The FCC may yet get what’s coming to it. It’s been going out of its way to get headlines as it tries to pick winners and losers in industry, but now the attention is coming from the House as the Appropriations Committee will discuss the FCC’s budget. Prepare for hysterical shouting on the order of the SimCity 2000 Transportation advisor if the Republicans threaten to cut funding.

Also, we’re back to discussing the Marketplace Fairness Act. As we’ve discussed before, this is a bill that would give Congressional approval to an interstate compact between the states to collect sales tax across state lines, requires member states to harmonize their tax rules to fit in with the interstate system. The bill is gaining Congressional support this time around. In theory I’m fine with this. It’s Constitutional and it’s reasonable. I disagree with Overstock.com’s complaints of complexity, because the compact imposes restrictions on the way the states can tax items, and also creates mechanisms to ease collection of the taxes.

All I would ask is that we get some safeguards in that make it impossible to include any sort of national sales tax in the system. We don’t want Canada-style taxation through the back door.

Also, Tech at Night is sending a raspberry to Rick Santorum for his Internet censorship plans. Are there legitimate social reasons to restrict pornography? Yes, just like there are legitimate social reasons to restrict alcohol. But regulating vice is not a Constitutional role of the national government. Keep it local, I say. If we can have dry counties then we can have clean counties. But the last thing we want is to empower the next Eric Holder to regulate Internet content, thank you very much.

The aftershocks of the end of the copyright infringement haven Megaupload continue to hit the Internet. The courts are pressing Rapidshare to take precautions, and a group of ISPs is preparing proactive steps to prevent abuse of their resources. Note that BGR refers to this as affecting ‘downloaders,’ but it’s likely that in truth his is going after copyright infringers, including BitTorrent users who are uploading and downloading.

More on copyright: Copyright troll Righthaven is being put completely out of business, as the courts are stripping it of its copyrights in order to pay off its bills. Game over.

Funny note: While Sprint’s given up on Lightsquared (though the firm itself has little choice but to fight on) and Chuck Grassley is demanding transparently about the relationship between Lightsquared and the FCC, Alan Nunnelee is sticking up for them. Look, in concept I agree with him. But I think we need to know more about what Grassley is investigating before we defend them. Too much smoke not to check for a fire.

PATENT WARS: A previous Apple win in Germany is rolled back.

You know how I keep saying Anonymous is not the mass, anonymous, nebulous movement it claims to be? They seem to have admitted it themselves by claiming that Anonymous OS is ‘fake’. It can only be fake if there’s a specific, defined group that makes up Anonymous.

Does Google’s envelope-pushing innovation, and the risks that innovation entails, run the further risk drawing justified government action? I sure hope not, and I disagree with those who would say that they deserve it. If you find them ‘creepy,’ then use somebody else.

Iran attacks the BBC online. Here, again, is a case where domestic regulation wouldn’t really help. We need aggressive action against the bad guys, though of course that’s hard to do when the attackers are abroad. But trying to regulate the victims at home is not a legitimate substitute just because it’s easier.

The FCC may yet get what’s coming to it. It’s been going out of its way to get headlines as it tries to pick winners and losers in industry, but now the attention is coming from the House as the Appropriations Committee will discuss the FCC’s budget. Prepare for hysterical shouting on the order of the SimCity 2000 Transportation advisor if the Republicans threaten to cut funding.

Also, we’re back to discussing the Marketplace Fairness Act. As we’ve discussed before, this is a bill that would give Congressional approval to an interstate compact between the states to collect sales tax across state lines, requires member states to harmonize their tax rules to fit in with the interstate system. The bill is gaining Congressional support this time around. In theory I’m fine with this. It’s Constitutional and it’s reasonable. I disagree with Overstock.com’s complaints of complexity, because the compact imposes restrictions on the way the states can tax items, and also creates mechanisms to ease collection of the taxes.

All I would ask is that we get some safeguards in that make it impossible to include any sort of national sales tax in the system. We don’t want Canada-style taxation through the back door.

Also, Tech at Night is sending a raspberry to Rick Santorum for his Internet censorship plans. Are there legitimate social reasons to restrict pornography? Yes, just like there are legitimate social reasons to restrict alcohol. But regulating vice is not a Constitutional role of the national government. Keep it local, I say. If we can have dry counties then we can have clean counties. But the last thing we want is to empower the next Eric Holder to regulate Internet content, thank you very much.

The aftershocks of the end of the copyright infringement haven Megaupload continue to hit the Internet. The courts are pressing Rapidshare to take precautions, and a group of ISPs is preparing proactive steps to prevent abuse of their resources. Note that BGR refers to this as affecting ‘downloaders,’ but it’s likely that in truth his is going after copyright infringers, including BitTorrent users who are uploading and downloading.

More on copyright: Copyright troll Righthaven is being put completely out of business, as the courts are stripping it of its copyrights in order to pay off its bills. Game over.

Funny note: While Sprint’s given up on Lightsquared (though the firm itself has little choice but to fight on) and Chuck Grassley is demanding transparently about the relationship between Lightsquared and the FCC, Alan Nunnelee is sticking up for them. Look, in concept I agree with him. But I think we need to know more about what Grassley is investigating before we defend them. Too much smoke not to check for a fire.

PATENT WARS: A previous Apple win in Germany is rolled back.

You know how I keep saying Anonymous is not the mass, anonymous, nebulous movement it claims to be? They seem to have admitted it themselves by claiming that Anonymous OS is ‘fake’. It can only be fake if there’s a specific, defined group that makes up Anonymous.

Does Google’s envelope-pushing innovation, and the risks that innovation entails, run the further risk drawing justified government action? I sure hope not, and I disagree with those who would say that they deserve it. If you find them ‘creepy,’ then use somebody else.

Iran attacks the BBC online. Here, again, is a case where domestic regulation wouldn’t really help. We need aggressive action against the bad guys, though of course that’s hard to do when the attackers are abroad. But trying to regulate the victims at home is not a legitimate substitute just because it’s easier.

Harry Reid may be on a mad dash to bring the radical Liebmerman/Collins/Rockefeller cybersecurity bill, but a broad spectrum of Republicans continue to fight. Democrats may have toned down its Internet Kill Switch provisions, but still is a massive power grab online, and the new SECURE IT act is a much better idea.

What I absolutely love about SECURE it is that it hits all the key points: It strengthens criminal penalties for breaking into servers. It strengthens criminal penalties for breaking into servers (Yes, I said that twice on purpose because it’s that important). It creates private sector information sharing incentives without regulating the private sector at large. It turns inward and gets government to audit its own practices.

These are all the right ideas and none of the wrong ideas. Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin is speaking only the common-sense truth when he says “This bill recognizes that industry is at the center of any solution. It’s a sensible step forward that allows industry to invest in innovation and job creation rather than compliance. Imposing a costly and bureaucratic regulatory regime is the wrong approach to national security. New regulations will slow down innovation and investment while companies wait years for the government to introduce outdated standards. The regulatory process simply cannot keep up with the rapid pace of technology.”

It tells you just how basic and correct this bill is when it has co-sponsorship from such a broad spectrum of the caucus: Ron Johnson as mentioned, John McCain, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Chuck Grassley, Saxby Chambliss, Lisa Murkowski, Dan Coats, and Richard Burr.

Support Ron Johnson and the team. We want this bill passed. The common-sense alternative to the power grab cybersecurity bill.

Even extreme libertarians are cautious about the bill instead of strongly opposed, which I think we all can see is a big deal for a bill about strengthening national security. So it’s no wonder Harry Reid is promising to give the bill a fair chance. This could be the one that passes, especially if Greg Walden’s new House cybersecurity efforts make it clear that this is the one that can get through both chambers and to the President.

Criminal enforcement does matter. Why else would Anonymous online terrorists attack the Interpol webpage after an Interpol-led effort rolled up a 25-man Anonymous cell? When we arrest them and jail them, it hurts them. We need to do this more, and we need to make sure the penalties sting.

PATENT WARS: Well, again, this time it’s trademark wars. Apple is going after the EPAD in China after having won the iPad battle.

Why would we be in a rush to raise taxes on Facebook, an innovator and driver of job creation in this economy? Don’t believe me that they create jobs? Just look at Zynga and all the other companies around that exist because of Facebook and its popularity?

Should we have a whole FCC blackout regulation in place solely as a gift to major sports leagues that make billions of dollars? Probably not.

Kim Dotcom claims he’s as innocent as Saddam Hussein in defending his since-raided Megaupload operation. Look, the DMCA model of working with copyright holders is a reasonable one. If he wasn’t doing it, then he had it coming.

Thanks to George Soros, Public Knowledge, Gigi Sohn, and the rest of the anti-AT&T/T-Mobile team, AT&T is now having to stab we (as I’m one) unlimited data plan holders with throttling and caps. Lack of spectrum hurts, kids. And yet some of these people are going to complain that AT&T is doing what it has to after being the target of a team effort by Barack Obama and George Soros.

And they’re going to target AT&T’s next plan, too which is very simple one. AT&T would like to give wireless App developers he opportunity to subsidize data use by their apps, calling it the ’800 number model’ applied to mobile data. Some people are scared to death of this, because competition could force some data-heavy services to consider data costs when designing their apps. But it’s a great, innovative, market-based way to help people on metered data plans manage their use. Government shouldn’t interfere.

Some say we need a national sales tax compact to keep states from having to raise other taxes as the sales tax model breaks down. I’m not sure if it’s a bad thing to just have a smaller, simpler tax code, but it’s a fair point to consider. Some states may overreact, using the sales tax situation as cover for raising revenue.

Tech at Night continues to be on a shifted schedule this week thanks to my being detained last Friday and Monday.

Harry Reid may be on a mad dash to bring the radical Liebmerman/Collins/Rockefeller cybersecurity bill, but a broad spectrum of Republicans continue to fight. Democrats may have toned down its Internet Kill Switch provisions, but still is a massive power grab online, and the new SECURE IT act is a much better idea.

What I absolutely love about SECURE it is that it hits all the key points: It strengthens criminal penalties for breaking into servers. It strengthens criminal penalties for breaking into servers (Yes, I said that twice on purpose because it’s that important). It creates private sector information sharing incentives without regulating the private sector at large. It turns inward and gets government to audit its own practices.

These are all the right ideas and none of the wrong ideas. Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin is speaking only the common-sense truth when he says “This bill recognizes that industry is at the center of any solution. It’s a sensible step forward that allows industry to invest in innovation and job creation rather than compliance. Imposing a costly and bureaucratic regulatory regime is the wrong approach to national security. New regulations will slow down innovation and investment while companies wait years for the government to introduce outdated standards. The regulatory process simply cannot keep up with the rapid pace of technology.”

It tells you just how basic and correct this bill is when it has co-sponsorship from such a broad spectrum of the caucus: Ron Johnson as mentioned, John McCain, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Chuck Grassley, Saxby Chambliss, Lisa Murkowski, Dan Coats, and Richard Burr.

Support Ron Johnson and the team. We want this bill passed. The common-sense alternative to the power grab cybersecurity bill.

Even extreme libertarians are cautious about the bill instead of strongly opposed, which I think we all can see is a big deal for a bill about strengthening national security. So it’s no wonder Harry Reid is promising to give the bill a fair chance. This could be the one that passes, especially if Greg Walden’s new House cybersecurity efforts make it clear that this is the one that can get through both chambers and to the President.

Criminal enforcement does matter. Why else would Anonymous online terrorists attack the Interpol webpage after an Interpol-led effort rolled up a 25-man Anonymous cell? When we arrest them and jail them, it hurts them. We need to do this more, and we need to make sure the penalties sting.

PATENT WARS: Well, again, this time it’s trademark wars. Apple is going after the EPAD in China after having won the iPad battle.

Why would we be in a rush to raise taxes on Facebook, an innovator and driver of job creation in this economy? Don’t believe me that they create jobs? Just look at Zynga and all the other companies around that exist because of Facebook and its popularity?

Should we have a whole FCC blackout regulation in place solely as a gift to major sports leagues that make billions of dollars? Probably not.

Kim Dotcom claims he’s as innocent as Saddam Hussein in defending his since-raided Megaupload operation. Look, the DMCA model of working with copyright holders is a reasonable one. If he wasn’t doing it, then he had it coming.

Thanks to George Soros, Public Knowledge, Gigi Sohn, and the rest of the anti-AT&T/T-Mobile team, AT&T is now having to stab we (as I’m one) unlimited data plan holders with throttling and caps. Lack of spectrum hurts, kids. And yet some of these people are going to complain that AT&T is doing what it has to after being the target of a team effort by Barack Obama and George Soros.

And they’re going to target AT&T’s next plan, too which is very simple one. AT&T would like to give wireless App developers he opportunity to subsidize data use by their apps, calling it the ’800 number model’ applied to mobile data. Some people are scared to death of this, because competition could force some data-heavy services to consider data costs when designing their apps. But it’s a great, innovative, market-based way to help people on metered data plans manage their use. Government shouldn’t interfere.

Some say we need a national sales tax compact to keep states from having to raise other taxes as the sales tax model breaks down. I’m not sure if it’s a bad thing to just have a smaller, simpler tax code, but it’s a fair point to consider. Some states may overreact, using the sales tax situation as cover for raising revenue.

Tech at Night continues to be on a shifted schedule this week thanks to my being detained last Friday and Monday.

The data on the file hosting service, whose founders have been accused of piracy and money laundering, was in danger to be erased as soon as Thursday, Feb. 2, as the site’s assets were frozen and it was unable to pay its hosting fees.

“The hosting companies have been gracious enough to provide additional time so we can work out some kind of arrangement with the government,” said Rothken.

The authorities have made backups of some of the data, which is to be used as evidence, but not all of it. The deletion of all the data on Megaupload would harm users which used the service for perfectly legal purposes.

One of the hosting companies which stores some of the Megaupload data, Carpathia hosting, told us they simply cannot return users their data. “Carpathia Hosting does not have, and has never had, access to the content on MegaUpload servers and has no mechanism for returning any content residing on such servers to MegaUpload’s customers.(…) We would recommend that anyone who believes that they have content on MegaUpload servers contact MegaUpload. Please do not contact Carpathia Hosting,” said Carpathia in a statement.

Hopefully, the authorities and Megaupload will find a solution to give the users a way to retrieve their data before it’s erased.

Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom (a.k.a. Kim Schmitz) and six others who ran the site were indicted by The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in January. They are accused of making $175 and causing $500 million in copyright infringement; if they’re found guilty, they’re looking at a maximum 20 years prison sentence.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, tioloco, LdF, narawon.

[via Cnet]

More About: data, megaupload, trending

For more Business coverage:

• Follow Mashable Business on Twitter
• Become a Fan on Facebook
• Subscribe to the Business channel
• Download our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad

There’s a lot of fear going around about ACTA, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a plurilateral agreement under the WTO between the US, the EU, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, and Morocco. Some of the fears look real, some don’t. For example, even though it was negotiated in secret, the text is easily available.

Another false complaint is that it’s another SOPA, when in fact such a claim misses the point. SOPA was a bad bill, as it turned out to be a censorship bill that defied due process, but the intent was to fight the problem of free riding on copyright and trademark. Crossing international boundaries has been a cheap and easy way to cash in on another country’s copyright and trademark laws without having to abide by them. SOPA tried to fix that in a crude, rude, and ineffective way. ACTA has more options, and doesn’t have to resort to censorship, necessarily.

I’ve just read the treaty. I don’t really see a problem. Even if infringement isn’t ruining the movies and music, trademark and copyright are Constitutional concepts worthy of protection. That’s why some of the anti-SOPA leaders are promoting their own bill.

The pro-liberty position is not one of anarchy. It’s time to get reasonable protections in place. Maybe I missed something, and ACTA is a problem. But the best argument I see against ACTA is that it only includes a few countries, and not those best known for infringement (such as China, either China in fact). ACTA may yet be harmless but ineffective, as opposed to SOPA being harmful and ineffective.

So no, don’t expect me to cry either that Megaupload’s data is dying. Businesses that profit from mass copyright infringement deserve to die. And besides, did people ever see that website? It was shady like crazy all along. Everyone knew this.

Now, on the other hand, what I do see and have seen a problem with are the various “cybersecurity” proposals we keep seeing. The worst of course was the infamous Internet Kill Switch, which actually was even more dangerous than it sounded: It proposed to give the President “emergency” dictatorial powers over broad ranges of private property related to the Internet.

A new bill has apparently eased up from that ridiculous degree, but there are still concerns that it gives too much of that power over certain companies, such as government contractors. Republicans Kay Bailey Hutchison, Chuck Grassley, and Saxby Chambliss along with Lisa Murkowski wrote in Politico that the current plan “is ultimately a costly and heavy-handed regulatory approach. It will not work and it won’t pass Congress.” If they’re right on the former, I hope they’re right on the latter. We don’t need to create yet more “broad new regulatory powers.”

I also maintain my opposition to the role of government in policing private sector ‘privacy violations.’ If you don’t like Google, use competitors or take sensible precautions like not staying logged in and using the same cookie across all their sites. There’s simply no place for Mary Bono Mack to act here. Also, as I analyzed in the past, Carrier IQ was a total nothingburger and it’s simply grandstanding for Edward Markey to push the issue, especially since the guy never did take a stand against SOPA. He’s trying to change the subject.

There’s a lot of fear going around about ACTA, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a plurilateral agreement under the WTO between the US, the EU, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, and Morocco. Some of the fears look real, some don’t. For example, even though it was negotiated in secret, the text is easily available.

Another false complaint is that it’s another SOPA, when in fact such a claim misses the point. SOPA was a bad bill, as it turned out to be a censorship bill that defied due process, but the intent was to fight the problem of free riding on copyright and trademark. Crossing international boundaries has been a cheap and easy way to cash in on another country’s copyright and trademark laws without having to abide by them. SOPA tried to fix that in a crude, rude, and ineffective way. ACTA has more options, and doesn’t have to resort to censorship, necessarily.

I’ve just read the treaty. I don’t really see a problem. Even if infringement isn’t ruining the movies and music, trademark and copyright are Constitutional concepts worthy of protection. That’s why some of the anti-SOPA leaders are promoting their own bill.

The pro-liberty position is not one of anarchy. It’s time to get reasonable protections in place. Maybe I missed something, and ACTA is a problem. But the best argument I see against ACTA is that it only includes a few countries, and not those best known for infringement (such as China, either China in fact). ACTA may yet be harmless but ineffective, as opposed to SOPA being harmful and ineffective.

So no, don’t expect me to cry either that Megaupload’s data is dying. Businesses that profit from mass copyright infringement deserve to die. And besides, did people ever see that website? It was shady like crazy all along. Everyone knew this.

Now, on the other hand, what I do see and have seen a problem with are the various “cybersecurity” proposals we keep seeing. The worst of course was the infamous Internet Kill Switch, which actually was even more dangerous than it sounded: It proposed to give the President “emergency” dictatorial powers over broad ranges of private property related to the Internet.

A new bill has apparently eased up from that ridiculous degree, but there are still concerns that it gives too much of that power over certain companies, such as government contractors. Republicans Kay Bailey Hutchison, Chuck Grassley, and Saxby Chambliss along with Lisa Murkowski wrote in Politico that the current plan “is ultimately a costly and heavy-handed regulatory approach. It will not work and it won’t pass Congress.” If they’re right on the former, I hope they’re right on the latter. We don’t need to create yet more “broad new regulatory powers.”

I also maintain my opposition to the role of government in policing private sector ‘privacy violations.’ If you don’t like Google, use competitors or take sensible precautions like not staying logged in and using the same cookie across all their sites. There’s simply no place for Mary Bono Mack to act here. Also, as I analyzed in the past, Carrier IQ was a total nothingburger and it’s simply grandstanding for Edward Markey to push the issue, especially since the guy never did take a stand against SOPA. He’s trying to change the subject.

The file storage website hires outside companies – Carpathia Hosting Inc. and Cogent Communications Group Inc – to store its users’ data.

Since Megaupload’s assets have been frozen, the service cannot pay the hosting companies to keep hosting the data. According to a letter by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, filed in the case Friday, Jan 27, they could begin deleting data Thursday.

Megaupload attorney Ira Rothken says the company is doing what it can to try to keep the data from being deleted. “We’re cautiously optimistic at this point that because the United States, as well as Megaupload, should have a common desire to protect consumers, that this type of agreement will get done,” he said.

If the data is indeed erased, it will be very bad news for some 50 million people who’ve used Megaupload’s services, many of them legally.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted seven people and two companies which ran Megaupload earlier in January. The site’s founder Kim Dotcom (a.k.a. Kim Schmitz) and six others are accused of making $175 million and causing $500 million in copyright infringement.

If they’re found guilty in what the indictment calls a “Mega Conspiracy”, the accused could go to prison for a maximum of 20 years.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, leminuit

[via AP]

More About: FBI, megaupload, piracy, trending

For more Business coverage:

• Follow Mashable Business on Twitter
• Become a Fan on Facebook
• Subscribe to the Business channel
• Download our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad

Some are still worried about the Megaupload takedown (including many the Obama got the concept right when he said “It’s not right when another country lets our movies, music, and software be pirated.” Foreign countries should not be allowed to be free riders on American copyright.

So I’m glad to hear that Patrick Leahy is open to SOPA alternatives such as the Ron Wyden/Darrell Issa OPEN Act. Follow the money. If money can’t be made from Americans by selling infringing materials back to Americans, then property rights win the day. And we can achieve that goal without censorship.

Remember those roaming regulations I warned about, where the FCC was going to set price controls? Remember how I warned it would worsen investment, and wouldn’t really increase competition? Oops, I was right. Sprint Nextel is actively reducing its rural wireless deployment in order to get a free ride on other carriers. (Cue the FCC apologists who will claim that I have something against Sprint, because they can’t argue the facts or the law).

The FCC simply cannot be trusted to look out for ordinary Americans as opposed to connected corporate interests, so that’s why I support House efforts to take control of the FCC when it comes to spectrum issues. The FCC needs to know who’s boss. It cannot be allowed even to think it has more authority than it was granted by the Congress, points out Greg Walden, though with more diplomatic language.

FCC regulations also tend to be out of date. Witness Netflix being hindered from modern social media by dated, probably pointless at the time regulations on video rentals.

Chuck Grassley, increasingly the beast of oversight in the Senate, is becoming quite a target. "http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2012/01/23/grassley-gets-twitter-hacked-then-twitter-saved/">his Twitter account got hit and now he says he was the target of a bribe attempt over LightSquared. Even as LightSquared itself focuses its public comments purely on the technical matters of interference with GPS, the reaction to Chuck Grassley suggests there’s something going on in the White House that we need to know.

Barack Obama and the FCC are damaging LightSquared’s reputation with their silence, unfairly or no.

Motorola Mobility starts an aggressive patent suit against Apple. Google, trying to aquire MM, says they only use patents defensively. Will they pledge to drop this suit should they take over the firm’s patents?

Some are still worried about the Megaupload takedown (including many the Obama got the concept right when he said “It’s not right when another country lets our movies, music, and software be pirated.” Foreign countries should not be allowed to be free riders on American copyright.

So I’m glad to hear that Patrick Leahy is open to SOPA alternatives such as the Ron Wyden/Darrell Issa OPEN Act. Follow the money. If money can’t be made from Americans by selling infringing materials back to Americans, then property rights win the day. And we can achieve that goal without censorship.

Remember those roaming regulations I warned about, where the FCC was going to set price controls? Remember how I warned it would worsen investment, and wouldn’t really increase competition? Oops, I was right. Sprint Nextel is actively reducing its rural wireless deployment in order to get a free ride on other carriers. (Cue the FCC apologists who will claim that I have something against Sprint, because they can’t argue the facts or the law).

The FCC simply cannot be trusted to look out for ordinary Americans as opposed to connected corporate interests, so that’s why I support House efforts to take control of the FCC when it comes to spectrum issues. The FCC needs to know who’s boss. It cannot be allowed even to think it has more authority than it was granted by the Congress, points out Greg Walden, though with more diplomatic language.

FCC regulations also tend to be out of date. Witness Netflix being hindered from modern social media by dated, probably pointless at the time regulations on video rentals.

Chuck Grassley, increasingly the beast of oversight in the Senate, is becoming quite a target. "http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/index.php/2012/01/23/grassley-gets-twitter-hacked-then-twitter-saved/">his Twitter account got hit and now he says he was the target of a bribe attempt over LightSquared. Even as LightSquared itself focuses its public comments purely on the technical matters of interference with GPS, the reaction to Chuck Grassley suggests there’s something going on in the White House that we need to know.

Barack Obama and the FCC are damaging LightSquared’s reputation with their silence, unfairly or no.

Motorola Mobility starts an aggressive patent suit against Apple. Google, trying to aquire MM, says they only use patents defensively. Will they pledge to drop this suit should they take over the firm’s patents?