It's not surprising the search giant has looked to shed its reputation as an ally of the Democrats, especially after the company's close ties with the White House raised the ire of Republicans soon after President Obama took office. Google's need to make friends with the GOP became apparent during last year's antitrust hearing, when panel Democrats were noticeably softer to Google chairman Eric Schmidt than their GOP counterparts. Google is facing federal scrutiny on several fronts, including an antitrust probe of its core search business, the prospect of new online privacy regulations, and a fine for bypassing the privacy settings for Google users on the Safari browser that will reportedly be announced in the coming days.
Google began ramping up its lobbying force last summer following reports of the antitrust investigation; now, combined with Microsoft, another previous target of antitrust regulators, the two companies have almost 50 outside firms on contract.
Cyber Updates — No Senate Consensus: CQ's Tim Starks brings us another update on the cybersecurity debate, with the Senate potentially bringing legislation to the floor next week or the week after. Senate leadership have failed thus far to garner 60 votes for their comprehensive package (S 2105), while a competing proposal from top chamber Republicans (S 2151) that would omit security regulations for critical infrastructure providers has similarly failed to gain traction. Aides say negotiations between the two sides haven't started in earnest, and both sides are confident the other will buckle. Aside from the election, the impending retirement of Senate Homeland Security Committee chairman Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., may add some urgency to the push for legislation. Lieberman has been the chief supporter of cybersecurity legislation in the Senate and hopes to pass something before leaving office at the end of the year. White House Threatens to Veto House C-J-S Bill: The Office of Management and Budget said Monday it would recommend the president veto a House fiscal 2013 spending bill (HR 5326) to fund the Commerce and Justice departments and science programs because it proposes funding below the level of last year's debt limit law. CQ's John Gramlich reports the House measure will be considered under open rule and debated for several days this week. We will be paying attention to the bill's funding for NASA's various projects, including commercial space funding and the planned crew capsule. Franken Slams Comcast, Verizon Deal: CQ's Ambreen Ali reports Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., on Monday issued the strongest rebuke to date of the proposed sale of spectrum from a group of cable companies to Verizon in a letter to regulators criticizing the conduct of Comcast. Franken argued Comcast has failed to satisfy several conditions attached to its merger with NBC Universal, which was approved last year. As a result, Franken argues the firm can't be trusted to comply with any conditions placed on the spectrum deal, which is currently under review by both the Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission.Franken was a strong opponent of the NBC Universal-Comcast merger, so his criticisms of Comcast are less revealing than his attempt to connect that merger with the Verizon-cable deal. Thus far lawmakers have voiced concerns about that transaction, particularly regarding confidential side agreements under which the two sides would market and sell each others' products. But Franken is the first to suggest that placing conditions on the transaction wouldn't be sufficient to mitigate the potential harm to competition, the approach deployed by the commission during the review of NBC-Comcast. Similar arguments regarding the efficacy of conditions were used by opponents of the AT&T/T-Mobile merger, which was eventually blocked by DOJ and the FCC.
New English-Language Channel Aimed at Hispanics: ABC News and Univision have tentatively agreed to create an English-language cable channel aimed at Hispanics in the U.S., according to a report from the New York Times. Each company will own 50 percent of the joint venture, which will be based in Miami and aimed at Hispanics, who are the youngest and fastest-growing demographic in the country. The move makes sense for both companies: Media companies have been vying to reach Hispanic consumers, whose buying power is growing rapidly, while Univision has been expanding its news division over the past year.The FCC has previously pushed broadcasters to enhance media diversity as part of the commission's public interest mandate, such as attaching conditions to the NBC Universal-Comcast deal requiring more programming aimed at minorities. The FCC recently lost one of its primary advocates for addressing the lack of diversity in the media when Democratic Commissioner Michael Copps retired at the end of last year, but his former senior legal adviser Jessica Rosenworcel was confirmed to fill his seat on Monday. It remains to be seen whether she will champion minority representation to the same degree as Copps. Democratic Commissioner Mignon Clyburn remains a strong advocate for media aimed at and owned by minorities.