One of the White House's top regulators on Wednesday stressed the Obama administration takes public comments submitted on its transparency websites "extremely seriously."

In a speech at the Brookings Institution, Cass Sunstein, the chief of the White House's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), said it was not the case that federal officials ignore criticism of the rules they are required by federal mandate to post for comment on Web sites like RegInfo.gov, OIRA's main hub.

Rather, Sunstein said, "If you look what's come out of the administration, in final form, public comments are playing a significant role..."

Sunstein later added that the White House's push for transparency, especially on the federal government's Data.gov and IT dashboard websites, has allowed rule making to become more of a "collaborative process."

"We've started to democratize data, we've used openness to promote accountability," Sunstein said, adding disclosure is a "low-cost, high-impact, regulatory tool."

"What transparency does is allow the public to see and to comment on what are the easy cases, what are the hard cases, and how to think about the latter," he added.

A series of documents published Tuesday by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) reveal that dozens of passengers have already filed privacy complaints about airports' use of full-body scanners.

Those complaints were filed with the Transportation Security Administration in summer 2009, according to the documents EPIC posted online -- months before an attempted bombing on a Christmas Day flight to Detroit prompted federal officials to install those scanners nationwide.

But TSA officials on Wednesday downplayed EPIC's accusations, stressing the 51 pages of recently released comments "represent a fraction of the nearly two million passengers TSA screens every day to ensure they arrive safely at their destination."

"TSA has been forthcoming with the traveling public about advanced imaging technology--including the strong privacy protections in place--since TSA began piloting its use in 2007," the agency, part of the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement.

"Advanced imaging technology has been and remains 100 percent optional for all passengers. Passengers who do not wish to receive imaging technology screening will receive equivalent screening," the statement continued.

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"If the option is that we shutter our .cn operation and leave the country, we are prepared to do that."

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The Obama administration is still "studying" the facts to determine whether it should challenge China's Internet practices before the World Trade Organization (WTO), U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said Tuesday.

However, Kirk stressed that he would still prefer to use direct negotiations to address China's tough online censorship rules, adding that strategic talks between U.S. officials and Chinese censors are likely to be more productive and less complicated than a protracted WTO fight.

"We are still dialoging, not just with Google, but with other Internet providers, to make sure we fully understand what is happening in China," Kirk told the National Press Club in a speech Tuesday. "And we are studying, trying to make our own determination, whether we believe [Chinese censorship] is in fact not WTO-compliant, and whether the best resolution is to go forward and file an appeal."

However, Kirk quickly added: "Our preference, and my very strong preference ... is if we can get these resolved through direct negotiations, within the context of our dialogue with China. 

"That is something much more preferable than the uncertain path of what can be a two-, three-, four-year legal battle through the WTO," Kirk said.

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The House is expected to announce plans on Wednesday to provide computer users with complete wireless Internet access throughout the entire Capitol campus.

Over the next three years the department that oversees the technological maintenance for the chamber is pushing to install 750 wireless access points throughout member and committee offices, said Chief Administrative Officer Dan Beard in prepared testimony before the Legislative Branch subcommittee on Appropriations.

Wireless access is currently available in the Longworth cafeteria and Beard said that he expects it will soon be available in the Rayburn cafeteria as well.

The lack of robust wireless Internet access in congressional office buildings has been frustrating for staffers and groups wanting to host events on campus.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski will sit down with YouTube on Tuesday, March 16 to answer Web users' questions about his agency's new broadband plan.

Genachowski will be the second federal official to participate in the Web site's series of interviews with government leaders, following President Barack Obama's video question-and-answer session last month.

The live event arrives in conjunction with the FCC's forthcoming National Broadband Plan, due to congressional lawmakers on March 17. Among other components, the report sets the ambitious target of 90 percent domestic broadband adoption by 2020.

Users will have the opportunity to press Genachowski on that plan through CitizenTube, the video-sharing site's civic engagement hub. Alternatively, mobile users can text questions to Google Moderator, the search giant's new audience app. YouTube will then compile a selection of the most popular video or text questions, and pose them to Genachowski on Tuesday.

The question submission deadline is this Sunday, March 14, according to the site.

"Access to the Internet has transformed almost every aspect of our economy and society," CitizenTube moderators said in a blog post announcing the forum.

"This is your chance to press the FCC on how the National Broadband Plan will work, and ask your questions about improving the Internet in America. We're looking forward to seeing your questions and hearing what the Chairman has to say," they wrote.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced an agreement with the U.K. Intellectual Property Office to figure out an "action plan" for reducing patent backlogs in both countries.

The cost to the global economy of the delay in processing patent applications is as much as $11.4 billion each year, according to a recent study by London Economics.

One priority of the the offices is to share the work reviewing patent applications that are filed jointly in both countries.

David Kappos, director of the USPTO, said work-sharing is an important feature of patent reform.

“Every quality patent application that sits on the shelf represents jobs not created," he said today.

"Thus far, however, our work-sharing efforts at the USPTO have largely been applicant driven and therefore dependent on whether individual applicants know about, and appreciate, the clear benefits of work-sharing.  So I am particularly delighted that we are today embracing with the UK an office-driven mechanism for reutilization of work.”

According to the London Economics study, the patent backlog prevents high-tech businesses such as telecom and engineering sectors from getting to market quickly. The study found that this results in a loss of competition, delays in research and development and an overall reduction in innovation.

As part of Sen. Patrick Leahy's Patent Reform Bill, the USPTO would be able to adjust application fees to help pay for the backlog reduction effort. That bill, however, has received significant push-back from certain sectors of the high-tech industry that feel it does not address the issue of run-away damages in patent infringement cases.

The former employees of two video relay service companies pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the FCC's Video Relay Service program of more than $2.5 million, according to the Justice Department.

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A tax credit for companies who hire research and development workers is one step closer to being extended by Congress.

The tax extenders package that has been making its way through the Senate will finally get a vote this week. Today the Senate voted to stop debate on the package, which also extends unemployment insurance through the end of the year.

The technology industry has been lobbying mightily to get get the R&D tax credit reinstated. Tech trade groups, manufacturers and companies ultimately want to see the R&D tax credit extended indefinitely to give firms more certainty when hiring workers and investing in new products.

The tax credit expired at the end of 2009, causing the loss of jobs and revenue, the groups say.

The tax credit extender package has already passed the House.

"This is one more step forward as we fight to get the American people back to work and support families that have been the hardest hit by the economic crisis," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a statement. "The president is grateful to members of both parties that helped move forward on this bill."