Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) demanded that the FCC to stop dragging its feet when it comes to implementing provisions of the National Broadband Plan.

He also directed FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski to do whatever it takes to enact net neutrality rules. And, if necessary, he said he would take on the challenge of revamping the communications laws.

"The report has over 200 recommendations.  But it takes no action.  It is long on vision, but short on tactics," Rockefeller said.

"So I am going to challenge the FCC.  I am going to challenge the FCC to make the hard choices that will help bring broadband to every corner of this country.  Putting ideas on paper is not enough.  Just seeking comment on a slew of issues is not enough.  It’s action that counts."

Genachowski told the committee that the agency is moving as fast as it can, recently releasing a timeline for more than 60 rulemaking procedures and comment periods.

Rockefeller responded that gathering comments on ideas is not enough.

"I was told we'd be off and running" after the broadband plan was completed, Rockefeller said. "I don't get that impression....when are we going to see things happening?"

The plan's recommendations include the phrase "Congress should..." more than 139 times, Rockefeller points out.

"That begs the question, what are the priorities for the fcc coming out of this plan?"

Genachowski repeated the themes he's long talked about: freeing up more spectrum for wireless service, revamping the $8 billion universal service fund and creating a nationwide public safety communications network.

Turning to the D.C. Circuit's ruling that the FCC doesn't have authority to impose broadband regulations, Rockefeller gave clear instructions.

"First, in the near-term, I want the agency to use all of its existing authority to protect consumers and pursue the broad objectives of the broadband plan," he said.

"Second, in the long-term, if there is a need to rewrite the law to provide consumers, the FCC, and industry with a new framework, I will take that task on."

Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) points out the contradictions of the plan that aims to provide a broadband access roadmap.

Amid increasing political pressure, the White House is now prepared to scale back its proposal to cut NASA's manned space-flight program next year.

President Barack Obama will announce his slightly revised NASA spending plan during his speech at Kennedy Space Center on Thursday afternoon, White House officials told reporters during a briefing Wednesday.

But the spending plan will also relax many of the other cuts to NASA's shuttle program that have so far only earned Obama the scorn of congressional lawmakers, who feel the 2011 budget would leave NASA without an ambitious mission.

However, even the revised budget has already incensed one lawmaker: Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), whose state is home to a major NASA base in Huntsville. Shelby quickly blasted the president's new proposal late Wednesday, stressing it was just as "visionless" as the spending plan that preceded it.

"This new plan does not represent an advancement in policy or an improvement upon the Constellation program, but a continued abdication of America's leadership in space," said Shebly, the ranking member on the Senate Appropriations Committee that handles NASA dollars.

"The President has replaced one visionless plan with another," he continued. "It is clear that the Administration does not believe that American leadership in human space flight is a priority worth fighting for.”

Motorola’s plans to divide its corporate operations set the stage for some big changes to its Washington office.

The cellphone and tech equipment company has hired four different lobbying firms in the past month, according to disclosure documents.

To handle telecom issues, Motorola has hired the Fritts Group, led by Eddie Fritts, the well-connected former chief of the National Association of Broadcasters.

TwinLogic Strategies will be lobbying on issues related to the National Broadband Plan, privacy and trade agreements. The firm’s founders include Sharon Ringley, former deputy chief of staff to Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.), who now chairs the House technology subcommittee. Boucher is planning to draft a privacy bill as well as lead major oversight of the broadband plan.

Motorola has also hired the Bockorny Group to work on trade and tax isssues. Denny Miller Associates will take the lead on budget, homeland security and defense technology lobbying.

The Beltway hiring spree reflects the larger reorganization going on within the Illinois-based company. Motorola said earlier this year that it plans to split in two in early 2011, with one half containing its consumer-oriented cell phones, including the popular Droid phone, and TV set-top box products. The other half will contain its public safety and business-focused equipment.

Both halves of the company will continue to run under the Motorola brand.

The company’s head of legislative affairs, Yardly Pollas-Kimble, is refocusing Motorola’s lobbying priorities, according to people familiar with the situation. Motorola declined to comment for this story because the reorganization is ongoing.

House lawmakers on Wednesday approved a bill that would crack down on businesses or scammers who falsify their caller ID data in the hope that unsuspecting customers will answer their phones.

That legislation, piloted by Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), easily cleared the lower chamber this afternoon by a voice vote. The bill now heads to the Senate, where it seems likely to pass.

Engel's legislation, the Truth in Caller ID Act, is an attempt to stamp out the practice of "caller ID spoofing," which a handful of lawmakers have attributed to a recent rise in telephone scams.

At the same time, it carves out a key exception for law enforcement agents who "spoof" their caller information in order to deceive suspected criminals and further their investigations. That guarantee arrives at the beckoning of a handful of Republicans and Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, who would have blocked the bill if it did not include that condition.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates slammed the owners of the website "Wikileaks" on Tuesday for releasing a video last week in which U.S. troops mistake a group of Iraqis for terrorists and ultimately kill a dozen, including two Reuters reporters.

While Wikileaks has described the events in that video, still available on its website, as "murder," Gates told reporters aboard a plane Tuesday that the clip had been published grossly out of context.

"These people can put out anything they want, and they're never held accountable for it. There's no before and there's no after," Gates said, as first reported by Reuters.

The secretary seemed to be referring to an investigation conducted shortly after the reporters' deaths. The U.S. military at the time found the soldiers had committed no wrongdoing, as they initially believed the crowd below contained armed insurgents, not Reuters staff members. Firing on those presumed threats qualified as operating within the military's rules of engagement, investigators noted.

Wikileaks, however, quickly shot back on Wednesday, defending its decision to publish the video last week.

In an unsigned e-mail, the site's press office criticized the military for making "false or misleading statements" about the 2007 incident and its later investigation. Wikileaks then promised "classified records which we will shortly release" that further prove no confrontation occurred before the U.S. military opened fire.

A Library spokesman wrote that the primary function of the acquisition will be to assist researchers and educators.

The Computer & Communications Industry Association is urging President Barack Obama to nominate a tech-savvy judge to the Supreme Court and recommended Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) for the job.

The trade group that represents Google, Ebay, Yahoo and Oracle, said the high court will likely face issues ranging from privacy and free speech to intellectual property and online rights in the next five years, requiring someone who understands the technology behind these contentious issues.

The Senate Armed Forces Committee on Thursday will consider the nomination of Army Lt. Gen. Keith Alexander as head of the new U.S. Cyber Command.

Military leaders once hoped to confirm Alexander, who also leads the National Security Agency, in time for the command's envisioned October 2009 launch. However, some members of Congress have instead stalled the top general's confirmation vote, citing his proposed dual role as NSA director and Cyber Command chief as troubling.

The NSA handles a considerable amount of electronic surveillance -- a role that once earned former President George Bush ample scorn -- and will continue monitoring federal networks as part of the White House's cybersecurity framework. It is unclear how those duties may change, though, as a result of its director taking on a military role that's also tasked to confront so-called "cyberwars."

"We are obviously concerned about the nomination of Lt. Gen. Alexander," Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Washington-based Electronic Privacy Information Center, told The Associated Press this week. "The NSA has broad authority to conduct electronic surveillance against U.S. citizens and the oversight system simply does not work."

However, the Pentagon has long sought to downplay those concerns, citing they do not intend to "militarize" cyberspace. Alexander, too, has tried to deflect those criticisms, noting repeatedly that "the creation and maintenance of a cyber force" would best help the military respond to cyber threats."

"Maintaining freedom of action in cyberspace in the 21st Century is as inherent to U.S. interests as freedom of the seas was in the 19th Century, and access to air and space in the 20th Century," he told House lawmakers at a hearing last May.