If Congress fails to pass cybersecurity legislation this year, state commissions will likely step in, said officials representing industry and state regulators. States like California are already “out in the front” in terms of cybersecurity policies, said Brett Kilbourne, vice president-government and industry affairs at the Utilities Telecom Council. State commissions have the authority to require utilities to incorporate cybersecurity protections, officials said.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Comcast and PayPal said they will work together developing applications that let TV viewers more easily purchase goods through their TV sets or through applications on smartphones and TVs developed by TV companies, executives said at the TV of Tomorrow Conference. Additionally, PayPal said it’s working with TiVo on similar products (See separate report in this issue). “If you're buying something online, you feel a sense of trust with PayPal and you normally feel a sense of simplicity,” said Tony Werner, Comcast chief technology officer: “Both of those are key as you come into the living room. Bringing PayPal in as a partner I think is very powerful."

Storm warnings and other government alerts could go to search engines, online news feeds, social media and other Web outlets, broadcast and other industry officials said. They said that will be made possible when the Federal Emergency Management Agency soon starts a website for anyone to get real-time emergency alert system messages. Companies that don’t participate in EAS could get alerts from federal, state and municipal agencies that write them in a new FEMA format. Those websites could then distribute them online as narrowly or widely as they wish.

The FCC voted unanimously to let expire later this year a rule that has required cable operators to deliver the DTV signals of must-carry stations to its analog cable subscribers. The order approved by a 5-0 vote had been expected (CD May 25 p5), though broadcasters had mobilized in recent weeks to attempt to alter it. The FCC said it finds the viewability rule is “no longer necessary,” but requires hybrid analog-digital cable systems to continue complying with the rule until Dec. 12, 2012. NAB will consult its board before it decides how to respond, it said. “The NAB remains concerned that today’s FCC decision has the potential to impose negative financial consequences on small local TV stations,” a spokesman said. “We will be reviewing our options with our Board of Directors.” A coalition of must-carry station owners that formed to lobby on the issue didn’t immediately respond to our query.

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson was sharply critical of the Obama administration’s move to embrace spectrum sharing as the only way of making spectrum now in federal hands available for wireless broadband in the near future. Stephenson, who spoke at the Brookings Institution Tuesday, told reporters later he has deep reservations about spectrum sharing, with its many unknowns. Stephenson also warned that an upcoming incentive auction of broadcast TV spectrum is not a “silver bullet” that will solve the industry’s expected spectrum crunch.

The Senate debate over cybersecurity legislation grew increasingly partisan as Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said during a speech on the Senate floor Tuesday that some Republicans are not taking the cyberthreat seriously. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., told reporters he agreed with Reid and suggested there are political reasons for the Republican opposition to the Senate Cybersecurity Act (S-2105). But sponsors of the alternative Senate cybersecurity bill, the SECURE IT Act (S-2151), urged the majority leader to bring a bill to the floor for debate and see where the chips fall.

Verizon Wireless Tuesday unveiled plans under which customers would pay monthly fees and share data, voice minutes and text messages across multiple devices, from smartphones to tablets to notebooks -- up to 10 Verizon Wireless devices. The Share Everything Plans are a first for the U.S. wireless industry. The announcement was not a surprise and had been well telegraphed by Verizon. The plans kick in June 28.

Companies are submitting to the FCC data they say shows the lack of competition in the special access market, as well as the price-cap LECs’ exercise of market power. That’s even before the agency requests data from companies affected by special access “pricing flexibility” waivers. Level 3’s 39-page filing Friday -- much of which was redacted for public inspection -- attempted to demonstrate the price-cap LECs’ market power, arguing it must “begrudgingly purchase the vast majority” of its special access needs from carriers like Verizon, AT&T and CenturyLink because there’s often no other choice available.

Verizon Wireless, SpectrumCo and Cox went on the attack against T-Mobile, urging the FCC to reject T-Mobile’s arguments against the sale of AWS licenses from the cable operators to Verizon Wireless. T-Mobile has emerged as a leading opponent of the spectrum deals. The broadside comes as the FCC and Department of Justice’s review of the deals appears to be nearing its final stages, with approval likely, though with substantial conditions (CD June 11 p1).

Federal Democratic policymakers praised a commitment from the major broadcast networks to begin putting content rating information on their full-length programming when it’s shown on websites they control. The commitment, to take effect next year, will cover shows streamed on each network’s own site. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel and Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., praised the commitment. A critic of the networks’ ratings policies said the move will do little to help parents make decisions about their children’s viewing habits. Disney’s ABC, News Corp.’s Fox, Comcast’s NBC and Telemundo, CBS, Univision and its TeleFutura network all signed on.