| New Documents |
USCA:
Order
re amicus briefs in MSFT antitrust appeal, 10/3 (PDF, USCA).
NIPC:
advisory re threats of cyber
terrorism associated with Israeli and Palestinian affairs, 11/3
(HTML, NIPC).
BXA:
changes
to export rules for high performance computers, 11/3 (TXT, FedReg).
FTC:
changes
to Rules of Practice re Int'l Antitrust Enforcement Assistance Act,
11/2 (HTML, FTC).
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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 |
"Ye who are grown intolerably odious to the whole Nation; you
who are deputed here by the people to get grievances redress'd, are
yourselves become the greatest grievance. Your country, therefore,
calls upon me to cleanse this Augean stable, by putting a final
period to your iniquitous proceedings in this House; and which, by
God's help and the strength he has given me, I am now come to do; I
command ye therefore, upon the peril of your lives, to depart
immediately out of this place; go, get out! Make haste! Ye venal
slaves be gone! So! Take away that shining bauble there, and lock
the doors. In the name of God, go!"
Rep. David Obey (D-WI), on the adjournment of the House,
quoting from Cromwell's dismissal of the Parliament in 1653.
"So goodbye, God bless you, see you in two weeks."
Rep. Bill Young (R-FL), Nov. 3, 2000.
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| News Briefs |
11/3. Bill Clinton vetoed
HR 4392, the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001.
The bill included a provision criminalizing unauthorized disclosure
of classified information. Clinton explained that "the free
flow of information is essential to a democratic society" and
"there is a serious risk that this legislation would tend to
have a chilling effect on those who engage in legitimate
activities." See, Clinton
veto statement.
11/3. The Office of Personnel
Management announced that "Computer specialists and other
information technology employees with the federal government will
receive pay increases ranging from 7 percent to 33 percent".
The announcement, which is designed to make the federal government
more competitive with the private sector, was made 4 days before the
Nov. 7 elections. See, release.
11/3. 3Com
announced it reached a settlement two class action lawsuits -- Reiver
v. 3Com and Adler v. 3Com. Under
the settlement, which still requires court approval, 3Com will pay
$259 Million in cash to shareholders. The suits arose out of 3Com's
acquisition of US Robotics in 1997. See, 3Com
release.
11/3. The U.S. Court of
Appeals (DCCir) issued an
order
[PDF] regarding to the filing of amicus curiae briefs
in the Microsoft
antitrust appeal. The Court will allow six briefs,
each not to exceed 25 pages. The four major anti Microsoft entities
that sought permission to file briefs (AOL, CCIA,
SIIA,
and ProComp) are
required to file one brief jointly. Similarly, the two major pro
Microsoft entities (ACT and CompTIA) are
required to file together. Two other pro Microsoft entities (TAFOL and CMDC) are
also required to file jointly. Their brief will not likely receive
much attention from the Court. Three individuals who are Microsoft
critics who asked permission to file briefs will also be permitted
to do so. The two pro Microsoft amicus briefs are due by Nov. 27.
The four anti Microsoft briefs are due by Jan. 12. The net result is
that while the court is permitting numerous amicus briefs, it will
only receive two significant ones, a pro Microsoft brief from ACT
and CompTIA, and an anti Microsoft brief from AOL, CCIA, ProComp,
and SIIA.
11/3. The FBI's NIPC
issued an advisory regarding cyber attacks
against Palestinian and Israeli related web sites. It stated that
"The continued tension and increase in the number of cyber
attacks shows no signs of abating and has reportedly resulted in
attacks on two U.S. web sites. The attack against one of the sites,
the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), differs from
previous attacks on other web sites in that it is the first of its
kind to have experienced theft of information, including credit card
information. All other attacks involving Palestinian and
Israeli-related sites are believed to have consisted solely of a DoS
type of attack." The advisory added that "It is
anticipated that as the conflict in the Middle East continues, the
level and severity of cyber attacks being experienced may escalate
and expand."
11/3. The Bureau of Export
Administration published changes
to the Export Administration Regulations (EARs) for high
performance computers (HPCs) in the Federal Register. The BXA
published new regulations
on Oct. 13. The BXA stated that the Nov. 3 publication
"corrects inadvertent errors or omissions in the October 13
rule". See, Federal Register, Nov. 3, 2000, Vol. 65, No. 214,
page 66169 - 66170. [Background: The Oct.
13 rule provides that HPCs with a composite theoretical
performance (CTP) of up to 45,000 million theoretical operations per
second (MTOPS) can be exported to Computer Tier 2 countries under
License Exception CTP, and HPCs with a CTP up to 28,000 MTOPS can be
exported Computer Tier 3 destinations under License Exception CTP.
The civil-military distinction for computer Tier 3 end- users and
end-uses is removed. Effective February 26, 2001, this rule also
raises the advance notification level for HPC exports to Computer
Tier 3 countries to 28,000 MTOPS. These new regulations took effect
on October 13.]
11/3. Youth-e-Vote
released the results
of an online election in which 1,330,913 students cast ballots. In
the presidential race, Bush / Cheney won with 56% of the popular
vote, and 386 electoral votes. Gore / Lieberman received 38% of the
popular vote and 155 electoral votes. Nader / LaDuke got 4%.
Buchanan / Foster got 2%. Republicans retained a majority in the
Senate. Lazio beat Clinton in New York; Republicans also won open
seats in Nebraska, Florida, and Nevada. However, Democrat Corzine
won the seat of the retiring Lautenberg (D-NJ). All incumbents
seeking re-election won, except Roth (R-DE), Gorton (R-WA), Grams
(R-MN), Ashcroft (R-MN), and Robb (D-VA). Results were not tallied
for House districts.
11/2. The FTC announced changes
to its Rules
of Practice. The changes delegate to the Director of the Bureau of Competition
the authority to respond to certain requests made pursuant to
agreements under the International
Antitrust Enforcement Assistance Act (IAEAA).
11/2. Qualcomm
announced that it has received a ruling from the IRS
indicating that the proposed spin-off of its integrated circuits and
system software business, Qualcomm CDMA
Technologies, which are also know as Qualcomm Spinco, should be a
tax-free distribution to Qualcomm and its stockholders. See, release.
See also, July
25 release announcing the spin-off.
10/25. Stanley Lipides entered a plea of guilty to mail fraud in
U.S. District Court (DNJ).
The one count information charged him with fraud for selling over
the Internet AIDS testing devices that he represented were FDA
approved, when in fact, the devices were neither FDA approved, nor
accurate. Sentencing is scheduled for 10:30 AM on Feb. 13, 2001.
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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