Did the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) spy on Senate staffers in an effort to stymie an investigation into illegal torture tactics being used by the agency during the Bush Administration? CIA Director John Brennan said that the agency does not spy on Congress and that such an allegation is beyond the scope of reason and simply not true.

Today lawmakers in Connecticut held a public meeting to get feedback from the community and interested parties on several pieces of legislation that have been proposed about video games in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting in December. Supporters of legislation to regulate video games told members of the General Assembly’s Children’s Committee that they believe that there is a causal link between playing violent video games and violent real-world act committed by youth.

The House cybersecurity bill that received strong criticism from the White House, privacy groups and the Internet is going to be re-introduced on Wednesday according to The Hill. House Intelligence Committee leaders Reps.

Trade organization the Business Roundtable issued a 32-page report this week backing the approach taken by the House of Representatives to fight cybersecurity threats. That approach, the bill called the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), passed the House. The Senate proposed another bill called the Cybersecurity Act of 2012. The House bill passed, but the President didn't think it offered enough protections for American Internet users' privacy rights.

What a difference a few days makes for a politician with an "unconventional" idea. After getting a little pushback from constituents, New York State Assemblyman Dean Murray (R) issued a statement trying to clarify the intended purpose of his billing to deal with anonymous Internet comments. One could categorize his statement as more of a walk back than a clarification...

In February the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) submitted a Freedom of Information Act Request to the State Department asking them to release documents related to the department's review of ACTA. The State Department is required to prepare a "Circular 175 Memorandum," whenever an international treaty is going to be negotiated. According to the EFF's Gwen Hinze, the Circular 175 is required "for all treaties and other international instruments that bind the United States as a matter of international law under 22 CFR Part 181.

Fifty legal scholars in the United States have written an open letter to the Senate urging them to use their rights under Article I of the Constitution to force the Obama Administration to submit the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) to Congress from approval. Under the U.S. Constitution the Senate must approve all International treaties before they can be signed by the United States government.

California Congressman Joe Baca (D-Rialto, CA) has unsuccessfully sought controls on violent videogames in the past, so it should come as no surprise that he is "disappointed" and shocked at the Supreme Court Decision to uphold the Ninth Circuit Court ruling on Brown v. EMA.

"I am disappointed the multi-billion dollar video game industry will continue to go unchecked in its ability to profit from selling heinous depictions of violence and sex to minors," Baca wrote in a statement issued Monday.

"Unfortunately, the industry is still not doing enough to provide parents with accurate information regarding the content of many games," Baca said, ignoring the ESRB and the latest Federal Trade Commission report that said that the videogame industry had the best record when it came to keeping mature rated content out of the hands of children.

Correction: The U.S. Commerce Department contacted us to let us know that the national I.D. program is completely voluntary. In our earlier report we erroneously reported that it was not a voluntary program. Our original wording was "The Internet I.D. would give every American a unique online identity overseen by the Commerce Department."

According to the public affairs officer for the Commerce Department, "Every American will not need an ID and private organizations or others that conduct online transactions would opt in to a system that is led by private industry in partnership with federal agencies like DOC."

Details on what the program consist of can be found at www.nist.gov/nstic.

His approval rating is at an abysmal 13%. He is said to be under federal investigation. And Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich would do it all again.

Despite those horrendous approval numbers (even President Bush manages to score in the mid-20's), CBS-2 reports that Blagojevich wants to run for a third term. He is best known to GamePolitics readers as the man who rammed through a video game sales law in 2005, only to see it go down in flames by year's end when a federal court judge ruled that it was unconstitutional.

Adding insult to injury, Blagojevich's administration couldn't come up with the legal fees that it owed to the game industry and had to raid the budgets of several government agencies, thus impacting their ability to deliver services to the people of Illinois.

DUring his administration Blagojevich also lobbied against ads for violent games on Chicago's public transit system. Earlier this year the Chicago Transit Authority banned ads for Grand Theft Auto IV, prompting GTA IV publisher Take-Two to sue, resulting in further wast of tax dollars. The case was ultimately settled. It's unknown whether Blagojevich played a role. But, hey, he's a man of the people, even if the people don't like him much at all. Here's what the embattled Guv said at an event on Thursday:

All of those things happened because we had to push and prod and fight through the system to get it done for people, and if I get bloodied up in the process, and there are some times when people are just not generally approving, I feel honored to get my ass kicked for the people.

Big thanks: ...to GP readers AM and Yukimura for the heads-up!