OVERNIGHT TECH: GOP cyber bill takes light regulatory touch

Unlike the Lieberman-Collins bill, the GOP legislation does not give the Homeland Security Department the authority to enforce cybersecurity standards on private computer systems deemed crucial to the nation’s economic or physical security.

Lieberman and Collins argue the regulatory power is necessary to ensure that critical systems, such as electrical grids, are secure from cyberattacks. But the Republican critics say the legislation would impose burdensome regulations on businesses.

{mosads}An aide to Lieberman said the “senator looks forward to engaging with” the Republicans and their alternative bill. 

Vincent Morris, a spokesman for Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), who also backs the bill, said he was “glad to see other senators recognize the severity of this threat” but said “we’re still convinced that you can’t get there without some new rules.”  

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) plans to bring the Lieberman-Collins bill straight to the Senate floor, skipping any committee votes. 

Robert Dillon, a Republican aide on the Senate Energy Committee, said, “There’s not a level of trust that there’s going to be an open process on the floor” for amendments from the bill’s critics.

Dillon predicted that the Lieberman-Collins bill faces “an uphill battle on the floor because it’s not been vetted through the committee process.”

Despite criticism, Google prepares for privacy overhaul: Google’s planned changes to its privacy policy will go into effect on Thursday, despite criticism from privacy advocates and some lawmakers.

The changes will allow Google to share user information across its various services. So, for example, users could begin seeing ads in Gmail based on videos they have watched on YouTube.

Users can still manage their privacy settings by going to www.google.com/privacy/tools.html.

ICYMI:

Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) on Wednesday said Facebook is using a loophole in the tax code to avoid paying taxes to the federal government.

A coalition of sports fans and consumer groups urged the Federal Communications Commission to drop its sports blackout rule in a filing on Tuesday.

Police officers arrested 25 alleged members of the hacker activist group Anonymous on Tuesday in a coordinated crackdown in 15 cities across South America and Europe.