Good morning tech

Good (mid)-morning!

Back up at the normal time tomorrow.

Net-neutrality void prompts Rep. Hank Johnson to warn FCC on Comcast-NBCU

A lack of competition and consumer protection policies governing the "burgeoning" market for online video is one reason Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) wants the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Justice Department to give careful thought to conditions for the gigantic merger, he said in a letter to the FCC this month.

"As it stands, there are not currently any broadband network nondiscrimination principles in place to ensure that broadband providers, such as Comcast, cannot prefer certain content over other content in their delivery to home consumers," he wrote.

"While this is already a concern, the transaction under review would create new incentives for Comcast to prefer the distribution of NBC Universal content to their customers or to restrict the access of NBC Universal content by consumers using an Internet connection provided by a competition."

Plus, companies reportedly moving forward in industry talks have nothing to show for their alleged progress, he said. "In the absence of an industry-wide solution to this problem, I urge the commission to ensure that this transaction does not exacerbate the problem."

The merger is currently under review at the FCC and the Justice Department.

California schools to teach Algebra using iPads instead of textbooks

A pilot project in four California school districts will replace 400 students' eighth-grade algebra textbooks with a fully digital versions loaded on Apple iPads in an attempt to prove the advantages of interactive digital technologies over traditional teaching methods. Rather than simply relying on the text, students can click on a lesson and instantly view a teaching video that works through sample problems and allows them to learn at their own pace.

A spokesman for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt said the firm expects the students with iPads to outperform their peers, who will be given traditional textbooks over the course of the year-long pilot program. In addition to giving students access to instructional videos, the digital textbooks also require students to perform some assignments directly on their iPads, allowing teachers to get real-time feedback on the performance of their students to understand which concepts and individuals need extra attention.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt vice president John Sipe called the project the first of its kind and a seminal moment in education, as it marks a fundamental shift from the print delivery of curriculum to digital. The company hopes to have some initial data on the results of the project in January, with a more detailed account coming at the end of the school year.

Genachowski, Strickling in China talks

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, National Telecommunications and Information Administration Administrator Larry Strickling and U.S. Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy Philip Verveer met with officials from China on Tuesday, according to the State Department.

They discussed Internet freedom, coordination at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and the International Telecommunication Union talks, and China’s domestic telecommunication and Internet market development.

Today: President Obama to tout renewal of R&D credit in Ohio

In an address near Cleveland, Ohio, President Obama will discuss the renewal of an R&D credit that the White House says will boost investment and create jobs. The proposal would make the lapsed credit permanent and expand it.

The speech is also expected to take on House Minority Leader John Boehner in his home state. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday that Obama specifically chose Cleveland as the site to lay out his new economic proposals because of Boehner’s address on the economy two weeks ago there.

He said Obama “will spend a decent amount of time” contrasting his economic views with Boehner’s, which the White House argues would return the country to failed policies that led to a financial crisis and recession. http://bit.ly/ccWI27

Executive notes

Sunlight Foundation rips Obama on transparency. Sunlight Foundation co-founder and director Ellen Miller used her slot at Tuesday's Gov 2.0 Summit to once again slam the Obama administration for failing to live up to its lofty promises of delivering transparency by publishing government data online, TechPresident reports. Miller criticized the offerings on sites such as USASpending.gov and Data.gov, arguing the sites look good but don't provide much in the way of meaningful data. She also pointed to the departures of White House staffers such as Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag and ethics adviser Norm Eisen as evidence the administration's focus on openness is wavering. http://bit.ly/cJZ7UA

Privacy advocates sue DHS over suspicionless laptop searches at border. The ACLU joined groups representing defense attorneys and photojournalists this week to mount a legal challenge against the U.S. government's policy of searching and seizing laptop computers and other electronic devices at the border without reasonable suspicion. The groups argue the searches, which have taken place since the Bush administration, are a violation of citizens' rights to privacy and free speech. The Obama administration has argued the devices fall into a legal gray area where the Fourth Amendment does not apply. http://bit.ly/9WNBGy

Genachowski touts website update. "FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski Tuesday announced several new features that have been added to the commission's website that he said would help 'unlock the agency's data,' " Tech Daily Dose reports. "At a government technology conference, Genachowski said the changes to the FCC website include making FCC data available in an open searchable database. A completely redesigned FCC website will launch before the end of the year." http://bit.ly/atxTMQ

Hill notes

Lawmakers cautious to applaud removal of Craigslist 'adult services.' One competitor said Craigslist's new stance might send a message to Capitol Hill. "They are clearly thumbing their noses at lawmakers by replacing their adult services text link with the word 'censored,' " said Greg Collier, the founder of geebo.com. http://bit.ly/bRvRfv

Industry notes

Google to enter TV market worldwide. "Google Inc will launch its service to bring the Web to TV screens in the United States this autumn and worldwide next year, its chief executive said, as it extends its reach from the desktop to the living room," Reuters reports. "CEO Eric Schmidt said the service, which will allow full Internet browsing via the television, would be free, and Google would work with a variety of programme makers and electronics manufacturers to bring it to consumers." http://bit.ly/d8zKwK

HP sues over Oracle move. "Hewlett-Packard sued to block its former chief executive from joining rival Oracle Corp. as a senior executive, alleging Mark Hurd's hiring breaches his exit agreement and will lead to a transfer of its trade secrets to a competitor," the WSJ reports. http://bit.ly/c1jDXc

For the poor, cell phones offer a life line. "For the world's poorest, cellphone technology carries opportunity, aid groups say, as text messages and other mobile applications have created a new platform to reach the most remote farms and crowded urban slums of Africa, Asia and Latin America," the Washington Post reports. http://bit.ly/9Oz9a5

O'Reilly pans Google ice-cream truck ad. Tim O’Reilly stood up for Google’s chief executive Eric Schmidt this week after a watchdog group ran an ad in Times Square portraying him as a creepy ice cream truck driver preying on adorable children. “While there are real issues to be addressed around privacy, this kind of attack ad is truly sad,” O’Reilly, the founder of O’Reilly Media, said. The ad aimed to say Google collects too much information about its users. http://bit.ly/a8loqP

Former FCC senior adviser to consult. Colin Crowell, the former senior counselor to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, announced Tuesday he plans to stay in Washington and launch a consulting practice. http://bit.ly/cUPRlV

Staff shuffle at AT&T, Disney. AT&T Senior Vice President for Public Policy and Chief Privacy Officer Dorothy Attwood is planning to leave her position, the company announced Tuesday. She is heading to Walt Disney Co. Robert Quinn and Len Cali will take on new responsibilities after her departure. Privacy issues will go to Quinn, senior vice president for federal regulatory, who will add the title of chief privacy officer. Cali, senior vice president for wireless and international external affairs, will add global public policy responsibilities. http://bit.ly/93Sk5x

AOL Daily Finance provides a net-neutrality recap, including a look at talks at the FCC, called "a high-stakes gamble gone terribly wrong." http://bit.ly/cNeYSe 

SAID

"It's hard to get users to pay for anything these days, especially on the Web. Individuals don't understand the risk of privacy online."

—Joseph Collins, co-founder of VaporStream, "which for $7.50 to $9 a month allows consumers and corporate users to send email and instant messages that can't be forwarded, saved or printed and leave no electronic record after they are read," the WSJ reports. http://bit.ly/aUQhe1

WATERCOOLER

ALLIANCE — "North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has found an unlikely ally to help raise cash for his impoverished regime: The Dude, the pot-smoking underachiever played by Jeff Bridges in the movie 'The Big Lebowski,' " Bloomberg reports. Programmers from North Korea’s General Federation of Science and Technology developed games based on the film. The game was published by News Corp. It represents "a growing software industry championed by Kim that is boosting the economy of one of the poorest countries in the world and raising the technological skills of workers." http://bit.ly/dzpVnv

—Sam Youngman and Michael O'Brien contributed to this report.