Overnight Tech: Administration taking budget fight to MIT

LEDE: Congress’s budget fight threatens the country’s commitment to research and innovation, Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker is expected to tell students Friday during a speech at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

She will warn that sequester funding levels across the government threaten research labs at MIT and other universities, which can act as incubators for new tech ideas. And with only weeks until government funding runs out, Pritzker is expected to ask: “Will Congress risk shutting down the government for the second time in three years?”

{mosads}”We, as leaders, have to make choices. Whether in business, government, or academia, our choices require us to be clear about our priorities,” she is expected to say.

Lawmakers will have to pass a continuing resolution to fund the government before Oct.1, but some Republicans are pressing to include provisions to defund Planned Parenthood, which could threaten a shutdown. 

Pritzker’s speech has a broad focus and will touch on the need for comprehensive immigration reform, the country’s increased broadband investment, and the innovation and disruption shaking the digital economy. While at the university, she is also expected to tour the school’s electronics research lab and sit for a discussion with MIT’s president L. Rafael Reif. 

YELP-BACKED BILL UNVEILED IN SENATE: A bipartisan trio of senators introduced legislation meant to protect customers who make critical comments online against businesses, restaurants and retailers. The legislation introduced Thursday by Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) would guard against “unfair disparagement clauses” in online terms of service agreements, which can be used to sue customers who write critical reviews. The legislation is backed by Yelp and the Internet Association. Similar legislation was introduced in the House earlier this year and in past terms. 

TSA KEYS ACT AS WARNING: The wide dissemination of blueprints for the keys to Transportation Security Agency-approved luggage locks is being used by encryption advocates to explain why it would be unwise for the government to create similar “digital keys” to allow law enforcement to unlock encrypted data during investigations. The Intercept reported that the blueprints for the TSA keys, which are meant to keep travelers’ bags locked while still allowing TSA to get in if need be, were recently published online by security enthusiasts, allowing anyone with a 3D printer to copy them. Advocates warn the same thing could happen if the government attempts to force tech companies to develop encryption workarounds for law enforcement. 

TECH EXECS TO ATTEND XI SPEECH: Bloomberg obtained a list of tech executives going to next week’s speech in Seattle by Chinese President Xi Jinping. They include Satya Nadella of Microsoft, Amazon CEO and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos, Cisco’s John Chambers and Apple’s Tim Cook. Also attending with be executives from Chinese firms like Baidu and Alibaba. The event in Seattle is tied into Xi’s visit to Washington.

WHEELER WEIGHS IN ON ALTICE-CABLEVISION DEAL: FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler reacted at Thursday’s open meeting to the news that Altice had bought Cablevision $17.7 million. “So far as the policy issues are concerned, that’s something that we will take on in an open, fast process to be able to address them,” he said. He also praised the Dolan family, who built Cablevision, as “competitors and innovators in this space.”

When asked about the potential timeframe for the review of the deal, he responded, loudly, that “it happened at 2 a.m. this morning, they haven’t filed anything with us yet!” He also said that the agency would “work closely” with “Team Telecom,” the group of agency representatives who handle telecom issues and national security, on the deal because Altice is a European firm.

…AND SHOWS OFF HIS CIVIL WAR KNOWLEDGE: The FCC chairman was also especially eager to talk about the Civil War’s Battle of Antietam, which took place 153 years ago Thursday. He had this response when asked how smartphones might have made a decisive difference in the bloodiest battle in American history: “The question is whether the South would have had access to the technology because you know, one of the fascinating things about the telegraph … is that during the war the South could only string about 500 miles of telegraph cable because they didn’t have the ability to produce either the cable itself or, more importantly, the glass for the insulators. And so, I think there’d be a real question as to whether the South would have been able to produce smartphones.”

WALDEN PREPS FOR MEDIA OWNERSHIP HEARING: Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.), who chairs the Communications and Technology Subcommittee of House Energy and Commerce, provided some context on Wednesday night for next Friday’s hearing on media ownership issues. He noted that the FCC reviews media ownership every four years “and basically justify their rules and this is one of those areas that we want to delve into.”

“Because the marketplace is certainly changing rapidly, probably while we’ve been standing here, and I’m not convinced that the rules they have in place on ownership make sense in today’s market,” he said. “So we’re going to find out, so we’ll have people come and testify.” He declined to comment on possible witnesses.

ON TAP: 

At 9 a.m., Georgetown University’s business school is holding a teleconference on whether the United States can afford “Title II.”

At noon, the Advisory Committee to the Congressional Internet Caucus will hold a panel on “how the Internet, mathematics and bitcoin are innovating money.”

At 2:30, the D.C. federal court will hold a hearing on how to proceed in the NSA surveillance case involving Judicial Watch.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 

A House Republican chairman said on Thursday that he is likely to call a hearing on the new fantasy sports sites that critics say are skirting gambling laws.

CNN’s primetime GOP debate on Wednesday was the most-watched program in network history.

Samsung should have been forced to stop using three of Apple’s smartphone patents when they were found to be infringing, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled Thursday. 

The House Judiciary Committee approved a bill Wednesday that would give European citizens the right to sue in U.S. courts over misuse of their personal data.

The Federal Communications Commission unanimously approved a rule Thursday that will allow broadcasters to share rules for promotional contests online instead of only on air.

Please send tips and comments to David McCabe, dmccabe@digital-stage.thehill.comand Mario Trujillo,mtrujillo@digital-stage.thehill.com Follow us on Twitter:@HilliconValley, @dmccabe