Good morning tech: Boehner questions Gibbs, GOP Chairman battle dicey

Good morning!

Boehner takes on Obama over Twitter

Speaker-designate John Boehner (Ohio) promised to question the Obama administration. He found a literal way to do that Monday by using Twitter to crash a White House press briefing.

The question at hand: earmarks. Boehner's digital media director, Nick Schaper, told The Hill on Monday that supporting an earmark ban is an "opportune way" for President Obama to show he is listening to Americans and heeding "their calls for smaller government and less spending."

So Boehner put that question to White House press secretary Robert Gibbs using the hashtag #1q on Twitter. Gibbs selects one question from a Twitter user each press briefing, answering it in an online video.

The result: no comment.

Gibbs instead selected questions on "Don't ask, don't tell" and the START treaty.

GOP fight for energy gavel mars otherwise seamless transition

Republicans are jockeying fiercely for position in a race to lead the Energy and Commerce Committee — a battle that, at times, has resembled a GOP primary where candidates run to the right. The stakes are high — whoever holds the chairmanship will immediately become one of the driving forces behind the GOP’s push to “repeal and replace” the sweeping healthcare overhaul.

The panel is also ground zero for debates on climate change, telecommunications and the future of the Internet, and the top Republican will have to spar with Rep. Henry Waxman (Calif.), the Democratic chairman who will become the committee’s ranking member in the 112th Congress.

Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) has positioned himself as the favorite in large part because Rep. Joe Barton (Texas), the current ranking Republican, needs a waiver from GOP rules to continue leading a committee on which he has served as chairman and ranking member. Read more in The Hill: http://bit.ly/eHKAhZ

Genahowski may need to win Title II proponent Copps to pass net-neutrality rules

As Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski mulls his path forward on net neutrality, analysts are questioning how he will win the votes to pass his plan. Will he try to win over Democratic Commissioners Michael Copps and Mignon Clyburn, or will he float something softer that might pick up a Republican vote? No one knows yet, but here are some of the factors analysts have in mind: http://bit.ly/gm5QM1

Inslee wants details, but open to supporting Title I net-neutrality effort

Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) is open to a net-neutrality proposal under Title I, rather than the stricter Title II of the Communications Act that he  rallied for this year,  spokesman Robert Kellar told The Hill on Monday. Still, he wants to see the fine print. http://bit.ly/ggXbQm

Everybody gets a chairman meeting. After meeting with a cable association, Verizon, and AT&T on Monday morning, the chairman's office also booked sessions with members of the Open Internet Coalition, according to sources who support net neutrality. (http://bit.ly/gCWo9T).

Can't get enough net-neutrality legalese? Watch this video of FCC General Counsel Austin Schlick mulling questions about the agency's authority over the weekend: http://bit.ly/fpVaFN

Hill notes

Franken wants antitrust probe of Comcast. Comcast's announcement of a new management team for NBC Universal may have been an illegal attempt to exert control over the company before the government has completed its antitrust review, according to Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.). In a letter Monday to Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Christine Varney, Franken asked for an investigation. http://bit.ly/fzsirY

Industry notes

Consumer group: Google-ITA deal threatens consumers. "Google's proposed acquisition of the travel software firm ITA Software could limit choice in the online travel market, according to a Saturday statement from Consumers Union. The nonprofit consumer advocate is concerned Google's dominance in the search market could give it an unfair advantage in the online travel market. ITA currently provides the back-end software for many leading travel sites and airlines." http://bit.ly/dXbM2X

Hewlett-Packard reports 5 percent increase in net income. HP's net income in its fourth quarter, which ended Oct. 31, rose 5 percent to $2.54 billion, or $1.10 a share, compared with $2.41 billion, or 99 cents a share, in the period in 2009, according to The New York Times. http://nyti.ms/fuhXAT

Novell to be sold for $2.2 billion. The NYT reports: "Novell, the software maker, said on Monday that it had agreed to be acquired by the Attachmate Corporation for $2.2 billion in cash. Novell also plans to sell some intellectual property assets like patents for $450 million to a consortium of technology companies led by Microsoft. Attachmate’s takeover is contingent on the successful closing of that sale." http://nyti.ms/exyYJp

News Corp. acquires wireless for $360 million to expand into education. Bloomberg reports: "News Corp. agreed to acquire 90 percent of education-technology provider Wireless Generation for about $360 million in cash, as Rupert Murdoch’s media company looks to expand in academics." http://bit.ly/eUsSxA

SAID

"Being chairman is much harder than being a regular commissioner. All I have to do is swing at each pitch and he has to offer up each pitch."

—Republican FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell on the challenges of leading the FCC, in comments reported by Communications Daily.