Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday hailed House passage of cybersecurity enhancement legislation.

The legislation calls on federal agencies to develop a cybersecurity strategic research and development plan to be delivered to Congress a year after the act’s passage.

It was approved in a 422-5 vote. Five Republicans voted against the bill: Reps. Ron Paul (Texas), Paul Broun (Ga.), Louie Gohmert (Texas), James Sensenbrenner Jr. (Wis.) and Jeff Flake (Ariz.).

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said NBC's content will continue to be available online for free after the companies merge.

Roberts was asked about free online content by several lawmakers, including Reps. John Dingell (D-Mich.) and Steve Buyer (R-Ind.), in a hearing Thursday morning.

Consumer groups worry that NBC's popular content, which is now available on NBC.com and Hulu.com, will be migrated to websites only accessible to Comcast subscribers.

Comcast is experimenting with this model with its TV Everywhere initiative, which makes cable programming available online to Comcast subscribers.

Google's deputy general counsel will testify next week at a House hearing on cybersecurity.

Nicole Wong, Google's deputy general counsel and vice president, will appear at a Feb. 10 hearing by the House Foreign Affairs Committee on "transforming U.S. cyberspace policy to advance democracy,security, and trade."

Wong has represented Google in similar cases regarding privacy matters in Europe,Turkey, and Thailand. 

Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), the ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee that examining the proposed Comcast-NBC deal in a hearing this morning, said the merger should be approved.

"There is little to suggest a Comcat-NBC combination would seriously threaten competition in the media and entertainment industries," he said in his opening remarks. "This is a highly competitive segment of the economy and consumers stand to benefit."

He pointed out that NBC's networks represent approximately nine percent of national cable network advertising and affiliate revenue, giving the combined company a total of 12 percent. That would put it in fourth place bethind Disney/ABC, Time Warner and Viacom--the same position NBC occupies today. Read more...

Rep. Ed Markey said "significant questions" about consumer choice and competition raised by the proposed merger of Comcast and NBC Universal during a hearing on the matter this morning.

Markey (D-Mass.), a senior member and former chairman of the Energy and Commerce Communications, Technology and the Internet Subcommittee, came up with a quirky saying to get his point across. Read more...

Federal Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra is expected to announce this morning a new program that uses text messages to help mothers stay healthy.

The point of the "text4baby" campaign is to send timely nutrition and health tips to pregnant women and new mothers. Every wireless carrier has agreed to deliver the text messages for free.  Read more...

AT&T said it will allow a revised Slingbox application to operate on its 3G  wireless network, changing its previous decision not to approve an earlier version of Slingbox's app because it used too much bandwidth.

The application, which debuted for the iPhone with much fanfare last year, allows users to stream video from their home TVs to their phones. But that version was only approved for use while connected to a Wi-Fi hotspot because AT&T feared all the video streaming would overload its wireless network.

Consumers balked at AT&T's decision and cited it as a reason net neutrality rules are needed to prevent wireless companies from keeping certain applications off their networks.

The Google Books settlement could violate the rights of minority and small publishers who are not part of the class action lawsuit, two Texas Democrats said.

The Justice Department is expected to file its opinion on the revised settlement tomorrow.

"The proposed settlement was negotiated between Google and the Association of American Publishers and the Authors Guild, but it would affect every author and publisher in the country," said Rep. Charlie Gonzalez. "Digital book distribution holds out great potential and we have to see that progress makes the most of this technology for everyone, not just for the largest players."

Rep. Gene Green said, "We don't want this settlement process to go forward if it will not protect the work of small and minority publishers." In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, the Congressmen asked him to scrutinize the the settlement, which was filed in November, and to make sure all publishers are represented and protected.

The Justice Department raised a host of concerns with the original settlement reached between Google and authors and publishers, causing the parties to withdraw and revise their agreement. Observers are eagerly waiting on Justice's opinion of the new agreement, which will be a good indication of whether it will be approved in court.

Click here for previous stories on the settlement.

Comcast and NBC Universal’s parent company have showered campaign contributions on members of two panels holding hearings Thursday on the cable giant's proposed purchase of the television network.

Comcast and General Electric have already spent $474,000 on contributions to members of the panels, about 70 percent of what they spent over the entire political cycle of 2008, according to The Hill’s analysis of data on OpenSecrets.org.

Comcast in particular has ramped up its donations to key members of both committees.

It didn’t give a dime in the last cycle to Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.), but has donated $5,000 in this cycle to the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Technology, Communications and the Internet, which will hold the first hearing on the merger on Thursday.

After not donating to Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) in the last cycle, Comcast has given $15,500 to Schumer’s political committee and his leadership political action committee this cycle. Schumer is a key member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, which will also hold a hearing Thursday on the merger.

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker are scheduled to testify before both panels.