Last month I noted how CISPA was likely returning for a second try, despite complaints that the bill would significantly erode consumer privacy and expand Internet activity surveillance under the guise of "cybersecurity." Sponsor Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger insisted he was working on fixing the bill so it addressed the concerns of privacy advocates, then immediately proceeded in re-introducing a completely unchanged version of the original. Now the bill is heading to Congress for a closed door debate so that the public can't point out how awful the bill is -- again. About that whole Congress supposedly working for the people thing...

Streaming OTA video provider Aereo this week saw another major win in their fight against broadcasters looking to shut the service down. Fox network founder Barry Diller started Aereo trials last year in New York City, the service offering users a $12 a month option for local broadcast television services -- adding an interesting and inexpensive option for those eager to cut the cord.

Despite the fact that Google Glass isn't even launched yet, West Virginia lawmakers are getting ready to pass a law banning people from using Glass while driving. State lawmakers have already been working on new laws that ban texting while driving, so Gary Howell (R-Mineral) is updating the law so that it also covers "a computing device which is worn on the head and projects visual information into the field of vision of the wearer." Google, for its part, is trying to argue that Google Glass could make drivers safer:While the potential for driver distraction might be significant, West Virginia probably has more important things to worry about than passing regulations governing a niche product few people will actually be able to afford at $1,500 a pop. This is the state currently investigating its own incompetence and corruption after state leaders wasted $126.3-million in broadband funding on un-used, overpriced routers and redundant, overpaid consultants, in the process lining Cisco and Verizon's pockets with no-bid contracts.

• Google Fiber could bring superfast Internet to every town in America, but for now the company is thinking small [slate.com]
• 4G Smartphone Usage Up 70% Among Small Businesses [cellphonedigest.net]
• Apple proposes 'on-the-go' wireless charging via iPad Smart Cover with built-in battery [appleinsider.com]
• Google Pulls Several Prominent Ad-Blocking Apps From Play Store For Violating Developer Distribution Agreement [techcrunch.com]
• FinSpy Software Used To Surveil Activists Around The World [huffingtonpost.com]
• With User Profiles Still In Testing, Netflix’s Social Sharing Feature Makes No Sense [techcrunch.com]
• Blue Coat, Skype and QQ named despots' best friends - Reporters Without Borders slams "enemies of the internet" [theregister.co.uk]
• What's most important? Bandwidth over kilo-miles, or milli-watts? IBM, AT&T brainboxes beg to differ [theregister.co.uk]
• Rumor Mill: T-Mobile to launch handset trade-in program in shift to Value plans [fiercewireless.com]
• Networking Battles to Run the World [nytimes.com]
• Google Hastens to Show Its Concern for Privacy [nytimes.com]

*For more interesting links to broadband and related tech news from DSLReports.com & other sites throughout the day, follow me on Twitter @ChrisBBReports!*

A petition on the White House website urging the Obama administration to stop CISPA has received the 100,000 signatures necessary to get a White House response. CISPA "creates broad legal exemptions that allow the government to share "cyber threat intelligence" with private companies, and companies to share "cyber threat information" with the government, for the purposes of enhancing cybersecurity," argues the petition. "The problems arise from the definitions of these terms, especially when it comes to companies sharing data with the feds." The last CISPA crumbled in the aftershocks of SOPA, but with many companies (like Verizon and AT&T) supporting this bill, the second attempt may be more successful.

While investing some money into broadband infrastructure (especially given the amount we spend on war) is not a bad idea, implementation in many states has been problematic. West Virginia has probably been the poster child for corruption and incompetence when it comes to broadband stimulus funds, the state (with Verizon's help) spending millions on over-power, unused routers and expensive consultants who apparently don't actually do anything.

As we noted last month, the Senate Judiciary Committee had been working on an update to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 that would have strengthened consumer e-mail privacy protections, requiring that the government obtain a warrant before snooping user e-mail or remotely stored data (like cloud storage). It was a surprising direction for a government that has relentless pushed to eliminate all citizen privacy protections, so not too surprisingly the Amendment has been killed without explanation:Current law allows the government to sift through emails and other cloud data without a warrant provided the data has been stored for 180 days or more. However, with wiretaps installed at most large carriers providing the government user communications in real time, it's believed that those laws are generally laughed at by intelligence services.

Senator Ron Wyden has introduced a new bill taking taking aim at broadband usage caps. According to a description of the bill on Wyden's website, the The Data Cap Integrity Act would attempt to impose industry wide standards not only ensuring that usage meters are accurate, but that caps and overages are actually being used to manage network congestion, not, as a recent NY Times editorial proclaimed, as just "a way for Internet providers to extract monopoly rents."

"Internet use is central to our lives and to our economy," said Wyden in a statement.

Republican Representative Darrell Issa has proposed a two year ban on all new federal legislation regulation the Internet. The complete text of the bill accompanied a Q&A the lawmaker (or one of his interns) did on Reddit, where Issa ran face-first into an audience that is a little more savvy than what he's probably used to.

While the oft-criticized Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) makes it illegal to bypass DRM, when the law was based back in 1998 a provision allowed the Librarian of Congress to grant certain exemptions. As Ars Technica notes, the latest triennial review of DMCA exemptions (pdf) again highlights how arbitrary and bizarre the DMCA can be.

• Taxing broadband—an idea whose time has not come [arstechnica.com]
• Doubts raised over safety of 'doctor by broadband' [telegraph.co.uk]
• Comcast Said Near U.S. Approval to Encrypt Basic-Cable Signals [businessweek.com]
• VZ: LTE iPhone Could Be ‘Game Changer’ [barrons.com]
• Samsung, carriers to modify infringing devices, report says [cnet.com]
• Amazon Says Kindle Fire is 'Sold Out' [wirelessweek.com]
• AT&T on $2.6 billion spending spree to buy airwaves, catch up with Verizon [kansascity.com]
• Feds Probe Mobile App Privacy Safeguards [networkworld.com]
• Android-Crazy China Passes U.S. As Smartphone Leader [techcrunch.com]
• HBO cuts the cord for international launch: Nordic region won't need pay-TV subscription to get net [variety.com]
• This is the new Amazon Kindle Fire [theverge.com]

• The Great Bandwidth Brawl [technologyreview.com]
• Atlantic Broadband Said To Seek Sale, Could Fetch $1.4 Billion [bloomberg.com]
• European Commission Pledges to Stiffen ISP Net Neutrality Rules [ispreview.com]
• Flame: The Skype-Sniffing, Bluetooth-Enabled Super Spy Tool Is A Harbinger [fastcompany.com]
• Is this the beginning of the end for RIM? [cnet.com]
• Netflix agrees to delete data on ex-customers [paidcontent.org]
• Silicon backdoor: not an international crisis: Researcher’s second lesson: how to troll the entire Internet [theregister.co.uk]
• How Much Would It Cost To Pre-Screen YouTube Videos? About $37 Billion Per Year... [techdirt.com]
• Splitting data, video charges could tame the video 'beast' [fiercebroadbandwireless.com]
• Jury rules stiffen in wireless age [palmbeachpost.com]
• Europe risks turning into ‘Digital Desert by shying away from investing in networks, widening the gap with the US [businessweek.com]

• Will Apple or Google Buy Sprint to Break Into the Wireless Network Biz? [ecommercetimes.com]
• Canadian banks issue landmark NFC payments guidelines that focus on open mobile wallets and consumer data protection [nfcworld.com]
• Nationwide wireless emergency text alert system launching this month [ubergizmo.com]
• Why is UK ISP TalkTalk’s year-old porn filter suddenly big news? [pcpro.co.uk]
• New Report Lists Top 10 Legitimate Sites Blocked by UK Adult Content Filters [ispreview.co.uk]
• Amped Wireless Unveils the Industry's Most Powerful, Long Range, Indoor Wi-Fi Solution [yahoo.com]
• LightSquared’s bankruptcy is Washington’s failure too [gigaom.com]
• Bell Mobility hit with $100-million class-action lawsuit alleging that expiry dates on its pre-paid wireless services are illegal [cbc.ca]
• Clearwire: Our LTE Advanced network will be able to hit 168 Mbps [fiercewireless.com]
• FBI Sounds Alarm on Hotel WiFi Caper [technewsworld.com]
• Why Anonymous ‘might well be the most powerful organization on Earth’ [nationalpost.com]

• FCC launches mobile broadband subsidy to cover more areas [ubergizmo.com]
• White spaces and happy faces: TV stations drop lawsuit against "super WiFi" [arstechnica.com]
• Virgin Media blocks millions of users from accessing Pirate Bay [cbronline.com]
• UK Government Faces £1.1 Billion Broadband Funding Shortfall [techweekeurope.co.uk]
• Google's Street View Snooping: Congressman Wants Investigation [networkworld.com]
• Gartner: Multi-Device Wireless Plans on the Way [cio.com]
• Boingo and Transit Wireless to bring WiFi to NYC subway [slashgear.com]
• Microsoft Researchers say cybercrime loss estimates are a bunch of bunk [networkworld.com]
• Judge: An IP-Address Doesn’t Identify a Person (or BitTorrent Pirate) [torrentfreak.com]
• Google's Fiber Makes MPAA Skittish. Why Does Hollywood See All Technology In Terms Of Piracy? [techdirt.com]
• Side Effect of Wireless Broadband Soft Caps: Death? [networkworld.com]
• Man seeks more than $5m in class suit against Apple for alleged ‘double-billing’ in iTunes [thenextweb.com]

• Iran To Shut Down Internet Permanently; 'Clean' National Intranet In Pipeline [ibtimes.com]
• New York hotel stops its WiFi network from inserting code [neowin.net]
• Fifth-Generation Wi-Fi Is Coming: Are You Ready for 802.11ac? [pcworld.com]
• Behind the NetflixPAC: a broadband power play [gigaom.com]
• Wireless Carriers Join Forces To Build Database Of Stolen Phones [huffingtonpost.com]
• CSIRO patent trolls all of America [theregister.co.uk]
• No, Netflix Has NOT Formed A Pro-SOPA SuperPAC [techdirt.com]
• FCC says Boston can regulate Comcast cable rates [fiercecable.com]
• Chrysler announces industry-first in-vehicle wireless charging system [bgr.com]
• AT&T extends union talks after deadline, avoids strike [totaltele.com]

• Think 4G is 10 times faster? Think again [gigaom.com]
• Move over SOPA & PIPA, here comes CISPA [digitaljournal.com]
• The Internet is ruining your brain [shortlist.com]
• How to budget megabytes becomes urgemt for users [nytimes.com]
• 'Don't break the internet': How an idiot's slogan stole your privacy [theregister.co.uk]
• iPad Wi-Fi issues may be linked to power management [computerworld.com]
• Ruling in YouTube case could lead to a "new way to attack" content-sharing services [multichannel.com]
• Unlocked iPhones from AT&T may benefit FreedomPop and H2O [fiercebroadbandwireless.com]
• LTE becoming an M2M prerequisite [fiercebroadbandwireless.com]
• Hotel Caught Injecting Banner Ads on “Complimentary” Wi-Fi Network [maximunpc.com]
• Is the BlackBerry on the Verge of Downfall? [techvert.com]

• Arizona Politicians Scramble To Adjust Internet Censorship Bill After The Internet Mocks Them For Being Clueless [huffingtonpost.com]
• Verizon dominates today, but which operators will lead in 2016? [fiercewireless.com]
• Obvious Alert: LTE will spur data demand, claim UK mobile retailers [fiercewireless.com]
• MPAA Pretends Dodd Didn't Say That New SOPA Negotiations Were Underway [techdirt.com]
• Former Cybersecurity Czar Thinks DHS Should Spy On All Internet Traffic Crossing Our Borders [nytimes.com]
• Comcast launching HBO Go on Xbox 'early next week' [theverge.com]
• Low-latency networks aren’t just for Wall Street anymore [gigaom.com]
• AT&T to unlock off-contract iPhones starting April 8 [slashgear.com]
• Top secret AT&T HTC One X surfaces, sold on eBay [cnet.com]
• 5 charged for taking teen's kidney in return for iPhone, iPad [cnet.com]
• Is the SMS stronghold being crumbled by slick upstarts? [fiercewireless.com]

You would have thought that the unprecedented backlash against both SOPA and PIPA would have resulted in the entertainment industry learning something about shoving bad laws down the throat of the country -- but apparently not. MPAA boss and former Congressman Chris Dodd this week told Hollywood Reporter that there are backroom conversations occurring among a small number of people, and that "between now and sometime next year," Hollywood and the tech industry will "come to an understanding."

Of course as Techdirt notes, one of SOPA's biggest problem was that it was hashed out in secret with nobody at any level (including government) considering independent expert insight or caring what the public thought.

• Cable vs. Tellco: Verizon-Cable industry stop competing, forced to collude [broadbandconvergent.com]
• MPAA chief: SOPA and Protect IP back from the grave? [cnet.com]
• LTE-A Will Add to Mobile Broadband Confusion, Heavy Reading Reports [sacbee.com]
• Q4: ILECs bulked up on video, business and broadband [fiercetelecom.com]
• TWC Kansas City: We Have DOCSIS 3 - We're Ready For Google Fiber [multichannel.com]
• Google tablet delayed until July, is Wi-Fi-only [CNet UK]
• Sprint set to offer cure for poor wireless voice quality [computerworld.com]
• New 'Scoreboard' ranks top 20 global operator groups by mobile connections [fiercewireless.com]
• Political expedience on 700 MHz trumps physics, revenue and consumer interests [fiercewireless.com]
• The limitless possibilities of Bluetooth 4.0 [cnet.com]

• With LTE on deck, India primes to leapfrog U.S. in mobile broadband rankings [fiercebroadbandwireless.com]
• Are Broadband Markets Stagnating? [forbes.com]
• A quarter of the world's households now have Wi-Fi [macworld.com]
• T-Mobile: We use spectrum 50% more efficiently than Verizon in top markets [fiercewireless.com]
• Verizon challenges other carriers' network speeds in '4G throw down' [fiercewireless.com]
• AT&T’s Wi-Fi experiment: Watch ads, get access [gigaom.com]
• Viacom's anti-Google copyright case rises from the dead [theregister.co.uk]
• Geotargeting And The Slippery Slope To Fragmenting The Internet With Localized Censorship [techdirt.com]
• Clearwire, NetZero 4G and the coverage quandary [fiercebroadbandwireless.com]
• Dish hoping to receive FCC go-ahead by summer's end [fiercebroadbandwireless.com]
• New York State Attorney General Announces Purge of Sex Offenders From Online Games [forbes.com]
• Comcast, TWC Still Bullish On Interactive TV [multichannel.com]