAM CONNER, BERIN SZOKA and JON HENKE went to the Competitive Enterprise Institute gala.

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CAN’T-MISS NEWS

OBAMA’S IP STRATEGY COMING WEDNESDAY: Sources say Intellectual Property Coordinator Victoria Espinel is set to formally release a strategic plan on Wednesday at an oversight hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The plan’s imminent release will come amid continuing concerns among business and advocacy groups that the government needs to do more to combat IP breaches. Mark Esper, who handles IP at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, says the plan represents “a monumental shift” in how the country approaches IP.  

CLOSED DOOR TELECOM OVERHAUL TO BEGIN FRIDAY: Lawmakers will debate broadband regulation this Friday at the first in a series of talks on how to overhaul communications law, a feat that has not successfully occurred in 14 years, the leaders of the authorizing committees indicated on Friday. The key question is who will be at the table as Congress prepares to rewrite a labyrinthian statute that has gone largely untouched since the rise of the Internet. Which Internet companies will get a seat? (Google, eBay, Amazon?) Will Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski attend despite a jam-packed schedule at the commission?

McAFEE CONCERNED WITH DHS CYBERSECURITY STANDARDS: Imposing tough government cybersecurity standards could have a detrimental impact on private sector innovation, according to officials from the network security firm McAfee. McAfee officials told Hillicon Valley on Friday that they support the cybersecurity bill recently introduced by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee but are concerned about the Department of Homeland Security imposing stringent, static cybersecurity requirements on private sector companies. The government “needs to be very careful about imposing too much of a top-down standards process" said Tom Gann, McAfee vice president of government relations, noting standards could quickly become out of date thanks to the "cyber arms race" between hackers and the institutions they attempt to penetrate.

SCHEDULED

…9:30. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation will host a discussion on "Where Does the U.S. Really Stand in Broadband and Why?" 1101 K St. NW.

NUMBER PUNCH

9…The number of steps needed to explain “everything you need to know” about the Internet, according to a Guardian analysis piece. Using bullet points to elucidate the entire online world, insights range from technical explanations (what is cloud computing? Bullet #6: “the network is now the computer”) to major cultural explorations (how is the Web changing communication? Bullet#1: “the honest answer is that we simply don't know”).

SAID

“As the ball blasted out of the trap, the combined effect of the blades of grass, the flying grains of sand, and the ball coming at me was actively seductive, beyond ‘you are there.’ The picture enveloped me, as though the images were as drawn to me as I was to them.”

-Nancy Franklin in a New Yorker piece on how 3-D enhances the experience of watching sports, golf included.

QUESTIONED

Is it ethical to provide nursing home residents with a pet for company — if the pet is a robotic baby seal called Paro? (WSJ)

FOR THE WATERCOOLER

INCONSISTENCY: Google appears to have two different views on the legality of pulling data from unencrypted networks, Tech Daily Dose reports. On one hand is the company’s letter to lawmakers telling them it did not break the law when it collected user data running over Wi-Fi networks. On the other hand is the privacy policy statement attached to its own Wi-Fi network in Mountain View, Calif. "Wireless Internet access presents challenges for protecting your information from illegal data interception by third parties," the policy states, the key word being “illegal.”

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