Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., will join Rep. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., on Wednesday morning to announce the introduction of a new bill that would prohibit employers from forcing current or prospective employees to provide access to their private, password-protected accounts on sites such as Facebook. The bill comes after a report from the AP earlier this year raised serious concern on the Hill over companies demanding Facebook passwords from job applicants. The Password Protection Act would ban the practice and implement potential financial penalties for violations.

Democrats have been more vocal in their opposition to the password demands, with Blumenthal and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., among the first to call for new legislation to protect consumers from the requests. It is unclear why Schumer isn't listed as a cosponsor of the bill. A House bill (HR 5050) to ban the practice was introduced late last month, but House leadership has yet to indicate whether it will get an airing. Facebook already made it clear that forcing individuals to hand over their passwords is a violation of the site's terms of service.

The push to increase consumer privacy protections online has increased recently, with the Senate indicating it is likely to take up the issue in the coming months. The House has been non-committal on the need for new privacy regulations.

MySpace Settles Privacy Complaint With FTC: The Federal Trade Commission settled a privacy complaint against MySpace on Tuesday, after the agency accused the social network of misrepresenting its privacy policies and providing personally identifiable information to advertisers. The settlement bars MySpace from misrepresenting how it treats users' personal information and orders the company to establish a comprehensive privacy program, including outside privacy assessments every two years for the next twenty.  The terms are similar to agreements signed last year with Google and Facebook, among other companies.

The Senate Commerce Committee will meet on Wednesday to hear testimony on the Obama administration's plan to protect online privacy, at a hearing featuring FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz, Commissioner Maureen Ohlhausen and Commerce Department general counsel Cameron Kerry. The Senate and White House have voiced a need for new privacy laws, but have said they plan to move forward with voluntary regulatory actions in the absence of legislation. The FTC has become the government's de facto regulator for online privacy, tasked with ensuring companies comply with the promises they make to consumers on privacy under the Federal Trade Commission Act.

House Takes Up C-J-S Spending Bill: CQ's Anne Kim reports the House began working through amendments on Tuesday to the fiscal 2013 Commerce-Justice-Science spending bill (HR 5326). One proposal adopted by a slim margin would boost the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program's funding by $126 million at the expense of NASA. The amendment passed by a vote of 206-204, with Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., arguing it would drive a "spear right through NASA's heart." Before it reached the floor this week, the bill drew a veto threat from the White House for including funding levels below last year's debt limit law. Air Force Drones Preserved: CQ's Eugene Mulero reports the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense approved legislation on Tuesday by voice vote that would prevent the air force from retiring its expensive class of Block 30 Global Hawk drones until at least the end of 2014. Lawmakers have taken issue with the decision to retire the drones, which cost $100 million each, and approved an additional $278 billion beyond the Pentagon's request to keep the drones in the air. Two Texas lawmakers recently proposed moving the drones to the Southwest border, where they could be used for security purposes. Hearing on Broadband Grants and Loans Next Week: The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology will hold a hearing Wednesday May 16 on federal grant and loan programs aimed at expanding the availability of broadband Internet access. The Obama administration has approached broadband deployment in a similar fashion to traditional landline phones, by pouring federal money into subsidizing carriers to connect rural and hard-to-reach communities. The FCC moved last fall to shift the largest portion of its Universal Service Fund to subsidizing wired broadband access and the 2009 Recovery Act included billions aimed at rural broadband deployment.

As we've mentioned here before, the wisdom of spending billions of dollars on wired broadband access has been questioned, especially with wireless poised to take over as the primary means of connection to the Internet for many Americans. Low-income and minority individuals are already much more likely to rely on a smartphone or other mobile device to connect to the Internet, and most non-broadband households cite cost, not availability, as the primary barrier to adoption. Furthermore, the higher cost of deploying broadband means the money spent will connect fewer households.

Of course, USF and the other telecom subsidies are the lifeblood of rural telecom carriers, who in turn have the ear of their local lawmakers. Expect committee members to question the rising cost of the subsidies, but also to resist attempts to eliminate them altogether.