The Senate Commerce Committee said it plans an executive session meeting Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. in 253 Russell. Commerce has not yet listed any agenda. Lobbyists and Capitol Hill staffers have widely expected since late last month that Commerce’s Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act reauthorization bill will be marked up that day (CD Sept 11 p6).

The House unanimously approved the E-Label Act (HR-5161) Thursday under suspension of the rules. “Not only will this give manufacturers greater flexibility to design innovative products that consumers demand, but by some estimates e-labeling will save manufacturers over $80 million per year,” said House Communications Subcommittee Vice Chairman Bob Latta, R-Ohio, in a statement. “E-labeling can expand consumer access to relevant device information, and enhance the overall quality and availability of equipment identification records through supporting software.” House Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., touted House passage of the E-Label Act and earlier this week, the Anti-Spoofing Act (HR-3670), as part of the committee’s record of success. The House “voted to protect consumers and relieve the regulatory burden on electronics manufacturers,” Upton said in a statement.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., is interested in the concept of net neutrality rules based on Communications Act Title II jurisdiction but with such Title II regulation limited to net neutrality, a House Democratic aide told us Thursday. Some net neutrality advocates called for Title II reclassification of broadband, including several congressional Democrats, while Republicans and industry groups oppose reclassification (CD Sept 10 p5). Lofgren is considering sending a letter to the FCC, eyeing next week, but is still examining options and in a preliminary stage, the aide said.

Many major technology companies, associations and privacy and civil liberties advocates again urged House and Senate leadership to put respective bills up for a vote to update the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA). Over 75 entities -- including Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo -- sent letters Wednesday to House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., (http://bit.ly/1lTLAzE) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, R-Nev. (http://bit.ly/1otcl9G). The two bills (S-607 and HR-1852) would require a warrant for government to access personal digital information, similar to a warrant to access personal physical property, the letter said. The ECPA update also “would aid American companies seeking to innovate and compete globally,” the letters said. “Removing uncertainty about the standards for government access to data stored online will encourage consumers and companies, including those outside the U.S., to utilize these services.” Lawmakers and observers have said this narrow ECPA revamp has a high chance of passing Congress this year -- a majority of House members now support the bill -- but a full ECPA overhaul will take years as lawmakers grapple with tougher issues like standards for geolocation (CD July 14 p9). The organizations said there’s almost no opposition to the narrow bills. “The only resistance to reform comes from civil regulatory agencies that want an exception allowing them to obtain the content of customer documents and communications directly from third-party service providers,” the letters said. “This would expand government power.” The Senate bill was approved by the Judiciary Committee last year, but the House bill has not yet moved through committee, the letters said.

Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Deb Fischer, R-Neb., sent a joint letter (http://bit.ly/1lUprRM) to CBS CEO Les Moonves Wednesday asking about CBS’s rejection of certain American Television Alliance (ATVA) ads in favor of Local Choice, a Senate proposal to which broadcasters object. A CBS Radio spokeswoman has previously confirmed to us that it rejected such ads because they did not meet its broadcast standards. Blumenthal and Fischer asked several questions of Moonves, such as whether CBS provided ATVA with a reason for the denial and what other communications issues for which CBS has refused to run advertisements. “We're very grateful that Sens. Blumenthal and Fischer are looking into this issue on behalf of consumers,” ATVA’s spokesman said. “CBS has the right to disagree with us about the best way to fix retransmission consent but they shouldn’t be stifling the debate. The American public deserves better from those entrusted with our airwaves.” A CBS spokeswoman declined comment.

As expected, the House Small Business Committee scheduled an FCC oversight hearing Wednesday at 1 p.m., it said on its website (http://1.usa.gov/1otXLif), listing the location as 2360 Rayburn. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler is the one witness listed. The hearing title is “Is the FCC Responding to the Needs of Small Business and Rural America?"

Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif., introduced a net neutrality bill Tuesday. HR-5429 is not yet posted online, but would amend the Telecom Act to restore the FCC’s authority “to adopt certain rules relating to preserving the open Internet and to direct the Commission to take all actions necessary to restore to effect vacated portions of such rules,” according to its longer title. It was referred to the House Commerce Committee. No co-sponsors are listed.

Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson urged Congress to pass cybersecurity legislation before it adjourns. He said in an op-ed in The Hill posted online Tuesday night that the House and Senate have made “real progress” on cyber in the 113th Congress that “should not go to waste” (http://bit.ly/1ujijQf). Johnson said there has been bipartisan consensus on several cyber bills that have moved out of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, along with the House-passed National Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection Act (HR-3696). Industry lobbyists have said the rapidly closing legislative window is making further progress on HR-3696 and on more controversial information sharing bills like the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (S-2588) far less likely before the 114th Congress convenes (CD July 30 p6).

House lawmakers approved the Anti-Spoofing Act (HR-3670) Tuesday and were planning to consider the E-Label Act (HR-5161) Wednesday, both under suspension of the rules. Suspension is reserved for noncontroversial legislation and requires a two-thirds vote. The House Commerce Committee approved both pieces of legislation earlier this year. The Anti-Spoofing Act would update the Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009 and the E-Label Act would allow electronics manufacturers to provide an FCC-required label digitally rather than on the physical device. “Scammers are using technology to work around an outdated law,” said Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, in a statement after passage of the Anti-Spoofing Act, which he backed. “The practice of spoofing needs to be stopped! This bill will broaden protections for consumers by holding spoofing companies outside the US accountable, stopping abusers from using text messages, and including IP-enabled voice services.”

Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, told the FCC he wants it to craft net neutrality rules under its Communications Act Title II authority, reclassifying broadband as a telecom service. Several prominent Democrats have backed Title II reclassification (CD Sept 10 p5), which congressional Republicans and industry stakeholders have resisted. “The FCC should protect access to the Internet under a Title II framework, with appropriate forbearance, thereby ensuring greater regulatory and market certainty for users and broadband providers,” King told FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler in a letter Wednesday. “To ensure that the Internet fulfills its promise of being a powerful, open platform for social, political, and economic life, the FCC must adopt a rule against blocking, a bright-line rule against application-specific discrimination, and a rule banning access fees.” Protections should apply at points of interconnection, King said, urging the agency to “abandon its current proposal.” Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., another backer of Title II reclassification, meanwhile, allied himself “in solidarity with netizens everywhere” in participating with online protests in favor of net neutrality rules. (See separate report above in this issue.) His website featured a loading symbol, as did many other sites, as “a harbinger of the dark days ahead if we let the broadband behemoths win,” Markey said on the Senate floor Wednesday. “Net neutrality is as basic to the functioning of the Internet as nondiscrimination is to the United States Constitution.”