Seeking to dispel growing criticism of his administration's handling of classified information, President Obama has dismissed accusations the White House authorized leaks to journalists for recent stories on classified drone strike and cyber weapons programs. Obama on Friday called allegations the administration purposely released the information "offensive" and "wrong," while defending his record of aggressively prosecuting leaks and whistleblowers. Critics, including Senate Armed Services ranking Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona and House Homeland Security Chairman Peter King, R-N.Y., have accused the administration of authorizing the leaks in order to portray the president as decisive on national security and anti-terrorism issues.

Obama's comments came the same day Attorney General Eric Holder announced he has appointed two federal prosecutors to investigate the leaks, resisting calls by McCain and others for a special prosecutor. Two U.S. Attorneys from D.C. and Maryland will lead the criminal investigations, which are currently being conducted by the FBI. Leaking classified information is a federal crime. Despite Holder's announcement, McCain renewed his call for special counsel on Sunday, arguing the Valerie Plame affair was investigated by a special counsel during President George W. Bush's administration. Regardless, it appears any potential political benefit from the stories appears to been lost in the controversy over who was responsible for the leaks.

The Obama administration is sensitive to accusations of hypocrisy, and is therefore investigating the leaks in the same manner as previous, unauthorized disclosures. But the very existence of the probe is a distraction at a time when the president hoped to be signing new cybersecurity legislation into law. On that topic, six former military and intelligence leaders from previous administrations wrote to Senate leaders last week urging action on cybersecurity legislation. The letter (PDF) is signed by former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, former National Security Agency director and Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell, and former NSA and CIA director Michael Hayden, among others.

Cyber Advocacy Catching Up: Roll Call's Janie Lorber reports online petitions and protests are fast becoming the method du jour for activists to influence lawmakers, thanks to a series of wins for the Web on issues such as SOPA/PIPA and "pink slime" (beef scraps treated with ammonia hydroxide). Cyber-activists have been galvanized by their recent successes and are turning their sites on bigger targets, such as reducing the influence of money in politics. The Internet has made it easier than ever for ordinary citizens to voice their views on the issues, and more significantly, organize with others that share the same stance. Major corporations such as Walmart have already shown that they will alter their political activities in response to concerted online campaigns. But the unique nature of the SOPA campaign also speaks to the difficulty in replicating it.

SOPA was a case of activists on both sides of the aisle joining with the broader Internet community, including companies such as Google, reddit, and Wikipedia, which were acting largely in their own economic self-interest. In addition, raising the prospect of online censorship has always been a hot-button issue on the Web, where activists are quick to declare almost any federal intervention in the Internet as an assault on free speech. It is doubtful that most of the sites involved in the blackout would have been similarly moved to act for any other issue, especially if it didn't jeopardize their immediate and long-term future. The only other legislation that has prompted a similar coalition of opposition is the Senate cybersecurity bill championed by the White House (S 2105). In other words, don't expect to see Google or Wikipedia blacking themselves out over taxes, immigration, or any other non-censorship issues.

FCC Getting Heavy-Handed on Wireless? Former FCC Wireless Bureau chief Fred Campbell suggested his former agency is abandoning its previous light touch on wireless carriers for a more heavy-handed approach in a report from Kristin Coyner for CQ Weekly. Campbell recently left his job as president of the Wireless Communications Association to join the Competitive Enterprise Institute's Communications Liberty and Innovation Project as director. The pro-business think tank will likely beef up its efforts in the mobile space now that Campbell is abroad. He pointed to the FCC's recent "bill shock" proposal as evidence of the FCC's new, more active approach to regulation. Wyden Slaps Hold on Warrantless Surveillance Bill: CQ's Tim Starks reports Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said Friday that he's placing a hold on a bill that would extend the warrantless surveillance of foreign targets, even if they're communicating with someone in the U.S. The bill is a top priority of the intelligence community and would extend a 2008 law that is set to expire at the end of this year. Wyden said he would block the bill due to the lack of information on how many Americans' communications have been monitored under the law. He attempted to offer an amendment that would require an estimate of how many U.S. citizens' were affected, but was unsuccessful. Wyden is a staunch privacy advocate and unafraid of taking unpopular stands; he almost single-handedly stalled PIPA and its Senate predecessor for almost a year before the opposition took hold among the Internet community. His opposition to similar language in the fiscal 2012 intelligence authorization bill (S 1458) ultimately led to the removal of that language. Notes From TIA 2012: I stopped into Dallas last week to check out TIA 2012, one of the telecom industry's largest annual trade shows, where unsurprisingly wireless was the word on everyone's minds. TIA President Grant Seiffert emphasized that in order for the U.S. to realize the potential gains of the new app economy, more investment would be needed into the network.

In the immediate future, that means getting more spectrum into the hands of wireless carriers via the incentive auctions recently approved by Congress. Seiffert said anticipation is high regarding the airwaves up for auction, but he thinks the government needs to move a bit faster to bring them to market. There is also concern about whether the spectrum will come from commercial firms like the broadcasters, or be re-purposed from the airwaves held by the government and military. Seiffert said the latter would likely take longer to come to market, a risky proposition as consumer demand for bandwidth-heavy services like streaming video grows daily.

The lingering uncertainty has left both small and large companies stagnant as they wait for word on what the market will look like. Seiffert said the overall mood in his sector is that things are slow, and that more legal expertise is needed than ever before to interpret the myriad of rules and announcements coming out of Washington. The broader credit crunch is also hamstringing telecom firms right now, as their inability to access capital has also delayed or prevented the necessary business investments.

Finally, Seiffert was upbeat about the potential of the "Internet of Things" or Machine to Machine, as it is more commonly known. That refers to a future in which most home appliances and devices are linked to an IP-based network and can be controlled remotely via a smartphone or other app. While the potential for such technologies is huge, the policy concerns are also similarly expansive. Most of us wouldn't mind the ability to turn off the lights at home from work or close the garage door from the airport, but smart devices present their own challenges. Consumers have already shown resistance to having their actions tracked online. We can only imagine how they would feel about advertisers knowing how many trips they make to the fridge during the average football game.