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Rep Anna Eshoo (D-CA) doesn't think websites should be paired with .wine. In a letter to the head of the international group deciding new website endings, such as .com or .net, the top Democrat on the House’s Technology subcommittee said she was "deeply concerned" about certain generic top-level domain names (gLTDs).

“Specifically, it’s my understanding that the .wine and .vin gLTDs have been met with fierce opposition from the wine industry, both here in the US and around the world,” Rep Eshoo added. “Given those concerns ... I urge you to advocate for the .wine and .vin gTLDs to be permanently withdrawn from consideration.”

The nonprofit Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, which manages online domain names, is in the process of creating hundreds of new extensions to expand the confines of the Web. As well as adding new letters after the "dot," extensions are also being rolled out in other characters like Chinese and Arabic, and industries are trying to capitalize on the move. Nike and McDonald’s have looked to get on board, as has the Republican Party.

Rep Alan Grayson (D-FL) wants the head of the Federal Communications Commission to do something to protect people’s phone calls. Rep Grayson said he was "disturbed" about devices that can cost as little as $1,800 and secretly pick up calls and text messages.

“Americans have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their communications, and in information about where they go and with whom they communicate,” he wrote to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. “It is extremely troubling to learn that cellular communications are so poorly secured, and that it is so easy to intercept calls and track people’s phones.”

The relatively simple technology known as ISMI catchers operate like a cellphone tower to pick up unique signals from people’s phones to listen in on their conversations and text message chats and nab any emails or contact data on the phones.

Aside from criminals and snooping neighbors, spies or terrorists could also use the devices, critics have worried. Even worse, Rep Grayson said, the FCC may have long been aware of how the devices pick up personal cellphone data.

Days after the streaming TV service Aereo announced it was suspending its operations, one company is offering subscribers a free antenna to watch their favorite NBC, CBS and other broadcast shows.

“We have a solution to the Supreme Court ruling that resulted in the loss of your local broadcast television: A free antenna from Antennas Direct,” the Missouri-based retailer said.

The company is giving away antennas, coaxial cable and mounting to the first 1,000 Aereo subscribers who respond. “To receive your free antenna, simply upload your Aereo billion statement and pay $10.00 for shipping,” the company said.

Federal and state courts allowed more than 3,500 wiretaps in 2013, the highest number in recent years. Federal judges authorized 1,476 wiretaps, and state judges authorized 2,100 in 2013 -- up 9 percent and 3 percent, respectively, from 2012 -- according to the US court system’s annual Wiretap Report.

The vast majority of the wiretaps -- 97 percent -- were for “portable devices,” such as cellphones. While 41 of the more than 3,500 wiretaps intercepted encrypted communications in 2013, law enforcement agencies were able to decipher all but nine, the report said. Wiretaps lasted on average 40 days in 2013, one day longer than the average in 2012, according to the report.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said that a plan to allow some companies to pay for "fast lanes" on the Internet "runs contrary to every principle I believe the Internet was based on."

Sen Leahy made the comments as part of a field hearing in Burlington (VT), with Rep Peter Welch (D-VT). The two ripped the Federal Communications Commission plans for "fast lanes," and called for tougher FCC regulations to ensure Internet service providers can't give special treatment to some online content. The two argued the fast lanes could lead to a slower Internet for their constituents.

“We’re not going to have an economy in Vermont if we don’t have an accessible Internet,” said Rep Welch, who serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and its subcommittee on Communications. “I see this as absolutely essential to the future of Vermont's economy as well as rural America," he added. "We’ve got folks here on the front lines whose access to the Internet is crucial to the jobs that they created, the good jobs that we have in Vermont.”

Sen Leahy said his constituents had "spoken very clearly” on the issue.

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said that he will continue to press China toward changing it cybersecurity policies to better protect US companies from intellectual property theft.

Secretary Lew said he hoped to make more progress on closing the gap between the views held by Washington and Beijing over the role governments play in protecting trade secrets during the next round of the US-China Strategic & Economic Dialogue.

"We do not view it as an acceptable practice for governmental entities to participate in the process of securing trade secrets for the economic benefits of firms in their country," Sec Lew said. “We’ve made clear how unacceptable it is for those practices to go on,” he said. “It’s just a difference between how we do business. We just don’t engage in activity like that. We don’t condone it.”

Sec Lew said it is important to continue the cyber discussion, which developed as part of dialogue in 2013. "I'm optimistic that we are going to be able to make some progress again this year," Sec Lew said.

President Barack Obama asked his Cabinet to help him find more ways to use his executive powers.

“You’ve already seen the power of some of our executive actions making a real difference for ordinary families,” President Obama said. “We’re going to have to be creative about how we can make real progress.”

The President is increasingly relying on executive orders and regulatory moves to move his agenda, despite opposition from House Republicans, who have threatened to sue him over his executive actions, and the Supreme Court, which just ruled that President Obama’s recess appointments were unconstitutional.

“The people who sent us here, they just don’t feel as if anybody is fighting for them or working them,” he said. “We’re not always going to be able to get things through Congress … but we sure as heck can make sure that the folks back home know that we are pushing their agenda and that we’re working hard on their behalf.”

The virtual currency bitcoin is now legal in California. Gov Jerry Brown (D-CA) has signed into a law a bill that will allow businesses and individuals to use bitcoin in transactions.

The bill -- from Assemblyman Roger Dickinson -- repeals a state ban on using currency that is not “the lawful money of the United States.”

The Assembly's report on the bill notes the popularity of bitcoin -- which "has gained massive media attention recently as the number of businesses has expanded to accept bitcoins for payment" -- as well as the "frequent shopper" reward programs.

After the one-sentence bill passed the Assembly 52-11, Assemblyman Dickson touted the bill as recognizing the popularity of virtual currency.

“In an era of evolving payment methods, from Amazon Coins to Starbucks Stars, it is impractical to ignore the growing use of cash alternatives,” he said.

The Federal Communications Commission is taking another step to make the Internet more accessible, voting in July on rules for closed captioning online video clips.

The vote, planned for the FCC’s July meeting, is the result of a years-long push -- and Chairman Tom Wheeler's personal interest -- to increase accessibility online. But the companies that would have to do the legwork to get the closed captions on online videos are warning the FCC to avoid unreasonable technological demands and timelines.

A coalition of privacy groups is ranking lawmakers over their stance on surveillance reform as they press Congress to pass legislation. Twenty-one groups -- including the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Reddit and the Sunlight Foundation -- released a Congressional Scorecard that assigns lawmakers a grade based on their support for surveillance reform measures.

Some of the high scorers include surveillance critics Reps Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Justin Amash (R-MI) and Suzan DelBene (D-WA), as well as Sens Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Ron Wyden (D-OR).

The leadership of the Intelligence Committees -- Senate committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), House committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-MI) and ranking member Rep Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD), who have defended the surveillance programs -- received failing grades.

“We believe that people have a right to know whether their members of Congress are doing their jobs and helping to end mass spying,” the groups said on the new site housing the scorecard. “Our scorecard shines a light on all members of Congress, allowing citizens of the Internet to see whether their elected representatives stand as champions or roadblocks to real surveillance reform.”