Gesture, voice and facial recognition technologies have come a long way in the past couple of years, but they still have a long way to go, content and ad industry executives told the Digital Hollywood Media Summit in New York Wednesday.

The growing popularity of mobile devices from smartphones to iPads poses a new threat to government networks, with many unprepared, said security experts said at a cybersecurity event Wednesday sponsored by the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors/NATOA. At risk is the array of sensitive information on the networks, from citizens’ financial data to health records, said CEO Ermis Sfakiyanudis of Cyber Reliant. Ultimately in jeopardy is the “public trust,” he said. “That’s really at the core of what local governments provide.” Many employees unwittingly put the networks at risk, said Sfakiyanudis, whose firm works on information security. Take storing sensitive passwords on smartphones, he said: “How would you like to have someone have access to all [the government’s] bank accounts because of your finance director?”

The U.S. Solicitor General’s urging the Supreme Court to rule against Aereo while preserving prior case law that allows cloud computing is likely to have an influence on the high court’s final decision on the streaming-TV service, said several attorneys in interviews Tuesday. “It’s pretty clear that briefs from the SG’s office are influential,” said Pillsbury broadcast lawyer John Hane, who isn’t connected to the case.

The paid peering deal between Comcast and Netflix is likely a harbinger of things to come, said experts in interviews this week. Many are calling for the FCC to start addressing paid peering and interconnection on the Internet, warning that future Netflix-like companies could be at a disadvantage if they can’t afford the same deals the big players get. Others think the government should leave well enough alone, pointing out that the Internet has bloomed free of regulatory oversight. Public interest and industry representatives don’t see the FTC taking any steps to curb the Comcast/Netflix deal (CD Feb 25 p1), but some said the new territory could use clear rules to avoid market-dominant ISPs overcharging.

Backlash against controversial National Security Agency surveillance programs “directly impacts” Congress’s ability to pass cybersecurity legislation, said Keith Alexander, NSA director and commander of the U.S. Cyber Command, during a Georgetown University event Tuesday. Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden’s leaks about the NSA programs “have caused grave, significant and irreversible damage to our nation and to our allies,” Alexander said. “It will take us years to recover.” Alexander told the Senate Armed Services Committee last week that Congress needs to “get on with cyber legislation” since “a lack of legislation will impact our ability to defend the country in this area” (CD Feb 28 p11). That legislation should include amended versions of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and the Stored Communications Act, which both needed to be updated to allow for improved information sharing, Alexander said Tuesday.

The Department of Defense’s recently released spectrum strategy was positive, but left many gaps, said industry officials in interviews this week. They welcomed the report, released at the Pentagon Feb. 20 (CD Feb 21 p3), but said the report contained a surprising lack of detail, given the amount of work that carriers have already done with DOD on spectrum sharing. A DOD spokesman said Tuesday more information will be forthcoming, with the next major release in June.

The White House included provisions on school and rural broadband, spectrum license fees, the FCC’s USF and more in its proposed $3.9 trillion 2015 budget, partially revealed Tuesday in a 218-page document and requiring the approval of Congress (http://1.usa.gov/1c5yFWg). It would include a $56 billion Opportunity, Growth, and Security Initiative, which promises funding toward various goals in this sphere. The administration will roll out its budget in two phases, the first of which started Tuesday, and then post some other parts a week later. Congressional Republicans have already complained of the broader details.

Netflix is “caught in the middle” of trying to provide a long-term positive viewing experience for subscribers with HD and “other high-quality but high-bandwidth uses of entertainment,” while also “being mindful of the environment we're in today,” said Chief Financial Officer David Wells during a Q-and-A webcast at the Morgan Stanley Technology Media & Telecom Conference Monday. Wells was commenting on the deal in which Netflix will pay Comcast an undisclosed amount to ensure that its subscribers receive a faster streaming experience during peak viewing hours.

Sony will remain a “premier” customer for Gracenote for the “near term and beyond” despite its selling the music and video database service to Tribune Co., Graham McKenna, Gracenote vice president-marketing, told us. In 2008, Sony acquired Gracenote for $260 million and once viewed the company as central to plans to “enhance and accelerate” its digital content. But Sony agreed last year to sell Gracenote to Tribune for $170 million as part of a restructuring that has since grown to potentially include the spin-offs of its TV and Vaio PC businesses.

There were more process details Monday but few hints about the Obama administration’s big data and privacy stance at the first of three daylong workshops held as part of the White House’s 90-day big data review. Counselor to the President John Podesta clarified that the review would not focus on the intelligence community’s big data programs, specifically the metadata collection programs authorized under Section 215 of the Patriot Act. Those programs were the focus of the six-month review President Barack Obama outlined in a January speech (CD Jan 21 p1) and a “review is ongoing” by the Department of Justice and intelligence community, Podesta said during the event, webcast from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).