Washington - The U.S. Senate on Monday passed a bill that would delay by about four months the transition to digital TV broadcasting, giving consumers more time to prepare and the government more time to distribute coupons for digital TV converter boxes. The bill is a compromise between Democrats and Republicans, with provisions that will allow stations to switch to digital before the June 12 date, so that public safety agencies may make use of the freed spectrum. The bill will also provide companies who bid on some of the spectrum that will be freed by the analog switchoff with 116 additional days on their licenses.

Washington - Several lawmakers on Tuesday called peer-to-peer networks a potential "national security threat," as some users may, and in some cases have, inadvertantly made sensitive or classified documents on their computers available for sharing with others, CNET News.com reported.