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A new sign of congressional support has emerged for a controversial proceeding launched by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski.

In a letter obtained by The Hill, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) voiced strong support for the chairman's proceeding, refuting critics' claims that it amounts to "regulating the Internet."

Warner's overture comes as stakeholders meet Friday behind closed doors to discuss alternatives to Genachowski's process, which examines whether the FCC should have more authority over broadband service providers.

"Some have characterized [the inquiry] as 'regulating the Internet,'" Warner wrote to the chairman in the Thursday letter. "Instead, this process can provide rules of the road to the onramp to the Internet to ensure that consumers can continue to access legal content, applications, and services of their choosing."

Warner, a member of the commerce panel, wrote that he supports non-discrimination protections for Internet traffic.

His message comes as around 30 telecommunications stakeholders head to the Hill Friday to begin staff-led talks about the possibility of overhauling communications law.

It also comes as top reps from AT&T, Verizon, Google, NCTA, OIC and Skype meet with FCC officials to try to reach a deal on broadband rules.

NOTED:

… the FCC stopped the clock on the NBCU-Comcast review for the second time after NBCU was asked to resubmit its documents.

WHO, WHERE. 

FCC chairman JULIUS GENACHOWSKI visits Troy, Mo., today with Sen. CLAIRE McCASKILL to talk about the need for broadband in rural areas.

MARNE LEVINE joins Facebook. (PostTech)

TOM TAUKE, DEAN GARFIELD, JOT CARPENTER, NEIL FRIED of House Energy and Commerce, MATTHEW HUSSEY of Sen. OLYMPIA SNOWE's office and CHRISTINE KURTH of the FCC were slated to meet this morning for a closed-door panel on the future of the Internet.

IVAN SEIDENBERG finds himself in STEVEN PEARLSTEIN's column but may not want to be there. He also finds himself in a piece by the WSJ edit board.

NICK ALLARD discussed lobbying with TOM ASHBROOK yesterday. Listen again here.

MAXIE JACKSON is in Silver Spring, Md. for an American Film Institute event on public media.

VIVEK KUNDRA and JAY ADELSON appeared on CNB's "Meeting of the Minds" this week.

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CANT MISS NEWS.

SENATE HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE OKs CYBERSECURITY LEGISLATION. The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs approved a comprehensive cybersecurity bill on Thursday after amending it to limit the president's authority in the event of a cyber emergency.The bill, co-sponsored by Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) would make the Department of Homeland Security responsible for protecting civilian networks in the government and private sector. The bill will now head to the full Senate for a vote, where it will likely be merged with other competing pieces of cybersecurity legislation. 

A hack job that allowed intruders to take control of President Obama's Twitter account has resulted in a settlement at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). 

The agency unanimously voted to approve a settlement with Twitter after charging it with leaving the door open for hackers to take control of the site on two occasions last year. The negligence risked users' personal data and gave perpetrators a chance to hijack accounts, the FTC said on Thursday. 

The breach extended to President Obama's account during the campaign. One tweet sent from his profile offered his over 150,000 followers a chance to win $500 worth of free gasoline.

Panel first votes to limit president's authority in a cyber emergency.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has stopped the time clock on the proceeding to review a merger between Comcast and NBC Universal (NBCU), according to a letter released by the agency Thursday. 

The agency has asked NBCU to resubmit its filings after it found the company had not fully complied with an information request. NBCU has to revise and resubmit its responses.

This is the second time the agency has stopped the time clock on this proceeding. Last time, it was stopped for 29 days. The entire review is meant to finish in 180 days. 

The law that governs when the government can intercept digital communications is outdated and badly in need of an update, a panel of experts told lawmakers on Thursday.

At a hearing in front of the House Subcommittee on Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties witnesses said Congress needs to update the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), which protects citizens' electronic communications while in transit. Witnesses said the existing law doesn't address location-based mobile services and other newer technologies.

U.S. Magistrate Stephen Smith of the Southern District of Texas said the current law is overly secretive because warrants for wiretaps and other communications intercepts are often sealed for years after they are issued. Smith said the brunt of that secrecy is borne by people who are never charged with a crime but have the misfortune to contact someone whose communications are being monitored.

Michael Amarosa, senior vice president of TruePosition, which provides location services to first responders, said there are instances when having access to the location information for a cell phone call can save lives. For example, 911 dispatchers have access to address information for most landline callers, but not for calls that come from mobile phones.

"Relying on the caller to provide the location for directing emergency response is fraught with risk," Amarosa said in his opening statement. "The delay associated with determining where the individual is stifles and often precludes determining even what the emergency is."

Broadband regulation talks between warring companies have narrowed to the most contentious issues separating the stakeholders, homing in on impasses that have put tech companies and broadband providers at loggerheads for years.

Public discussions on federal regulations for broadband providers have been expansive in recent weeks, spanning notions as disparate as free speech, child pornography and Universal Service Reform.

But industry negotiations brokered by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) this week covered the fundamental issue dividing the companies, according to a disclosure filing about the meetings. The talks focused in on the possibility of imposing a nondiscrimination rule on access providers.

Providers have lobbied hard to fend off such a rule, which might make it difficult for them to charge Internet companies more to move certain content and applications (such as high band-width programs) over their networks.

The disclosure filing also indicates that stakeholders hashed out whether such a rule would apply to wireless platforms, a topic dividing cable and wireless companies.

Republicans clashed with officials from the Federal Communications Commission over the agency’s plans for broadband regulation.

The Democratic National Committee unveiled a new application Wednesday night for the iPad that should make it easier to organize the party's grassroots supporters by leveraging their online social networks.

The official Democratic Party App is now free for users of Apple's iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. DNC spokesperson Brandi Hoffine said it is the mobile app from the Democrats and is specifically tailored to advantage of the iPad's capabilities.

"It's a one-stop shop for mobile grassroots organizing," Hoffine said, adding that users can receive alerts for news stories and events, watch campaign videos and forward content to their social networks via Twitter and Facebook.

Salsa Labs, which provides support and online services for progressive political campaigns like DemocracyInAction, has a new social networking platform that allows supporters of candidates and organizations to communicate and organize.

MySalsa aims to create – albeit on a smaller scale – the same kind of networking capabilities provided by Organizing for America's "MyBarackObama" site, from the 2008 presidential campaign. Chief executive Chris Lundberg previewed the new technology during a call with Hillicon Valley this week.

Salsa co-founder April Pedersen said the platform’s real power is that it allows even the smallest group to create a full-fledged online network, allowing supporters to organize independently of campaign activities.

"I think the real message behind this is smaller organizations and campaigns can give people the power and tools to self-organize, which is when amazing things can happen," Pedersen said. "The goal is to make sure every campaign organization can replicate what Obama did."

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