Overnight Tech: Senate panel taking up email privacy bill | Dems push cable box plan | Airbnb chief addresses bias complaints

LEDE: The Senate Judiciary Committee is slated to consider a closely watched email privacy bill on Thursday. It was supposed to mark up the Electronic Communications Privacy Act Amendments Act last week — until it was derailed by two amendments. One, from Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas), would expand the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s ability to use so-called National Security Letters. The agency would be able to obtain email records without a warrant in cases involving intelligence cases or terrorism.

That drew the ire of tech companies and public interest groups this week. They have said they will oppose a bill with that language in it.

A second amendment would require companies to provide law enforcement with emails, even if they don’t have a warrant, in cases where there is “danger of death or serious physical injury.”

{mosads}IN THE SHADOW OF THE HOUSE: An email privacy bill has already passed the House by unanimous consent, putting pressure on the Senate Judiciary Committee and its chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).

DEMS BOOST SET-TOP BOX PLAN: Thursday morning is going to be a busy one. Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) will be hosting a press conference on their support for the Federal Communications Commission’s plan to open up the set-top box market. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn) and Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) are also attending, as are interest group representatives.

This type of boosterism isn’t uncommon. But it comes after a parade of letters from lawmakers, including several Democrats, expressing concerns about the plan. Democrat Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.), for example, sent FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler a letter on Tuesday saying the agency should do a public cost-benefit analysis of the rule.

HOUSE PANEL MARKING UP FTC BILLS: There’s more! The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade will mark up four FTC-related bills on Thursday. Among them is a bill that would give the agency the power to crack down on people who use computer programs to snap up tons of tickets to high-profile events. Opening statements came today.

WHAT DIGITAL MEDIA SLOWDOWN?: Arianna Huffington is looking to strike gold again, Bloomberg reports. More than a decade after founding the eponymous Huffington Post (bought by Aol, which was subsequently bought by Verizon) she’s raising money for a new lifestyle site called Thrive. That, of course, is the title of her 2014 book on wellness. The site will reportedly rely on contributions from bloggers but also celebrities. The venture — while outside of the telecom giant — is Verizon approved.

ICYMI: SCHUMER UNVEILS CALLER ID BILL: Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) introduced a bill this week that requires phone companies to provide robocall blocking technology. The ROBOCOP Act (yes, really) follows a similar bill in the House.

AIRBNB CHIEF ON #AIRBNBWHILEBLACK: At a conference the company organizes today, Airbnb chief executive Brian Chesky said they were committed to addressing allegations that hosts are able to discriminate on their platform. He framed it through the familiar Silicon Valley lens of problem solving, per USA Today. “In the next months, we will be revisiting the design of our site from end to end to see how we can create a more inclusive platform,” he said. “We’re open to ideas. It’s a really, really hard problem and we need help solving it. We want to move this forward. I myself have engaged with people who have been victims of discrimination on the platform. We take this seriously.” Some lawmakers have also been pressing Airbnb to act.

DNC BIGWIG IS JOB HUNTING OUT WEST: Recode reports that Democratic National Committee Political Director Raul Alvillar is expected to step down, and is actively casting around for opportunities in Silicon Valley. He’s had his current job since 2014. He’d join former Obama hands like Dan Pfeiffer and David Plouffe in taking gigs at tech companies. For more on Alvillar stepping down, click here.

ON TAP:

At 10:00 a.m., the Senate Judiciary Committee holds a meeting to mark up, among other legislation, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act Amendments Act.

Also at 10:00 a.m., a group of Democratic lawmakers host a press conference on their support for the FCC’s set-top box proposal.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and a House colleague introduced a bill on Wednesday that gives Congress more control of the transition from a United States-controlled internet domain system.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is holding up legislation backed by Senate Commerce Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) in an escalating war over the re-nomination of a member of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

The senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission is raising new concerns about possible fraud in a federal program that provides phone and internet subsidies for low-income people.

Ellen Pao, the former interim chief executive of Reddit who sued one of tech’s top venture capital firms alleging discrimination, is writing a book about the tech industry’s “toxic culture.”

The House Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday advanced a bill that would restructure how the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) protects critical infrastructure from digital threats.

An important piece of infrastructure for two major strains of malware appears to be inactive.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday announced that Morgan Stanley will pay $1 million to resolve charges that it allowed customer information to be hacked and posted online.

The FBI is treating everything on the private server used to run former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s personal email account as evidence or possible evidence as part of the federal investigation connected to the machine, the bureau said in a court filing this week.

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