Democratic FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn had a message for local broadcasters Thursday: Embrace the Internet.

"I do not believe that community broadcasters should be tied only to your medium," Clyburn said at a conference in St. Paul, Minn. "In today’s world, radio is a technology that provides your message, but does not have to be the only technology that does so." 

Clyburn said broadcasters who get online will be rewarded for their effort. "As trusted sources in your community, you will have a leg up in developing local content online to complement your bread-and-butter work on the air."

The remarks could be viewed as edgy for an address to broadcasters, who can be sensitive about the Internet. As some radio and television programming migrates online, many traditional stations are cash-strapped and striving not to be seen as obsolete.

Clyburn made sure to give a nod to those concerns, telling broadcasters that they remain more important than the Web when it comes to getting community information.

"If you really want to know what is going on in your local community, where do you turn?" she said. "For most of us, it certainly is not the Internet."

She said that despite the rise of hyper-local websites, "today is not the day" when the Web surpasses broadcasting for content about the neighborhood. 

The FBI plans to investigate AT&T's security breach that allowed intruders to access the e-mail addresses of more than one hundred thousand iPad users, according to Investors Business Daily.

“The FBI is aware of the possible computer intrusion and has opened an investigation to address the potential cyber-threat,” Lindsay Godwin, an FBI spokeswoman in Washington D.C., told IBD. 

For more on the incident, look here. 

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) on Thursday accused NASA leadership of skirting the law to shut down the Constellation human spaceflight program. 

Hutchison released a statement in response to an announcement from NASA that it would "pace, rather than terminate" work on Constellation contracts due to budget shortfalls.

“For months, NASA’s leadership has claimed they are not working to subvert Constellation despite information to the contrary," Hutchison said in a statement.

Hutchison, a strong supporter of the Constellation program, has been a harsh critic of President Barack Obama's plan to end the manned spaceflight program. She recently called for an inspector general investigation of NASA's decision to reassign Constellation's program manager. The battle over Constellation has been heated, with lawmakers from both parties in the Senate asserting that only Congress has the authority to end the manned spaceflight program.

*Updated at 6:41 with FCC comment.*

In rare commentary on a private sector security incident, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a concerned statement Thursday about an AT&T privacy error that reportedly allowed intruders to access the e-mail addresses of 114,000 iPad users, noting that such events "violate consumer privacy" and "undermine trust in America's communications infrastructure."

Jamie Barnett, the agency's public safety chief, said he is "concerned" about reports of a security breach to AT&T's network "that exposed the personal data of more than a hundred thousand iPad users."

The choice to issue a statement breaks with the FCC's usual posture toward security incidents. A major privacy breach by Google, in which the Internet company collected user data traveling over Wi-Fi networks, did not prompt an FCC statement despite raising alarm bells all over Capitol Hill. 

The different treatment of Google and AT&T is sure to raise eyebrows, as the search giant is often pegged as a darling of the administration. Google has supported many of the FCC's initiatives, including net neutrality, while AT&T has spent millions of lobbying dollars trying to run them into the ground. 

One possibility, however, is that the distinction lies in the difference between a cybersecurity breach effected by intruders and a privacy breach allegedly carried out by accident. The FCC has pushed to forge a role for itself in cybersecurity issues as various parts of the federal government--from the Justice Department to the Defense Department--scout out ground on the issue. 

The FCC devoted a chunk of the National Broadband Plan to cybersecurity and has proposed a cybersecurity certification program for access providers. 

UPDATE:

An FCC spokesman weighed in that the AT&T incident appears to be an intentional cybersecurity breach and that it made the statement as part of its ongoing attention to security matters. He said the agency's cybersecurity efforts have also included a push for outage reporting and realtime monitoring for breaches. He declined to comment on Google.

"These are complex matters with a number of variables factored in and it clearly shows the need for increased cyber security measures in various sectors of America," he said. "It will take a national effort to make this work."

Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) has come out against Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski's plan to boost the agency's authority over broadband access providers, adding to the growing chorus of Democratic opposition to the controversial plan.

In a letter to the chairman Thursday, Stabenow urged Genachowski to wait for Congress to update the Communications Act rather than locating more power through a regulatory maneuver that would give it increased authority to police broadband access providers. 

"I urge the Commission to withdraw its Title II classification effort and work with the Chairs of the appropriate Congressional committees to develop [a] suitable and clear statute that will help us achieve our national broadband goals," she wrote.  

The chairmen of the authorizing committees in Congress have proposed to begin work on updating the act this year, but they say their work is compatible with Genachowski's effort. 

Genachowski said at a hearing Wednesday that he takes congressional concerns "very seriously," but added that the need to act on the commission's agenda is "urgent." Experts says updating the Communications Act could take years. 

Most members of Congress oppose the Democratic chairman's plan, including — with Stabenow — 76 Democrats. 

President Barack Obama announced plans to sell off excess federal lands on Thursday, a plan backed by Republicans through their "YouCut" initiative.

Obama issued a memorandum Thursday morning directing executive departments and agencies to identify excess lands they could sell, and directing them to more efficiently manage existing properties. The plans have to be submitted by the end of August.

"For decades, the federal government, the largest property owner and energy user in the United States, has managed more real estate than necessary to effectively support its programs and missions," Obama wrote in his memo. "However, during that same period, the federal government experienced a substantial increase in the number of data centers, leading to increased energy consumption, real property expenditures, and operations and maintenance costs."

The president's proposal, though, mirrors a plan sought by "YouCut," House Minority Whip Eric Cantor's (R-Va.) online initiative to cut spending programs that voters choose online or through text messages.

A spokesman for the second-ranking House Republican said the Obama proposal was a good first step, but doesn't go far enough.

"It is a welcome sign that the Obama administration is taking cues from the House Republican YouCut initiative. Though President Obama’s Executive Order does not maximize savings because it cannot override current law, thankfully Republican Whip Cantor’s YouCut proposal does and could save Americans $15 billion," said Cantor spokesman Brad Dayspring. "We are encouraged by the Obama administration’s support and hope that the President encourages House Democrats to vote for the proposal both on [YouCut] and on the House floor should it receive the most votes."

The GOP program has produced some high-profile votes on cutting welfare subsidies, freezing federal employees' pay and reforming Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, though House Democrats have brushed aside each effort.

Obama said the sale of federal lands should produce at least $3 billion in cost savings by the end of fiscal year 2012, on top of $9.8 billion in savings as a result of Defense Department efforts to close and realign bases.

The Republican proposal claims to save up to $15 billion by amending federal law to allow for a quicker and more simple process to sell off lands, with the requirement that 80 percent of the proceeds be used for deficit reduction.

Updated at 11:18 a.m. Cross-posted from the Briefing Room.

Republican FCC Commissioner Meredith Baker charged that agency chairman Julius Genachowski may be attempting to slip net neutrality rules through a back door, using his proposal to change how broadband is regulated. 

"I have concerns that this Title II debate is really about putting potential net neutrality rules on firmer ground," she said in a speech on Thursday, referring to the chairman's plan to place broadband service under Title II of the Communications Act, like heavily-regulated telephone services.

Genachowski has said the impetus for reclassification spans the agency's entire agenda, not just the creation of net neutrality rules but also the extension of broadband to all Americans.

"It would be a disservice to consumers and the entire Internet ecosystem for us to allow this Title II debate to devolve into a take-it-or-leave-it reclassification fight," Baker said.

The Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act would move the operational center for civilian cybersecurity to the DHS.

AT&T's top lobbyist, Jim Cicconi, is not known for sugarcoating his views. Thursday morning at a summit on broadband policy, he gave his take on Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski's plan to change the regulatory status of broadband so that the commission will have greater authority over providers such as AT&T. 

The proposal, he said, is like try to “kill a fly with a sledgehammer. ... And you are not likely to kill the fly anyway."

Here's the blog post he wrote after Genachowski announced the plan. He says Congressional action is necessary if the bounds of FCC authority are to change, rather than an FCC-based directive.