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A key Senate lawmaker on Thursday told antitrust regulators that Verizon Wireless’ $3.6 billion spectrum and marketing deal with cable companies presented “serious competition concerns.”

In a letter to the Justice Department and Federal Communications Commission, Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) didn’t oppose the deal outright, but he said any approvals should come with Verizon’s willingness to sell off some spectrum in certain markets to prevent it from being too dominant.

He also said he has “real concerns” over the joint marketing deal struck by Verizon Wireless and cable companies. He said the deal may prevent Verizon Communications from putting as much marketing energy behind the paid TV service FiOs, which competes with cable television. Consumers, as a result, could suffer from higher prices and less competition. See this CNN story on how Verizon is doing away with DSL services).

“There is a real concern these agreements transform Verizon and the cable companies from fierce competitors into business partners because they lessen the incentive for Verizon and cable companies to compete aggressively against the other, particularly in the markets where Verizon has deployed FiOs,” Kohl wrote.

Kohl’s letter is significant, analysts say, and could offer a road map for regulators.

“Chairman Kohl’s letter is a noteworthy marker, as his letters in other recent telecom/media transactions have been accurate predictors of agency decisions,” said Paul Gallant, an analyst at Guggenheim research.

Kohl recommended Comcast’s joint venture with NBCU be approved only with extensive conditions. He recommended that DOJ and FCC reject AT&T’s bid for T-Mobile. The regulators’ decision aligned with those recommendations.

Verizon took Kohl’s letter as a sign that regulators and lawmakers are on track with their reviews, despite a regulatory delay weeks ago.

“Because these transactions present unique issues that will deliver major consumer benefits, it is appropriate for Senator Kohl to carefully examine the issues that are also being studied by the appropriate agencies,” said Verizon Executive Vice President Tom Tauke. “While Senator Kohl’s letter recounts the arguments reviewed at the Senate hearing, it is another indication that this transaction is on the road toward approval this summer.”

Related:

FCC delays Verizon bid for cable companies’ spectrum

Silicon Valley’s biggest names are betting on data gurus to analyze the fire hose of information on the Web — and it turns out that military and federal government agencies are looking to them for answers too.

Recorded Future and Quid are among a new crop of start-ups mining vast quantities of data on the Internet (as well as classified data) to help the Defense Department and security officials predict civil unrest, terrorist activity and political upheavals.

Recorded Future on Thursday came out of “semi-stealth mode,” and announced it has raised $20 million from Google Ventures, In-Q-Tel, Atlas, IA Ventures and Balderton. The Boston-based firm counts the Defense Department and other government agencies as clients who use their predictive analysis and data mining algorithms. The firm couldn’t comment publicly on their clients’ activities, but the firm said by culling information social networks, government documents and public records, it can provide a better sense of whether Syria will experience an uprising like that of Tunisia or Egypt.

Move to mobile: On Wednesday, President Obama set a target for all federal agencies to make their information more accessible over mobile devices by the end of this year.

“Americans deserve a government that works for them anytime, anywhere, and on any device,” Obama said in a statement. “By making important services accessible from your phone and sharing government data with entrepreneurs, we are giving hard-working families and businesses tools that will help them succeed.”

Google faces more questions from Europe European regulators on Wednesday pressed Google for more information about its new privacy policy, saying the Web giant’s response to questions so far has been “often incomplete or approximate.”

France’s Commission Nationale de L’Informatique et des Libertés, or CNIL, sent additional questions to the Silicon Valley search firm as it investigates the company’s privacy policy changes for potential harm to consumers.

Google was asked to respond to the questions by June 8.

Facebook, Nasdaq, face lawsuits: Retail investors are suing Nasdaq and Facebook, Reuters reported, claiming that the exchange was negligent when it handled the orders. The report says that suits have been filed in U.S. District Court of Manhattan, as well as in California.

According to a press release from the firm Glancy, Binkow and Goldberg, the suit alleges Facebook and the deal’s underwriters cut their earnings forecasts and passed the information to only a “handful of large investor clients.” The complaint, Lazar v. Facebook, Ine., et al., was filed in the Superior Court for the State of California.

Facebook responded to questions about the lawsuits in a statement Wednesday, saying, “We believe the lawsuit is without merit and will defend ourselves vigorously.”

Google, Oracle: A California jury has ruled that Google is cleared of infringement on any patents owned by Oracle in the company’s trial to determine whether or not the search giant improperly used Java APIs while developing Android.

In a statement, Google spokesman Jim Prosser said, “Today’s jury verdict that Android does not infringe Oracle’s patents was a victory not just for Google but the entire Android ecosystem.”

The three-phase trial, which first examined whether Google had infringed on copyrights held by Oracle, will now move on to determine damages.

(KAREN BLEIER - AFP/GETTY IMAGES) European regulators on Wednesday pressed Google for more information about its new privacy policy, saying the Web giant’s response to questions so far has been “often incomplete or approximate.”

France’s Commission Nationale de L’Informatique et des Libertés, or CNIL, sent additional questions to the Silicon Valley search giant as it investigates the company’s privacy policy changes for potential harm to consumers.

Google was asked to respond to the questions by June 8.

“CNIL considers it impossible to know Google’s processings of personal data, as well as the links between collected data, purposes and recipients, and that the obligation of information of the data subjects is not respected,” the officials said in a statement.

On March 1, Google began to combine data across its services for signed-on users — a move that would allow the company to build much more complete portraits of its users. Those profiles would enable Google to sell more targeted ads to the users.

The company has argued that the policy applies only to users who are signed on to a Google account, such as Gmail and GoogleDocs. But privacy groups blasted the new policy for not allowing account holders who did not agree to the changes to opt out.

Google is facing scrutiny from U.S. and European regulators on privacy and antitrust allegations. European antitrust enforcement officials said earlier this week that they found four areas of concern about competition with Google’s main search service and that it was open to voluntary remedies.

The Federal Trade Commission is also investigating Google’s competition practices, as competing travel and advertising firms complain the company blocks out rival services.

Related:

Google changes privacy policy

FTC settles with Google on Buzz social networking privacy flap

European officials raise concerns with Google antitrust, proposes voluntary remedies

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FCC chairman speaks at cable show: When asked about Dish Network’s ad-skipping Hopper DVR Tuesday, Federal Communications Chairman Julius Genachowski told CNBC that companies should be able to experiment with different business models. Dish’s new technology, which allows viewers to skip right over advertisements, has caused a stir in the cable industry, sparking concern that it will hurt advertising revenue.

Genachowski also said Tuesday that he supports broadband data caps, because “usage-based pricing could be healthy and beneficial” for broadband and high-tech industries,” The Washington Post reported. “Business model innovation is very important,” Genachowski said. “There was a point of view a couple years ago that there was only one permissible pricing model for broadband. I didn’t agree.”

Google-Motorola deal closes: Google has officially acquired Motorola Mobility, the company announced in a blog post Tuesday, and appointed one of its own as chief executive. On the company’s blog, Google CEO Larry Page said that Dennis Woodside will take over as Motorola CEO for Sanjay Jha.

Woodside was previously the president of the Americas region for Google.

Startup Act 2.0: Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) are pushing forward with a bill that would grant special visas to make it easier for foreign students to say in the United States. Under the proposal, those with math, science or engineering post-graduate degrees from an American college would get a green card to say in the United States after their studies are done. It would also grant legal immigrants an option for an entrepreneur’s visa, the senators wrote in an op-ed in Politico.

The move was hailed by the Consumer Electronics Association, whose senior vice president of government affairs, Micheal Petricone, said it “clears away a variety of anachronistic regulations that have made it difficult for small businesses to expand and thrive.”

Political file order challenged by NAB: The National Association of Broadcasters has filed a petition with the U.S. Federal Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia asking for a review of the FCC’s order requiring broadcasters to publicize political advertising-related information online. This includes the advertising rates stations charge candidates and other advertisers.

In the petition, the NAB asks that the court “hold unlawful, vacate and set aside” the order.

Facebook slides for 3rd straight day: Facebook continues to slide in the market, dipping as low as $30.98 per share Tuesday, as the company faces questions about the viability of its business model.

As shares fell, Reuters reported that the lead consumer Internet analyst for Morgan Stanley — the company’s lead underwriter for the deal — had cut his revenue forecasts for the social network. The forecast was changed after Facebook filed a revision to its S-1, citing concern about the way a shift to mobile users will affect its revenue.

Unnamed “sources familiar with the situation” told Reuters that other underwriters also revised their estimates after the filing. Morgan Stanley declined to comment on the matter.