September 2012

More people watched former President Bill Clinton’s speech to the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday night than tuned in to see the N.F.L. season opener. But the game appeared to cut into the convention’s ratings, which were lower than Tuesday night’s. According to preliminary ratings from Nielsen, 20.6 million watched the convention from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m., while 20.1 million people watched the New York Giants-Dallas Cowboys game during the same hour. Both events had fewer viewers in that hour than Michelle Obama’s speech on Tuesday, the first night of the convention. About 26.2 million people tuned in to hear the first lady, Nielsen reported.

The White House is circulating a draft of an executive order aimed at protecting the country from cyberattacks. The draft proposal, which has been sent to relevant federal agencies for feedback, is a clear sign that the Administration is resolved to take action on cybersecurity even as Congress remains gridlocked on legislation that would address the threat.

The draft executive order would establish a voluntary program where companies operating critical infrastructure would elect to meet cybersecurity best practices and standards crafted, in part, by the government, according to two people familiar with the document. The draft has undergone multiple revisions and is brief, spanning no more than five pages. It is still being worked on and is subject to change, the people familiar with the draft stressed. It's also unclear whether the final product will get the president's approval to move forward. A new draft of the executive order is expected to be shared with agencies next week.

The House Commerce Committee's Communications Subcommittee will hold a hearing Sept. 13, "Creating Opportunities through Improved Government Spectrum Efficiency," on freeing up government spectrum.

The Obama Administration is in the process of encouraging government agencies to find spectrum to either relinquish or share as part of its goal to get wireless broadband to 98% of the population within five years. "The subcommittee will continue to examine how both federal agencies and commercial wireless carriers might benefit from more efficient government use of spectrum," said Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR). "As the single largest spectrum user, the federal government could save taxpayers money and make more frequencies available to meet American consumers' growing demand for mobile broadband services, while improving its own capabilities."

A legal battle is brewing between technology companies and the US government over whether law-enforcement agents have the right to obtain passwords to crack into smartphones of suspects. Google earlier this year refused to unlock an alleged pimp's cellphone powered by its Android software -- even after the Federal Bureau of Investigation obtained a search warrant. Google's unusual and controversial challenge to the search warrant indicates how murky the legal standards are for new technologies such as smartphones. Under the Supreme Court's so-called Third Party Doctrine, government agents can often obtain data stored with third parties without obtaining a search warrant. But that standard doesn't take into account data as sensitive as a password—which can be the key to unlocking a larger trove of information such as emails, texts, calls and address lists.

Asking a third party for a password "is awfully new and aggressive," said Paul Ohm, associate professor at the University of Colorado Law School and former federal prosecutor. "Generally, we don't like the FBI to have access to our keys even with a warrant."