Sprint Nextel and C Spire asked a federal judge on Friday to hear their complaint aimed at blocking AT&T’s $39 billion merger with T-Mobile.

The filing in U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia was in reply to AT&T’s motion last week to dismiss its rivals’ lawsuits.

But Sprint and C Spire, formerly known as Cellular South, said in their joint filing Friday that they have the right to sue under antitrust laws, arguing that the deal would hurt competitors. They said they plan to present information about how the combination of the nation’s second- and fourth-largest wireless carriers would harm competition.

“This harm is the very embodiment of ‘antitrust injury,’” Sprint and C Spire wrote.

Along with the legal squabble among AT&T’s competitors, the Justice Department has filed its own complaint to the same court to try to stop the deal.

AT&T general counsel Wayne Watts said in a statement that Sprint’s suit inappropriately aims to protect an individual company.

“Antitrust law is not about protecting a particular competitor, but rather is about protecting competition, and that is why we are confident that Sprint’s complaint will ultimately fail,” he said.

Related:

Justice Department sues to block AT&T merger with T-Mobile

LEADING THE DAY: A lottery Thursday determined that the cases challenging the Federal Communications Commissions open Internet order will be consolidated and heard in the U.S. Appeals Court for the D.C. Circuit.

The court has been critical of the FCC’s power to enforce similar kinds of rules in the past. In 2010, the court sided with Comcast on net neutrality issues and said the agency’s order was outside the scope of its authority.

FCC chief announces USF plan: FCC chairman Julius Genachowski announced his proposal to reform a $8 billion phone-subsidy program and reallocate money to build out the nation’s broadband Internet network in rural America, The Washington Post reported. While providing few details about the plan, Genachowski said that he would put about $4.5 billion into two funds to connect 18 million homes to wireline and wireless Internet connections.

Genachowski also proposed changes to rate regulations on intercarrier compensation (how carriers pay each other to carry calls from one phone to another), something that concerns some consumer groups.

Cybersecurity policies: The White House will issue an executive order Friday that is intended to prevent the kind of security breaches that led to the release of hundreds of thousands of classified documents to the Web site Wikileaks, The Washington Post reported.

The order coincides with National Cybersecurity Month and directs agencies to pick a senior official to oversee classified information sharing and safeguarding. It also enshrines a number of Pentagon measures already announced, including disabling the “write” capability on most computers in the military’s secret-level classified network.

Sen. Grassley asks LightSquared to release documents:

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has asked LightSquared to release documents between the company and the FCC, White House and Commerce Department, the Hill reported. Asking what the company has to hide, Grassley said that it would be best to let Congress and the American people “fully examine the facts and decide for themselves.”

Grassley has previously asked the FCC for communications between the agency and the company, but was told that the agency does not release communications to committees that do not have jurisdiction over it.

Yahoo leaving the Japanese market?: A Financial Times report, citing unnamed “people familiar with the matter,” indicates that Yahoo may be considering leaving the Japanese market.

The company has a 35 percent stake in Yahoo Japan, which the report says is seen as an asset the company could dispose of quickly. Yahoo is reportedly considering allowing Japanese telecommunications firm Softbank — which has a 40 percent stake in Yahoo Japan — to buy out Yahoo.

The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday announced a proposal to reform an $8 billion phone subsidy program by reallocating money to extend broadband Internet connections in rural areas.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said in a speech Thursday that his plan to reform the Universal Service Fund would put about $4.5 billion into two funds to bring wireline and wireless high-speed Internet connections to 18 million homes that don’t have access.

He didn’t reveal many details of his plan, which critics fear will closely resemble proposals by giant phone companies that could favor them. Genachowski will unveil the full plan Oct. 27, when it goes before the four sitting members of the FCC for vote. The proposal could change as other commissioners review it before the vote.

The USF fund comes from line-item charges on monthly consumer phone bills and has exploded in size as firms have applied for subsidies. Some lawmakers from rural areas have been reluctant to substantially change the fund that Genachowski described Thursday as “wasteful and inefficient.” One company, for example, received $2,000 a month from the federal program to service a single rural phone line.

Details of how the new funds would be managed and allocated will surely draw scrutiny — and fierce lobbying. Cable companies have pushed against a plan by telecom giants Verizon, AT&T and others that would give phone firms the first rights of refusal for subsidies in areas where they have already built out. Smaller wireless carriers complain that the big phone companies’ proposal to create $300 million in subsidies for wireless companies is too small and would make it difficult to compete against the biggest firms.

“The companies’ plan has very little to do with increasing broadband adoption and everything to do with allowing monopoly local phone providers to reach further into the pockets of consumers,” said Matt Wood, policy director at public advocacy group Free Press. “The FCC cannot give Verizon and AT&T . . . a green light to raise consumer bills to pad their profits even further.”

Along with changes to the USF fund, Genachowski proposed changes to rate regulations on how telecom companies pay each other to carry calls from one phone to another. But how the FCC reforms what is known as intercarrier compensation could directly affect consumers, which has some consumer groups concerned that phone companies will raise charges for users.

Related:

Verizon sues FCC over net neutrality rules

LightSquared, FCC face GOP criticism

LEADING THE DAY: Steve Jobs, the revolutionary co-founder and chairman of Apple, died Wednesday at the age of 56. Tech leaders such as Bill Gates reacted to the news on personal blogs and social networks. “The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come,” Gates wrote in a statement.

President Obama issued a statement on Jobs’s death, saying that “there may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented.”

Next privacy hearing on tap: Fresh off Wednesday’s hearing on children’s privacy, Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-Calif.) has called another hearing on privacy for the House subpanel on commerce, manufacturing and trade.The hearing, called “Understanding Consumer Attitudes About Privacy,” will be held on Thursday, Oct. 13.

Even with bipartisan support for privacy measures, analysts say that it will be difficult for lawmakers to pass any new privacy legislation during this session of Congress, The Washington Post reported.

FCC pushing the Universal Service Fund: The Federal Communications Commission will unveil its outline for reforming the Universal Service Fund on Thursday. FCC chairman Julius Genachowski will speak at 10:30 a.m. to unveil his proposal.

Other telecom firms are backing the America’s Broadband Connectivity Plan, though the FCC said in a Tuesday briefing that it will not adopt the ABC plan completely, the Hill reported.

Microsoft, Yahoo: Rumors that Microsoft was thinking about acquiring Yahoo sent Yahoo shares up Thursday, though the rumors were quickly shot down by industry insiders. A Bloomberg report said Wednesday that Microsoft “isn’t anywhere close to making an offer for Yahoo.”

Should you track your kids online?: The Washington Post’s Tracy Grant makes the case for spying on your kids’ online activities, saying that parents should emulate Ronald Reagan and “trust but verify” when it comes to their children’s online activities.

But, she writes, it shouldn’t be the cloak-and-dagger kind of spying. “As a matter of fairness, kids should know their parents are spying on them, just like the Soviets knew we were spying on them,” she writes.

House lawmakers on Wednesday debated proposed updates to the Children’s Online Private Protection rules, the government’s first effort to tweak 12-year-old laws to better apply to the proliferation of new mobile devices and Internet applications being used by children.

The House Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade Subcommittee debated recommendations by the Federal Trade Commission that Web firms be required to seek greater permissions from parents to collect information about children under the age of 13.

But even with bipartisan support over some privacy bills, it will be difficult to pass new laws this session of Congress, analysts say, as lawmakers focus on jobs and the economy.

The FTC has recommended rules that companies must first get parents’ permission to collect information on a child’s whereabouts, or geo-location — a practice widely used by Web giants Google, Facebook and other firms on mobile devices. The FTC also said Web sites should seek parental consent before tracking children online through cookies and other technologies for purposes outside the operations of the Web site. Parents would also have to give permission for the collection of photos and videos that identify a child, according to the FTC’s recommendation.

The FTC said last fall that it believes COPPA rules apply to mobile devices, social networks and mobile apps. That view encourages privacy advocates who said federal officials need to clarify the role of mobile devices, social networks and Internet-enabled gaming consoles under COPPA, a set of rules adopted in a time before the iPhone and Facebook.

“Developments are happening so quickly in the digital marketing industry that many of the new techniques may be escaping scrutiny,” said Kathryn Montgomery, a professor of communications at American University known for her contribution to the 1998 COPPA law, said in the hearing.

From 2004 to 2009, the amount of time children spent online increased from seven hours a week to more than 11 hours a week, according Nielsen research.

Among legislative proposals, one by Reps. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Joe Barton (R-Tex.) would prevent the tracking of children online. But some companies have balked that the law requires an eraser button for children’s information that would be difficult to pull off technologically.

Even as lawmakers, child privacy advocates and companies debated potential new rules, most agreed that the rush of children onto the Web presents anxieties for parents who find it difficult to navigate companies’ privacy and safety features.

Lawmakers evoked many of their own personal experiences as parents. One by one, they talked about their children’s use of iPhones, iPads and other Internet and mobile devices, and their personal concerns about safety and privacy online.

“I have no clue as to how I am empowered. I feel very unempowered,” said Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), when talking about his 10-year-old daughter, who may have access to an application downloaded by his 17-year-old son.

“The thing about television is that you can walk across the room and get a sense of the show,” Cassidy said. But on mobile applications, parents may think they have downloaded an application that looks age-appropriate, “but then it takes you places that look very different.”

The FTC’s proposals come amid growing consumer concerns about online privacy as users spend more and more time on Facebook, the world’s biggest social network. Apple, through its devices and iTunes stores, collects information about users’ buying habits and location. Google’s e-mail, search engine, video service and maps gather information about users to serve up tailored ads. And Amazon, with its entry into the tablet market, hopes to become a major gateway to digital media — adding to the reservoir of data it already has about retail customers.

Related:

In-app purchases on children's games stoke parental firestorm

Facebook continues D.C. hiring spree with privacy expert, White House staffer

Teens part with privacy one click at a time

.

LEADING THE DAY: The House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on manufacturing, trade and commerce will hold a hearing today on children’s privacy and examining the Federal Trade Commission’s proposed changes to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. Those changes would extend the rule to cover evolving technologies such as Web and mobile platforms for children under the age of 13.

The FTC’s Mary Koelbel Engle, associate director of the division of advertising practices, will testify today, along with privacy and security experts. Morgan Reed, executive director of the Association for Competitive Technology, will also testify.

Apple releases the iPhone 4S: Apple released the iPhone 4S in a keynote event Tuesday, drawing some backlash from disappointed consumers who wanted to see more than an evolutionary update, The Washington Post reported. The new phone has a faster processor, an 8MP camera and a new voice assistant feature that recognizes a broad range of commands.

Apple shares fell as much as 5 percent after the announcement, closing down 0.6 percent as the rest of the market rallied.

Samsung seeks iPhone 4S ban in France, Italy: Samsung said Wednesday that it will try to block the sale of the iPhone 4S in France and Italy, the Wall Street Journal reported. The two companies are locked in legal battles over their respective smartphone and tablet designs and Samsung has already filed suit against Apple in two European countries. Courts in Germany and the Netherlands have stopped the sales of Samsung devices in response to infringement claims from Apple.

HTC admits to security flaw: HTC confirmed reports that it has a serious security flaw in many of its phones. In a statement, the company said that it has found “a vulnerability that could potentially be exploited by a malicious third-party application” in many of its phones. The company is working to release a security update.

CALM Act: Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) sent a letter to the FCC arguing that the CALM Act, which was passed last year to address loud television commercials, should apply to all TV ads. Some smaller cable operators have argued the act should only apply to larger broadcasters, the Hill reported, but Rockefeller said that was not the spirit of the law.

“Despite what some parties are now suggesting, we did not intend to fix this problem for only a small fraction of commercials,” Rockefeller wrote.

HTC myTouch 4G Slide smartphone from T-Mobile during a product review in San Francisco, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011. (Jeff Chiu - AP) Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Al Franken (D-Minn.) on Tuesday introduced a bill that would ban wireless carriers from using contract clauses that strip users of rights to sue in court.

The senators said in a release that companies such as AT&T, Verizon and Sprint Nextel regularly include provisions in consumer cell phone contracts that require any complaints to be resolved in arbitration.

They said that leaves consumers with fewer ways to fight back.

IBM’s director of research John E. Kelly III is headed to the Hill Tuesday to brief Congress members on the “Four Technologies that will Shape the Next Decade.” The event is sponsored by Rep. Mike McCaul (R-Texas) and Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas), with a panel discussion to follow.

According to the 100-year-old company, the areas to watch are: nanotechnology, big data and analytics, exascale systems and machines that learn. Some of these technologies are already in the public conciousness: IBM’s Watson computer made splash on Jeopardy, and the Obama administration has already set aside $126 million for exascale supercomputing systems, which are said to process information 1,000 faster than a normal computer.

IBM’s vice president of technology policy Tim Sheehy took some time to chat with Post Tech about these emerging fields. Below is an edited version of our conversation:

We’ve all seen what Watson can do and have heard about its possibilities for health care. What other applications are there?

These machines can learn and compile information the way you and I do, whether it’s through visual information, spoken information or graphics. So any sector or discipline that you would want to have access to a lot of information at once could use Watson — the law, for example. Having access to all of the case law, the statutes, varying opinions properly organized would be an obvious application, and we will certainly see more. But health care is the most immediate application -- we see a future where all doctors would have access to machines that we have in Watson.

What about the other technologies? What exactly is nanotechnology and what are its applications?

Well, for one, we could have nano medicine: things like extrodinarily small storage devices, for example. Nanotechnology essentially lets you have a system on a chip. Nanomedicine is one application, one could target and find strains of bacteria, like a laser-guided missile for bacteria that’s resistant to antibiotics.

There will also be large applications for consumer goods in the future — we’ll probably see it go beyond medicine. This is an area in which we don’t have all the answers yet. I think medicine will be the most likely initial application.

What work are you doing with exascale supercomputing systems? Have you already applied it to any government work?

We’ve done what dome work in collaboration with Department of Energy’s laboratories. You could look at the energy grid of the whole U.S. and find ways to make it more resistant to failure. This lets us look at the next generation at order of magnitude bigger than anything we’ve had before. It’s an emerging technology that builds upon past systems and underlying technologies, but is aimed at futuristic problems.

What are the main applications of big data analysis?

The big data analytics piece is particularly good for government. They have a lot of data and can tap a good bit of it at the moment. But big data analytics lets you have all that data at your disposal in real time. We’ve already started to see applications of it. It’s very good for prevention of fraud or just finding mistakes in government program. Right now, we’re working with states such as New York to root out errors in their Medicare and Medicaid systems. We’ve been having success in applying complicated models of data streams to these systems. This is about squeezing as much of the data as you can.

It’s also useful for things like smarter transportation. Known technology we already have in the pipeline can predict traffic flow and traffic disruption. We’re using that in Rio de Janeiro, which has got both the Olympics and the World Cup coming up. Right now, we’re working with public safety officials to apply some of this stuff there.

What is the importance of having briefings like this?

The challenge is how do you make this real for congressman and staff, and figuring out how they see these technologies evolving. We hope it will make for an interesting and informative hour and a half.

The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission will announce a plan Thursday to shift subsidies away from phone lines to broadband Internet services. The proposal would reform portions of the much-criticized $8 billion Universal Service Fund program.

The four-member commission aims to vote on the proposal by Chairman Julius Genachowski on Oct. 27, an FCC official said during a briefing on Tuesday.

Details of Genachowski’s plan to reform the $4.5 billion high-cost portion of the USF weren’t revealed during the briefing. The chairman also plans to announce reforms to intercarrier compensation — the fees a telecom firm charges other communications companies to carry and terminate calls.

Those details are what people are waiting for. Telecom companies have lobbied for reforms that critics say would free them from obligations to provide phone service during emergencies. Cable competitors complain that the plan presented by telecom carriers would give phone giants such as Verizon and AT&T first dibs on projects.

Critics say Genachowski should not rely too much on any one group of companies to shape his plan. He has asked for feedback on how to reform USF and intercarrier compensation and will surely come under fierce attack from the cable industry and consumer groups if he adopts the telecom industry’s view, experts say.

In a letter sent Tuesday to Genachowski, consumer advocacy groups asked that the proposal not resemble the plan presented by telecom carriers.

The statement was signed by the Consumers Union, Consumer Federation of America, National Consumer Law Center, National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates and AARP.

“While we recognize that USF reform is truly needed, we cannot accept the premise of the ABC Plan – that consumers, especially the most vulnerable, should bear the burden of increased costs while allowing the companies to maintain excessive profits with no oversight or accountability. Thus, rather than endorsing or pursuing the ABC Plan, the Commission should move forward on a plan that promotes the public interest and provides for affordable universal service.”

The reform of the of federal phone subsidy has been long in the making, with failed attempts by previous FCC chairs, including Kevin Martin.

Related:

Reforms called for USF fund

Pres Obama pitches $18 billion wireless Internet plan

Verizon sues FCC over net neutrality rules

LEADING THE DAY: Apple is holding an iPhone event in its Cupertino, Calif. headquarters today, where it is expected to reveal at least one new model of the iPhone. While no features of the phone have been confirmed, it is expected that the handset will include voice navigation that will allow users to control their phones by speaking commands.

The event will also be a test for new chief executive Tim Cook, who will have to convince Apple watchers that the company’s culture of innovation continues on after Apple chairman and co-founder Steve Jobs’ decision to resign as CEO in August.

Facebook’s Sparapani: Tim Sparapani, one of Facebook’s early D.C. hires, has left the company. Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes said in a statement that Sparapani “decided to transition out of the company last month” to pursue new opportunities.

Sparapani joined the company in 2009. He had been a former adversary of the company, coming from the American Civil Liberties Union as a fierce privacy advocate.

FTA’s to Congress: Technology groups are calling on Congress to approve the free trade agreements the White House has sent to South Korea, Colombia and Panama. Tech groups say they will benefit particularly from the Korean agreement. The agreement’s provisions on electronic commerce provisions and government procurement will “contribute toward the National Export Initiative goal of doubling U.S. exports over five years,” said the Computer and Communications Industry Association.

Children’s privacy hearing Wed.: The House Energy and Commerce subpanel on commerce, manufacturing and trade will hold a hearing on the Federal Trade Commissions recent proposal to revise its Children’s Online Privacy Protection rule. The subpanel will examine whether the current rule, established in 1998, needs to revisited in light of how technology has changed.

Sprint’s iPhone gamble: Sprint is widely expected to be getting access to the iPhone this month — something its customers have been clamoring for since the handset launched in 2007. According to a Monday report from the Wall Street Journal citing “people familiar with the matter,” the company is  finally securing the ability to sell iPhones by committing to a very high price: $20 billion, or about 30.5 million iPhones over the next four years. The company will reportedly be subsidizing the cost of each handset by about $500. Even if Sprint does see success with as an iPhone carrier, the report said that Sprint Nextel chief executive Daniel Hesse told the Sprint board that the company expects to lose money on the deal through 2014.

When asked about the report, Sprint spokesman John Taylor said that the company does not “comment on rumor or speculation.”