Post Tech by Cecilia Kang

The Circuit: Cybersecurity top topic of discussion this week

By Hayley Tsukayama

Cybersecurity markup expected this week: The House panel on intelligence is expected this week to mark up a controversial cybersecurity bill that has drawn criticism from privacy advocates. As reported by The Hill, the committee is expected to mark up the proposed legislation on Wednesday.

The bill, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), has concerned privacy advocates who worry its provisions will allow companies to share consumers' personal information with intelligence and law enforcement agencies without permission. The bill is aimed at improving communications on cyber threats between the public and private sector. The bill was introduced last year. The House passed the measure, but it went no further, following a veto threat from President Obama.

Data privacy bill: A California data privacy law that would give consumers a larger say over how personal data given to companies is used is setting off debate between privacy advocates and the technology industry. As The Wall Street Journal reported, the bill would require companies such as Facebook or Coole to disclose what personal data they have collected and how they share it.

A group of technology trade groups including the Internet Alliance, TechNet and TechAmerica said the bill would impose "costly and unrealistic mandates" on these companies, the report said.

Officials from U.S., China to discuss hacking: Bloomberg reported that U.S. undersecretary of state Robert Hormats has said that he will discuss cybersecurity and hacking with Chinese officials when he visits the country this week

According to the report, Hormats told reporters in China that he finds the issue "troublesome" and worries that the issue of cyberattacks could put a rift between American and Chinese businesses looking to collaborate.

Microsoft, Ericsson strike a deal for Mediaroom: Microsoft and Ericsson announced Monday that they have made a deal for Microsoft's Mediaroom division, which is involved in distributing set-top box video services such as AT&T U-Verse. The companies did not disclose how much Ericsson paid for the service.

With this acquisition, Ericsson said that it is now the leading provider of online video distribution services with a market share of more than 25 percent.

Microsoft said the deal will allow the company to focus on its consumer television options for the Xbox gaming console.