CISPA passed: Now what? - Online sales tax bill hits the floor - Genachowski: He’s still here? - Boehner fundraises in California today Presented by CTIA

CISPA PASSED. NOW WHAT? — It's Washington's version of a cyberwar, and Tony Romm has the takeaway from yesterday's House vote in today's paper: "Thursday’s legislative victory on CISPA — even in light of new cyber risks — isn't enough to dissolve the political differences that have left Washington so vulnerable. For now, the two chambers just don't see eye to eye on cybersecurity — and the House's bill as written cannot pass the Senate or earn a signature by President Barack Obama. Meanwhile, there remain related partisan feuds over the role of government in protecting the power grid, banking sector and other key industries from attack, not to mention the best way to safeguard Americans' civil liberties." More here: http://politi.co/Zw1mTm

— NEXT STEPS TO WATCH: The Senate is a bit behind the House, as the upper chamber's cyber leaders aren't exactly reviving the ill-fated Lieberman-Collins bill from last year. At the moment, Senate aides say they're divvying up the territory by committee turf. And Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the leader of the chamber's intel panel, told Tony she's taking on the info-sharing piece: "We are currently drafting a bipartisan information sharing bill and will proceed as soon as we come to an agreement," she said. ...


— MEANWHILE, BACK IN THE HOUSE, it might be worth watching the month of June. That's when Rep. Mike McCaul told POLITICO he plans to tackle critical infrastructure in a bill, and potentially, a mark-up. For now, he said he's in close contact with Sen. Tom Carper, who noted CISPA as it stands remains insufficient.

— PLUS: THE WHITE HOUSE ISN’T SATISFIED: The word came late Thursday from an administration spokeswoman: "While CISPA has been improved in each of the administration’s priority areas since its introduction this year, the bill does not yet adequately address our fundamental concerns," she said. "As we look toward the Senate and potential conference, the administration seeks to build upon the productive dialogue with the House. We are hopeful that continued bipartisan, bicameral collaboration to incorporate our core priorities will produce cybersecurity legislation that addresses these critical issues and that the president can sign into law.”

INTERNET SALES TAX BILL HITS THE FLOOR — With Democrats’ gun control hopes dashed this week, Sen. Harry Reid made a surprise pivot yesterday to bring the controversial Marketplace Fairness Act to the Senate floor. MT Nation remembers the divisive floor debate when the measure was floated as a nonbinding amendment to the Senate’s budget resolution, so the quick pushback from opponents like Sen. Ron Wyden was to be expected. But it’s Senate Finance Committee leaders’ furor over Democratic leadership’s choice to move the bill outside of regular order, though, that adds another layer of complexity to the nonpartisan battle lines. And it’s not just spurned committee leaders that want the bill to take the normal route — the Direct Marketing Association, for example, asked Senate leadership in a letter yesterday to reconsider. For the time being: Set your alarms for 5:30 p.m. on Monday, when the Senate is slated to vote on cloture.

GENACHOWSKI: HE’S STILL HERE? — The door appears to be swinging closed on the FCC chairman’s tenure at the agency. All the pieces are in place for the White House to make its final move, and for the chairman to finally make his. Julius Genachowski now has a place to park for a while at the Aspen Institute as he decides what to do next; the furor around the purported front-runner for the job venture capitalist Tom Wheeler has died down; and Michael O’Rielly, a top adviser to Sen. John Cornyn, looks like the pick for the GOP slot that opened up when Commissioner Robert McDowell announced he was leaving.

— PARTY LIKE IT’S 2013: Thursday’s commission meeting certainly had the feel of the last day at school. Noting the vacant seat beside her where McDowell would have sat, Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel quipped: "I have a lot of space here. Maybe I'll vote twice."

Some of Genachowski’s children and relatives attended the meeting, and there was an employee party afterwards with the chairman and McDowell, the guests of honor. When asked for a departure time frame, Genachowski demurred. “No announcement yet on date or timing,” he said. “The commission work will continue to proceed.” At the same time, though, MT hears the chairman held a celebratory get-together at his Northwest D.C. home yesterday evening, where friends and current and former staff could be found sipping “broadbandtinis.”

— WHAT WILL OBAMA DO? It’s unclear. Rumors that President Barack Obama was going to announce his pick this week were hot and heavy at the end of last week, but the events in Boston and on Capitol Hill may have made that less likely. There is also a short time between this monthly meeting and the next. It seemed that the administration was primed to name Commissioner Mignon Clyburn as an interim chairwoman, but commission sources say there is now some reluctance now to name a temporary chief. At the same time, other sources noted an unusual amount of activity in the Clyburn office with furniture and the like. The Clyburn office did not return a reporter’s query.

And, it’s still not certain who Obama will pick. Rosenworcel has support on Capitol Hill and there are still some who think Clyburn deserves a shot. Confirmation is likely to take more than a few weeks, so in the end Genachowski may be kicking around for a little while longer.

GOOD FRIDAY MORNING and welcome to Morning Tech, where this week has us about ready to tap out. Brighten our day by letting us know what you’ve got ready this weekend — shoot an email to [email protected] or tweet @ byersalex and @ POLITICOPro. And catch the rest of the team’s contact info after Speed Read.

** A message from CEA: Download the Consumer Electronics Association’s new “I AM INNOVATION” app (available at the Apple App Store and Google Play) or access it online at innovation.CE.org to read stories direct from immigrant entrepreneurs about the problems they face trying to stay in the United States to start companies and create jobs. **

BOEHNER FUNDRAISES IN CALIFORNIA TODAY — The speaker is headed to the Bay Area for a fundraising luncheon at the Ritz Carlton, hosted by TechNet and members Oracle, Facebook and Cisco. Senate GOP leaders Mitch McConnell and John Cornyn headlined a TechNet fundraiser of their own earlier this month. On Monday, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers will be in town for a TechNet hosted luncheon in Menlo Park.

TODAY: IMMIGRATION HEARINGS GET UNDER WAY — Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano will appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee Friday, and while we don’t necessarily expect her to get or answer questions on the tech components of immigration reform, the bill takes center stage on the Hill today — so you never know what to expect. Tech companies hanging on every word coming from the Gang of Eight, though, don’t want to miss this comment that came from Sen. Chuck Schumer yesterday. “We have provisions that when unemployment is above a certain level — different for different levels by region — we will not have future immigrants come. It will only come at a time when unemployment is low,” he said. “And in each case — and every one of us has been mindful of this — anyone who wants to bring in a new worker first has to look for an American worker and advertise for an American worker.”

— COONS: STRONG BILL, BUT NEED STEM EDUCATION FUNDING: Delaware’s Chris Coons, who’s supported seven separate high-skilled immigration bills since taking office, said he’s broadly supportive of the gang’s bill.Still, watch for the state’s junior senator to push for a revision that would boost science and tech education at home. “In particular, I was disappointed that a key provision of the I-Squared bill ... is absent [in the Gang’s bill], which is the dedication of significant new revenue from H-1B visa fees to the STEM education of U.S. nationals,” he said. “I think that is a policy idea well-worth consideration.” The Gang of Eight’s bill does seem to include a fund supporting STEM education, albeit a smaller and different type of one.

GOODLATTE TELLS RECORDING ACADEMY: I’M WORKING ON IP PROTECTION — The House Judiciary chairman, long a player on intellectual property issues, told more than 100 music industry representatives yesterday that he’s working on protecting their bottom lines from theft. “I’m working to ensure that your craft is protected from theft as well as made available to legal purchasers through online music services,” Rep. Bob Goodlatte said. Your MT-er pinged an HJC aide to see if there was any elaboration to be done on his statement, but they didn’t expand much — for now. An industry lobbyist, for what it’s worth, told MT that Goodlatte has indicated he wants to hold a series of meetings on music licensing, songwriter issues and streaming rights — perhaps in the first half of this year.

PRIVACY WATCHERS, MARK YOUR CALENDARS — Paging people who’ve figured out how to be in two places at once: The Senate Judiciary Committee will mark-up its ECPA reform bill April 25 at 10 a.m., and with indications this week that the bill is likely to cruise out of committee, your MT-er is sure to be there. Where we’d like our clone to be, however, is a House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on location privacy at the same time on the same day. Surely someone has secured a patent for two-places-at-once tech, right? Send them our way.

TODAY: FTC’S JOSH WRIGHT TALKS ANTITRUST AT GEORGE MASON — The newest member of the Federal Trade Commission heads down the Orange Line today to make the case that the FTC’s institutional capabilities on antitrust issues are a better tool that the current Net Neutrality regulatory system. He goes on at 8:30 a.m.

ON THE HILL: IP-BASED TELECOM TALK — US Telecom hosts a briefing at 9:30 this morning on the merits of an IP-based network. Representatives from AT&T, Verizon and US Telecom will speak for a few minutes each, moderated by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies’ John Horrigan, before they take questions from the audience. Find the fun in Rayburn 2322.

DIGITAL EVIDENCE IN BOSTON — Authorities had released images Thursday evening of possible suspects at the time in Monday’s Boston Marathon bombing but were pleading with the public to help identify them — a development that reveals both technology’s assets and its limitations. (Jessica Meyers has more from Boston in today’s paper: http://politi.co/17uVevj) Separately, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center sent out a note Thursday night warning people about a spam email labeled “Boston Marathon explosions” that leaks a virus into computers. The note also described a Twitter scam where a fake Boston Marathon account solicited donations.

SCHIFF THANKS HOLDER ON MEGAUPLOAD CASE — The attorney general came before a House Appropriations subcommittee yesterday to defend his agency’s budget request for next year, but he got a quick tip of the cap from California Rep. Adam Schiff as well. “Just wanted to make a quick comment of thanks for the work the department has been doing to crack down on IP theft. The Megaupload case just in particular is one very prominent example,” the Burbank lawmaker and co-chairman of the Congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus said. “That action alone increased, by one estimate, sales from legitimate sources by 6 to 10 percent. A pretty phenomenal result from one case,” he added, citing a Carnegie Mellon University study from last month. Holder, separately, underscored at the hearing the cyberthreat facing federal agencies and the public at large, and said the DOJ needs to continue to evolve with changing cyber issues. “I have an 8:30 threat meeting every day, and I will say I would bet that the majority of time that we are there, at least one of the components of the things we are talking about during that meeting deals with a cyber issue,” he said.

SPEED READ

YOUTUBE BESTS VIACOM IN COURT, AGAIN: A court says YouTube is protected by the safe harbor provisions in the DMCA, The Hollywood Reporter reports: http://bit.ly/13lvLnJ

WHY CHARLIE ERGEN WANTS SPRINT: He says a merged DISH and Sprint could offer lower prices for mobile data, Bloomberg Businessweek reports: http://buswk.co/13lvUra

RON CONWAY, SAN FRANCISCO POWER BROKER: His vision is of a business-friendly, tech-driven city, The New York Times reports: http://nyti.ms/ZBctHF

SENATE EDGES CLOSER TO INTERNET SALES TAX VOTE: But the road ahead in the House is bumpier, Reuters reports: http://reut.rs/ZDlije

[Tips, comments, suggestions? Send them along via email to our team: Alex Byers ([email protected], @byersalex), Eric Nelson ([email protected]), Eric Engleman ([email protected], @ericengleman), Brooks Boliek ([email protected], @technocowboy), Steve Friess ([email protected], @stevefriess), Jessica Meyers ([email protected], @jessicameyers), Michelle Quinn ([email protected], @MichelleQuinn), Tony Romm ([email protected], @tonyromm) and Bobby Cervantes ([email protected], @BobbyCervantes).]

** A message from CEA: CEA and its more than 2,000 member companies urge policymakers to embrace strategic immigration reforms that encourage foreign-born entrepreneurs, high-skilled workers and U.S.-educated immigrants to come and stay in the United States to build businesses and create jobs. We believe that immigration reform legislation must: allow foreign-born individuals with degrees in STEM fields from U.S. institutions to remain in America upon graduation; grant visas to foreign-born entrepreneurs who want to start businesses in the U.S., provided they raise sufficient capital and hire American workers; and address the shortage of high-skilled workers in America by increasing the number of H-1B visas.

During CEA’s annual events this week — CES on the Hill, the Board of Industry Leaders Congressional Lobby Day and the Digital Patriots Dinner — the “I AM INNOVATION” app and the entrepreneurs’ stories will be featured prominently as we speak with policymakers about their support for strategic immigration reform. **

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