Sept. 20, 2000
6:00 AM ET.
Alert No. 24. |
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| News Briefs |
9/19. The Senate passed HR 4444, a bill to extend permanent
normal trade relations status to China, by a vote of 83 to 15. The
House passed the bill on May 24. Clinton has promised to sign it.
9/19. Joel Klein, Asst. Atty. Gen. for the Antitrust Division at the U.S.
Department of Justice announced that he will leave to DOJ at the end
of September. Doug Malemed, the Principle Dep. Asst. A.G. for
the Antitrust Division, will assume his responsibilities. Klein
stated that "our work is on the right track." See, statements
of Klein and Janet Reno and FTC Chairman Pitofsky.
9/19. The House passed three non-controversial copyright bills
by voice vote: HR
4870, the Intellectual Property Technical Amendments Act of
2000, HR
5106, the Copyright Technical Corrections Act of 2000, and HR
5107, the Work Made For Hire and Copyright Corrections Act of
2000.
9/19. The House Judiciary
Committee began a marathon mark up session. The long list of
bills on the agenda includes HR 5018, the Electronic
Communications Privacy Act of 2000. The Committee only addressed
one bill on Tuesday. The mark up session continues on Wed. Sept. 20
at 10 AM.
9/19. The House Banking
Committee's Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary
Policy held a hearing titled "Future of Electronic Payments:
Roadblocks and Emerging Practices." Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL)
presided. Witnesses testified regarding why electronic payments has
not replaced traditional methods of payments, technologies for
electronic payments, and protecting consumers. See, prepared
testimony of:
• Rep. Bachus.
• Thomas
Vartanian (Fried Frank).
• James Van
Dyke (Jupiter Comm.).
• Elliott
McEntee (NACHA)
• Gary Craft
(Deutsche Bank).
• Jane Winn
(SMU School of Law).
• Richard Rahn
(Novecon Financial).
• Jacki Snyder
(Food Marketing Inst.).
9/19. The Commission on
Child Online Protection held the second session of a two day
meeting.
9/19. NTIA
held a day long conference on online privacy. Sec. of
Commerce Norman Mineta said in the opening speech
that "The Internet has been a central part of the longest
peacetime economic expansion in our history. But we don't think this
growth will continue unless both consumers and businesses are
confident about their experiences on the Net. So, we see privacy as
a make-or-break issue." He also endorsed the FTC approach to
online privacy: "we need to be sure that all content providers
satisfy the Fair Information Principles."
9/19. Forrester Research
released a study that concludes that "music piracy using sites
like Napster won't be stopped, either by digital rights management (DRM)
or by lawsuits". See, release.
9/19. The FCC released a staff
report [266 pages in PDF] as the first step in its statutory
responsibility to conduct a biennial review of its regulations. §
202(h) of the Telecom Act of 1996 requires that the FCC review its
rules every two years and "determine whether any of such rules
are necessary in the public interest as the result of
competition." The FCC is also required to repeal or amend any
regulations that are no longer in the public interest. The FCC
stated in a press
release that only after receiving public comment on the staff
report will it issue a report identifying which, if any, regulations
are no longer necessary. Comments are due by Oct. 10, and reply
comments are due by Oct. 20. Commissioner Harold
Furchtgott-Roth wrote a separate statement
in which he said that the FCC has not complied with the statute. He
wrote: "The Act provides that the Commission 'shall
review all regulations'" but that "today's report
does not detail that review on a rule-by-rule basis".
9/19. The Information Technology
Association of America (ITAA) sent a letter to members of
Congress stating what bills it would like Congress to pass before it
recesses early next month. The list includes extending PNTR status
for China, increasing the cap on H1B visas, passage of the New
Millennium Classrooms Act (expanding the availability of tax
deductions to companies donating computers to schools), the Internet
Tax Freedom Act (extending the moratorium on Internet taxes),
permanently extending the R&D tax credit, and creating
incentives to businesses that provide IT training to employees. See,
ITAA
release.
9/19. The CDT, Common Cause, and the Bertelsmann
Foundation opened a web site with
information about the At-Large Membership candidates for the ICANN's
Board of Directors. The election is next month.
9/19. Microsoft stated that
it filed three complaints in U.S. District Court (WDPa)
against software vendors in the Pittsburgh area. The complaints
allege distribution of counterfeit software. See, MSFT
release.
9/14. Sen. Orrin Hatch
(R-UT) sent a letter
to the U.S. Court of Appeals
(9th Cir.) taking issue with the amicus
curiae brief filed by the U.S. in Napster v. A&M
Records on Sept. 11. The Copyright
Office, which is an agency of the legislative branch, joined in
that brief. Sen. Hatch, who is Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee,
wrote that "I thought it important that the Court be under no
misapprehension that the brief necessarily expresses the views of
the Congress in this matter. Indeed Congress has recently held
hearings into the matter and is engaged in ongoing deliberations
about it merits as the events unfold in the emerging online music
and entertainment market." The Senate Judiciary Committee held
a hearing in July on copying of music files on the Internet. See, TLJ
story of July 12.
9/14. U.S. District Court Judge Paul Friedman (DDC)
entered an injunction against two individuals who set up a company
named American Telephone and Telecommunications Corporation (ATTC)
which purported to provide Internet telephony services. The SEC filed its civil
complaint against Wendell Carter and Paul Carter on Oct. 27, 1999,
in which it alleged violation of § 17(a) of the Securities Act of
1933 and § 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule
10b-5 thereunder, by selling to the public ATTC stock and joint
venture interests in a series of fraudulent offerings targeted
mainly to Washington DC area residents. [Case No. 99-2848] See, SEC release.
Editor's Note: This column includes all News Briefs added to
Tech Law Journal since the last Daily E-Mail Alert. The dates
indicate when the event occurred, not the date of posting to Tech
Law Journal. |
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| New Documents |
Mineta:
Speech
re online privacy, 9/19 (HTML, DOC).
FCC:
Staff
Report re biennial review of rules, 9/18 (PDF, FCC).
HCC: HR 4445,
the Reciprocal Compensation Adjustment Act of 2000, as
amended and adopted by the House Telecom Subcommittee, 9/18 (PDF,
HCC).
Hatch:
Letter
to U.S. Court of Appeals (9th Cir.) re Napster case, 9/14 (HTML, TLJ).
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| New and Updated Sections |
Calendar
(updated daily).
News
from Around the Web (updated daily).
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| Quote of the Day |
"Businesses in the US today face hard choices with regard to
electronic payments technologies: whether to give up older systems
that are cheap and efficient to operate and still meet most of their
needs, or to adopt newer systems that are expensive and risky. Most
market participants will resist giving up their current systems
until they feel certain what will be the new standard for the next
generation of electronic payment technologies. At this time, it is
difficult to predict what technologies will become the new
standard." Prof. Jane
Winn, testimony before the House Banking Committee, Sept.
19. |
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