Good morning tech

Hill notes

Congress turns down the volume on TV commercials. The Senate passed a bill late Wednesday that would create limits on the volume of television commercials and put the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in charge of regulating them. The Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act (CALM) is an attempt to put an end to TV commercials that are many times louder than regular programming, a problem that has annoyed viewers for decades. The bill passed the House in December and will have to go back there for one last vote before President Obama is expected to sign it into law. http://bit.ly/cqbn9N

Industry notes

AT&T concedes wireless rules make fine public policy. AT&T issued a statement on Thursday conceding that rules it has
long worked to undermine would make acceptable public policy. Under
a compromise brokered by House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry
Waxman (Calif.), AT&T would have swallowed net-neutrality rules
including some for wireless services. http://bit.ly/cDQbna

Top U.S. Executive at Yahoo is latest to leave. The New York Times reports Yahoo’s top executive for the United States market is leaving the company along with other senior employees, adding to the management exodus at the Web portal. Hilary Schneider, executive vice president in charge of U.S. operations, will depart, Yahoo announced Thursday. She is joined by two of her deputies: David Ko, senior vice president for audience, mobile and local, and James Pitaro, vice president for media. http://nyti.ms/c9PCvX

HP names new CEO. Hewlett-Packard announced Thursday that Léo Apotheker will become the company’s next chief executive and president starting November 1. Apotheker suceeds Mark Hurd at the helm of the world’s largest computer manufacter after Hurd resigned last month over improprieties concerning his expense account and an HP contractor. Apotheker spent more than 20 years at SAP, where he served as chief executive and helped it become a major force in the market for business software applications. http://bit.ly/cm2XlT

Authorities raid bank accounts of global hacking ring. More than 100 people have been arrested or charged in the U.S. and the U.K. as part of an alleged global cybercrime ring using computer viruses to steal bank-account information and loot money from unsuspecting victims. At least $3 million was stolen from U.S. accounts from about May of last year to this September, federal and state prosecutors said in New York Thursday as they unveiled indictments. The investigation is in its early stages and could result in law-enforcement actions in other countries. http://bit.ly/9HcbMV

Watercooler

DISCOVERY—The annual Ig Nobel awards honors honor “improbably research.” Getting honors this year were two researchers who discovered that cursing relieves pain. “Swearing increased pain tolerance, increased heart rate, and decreased perceived pain compared with not swearing,” the abstract to the paper said. http://bit.ly/apJM3W