Huawei's CEO Ren Zhengfei, speaking to the media for the first time, denied that his company is a threat to U.S. cybersecurity, Reuters reports. 

The New York Times explains the uproar over the political ads from Mark Zuckerberg's group, Fwd.Us. 

SoftBank claimed its takeover bid of Sprint would save $3 billion a year, Bloomberg writes. 

Dish Network's first-quarter profit fell 40 percent, The Wall Street Journal reports. 

Microsoft is offering $1 billion to buy Barnes & Noble's Nook Media division, according to TechCrunch.

Companies worry set of amendments would tack on additional rules

THE LEDE: Several senators said on Wednesday that they are eager to see the Obama administration's proposal to make it easier for police to intercept online communications as they occur.

But the lawmakers said they will have to see a final version of the plan before they can say whether they will support it.

"I want to have a chance to review it rather than to shoot from the hip," Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said in an interview in the Capitol. He emphasized that any proposal should balance civil liberties with law enforcement concerns.

For several years, the FBI has complained that it is becoming difficult to intercept the communications of suspected criminals as more people use online services like Google and Facebook instead of phones — a problem the agency calls "going dark." The FBI has been working through an interagency task force to develop a legislative proposal to make it easier to wiretap online messages.

The New York Times reported on Wednesday that the Obama administration is "on the verge" of signing off on a proposal that would fine Internet companies that fail to comply with court-ordered wiretaps.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said she has yet to see the administration's plan.

"I need to think about it, but I can understand these warrants have to be able to be carried out," she said. "That's the whole point. You have to get a warrant, but the warrant needs to mean something. We need to look into it, and we will."
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The senator's legislation will likely face furious opposition from both broadcasters and cable providers.

The groups said the FCC's move to penalize only “egregious” indecency on the airwaves would "completely undermine" the federal law.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse called cybercrime "the greatest transfer of wealth in the history of humankind through illicit means.”

Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.) is touting his work on telecom policy in his first ad of the general election campaign for Senate in Massachusetts.

The White House may back an FBI proposal that would make it easier for authorities to wiretap people who communicate over the Internet, The New York Times reports.

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has been trying to find a way out of the company's Web search partnership with Microsoft, The Wall Street Journal says.

FederalNewsRadio.com and its sister website WTOP.com suffered cyberattacks on Tuesday, the federal news website reported.

Sprint shareholders will likely pressure SoftBank President Masayoshi Son to up his bid for the wireless carrier when they meet with him this week, according to Reuters.

Internet services in Syria are experiencing a blackout, the BBC reports.

THE LEDE: It's been awhile since there was action on cybersecurity in the Senate, but the gears are starting to get moving again.

A bipartisan group of senators on Tuesday introduced legislation aimed at cracking down on cyber espionage and the theft of valuable data from American companies. The bill is one of the first pieces of cybersecurity-focused legislation to be introduced in the Senate.

The bill, the Defer Cyber Theft Act, would require the director of National Intelligence to produce an annual report that lists which foreign countries conduct cyber espionage against American companies or individuals, as well as technologies targeted by cyber spies, among other information. The report will also include a "priority watch list" of the countries accused of engaging in widespread espionage against the United States.

Additionally, the bill would require the president to block imports of products containing technology siphoned from the U.S.

"We need to call out those who are responsible for cyber theft and empower the president to hit the thieves where it hurts most — in their wallets, by blocking imports of products or from companies that benefit from this theft,” Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and co-sponsor of the bill, said in a statement.