A warrant requirement to access emails may get through Congress this session, said lawmakers, privacy advocates, conservatives and industry officials. But email privacy is just “a narrow fix that we think can stand on its own,” Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., told us. Other issues -- geolocation privacy, a definition of “electronic content” -- are far from settled, said those we spoke with. “This could be a multi-year effort to update various parts of the federal law,” the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), Rep. Kevin Yoder, R-Kan., told us. Yoder and Polis both sponsor the Email Privacy Act (HR-1852), which would require a warrant for law enforcement and government to access remotely stored emails (http://bit.ly/W4npD7).

A draft letter and competing petition by authors concerned over the price dispute between Amazon and Hachette (WID June 2 p5) highlight a divide between self-publishing authors and those who have used traditional publishing houses, said best-selling authors on each side of the debate in interviews this week. Depending on one’s position, either Amazon or the major publishing houses appear guilty of monopolistic or cartel-like control of the book market, they said. In a letter this week, Amazon said it was “thinking of proposing” that Hachette authors receive 100 percent of the “sales price of every Hachette e-book we sell” for the remainder of the dispute, confirmed a spokeswoman. Hachette didn’t say in a statement Tuesday whether it’s willing to accept the proposal.

Broadcasters won their case against streaming TV service Aereo in the Supreme Court Wednesday, in a 6 to 3 decision (http://1.usa.gov/1lbK8Si). That makes it very difficult for Aereo to continue operating, several broadcast and copyright attorneys told us. Justice Stephen Breyer wrote the majority opinion, ruling that despite Aereo’s unique technology, the company’s end product was little different from that of a cable company and should be subject to laws intended to impose copyright restrictions on cable companies. Oral argument was in April (CD April 23 p1).

Broadcasters won their case against streaming TV service Aereo in the Supreme Court Wednesday, in a 6 to 3 decision (http://1.usa.gov/1lbK8Si). That makes it very difficult for Aereo to continue operating, several broadcast and copyright attorneys told us. Justice Stephen Breyer wrote the majority opinion, ruling that despite Aereo’s unique technology, the company’s end product was little different than that of a cable company, and should be subject to laws intended to impose copyright restrictions on cable companies. Oral argument was in April (WID April 23 p3).

That broadcasters won their case against streaming TV service Aereo in the Supreme Court Wednesday in a 6-3 decision (http://1.usa.gov/1lbK8Si) makes it very difficult for Aereo to continue operating, several broadcast and copyright attorneys told us. Justice Stephen Breyer wrote the majority opinion, ruling that despite Aereo’s unique technology, the company’s end product was little different than that of a cable company, and should be subject to laws intended to impose copyright restrictions on cable companies. Oral argument was in April (CED April 23 p1).

A telco executive is slated to testify on surveillance Thursday. The Senate Intelligence Committee’s open hearing on surveillance overhaul will look at the version of the USA Freedom Act (HR-3361) that the House passed last month, committee leaders said Tuesday. Two panels of witnesses are planned -- first, Deputy Attorney General James Cole, FBI Deputy Director Mark Giuliano, NSA Deputy Director Rick Ledgett and Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence Stephanie O'Sullivan; second, former national security official Stewart Baker, Center for Democracy & Technology Senior Counsel Harley Geiger, Information Technology Industry Council CEO Dean Garfield and Verizon Assistant General Counsel Michael Woods. Garfield “will focus on how the technology sector has been impacted by the NSA revelations, and how enacting meaningful surveillance reform is a critical step forward in restoring public trust in the U.S. technology industry and the U.S. government,” ITI said in a media advisory Wednesday. The hearing is at 2:30 p.m. in 216 Hart.

Progressive groups urged Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to ask FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler to reclassify broadband as a Title II telecom service in order to craft what they estimate will be stronger net neutrality rules. These “strong” net neutrality rules should “ban all unreasonable technical discrimination (and define pay-to-play arrangements as inherently unreasonable), forbid blocking, and ban other undue interference with the open architecture of the Internet,” said the Wednesday letter (http://bit.ly/1x8jfIm), signed by Credo, Daily Kos, Democracy for America, Demand Progress, MoveOn, Free Press and others. Reclassification is “the only path forward,” they said, releasing several statements from the group’s leaders backing the letter. “What’s missing is the political will in Washington to challenge AT&T, Comcast and Verizon,” Free Press President Craig Aaron said.

A telco executive is slated to testify on surveillance Thursday. The Senate Intelligence Committee’s open hearing on surveillance overhaul will look at the version of the USA Freedom Act (HR-3361) that the House passed last month, committee leaders said Tuesday. Two panels of witnesses are planned -- first, Deputy Attorney General James Cole, FBI Deputy Director Mark Giuliano, NSA Deputy Director Rick Ledgett and Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence Stephanie O'Sullivan; second, former national security official Stewart Baker, Center for Democracy & Technology Senior Counsel Harley Geiger, Information Technology Industry Council CEO Dean Garfield and Verizon Assistant General Counsel Michael Woods. Garfield “will focus on how the technology sector has been impacted by the NSA revelations, and how enacting meaningful surveillance reform is a critical step forward in restoring public trust in the U.S. technology industry and the U.S. government,” ITI said in a media advisory Wednesday. The hearing is at 2:30 p.m. in 216 Hart.

Progressive groups urged Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to ask FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler to reclassify broadband as a Title II telecom service in order to craft what they estimate will be stronger net neutrality rules. These “strong” net neutrality rules should “ban all unreasonable technical discrimination (and define pay-to-play arrangements as inherently unreasonable), forbid blocking, and ban other undue interference with the open architecture of the Internet,” said the Wednesday letter (http://bit.ly/1x8jfIm), signed by Credo, Daily Kos, Democracy for America, Demand Progress, MoveOn, Free Press and others. Reclassification is “the only path forward,” they said, releasing several statements from the group’s leaders backing the letter. “What’s missing is the political will in Washington to challenge AT&T, Comcast and Verizon,” Free Press President Craig Aaron said.

The Copyright Alert System’s first 10 months of operations are encouraging, said a report (http://bit.ly/1isdnzM) released by the CAS operator Center for Copyright Information (CCI) Wednesday. Don’t expect the system to bring an end to all copyright infringement, said panelists at an Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) event Wednesday. The CAS delivers notices to individuals accessing infringing content through peer-to-peer networks and is intended to educate consumers about copyright infringement. If infringement continues, Internet speed is slowed or Web access is suspended temporarily. CAS is a collaborative effort on the part of AT&T, Cablevision, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Verizon and copyright holders such as MPAA and RIAA (CD Feb 28/13 p12).