| Ex NTIA Head to Lobby |
| 2/5. Greg Rohde, former head of the National Telecommunications
and Information Administration (NTIA), will become the
head of e-Copernicus, a new consulting firm targeting
New Economy clients. He does not yet have a title, and the
firm will not disclose its clients. Rohde ran the NTIA for
just over one year at the end of the Clinton administration.
He was active on spectrum management issues, particularly,
identifying and re-allocating spectrum for use by Third
Generation (3G) wireless technology. Prior to that he was
telecom counsel to Sen.
Byron Dorgan (D-ND), who is a member of the Senate Commerce
Committee, and its Communications Subcommittee. Copernicus
is a subsidiary of the Dutko
Group Companies, a major Washington DC lobbying and public
relations firm. |
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| Antitrust |
| 2/5. The U.S. Court
of Appeals (5th Cir) issued its opinion
in Statoil
v. HeereMac, an oil industry case regarding the application
of U.S. antitrust laws to foreign conduct. The court
construed the Foreign Trade Antitrust Improvements Act
(FTAIA). The court held that since the plaintiff's injury did
not arise from domestic anticompetitive effect, the district
court properly dismissed the plaintiff's antitrust claims. |
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| Securities |
| 1/29. The U.S.
District Court (DDC) entered judgment by default against
Fred Carter, the former President and CEO of American
Telephone and Telecommunications Corporation (ATTC), in the
civil action SEC v. Carter. The SEC filed its
complaint on Oct. 27, 1999, alleging that Carter
violated the antifraud provisions of the federal securities
laws, § 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, § 10(b)
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Rule 10b-5
thereunder. ATTC purportedly was established to provide Internet
telephony services. Judgment was entered against Carter
for $1,328,845.40. He was also enjoined from committing
further securities fraud. See, SEC
release. |
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| New Documents |
USCA: opinion
in Karl Storz Endoscopy v. Fiber Tech Medical re trademark
infringement, 2/5 (HTML, USCA).
USCA: opinion
in Statoil v. HeereMac re antitrust, 2/5 (HTML, USCA). |
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| Quote of the Day |
"It is kind of bad when your security chief starts
blasting other people's computers."
Daniel Cooper, Asst. U.S. Atty. (Alaska), who
prosecuted Scott Dennis, the former network administrator of
the U.S.D.C. (Alaska) for staging DoS attacks against the
U.S.D.C. (EDNY). |
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| More Tauzin Staff |
2/5. Rep.
Billy Tauzin (R-LA), Chairman of the House Commerce Committee,
named several more committee and subcommittee staff members. Will
Nordwind will be counsel to the Telecom Subcommittee,
which has jurisdiction over many high tech related bills. He
most recently served as legislative director and counsel to Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI).
He has also worked as legislative director and counsel to Rep. Deborah Pryce
(R-OH), and as an attorney at the Washington DC law and
lobbying firm of O'Connor
& Hannan.
2/5. Patrick Morrisey will be deputy staff director and
policy coordinator for the House Commerce Committee. Morrisey
has been one of the committee's health policy counsel, and has
worked on medical records privacy legislation. Last
year Morrisey unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination
for the New Jersey 7th District, which had been represented by
former Rep. Bob Frank (R-NJ), who made an unsuccessful bid for
the Senate. Morrisey has also worked for former Rep. Dan Frisa
(R-NY), and for the NRCC.
2/5. Ramsen Betfarhad will be counsel to the House
Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection.
Betfarhad previously was counsel and economic advisor to
former House Commerce Committee Chairman Tom Bliley (R-VA). He
has also worked on telecom policy at the American Enterprise Institute,
at the FTC's Bureau of
Competition, and at the law firm of Pillsbury, Madison &
Sutro. |
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| Intellectual Property |
2/5. The U.S. Court
of Appeals (4th Cir.) issued its opinion
in Karl
Storz Endoscopy v. Fiber Tech Medical an action for
trademark infringement and false designation of origin
under §§ 32(1)(a) and 43(a) of the Lanham Trade-Mark Act, 15
U.S.C. §§ 1114(1)(a) and 1125(a).
1/31. The New York
Police Department, assisted by members of the Recording Industry Association of
America (RIAA) Anti-Piracy Unit, executed search warrants
and made arrests in connection with a counterfeit music CD
operation. Three individuals were arrested and charged with
Trademark Counterfeiting in the 1st Degree and Failure to
Disclose the Origin of a Sound Recording in the 1st Degree,
both of which are felonies. On Jan. 26, the Dallas Police
Department, assisted by members of the RIAA Anti-Piracy
Unit, executed two search warrants resulting in the break up
of two counterfeit music CD operations. See, RIAA release. |
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| Crime |
2/2. The FDA and USPS arrested
Steven Tondre in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, for using
the Internet to market and sell an unapproved potion that he
claimed could cure AIDS, treat arthritis and prevent aging.
Tondre operates a web site which
promotes his drug, "EXP," and himself, the
"Expeditor." Law enforcement tests found that EXP is
water. The arrest was for introduction of a misbranded drug
into interstate commerce and introduction of an unapproved
drug into interstate commerce, both of which are violations of
the United States Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. The Expeditor
will be arraigned in U.S. District Court (CDCal)
on February 26. See, USAO release.
1/19. The U.S. District Court (Alaska) sentenced Scott Dennis,
its former computer systems administrator, to six months
incarceration and 240 hours of community service for launching
three denial of service attacks against the servers of
the U.S. District Court (EDNY).
Dennis plead guilty to one misdemeanor count of violation of
18 U.S.C. §1030(a)(5)(c). "It is not the first time a
U.S. District Court system has come under attack," Asst.
U.S. Atty. Dan Cooper told Tech Law Journal; there was an
attack against the Western District of Washington. Dennis no
longer works for the U.S. District Court. See also, FBI
release. |
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| Trade News |
2/5. WTO Director General Michael
Moore gave a speech
in Canberra Australia in which he once again advocated that
"We urgently need a new round of trade
negotiations."
2/6. The Senate is scheduled to debate the nomination of Robert
Zoellick to be USTR at 2:15
on Tuesday, Feb. 6. The outcome of the vote is not in
question. Zoellick's nomination enjoys broad bipartisan
support. Senators will likely address current trade issues,
including a new round of trade negotiations, bilateral
agreements, fast track trade negotiating authority, Chinese
accession to the WTO, and trade disputes with Europe.
2/5. The USITC
released its annual
report [110 pages in PDF] for FY 1999. |
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| Today |
9:10 AM. Susan DeSanti, Director of the FTC's
Policy Planning Division, will speak at the Antitrust
Litigation and E-Commerce Regional Meeting, sponsored by the ABA.
Location: University Club, 1135 16th Street, NW, Washington
DC.
9:30 AM. Jodie Bernstein, Director of the FTC's
Bureau of Consumer Protection, will give opening remarks at
the Alternative Dispute Resolution Workshop. Location: FTC,
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Room 432, Washington, DC.
10:30 AM. FCC Chairman Michael
Powell will hold a press conference. Location: FCC Meeting
Room, 12th Street Level, 445 12th Street SW, Washington DC,
20024.
11:20 AM. Molly Boast, Acting Director of the FTC's
Bureau of Competition, will speak at the ABA's
Antitrust Litigation and E-Commerce Regional Meeting. The
title of her presentation is "Practical Considerations
When Litigating Against the Government." Location:
University Club, 1135 16th Street, NW, Washington DC.
12:15 PM. The FCBA's
Common Carrier Committee will host a Brown Bag Luncheon. The
speaker will be Kyle Dixon. Location: Wiley Rein & Fielding, 1750
K Street, 10th Floor.
12:30 PM. FTC Chairman Robert Pitofsky will be the
luncheon speaker at the ABA's
Antitrust Litigation and E-Commerce Regional Meeting.
Location: University Club, 1135 16th Street, NW, Washington
DC.
2:15 PM. The Senate is scheduled to begin debate on the
nomination of Robert Zoellick to be USTR.
The vote is scheduled for 4:15 PM.
4:00 PM. The U.S. District Court will hold a status hearing in
EPIC
v. DOJ. This is a FOIA suit
regarding the production of documents pertaining to the FBI's
e-mail surveillance system named Carnivore. See, Complaint.
Location: Courtroom 16.
6:00 - 8:00 PM. The FCBA will
host a seminar titled "Technology and the FCC: What Every
Advocate Should Know." Topics to be covered include the
AOL Time Warner antitrust merger review, secondary markets for
spectrum rights, UWB
technologies, and spectrum sharing policies. The scheduled
speakers are Julius Knapp (Chief of the Policy and
Rules Division of the Office of Engineering and Technology of
the FCC), Geri Matise (Deputy Chief, Policy and Rules
Division, OET), Bruce Franca (Acting Chief, OET). See, agenda.
Location: Wiley Rein &
Fielding, 1776 K Street, NW, Washington DC. |
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