Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., joined Free Press at an event at the Capitol Tuesday to press the FCC to approve strong net neutrality protections, while also forbidding paid prioritization deals. Franken blasted “fast lanes” and suggested net neutrality protections led the Internet to flourish. “This has been the architecture of the Internet from the beginning,” Franken said. “Everyone should understand that. … Some of my colleagues in the Congress don’t understand that.” He criticized the May FCC net neutrality NPRM for saying “maybe we should allow fast lanes” and insisted the Internet’s innovation is on account of net neutrality. “I hope the press is here to listen and report, and I hope your content gets to the consumer of the content as fast as the anti-net neutrality content does,” Franken said. “And I think it will now -- and that’s the point.” Free Press President Craig Aaron also spoke at the event, backing this message, and moderated a panel of speakers pushing for such protections. Free Press circulated a handout slamming what it called “myths” about FCC reclassification of broadband as a Title II telecom service, which Free Press backs. The group believes Title II reclassification will give the agency authority to create what Free Press believes will be stronger net neutrality rules.

The House Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade Subcommittee will take up a bill to curb misleading or inadequate patent demand letters Wednesday afternoon, said a Monday news release (http://1.usa.gov/U0T7Q6). Subcommittee Chairman Lee Terry, R-Neb., released an updated draft of the Targeting Rogue and Opaque Letters Act (HR-4450) Monday(http://1.usa.gov/1n4Ljn3). The bill would make patent demand letters written in “bad faith” an “unfair or deceptive act” under the FTC Act. “We have spent months examining different ideas and challenges to address the growing threat of patent trolls, and the text we will consider this week is a product of those discussions amongst members and stakeholders,” said Terry in a statement. The updated draft is not significantly different from the original discussion draft (CD July 3 p9), but did name the measure. The bill is one small component of broader patent revamp legislation that has been all but booted until after the midterm elections, which may make passage of a demand letter bill difficult, stakeholders have agreed (CD May 23 p3).

The House Judiciary Committee will mark up a clean bill (http://1.usa.gov/1r67pL0) to reauthorize the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act (STELA) Thursday, it said. The markup session is scheduled for 10:15 a.m. in 2141 Rayburn. The bill is two pages and narrow, as lobbyists have widely expected, and is similar to the STELA legislation cleared by the Senate Judiciary Committee last month. Both of the Judiciary bills are called the Satellite Television Access Reauthorization Act of 2014. The only committee with STELA jurisdiction that has yet to release legislation is now the Senate Commerce Committee. Two groups fired off letters to Senate Commerce ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., urging a clean STELA bill. “We recognize the opportunity to update our nation’s video marketplace policies, but STELA should not be used as a vehicle for regulatory riders or special-interest ‘reforms,'” Americans for Limited Government said (http://bit.ly/VG90fM), defending the rights of broadcasters and attacking any revamps of retransmission consent rules. The American Consumer Institute backs “comprehensive” overhaul of the video marketplace but said “moving ahead with a STELA reauthorization that includes any anemic attempts at deregulation that apply to only one of the many players in the dynamically competitive marketplace could inadvertently jeopardize much needed comprehensive reforms,” according to its letter (http://bit.ly/1oF3B2t). “In other words, adding new regulations and provisions now to STELA will only complicate holistic reforms in the future.”

At least one Senate candidate wants to overhaul the 1996 Telecom Act. Larry Pressler, a former Republican senator from South Dakota, is running for the state’s open Senate seat in the 2014 midterm elections as an independent. “I have repeatedly stated that there should be a new Telecommunications Act every few years, and once again, we are long overdue,” Pressler wrote in a Saturday Argus Leader op-ed (http://argusne.ws/1jhojX8). “I have already announced that when I get back to the Senate, I shall immediately sponsor the Telecommunications Update Act of 2015, another much-needed piece of legislation that has not been created because of the poisonous partisan deadlock in Washington, but that as your Independent U.S. senator, I would be able to work with both parties to achieve.” Pressler is proud of his role in the 1996 act, when he was a U.S. senator, he said. Pressler chaired the Commerce Committee and authored the Senate version of the act, he said on his website (http://bit.ly/1xHDUlN).

The Senate Special Committee on Aging scheduled a hearing on phone scams. It will take place July 16 at 2:15 p.m. in 562 Dirksen. Witnesses weren’t announced.

The House Rules Committee will consider this week the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, HR-5016, in addition to HR-4718, which would amend the Internet Revenue Code to make bonus depreciation provisions permanent. The bonus depreciation provision of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 expired in December. Both items are slated for consideration Wednesday at 3 p.m. in H-313 of the Capitol. The Financial Services appropriations bill for FY 2015 includes funding for the FCC and FTC. The Rules Committee reviews items before they advance to the House floor.

The Senate Judiciary Committee plans to consider its bipartisan compromise version of Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act (S-517) at its Thursday executive session, set for 9:30 a.m. in 226 Dirksen. The committee had announced the compromise last month and initially had scheduled it for consideration then but later decided to postpone consideration.

The House Republican appropriations bill for the FCC and FTC was formally introduced Wednesday. The House Appropriations Committee cleared the measure last month. But the Appropriations General Government Subcommittee Chairman Ander Crenshaw, R-Fla., only this week introduced the appropriations package formally, now known as HR-5016, the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act. The bill would give the FCC $53 million less than requested -- $323 million -- and the FTC $293 million, as requested.

The new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) .wine and .vin shouldn’t be delegated to the domain name system, said House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., in a letter (http://bit.ly/1t1veI9) to ICANN CEO Fadi Chehade June 25. ICANN published the letter Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1s33K0x). French officials raised concerns about the delegation of the domains at the ICANN 50 conference, which they said could negatively affect the wine industry (CD July 1 p3). Eshoo said she doesn’t oppose the delegation of new gTLDs, but “each application must be carefully scrutinized and take into account the concerns of impacted stakeholders.” France wants geographic indicators for the domains to protect the regionally integrity of its wine, they said at ICANN 50. ICANN’s Governmental Advisory Committee failed to reach a consensus on the issue at ICANN 50, it said in its communique (http://bit.ly/1jo8xUW).

Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., asked the FCC about the possibility of criminals and foreign governments intercepting phone calls. He sent FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler a letter Wednesday with several questions, requesting “complete responses” by July 15 (http://1.usa.gov/1m9mavt). Recent reports of network vulnerability are “extremely troubling” and Grayson is “disturbed” the FCC has known of such weaknesses, he said. “Does the FCC have any evidence that IMSI [international mobile subscriber identity] catchers and similar cellular interception technology have been used by private entities or foreign governments to spy on the public, companies, policy makers or members of Congress?” Grayson asked. “Do the FCC’s existing legal authority permit it to force the wireless carriers to upgrade the security of their networks in order to secure their subscribers’ conversations from criminals, private parties or foreign governments using commercially available interception technology?”