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The tech industry is pressing Donald Trump to “get into the game” after Hillary Clinton released a wide-ranging platform that touched on internet connectivity, cybersecurity and computer science education. Industry officials generally applauded Clinton’s agenda as hitting many of their top priorities. Now they want to hear from Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee.

Republicans on Capitol Hill said it is important for candidates to detail their platforms early, but said the decision is Trump’s to make. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD) said he expects Trump to release something on tech policy before the general election debates begin, noting the presumptive nominee's business background and social media savvy. “I think both candidates are going to be vying on some of these issues for the so-called tech vote, and whether it happens now or some point in the future, I’m sure that Donald Trump will also have an agenda that will compete for the support of the tech community,” said Chairman Thune, a major voice on tech issues. A spokesperson for Trump’s campaign did not respond to a question about the campaign’s plans.

Trump appears to be lacking support in the tech industry heading into the general election, after the candidate clashed with several major companies during the Republican primaries.

Parents would have a new way of protecting their children's privacy when they are surfing the Internet under new rules proposed by the Federal Trade Commission.

The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, last updated in July 2013, requires websites to obtain consent from the parents of children who are under the age of 13 before sharing their personal information.

The agency announced that it is considering a new way in which parents can verify their identity. Comments on the proposed rules are due by September 30.

Broadcasters are warning that a Senate plan to change the way people pay for TV channels could have dire consequences for viewers.

The 50 state broadcaster associations have prepared a letter to Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Sen John Thune (R-SD), warning that their Local Choice plan will “destroy” the idea of giving consumers local content. That would make it harder for people to find out information about emergencies, get weather reports and watch local news, and would hurt diversity, the state organizations wrote.

In their letter, the organizations wrote that they "oppose this proposal because of its likely devastating impacts on broadcast localism and the nation’s viewers."

A coalition that includes major cable and satellite television companies is launching a national campaign in support of a Senate proposal to transform the way people watch TV.

The American Television Alliance -- which includes companies including Verizon, DirecTV and Time Warner Cable, as well as consumer interest groups like Public Knowledge and the Parents Television Council -- has launched a radio and print ad campaign in more than a dozen states to back the plan from Sens Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and John Thune (R-SD).

The proposal from the two leaders of the Senate Commerce Committee would dramatically change the way people get broadcast networks like NBC and ABC through their cable or satellite company. For the TV lobbying group, the senators’ “Local Choice” proposal, which would have consumers choose whether to purchase individual broadcast channels as part of their subscriptions, lays the groundwork for “the biggest viewer celebration ever.”

Lawmakers’ attempts to attach an Internet sales tax to a bill preventing a tax on Internet access topped a group of Web companies’ list of bad laws for 2014.

The legislative maneuver was the top issue on a “watchlist for ugly laws” released by the trade group NetChoice, which includes Web titans like Google, Facebook, eBay and AOL.

Items on NetChoice’s semi-regular list of troublesome laws are ranked by how much harm they could cause the online economy and the chances of them being implemented.

[Commentary] The infrastructure needed to support our mobile use needs to be modern and flexible, but does not get the focus it warrants in policy debates. The good news is the Federal Communications Commission is in a position to take critical steps to facilitate smarter and faster deployments.

First , the FCC should limit the ability of state and local authorities to delay the collocation and replacement of wireless infrastructure that have minimal impact on communities.

Second, the FCC should permit the speedy deployment of temporary towers used to respond to local emergencies and newsworthy events and to assist local law enforcement.

Third, the FCC should curtail unnecessary delays at the local level by imposing a 45-day limit on collocation approvals. After all, as Congress recognized, these wireless facilities already have received the necessary zoning approval, so why impose further impediments?

Fourth, the small size and flexible placement of DAS and small cells warrant streamlining the environmental and historic review processes -- the adoption of certain exclusions -- deployment of these facilities.

[Baker is president and CEO of CTIA - The Wireless Association]

Broadcast and cable television companies are pushing back against the Federal Communications Commission’s new plans for emergency alert messages. The National Cable and Telecommunications Association and the National Association of Broadcasters told the FCC that its new proposed guidelines for the text that crawls at the top of the screen during a flood, snowstorm or other emergency aren’t necessary and could be expensive.

“Standardizing the appearance of EAS [Emergency Alert Service] messages for speed and size is unnecessary to address accessibility concerns and would lead to significant cost with little benefit,” the NCTA told the FCC.

Comcast’s proposed merger with Time Warner Cable would give the company "unprecedented" power, Sen Al Franken (D-MN) warned the Federal Communications Commission.

Sen Franken, who is up for re-election in 2014, told the FCC that the combination of the country's two largest cable companies “would position Comcast as a veritable gatekeeper over vast swaths of the nation's telecommunications industry, resulting in higher prices, fewer choices, and worse service for consumers in Minnesota and across the country."

“The proposed acquisition also would threaten innovation and economic activity on the Internet, and it would jeopardize the free flow of information and ideas on which our democracy depends,” he added. “Because the proposed acquisition does not advance the public interest -- but, rather, is inimical to it – [the merger] must be rejected.”

Sen Lamar Alexander (R-TN) is pressing for a ban on passengers making cellphone calls during flights. Sen Alexander threw his support behind the Department of Transportation, which is expected to propose such a measure in December.

“I’m glad the Department of Transportation is serious about putting the brakes on a bad idea before it takes flight,” Sen Alexander said. The senator didn’t cite safety concerns, instead arguing that in-flight phone calls would be a sheer annoyance to other passengers forced to listen in on private conversations.

The Bitcoin industry has formed a political action committee that it could use to shower lawmakers and party committees with donations.

The Chamber of Digital Commerce, a month-old trade group for digital currencies and assets like Bitcoin, registered a political spending group with the Federal Election Commission in August.

The group is still in its infancy and has no immediate plans to support individual candidates, CEO Perianne Boring said. Still, formation of the PAC is a sign of increasing maturity for Bitcoin and a signal that politicians could face political pressure to support virtual currencies.