The Switchboard: FCC chairman promises new net neutrality rules

(Brian Fung / The Washington Post)

Published every weekday, the Switchboard highlights five tech policy stories you need to read.

FCC chairman says a plan to restore net neutrality rules is coming soon. "After last month's landmark decision by a federal court to strike down key parts of the Federal Communications Commission's Open Internet rules, FCC chairman Tom Wheeler now says the group is working to bring them back," according to the Verge. "In a speech yesterday at the University of Colorado Law School, Wheeler said he will soon be 'outlining' a plan to bring back provisions that required internet service providers to treat all types of internet traffic equally."

A bill to ban in-flight calls just cleared a key House committee vote. "When the Federal Communications Commission said last year it was going to relax the rules on using cellphones on airplanes, it touched off a firestorm of public criticism," the Switch's Brian Fung writes. "Some called for the Department of Transportation to ban in-flight calling altogether. Tuesday, a House panel took a step in that direction, passing a bill that would require the DOT to impose such a prohibition."

Rand Paul to file suit against Obama, NSA over 4th Amendment. "Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is slated to file a class action lawsuit Wednesday against President Obama, the National Security Agency and a host of others involved in a U.S. surveillance program that collects information on millions of U.S citizens," according to the Hill. "Paul, a potential presidential candidate in 2016, said he expects the suit to eventually prevail in the Supreme Court."

How Obama Officials Cried ‘Terrorism’ to Cover Up a Paperwork Error. "After seven years of litigation, two trips to a federal appeals court and $3.8 million worth of lawyer time, the public has finally learned why a wheelchair-bound Stanford University scholar was cuffed, detained and denied a flight from San Francisco to Hawaii: FBI human error," Wired reports. "FBI agent Kevin Kelley was investigating Muslims in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2004 when he checked the wrong box on a terrorism form, erroneously placing Rahinah Ibrahim on the no-fly list."

Bitcoin Exchanges Under ‘Massive and Concerted Attack’ "A 'massive and concerted attack' has been launched by a bot system on numerous bitcoin exchanges," according to Coindesk. "This has led to popular exchange Bitstamp putting a temporary halt on all bitcoin withdrawals, and BTC-e announcing possible delays on transaction crediting."