Nov. 3, 2000
8:00 AM ET.
Alert No. 56. |
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| News Briefs |
11/2. EU Commissioner for Trade Pascal
Lamy gave a speech
in Washington DC on the Foreign
Sales Corporation (FSC) tax regime, and other US-EU
trade issues. He stated: "I was brave enough, or I'm told
foolhardy enough, to sit in front of the Congress and pledge that we
would come into compliance on both bananas and beef hormones, and I
stand absolutely by that. But the same position applies to the US on
the foreign sales corporation dispute. Each of us must comply with
the rules. There has been plenty of loose talk in the corridors
about package deals. Now, don't get me wrong. I love deals." He
added that "the problems seem to get worse, not better."
Last week the House and Senate both passed a tax reform bill that
includes the FSC replacement bill. However, Bill Clinton said he
would veto it. Then, the Senate passed the FSC replacement bill as a
stand alone bill on Nov. 1.
11/2. The House met on Nov. 2, and passed another one day continuing
resolution, by a vote of 310 to 7. 73 Democrats and 43 Republicans
did not vote. See, Roll
Call No. 592. The House did not pass the Foreign Sales
Corporation replacement bill. Speaker Denny Hastert
(R-IL) explained why: "Last month, the House and the Senate
reached agreement on the Taxpayer's Relief Act, which included
several important provisions. Among those provisions were an
increase in the minimum wage, incentives for Americans to save more
for their retirements in their IRA and 401K funds, an initiative to
increase investment and development in the poorest rural and urban
areas, and an increase in investments in school construction. ...
There has been considerable pressure on the House to schedule a
stand-alone Foreign Sales Corporation bill at the exclusion of the
other provisions of the tax bill. ... The Foreign Sales Corporation
issue is important, but is it more important than these other
issues? I don't think so. I urge the President to stop playing
politics with the lives of the American people, and drop his
ill-advised veto threat of the Taxpayer Relief Act." See, Hastert
statement.
11/2. The NTIA
hosted a public meeting as part of the process of identifying and
allocating spectrum for Third Generation (3G) wireless
systems. 3G will enable broadband wireless Internet access. However,
spectrum will have to be reallocated from current users. "This
is not going to be an easy process," said NTIA chief Greg
Rohde. See, TLJ
story.
11/2. The International Trade
Administration (ITA) of the U.S.
Department of Commerce announced that US organizations can now
sign up for the US - EU privacy safe harbor framework through
a web site. The safe
harbor framework enables companies to comply with the European
Commission's Directive on Data Privacy. See, release.
11/2. The FCC released the
agenda [PDF
| MSWord]
for its Nov. 9 Commission meeting. It includes two items pertaining
to secondary markets for wireless spectrum. The FCC will
consider a Notice Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) concerning the
promotion of secondary market mechanisms to facilitate efficient use
of wireless spectrum, and a Policy Statement setting forth guiding
principles for the promotion of secondary market mechanisms to
facilitate efficient use of wireless spectrum.
11/2. The SEC announced that
it will continue to support the EDGAR legacy filing system
along with the modernized EDGAR filing system beyond the original
Nov. 27, 2000 transition date. The new termination date for the
EDGAR legacy system will be April 20, 2001. See, release.
11/2. The FCC named Breck
Blalock to be the Deputy Chief of the Planning &
Negotiations Division. Julie Buchanan was named
Associate Chief of the International Spectrum and Communications
Policy Branch of the Planning and Negotiations Division. Linda
Armstrong was named Senior Legal Advisor of the Planning and
Negotiations Division. Jack Deasy was named Chief of the
Multilateral and Development Branch of the Telecommunications
Division. See, release
[PDF].
10/31. The Marietta Cobb Smyrna (Georgia) Organized Crime
Intelligence Unit executed two search warrants, and made arrests, at
two Smyrna area businesses engaged in the illegal counterfeiting of
CDs. See, RIAA
release.
10/30. RegLand.com
filed a complaint in state court in Texas against ICANN
alleging defamation, business disparagement and tortious
interference. Regland sells pre-registrations of domain names for
top level domains which have not yet been approved by ICANN. On
Sept. 29 ICANN released a statement
which included the following: "The Names Council feels it is
premature for companies to offer pre-registration services for
domain names in speculative new TLDs. To date, no new TLDs have been
selected and there is no guarantee that any particular organization
will be authorized to take registrations for any particular TLD. The
registration of names in new TLDs will be done on a fair basis, and
the practice of pre-registration should not be encouraged."
See, Regland
release.
10/30. The U.S. District Court (CDCa)
entered a default judgment against defendants in SEC v. Yes
Entertainment, a civil securities fraud enforcement
action. The SEC plead that Yes Entertainment, a Nevada limited
liability company that purported to operate Internet web site based
"channels" of streaming media, violated for 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. The Court
ordered disgorgement of ill gotten gains and civil fines. See, release.
10/27. The U.S. Court of
Appeals (DCCir)
issued its opinion
in Qwest v. FCC,
a case pertaining to requirements that RBOCs
maintain detailed accounting records of property used in their local
telephone operations, including the property's description,
location, and cost.
10/23. The U.S. District Court (EDVa)
entered a permanent injunction against defendants in SEC
v. Tutornet.com and Euburn Forde. The SEC filed a
complaint on Aug. 29 that alleged that defendants filed false and
misleading 8-K forms with the SEC, to wit, that Tutornet.com was in
the process of co-branding with AOL, which would result in a revenue
sharing arrangement with AOL that would provide it with access to
over 18 million AOL subscribers and the potential to generate annual
revenues of $324 Million. The injunction enjoins defendants from
further violations of securities laws, imposes fines, and orders
that corrected forms be filed with the SEC. See, 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 TLJ Stories |
NTIA
Hosts First Public Meeting on 3G Spectrum. The NTIA hosted a
public meeting attended by government officials and industry
representatives to address the selection and allocation of spectrum
for 3G wireless systems. 3G is intended to bring broadband wireless
Internet access to mobile devices.
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| New Documents |
Lamy:
speech
re Foreign Sales Corp. legislation, 11/2, (HTML, EU).
FCC:
agenda
of Nov. 9 meeting, 11/2, (PDF, FCC).
USCA:
opinion
in Qwest v. FCC, 10/27 (TXT, USCA).
|
| New and Updated Sections |
Calendar
(updated daily).
News
from Around the Web (updated daily).
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| Quote of the Day |
"It has been a difficult autumn just trying to keep track of
different initiatives in the Congress. I ought to be a bit careful
here, not least because much of the Congress will be there long
after the Administration has left. But our public opposition is well
known to the Hollings Bill, the Byrd amendment, and to Senator
Lott’s plan to tie down the Administration so that the US would be
effectively blocked from reaching a settlement on either beef or
bananas."
Pascal Lamy, EU Commission for Trade
(source) |
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