OVERNIGHT TECH: Calls mount for new net neutrality rules

THE LEDE: Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) called on the country’s telecommunications regulators not to abandon their net neutrality rules after they were struck down by top appeals court.

Instead of abandoning the rules, Franken said that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) should issue new regulations to prevent companies from treating users unfairly on the Internet.

“Today, the Internet is an open marketplace where everyone can participate on equal footing — and that’s the way it should be,” he wrote to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler on Thursday. “The Internet was developed at taxpayers’ expense to benefit the public interest. It belongs to all of us. And net neutrality keeps it that way.”

{mosads}The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled this week that the agency does have the power to regulate broadband Internet services, but not as the existing rules were written. That decision allows the agency to reclassify broadband and impose new rules, advocates have said. Franken thinks it should.

The senator isn’t alone in his position. The left-leaning organization CREDO, which also runs a small phone company, launched a petition on Thursday telling Wheeler to reclassify broadband Internet “and save Net Neutrality.”

Public Knowledge gets new chief: Former Justice Department official Gene Kimmelman is taking over as president and chief executive of the nonprofit consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge, the organization announced on Thursday.

Kimmelman will fill the gap left by the group’s former president, Gigi Sohn, who resigned to become a senior aide to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler late last year. Sohn, a strong backer of tough regulations for telecommunications companies, left a big hole at Public Knowledge, which she had led since 2001.

In a statement, Kimmelman said that one of his top goals for Public Knowledge was to work with other civil rights, tech and public interest groups to “promote innovation, creativity, competition and protect peoples’ rights to meet their needs in the exploding digital marketplace.”

Kimmelman was formerly the chief counsel at the Justice Department’s antitrust division. Since then, he led the Internet freedom and human rights project at the New America Foundation.

Tech companies talk patents in DC: Patent lawyers from Internet companies met with Senate staff Thursday, according to The Internet Association, which represents Google, Facebook and other tech companies. The group said it is hoping to build on momentum for patent reform after the House passed the Innovation Act last year.

“Senators must understand the urgency of stopping patent abuse, this is a Main Street problem,” Michael Beckerman, The Internet Association CEO, said in a statement. “We will discuss legislative provisions that will stop this terrible abuse on American businesses.”

House Judiciary gets new website: The House Judiciary Committee unveiled its new website Thursday.

“As co-chairman of the Congressional Internet Caucus, I understand the value of the Internet in enhancing service to the public and allowing for citizen involvement,” Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) said in a statement. “My new website makes it possible for anyone to research legislation, get updates on the Committee’s legislative initiatives, and find out more about important issues before the Committee.”

Kings to take bitcoin: The Sacramento Kings will be the first professional sports team to accept the virtual currency bitcoin. The NBA organization announced that the virtual money, which exists only online, can be used to buy tickets, jerseys and other merchandise at the team’s store by March 1.

ON TAP

President Obama will announce his planned reforms for the National Security Agency in a speech at the Justice Department at 11:00 a.m.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Privacy groups are hoping President Obama addresses more than just national security-related surveillance in his highly anticipated speech on Friday.

Federal officials at the NSA collected almost 200 million text messages a day, according to a report based on material provided by former agency contractor Edward Snowden. 

Thirteen House Democrats have proposed legislation that would require the government to study hate speech on the Internet, mobile phones and television and radio. 

Senate Democrats are calling for new regulations allowing emergency responders to pinpoint the location of all 911 calls made via cellphone.

Retail giant Target will testify at a hearing next month on data security. 

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