Overnight Tech: FCC withholds some documents on cyberattack | Musk claims he has approval for NYC-DC Hyperloop | SCOTUS grants filing extension for telecoms in net neutrality case

FCC WITHHOLDS CYBERATTACK PROOF: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) says it cannot provide more information proving that it was the victim of a cyberattack in May.

The agency’s Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) went down shortly after comedian John Oliver told viewers to file comments in favor of net neutrality in a segment on his HBO show “Last Week Tonight.”

The FCC claimed at the time that the website did not crash because of the large amount of traffic Oliver generated, but was instead the result of a Distributed Denial of Service Attack. An FCC official cited an “analysis” that lead the agency to that conclusion.

Tech website Gizmodo filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking the FCC analysis of the attack.

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But in their response, the agency said there was no “written” analysis of the May 8 attack.

“The analysis referred to stemmed from real time observation and feedback by Commission IT staff and did not result in written documentation,” the FCC said.

The agency says it does have data logs on the attack but can’t release those for privacy reasons.

“Based on a review of the logs, we have already provided a detailed description of what happened. We stand by our career IT staff’s analysis of the evidence in our possession,” an FCC spokesperson said when asked for comment on the matter.

Read more here.

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SCOTUS GRANTS CABLE INDUSTRY MORE TIME TO APPEAL NET NEUTRALITY DECISION: The Supreme Court is giving the cable industry more time to appeal a lower court decision upholding the Federal Communications Commission’s net neutrality rules.

Industry groups had asked the nation’s highest court for a 60-day extension because the FCC is currently moving to repeal the rules, which require internet service providers to treat all web traffic equally.

Among the groups that filed for the extension were USTelecom, the Internet and Television Association, CTIA, the American Cable Association and AT&T. The groups originally had until July 30 to ask the Supreme Court for a review. That deadline is now Sept. 28.

“We appreciate the Court’s decision to grant a short extension,” said a USTelecom spokeswoman.

Read more here.

MUSK SAYS HE HAS ‘VERBAL GOVT APPROVAL’ FOR NY-DC HYPERLOOP: Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on Thursday that he has received verbal approval from the “government” to build a “Hyperloop” connecting New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

Musk said a trip between New York and Washington, D.C., which now takes roughly three hours by train, would last only 29 minutes.

Musk didn’t specify which government agency gave him the verbal approval and in a subsequent tweet acknowledged that he would need more work before a final approval.

Read more here.

BLACKBERRY ENCRYPTION WINS NSA APPROVAL: Blackberry Ltd. announced Thursday morning that its encrypted communication service has won National Security Agency (NSA) approval, paving the way for it to begin selling the product to the federal government.

The tool, called Secusuite, can encrypt calls and texts across Apple, Android and Blackberry operating systems, according to the company’s announcement.

“Call tapping is happening at an alarming rate,” Alex Thurber, Blackberry’s vice president of mobility solutions, said in a statement. “In today’s connected world, restricting agency employees to only exchange classified information from the desk phone is no longer a viable option, but it could be the new reality if governments don’t start securing calls and texts from mobile devices.”

Read more here.

BOOKER GETS TOUGH ON AMAZON-WHOLE FOODS DEAL: Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) says he plans to join other members of the Congressional Black Caucus in calling for more scrutiny of the Amazon-Whole Foods deal.

Booker told Recode that he and other lawmakers will finalize and send a letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ) highlighting their concerns with the $14 billion acquisition.

“This consolidation that’s happening all over the country is not a positive trend,” Booker said.

Read more here.

IBM LEADS CHARGE AGAINST TEXAS BATHROOM BILL: Technology firms are pushing back on controversial Texas legislation that seeks to bar local laws allowing transgender students to pick which bathroom they want to use.

The “bathroom bill” legislation is a priority for the special session of the Texas state legislature, which convened Tuesday.

Technology company IBM, one of the state’s biggest employers, is pulling out all the stops to oppose the legislation, taking out full-page ads in major Texas newspapers and dispatching multiple executives to lobby Texas legislators against the bill.

Read more here.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

FCC chair: Trump hasn’t tried to intervene on Time Warner merger

The New York Times: China’s pursuit of artificial intelligence technology

Tech groups voice support for tax reform

House subcommittee approves self-driving car legislation

The Washington Post looks at Twitter’s harassment report