House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) said the White House should put China's alleged cyberattacks against U.S. government computer systems first on the list of issues to discuss in its next bilateral meeting with Beijing.

The Michigan lawmaker was responding to a Pentagon report published earlier this week that accused the Chinese government and military of hacking into U.S. government computer systems to steal intelligence.

"We should make this a bilateral issue between us and China, and in any discussion moving forward we should have three issues we talk about with them before we talk the first trade issue: [It] should be cyber, cyber, and cyber and that's where we need to go," Rogers said during a brief interview with The Hill. "If we don't elevate this problem, they're going to continue their bad behavior because to date there's been no consequence."

The proposal could boost the Internet speeds available for airplane passengers and potentially bring down prices.

Companies and citizens can "freely use" the data "starting immediately," the White House said.

Huawei's CEO Ren Zhengfei, speaking to the media for the first time, denied that his company is a threat to U.S. cybersecurity, Reuters reports. 

The New York Times explains the uproar over the political ads from Mark Zuckerberg's group, Fwd.Us. 

SoftBank claimed its takeover bid of Sprint would save $3 billion a year, Bloomberg writes. 

Dish Network's first-quarter profit fell 40 percent, The Wall Street Journal reports. 

Microsoft is offering $1 billion to buy Barnes & Noble's Nook Media division, according to TechCrunch.

Companies worry set of amendments would tack on additional rules

THE LEDE: Several senators said on Wednesday that they are eager to see the Obama administration's proposal to make it easier for police to intercept online communications as they occur.

But the lawmakers said they will have to see a final version of the plan before they can say whether they will support it.

"I want to have a chance to review it rather than to shoot from the hip," Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said in an interview in the Capitol. He emphasized that any proposal should balance civil liberties with law enforcement concerns.

For several years, the FBI has complained that it is becoming difficult to intercept the communications of suspected criminals as more people use online services like Google and Facebook instead of phones — a problem the agency calls "going dark." The FBI has been working through an interagency task force to develop a legislative proposal to make it easier to wiretap online messages.

The New York Times reported on Wednesday that the Obama administration is "on the verge" of signing off on a proposal that would fine Internet companies that fail to comply with court-ordered wiretaps.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said she has yet to see the administration's plan.

"I need to think about it, but I can understand these warrants have to be able to be carried out," she said. "That's the whole point. You have to get a warrant, but the warrant needs to mean something. We need to look into it, and we will."
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The senator's legislation will likely face furious opposition from both broadcasters and cable providers.

The groups said the FCC's move to penalize only “egregious” indecency on the airwaves would "completely undermine" the federal law.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse called cybercrime "the greatest transfer of wealth in the history of humankind through illicit means.”