| Cable Ownership Caps |
| 3/2. The U.S.
Court of Appeals (DCCir) issued its opinion
in Time
Warner Entertainment v. FCC overturning the FCC's
cable ownership caps. AT&T
and Time Warner petitioned for review of the FCC's cable
ownership rules on First Amendment grounds. The FCC's horizontal
rule imposes a 30% limit on the number of
subscribers that may be served by a multiple cable system
operator. Its vertical limit
is set at 40% of channel capacity, reserving 60% for
programming by non-affiliated firms. The three
judge panel reversed and remanded both the
horizontal and vertical limits. The Court followed the Supreme
Court's ruling in Turner
Broadcasting I that cable operators are
"entitled to the protection of the speech and press
provisions of the First Amendment." The court, applying
the intermediate scrutiny standard, then held that the
"horizontal limit interferes with petitioners' speech
rights by restricting the number of viewers to whom they can
speak. The vertical limit restricts their ability to exercise
their editorial control over a portion of the content they
transmit." Gene Kimmelman, Director of Consumers Union, called
the decision "an enormous loss and a devastating blow to
consumers". See, CU
release. |
|
|
| New Bills |
3/1. Rep. Mike
Bilirakis (R-FL) introduced HR 817, a bill pertaining to
the availability of spectrum for amateur radio operators.
It was referred to the House Commerce Committee,
of which he is a member.
3/1. Sen. Bill Nelson
(D-FL) introduced two privacy related bills in the
Senate. S 450 would amend the Gramm Leach Bliley Act to
provide for enhanced protection of nonpublic personal
information, including health information. S 451 would
establish civil and criminal penalties for the sale or
purchase of a social security number. |
|
|
| Computer Security |
| 3/2. Rep. James
Greenwood (R-PA), Chairman of the House Commerce Committee's
Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, sent letters
on critical information systems and data security to
the heads of fifteen federal agencies "to request
information necessary to assess the adequacy of efforts by
your agency to ensure that critical information systems and
data are secure from loss, unauthorized access, misuse, or
destruction." |
|
|
| New Documents |
USCA:
opinion
in Time Warner v. FCC re cable ownership caps, 3/2 (HTML, USCA).
Pitofsky:
speech
re antitrust regulation and intellectual property, 3/2 (HTML,
FTC).
Rosen:
speech
re music recordings, the Internet and copyright law, 3/1
(HTML, TLJ).
Greenwood:
letter
to heads of executive agencies re computer security, 3/2
(HTML, TLJ).
USCA:
opinion
in Ostler v. Codman re stock options, 3/2 (HTML, USCA). |
|
|
| Quote of the Day |
"Don't make the same mistake we made. If there is a
vacuum in the marketplace, it will be filled by pirates. Then
no one makes any money but a level of consumer expectation is
developed that is hard to recapture."
Hillary Rosen, CEO of RIAA, speech of March 1. |
|
|
| About Tech Law Journal |
Tech Law Journal is a free access web site
and e-mail alert that provides news, records, and analysis of
legislation, litigation, and regulation affecting the computer
and Internet industry. This e-mail service is offered free of
charge to anyone who requests it. Just provide TLJ an e-mail
address.
Number of subscribers: 928.
Contact: 202-364-8882; E-mail.
P.O. Box 15186, Washington DC, 20003.
Privacy
Policy
Notices
& Disclaimers
Copyright 1998 - 2001 David Carney, dba Tech Law Journal. All
rights reserved. |
|
|
|
| Antitrust and IP |
| 3/2. FTC Chairman Robert
Pitofsky gave a speech
at the University of California at Berkeley titled
"Antitrust and Intellectual Property: Unresolved Issues
at the Heart of the New Economy." He began that it is
"unduly simplistic to conclude, as some have urged, that
because of differences, antitrust enforcement has little or no
role to play when it comes to market power based on
intellectual property." He continued that antitrust
regulation is "sufficiently flexible that it can play a
useful role in the New Economy." He then reviewed several
of the major FTC proceedings involving intellectual property.
Finally, he conceded that government regulators have
limitations in this area. He said that "law enforcement
can rarely equal the speed of economic change in high-tech
sectors." He also stated that "Antitrust enforcement
has often faced the challenge of dealing with complicated
technological questions ... Few government enforcement
officials, administrators or judges have sufficient technical
competence to deal directly with those issues ..." |
|
|
| Sen. Clinton |
3/1. Sen. Hillary
Clinton (D-NY) introduced seven bills in the Senate (S 426
through S 432) which she said would "help bring all
of New York online and into the new economy by promoting
entrepreneurship and innovation, and by knocking down some of
the stubborn barriers to economic progress." They are a
collection of proposals to create grants, loans, tax credits,
and other government spending programs. The seven bills could
have been included in one or several bills.
3/1. Sen. Clinton's S 426, the Technology Bond Initiative of
2001, would provide an income tax credit to holders of bonds
financing new communications technologies. S 428, the
Broadband Expansion Grant Initiative of 2001, would provide
government grants and loans "to facilitate the deployment
by the private sector of broadband telecommunications networks
and capabilities (including wireless and satellite networks
and capabilities) to underserved rural areas." S 429, the
Technology Extension Act of 2001, would provide government
grants for the "support of regional centers for the
commercial use of advanced technologies by small businesses
and medium-sized businesses." S 430, the Broadband Rural
Research Investment Act of 2001, would authorize a study by
NIST. S 431 would authorize job skills grants. S 432 would
provide grants for "business incubator services."
See also, speech
in Senate by Sen. Clinton.
3/1. Sen. Clinton also endorsed S
41, sponsored by Sen.
Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Sen.
Max Baucus (D-MT). The bill would make permanent the research
and development tax credit. |
|
|
| More News |
3/2. The U.S.
Court of Appeals (1stCir) issued its opinion
in Ostler
v. Codman Research Group, a case regarding
application of Delaware law to the exercise of stock
options at a New Hampshire software company.
3/1. Sen. John Kerry
(D-MA) and Robert Atkinson of the Technology and the New
Economy Project at the
Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) published an opinion
piece in the PPI web site titled "E-Commerce Is Seen
As Threat To Slow Middlemen". They wrote that
"Middlemen whose personal agenda is threatened by
technology should not be able to pull every judicial,
regulatory, and legislative lever in the system merely to
thwart their e-commerce competitors. Yet that's happening, and
the pace of resistance will only accelerate as more industries
fight in more states, in Congress and in the courts for
protectionist legislation and regulations."
3/2. The European
Commission announced that it will open a full
investigation into the proposed merger between U.S. companies
General Electric and Honeywell. See, release.
3/2. The FCC's Wireless
Telecommunications Bureau division chiefs spoke at a FCBA
luncheon. |
|
|
|
| Napster |
3/2. The U.S. District Court (NDCal),
Judge Marilyn Patel presiding, held a hearing in A&M
Records v. Napster. On Feb. 12 the U.S.
Court of Appeals (9thCir) issued its opinion
[PDF] largely upholding Judge Patel's findings regarding
copyright infringement by Napster,
and remanded the case to her to fashion injunctive relief
consistent with its opinion. Napster stated that if the record
companies would provide it with the titles of copyrighted
works, the names of the recording artists, the names of
Napster's files, and certifications that the record companies
own the works, then Napster would then exclude those files
from the Napster index. Judge Patel took the matter under
advisement. See also, statement
by RIAA
CEO Hillary Rosen, Napster release,
and statement
of Napster CEO Hank Barry.
3/1. RIAA
CEO Hillary Rosen gave a speech
on the Internet, music recordings, and copyright law. |
|
|
| People |
3/1. David Emmons and Craig Adams joined the
Dallas office of the law firm of Baker & Botts as
partners in corporate/securities section. They had been
partners in the Dallas office of Thompson & Knight. Both
concentrate on corporate and securities matters, including
mergers, acquisitions, and other transactions involving
technology companies. See, release.
2/27. Anna
Kraus joined the Washington DC office of the law firm
of Covington & Burling
as of counsel. She will concentrate on medical privacy,
biotech, food and drug regulation, and health care financing
issues. She was previously Deputy General Counsel of the
Department of Health and Human Services. See, release.
2/26. Former Sen. Connie Mack (R-FL) joined the
Washington DC office of the law firm of Shaw Pittman. He will
be a senior policy adviser in the government relations
practice. Mack choose not to run for re-election in 2000. He
served two terms in the Senate, and before that, three terms
in the House. See, release.
2/26. Gregory
Cirillo, Daniel
Hassett, and Christopher
Mills joined the northern Virginia office of the law
firm of Wiley Rein &
Fielding. Cirillo represents technology companies in
mergers, acquisitions, venture structuring, asset-backed
financing, major technology licenses, technology transfers,
and technology alliances. Hassett represents financial
institutions, professional service firms, ISPs, Internet
commerce participants, software developers and computer
systems integrators. Mills focuses on Internet and corporate
licensing matters. See, release.
3/5. The Washington DC offices of the law firm of Latham & Watkins relocated
to Lincoln Square (555 Eleventh Street, NW). See, release.
2/13. Gray Cary, a Silicon
Valley based law firm, selected 10 new partners: Pamela
Burke (corporate and securities group), William Choe
(corporate and securities), Sean Cunningham
(intellectual property litigation and employment services), John
Fogg (corporate and securities), Peter Leal
(intellectual property and technology), Timothy Lohse
(intellectual property and technology), Scott Oliver
(intellectual property litigation), Daniel Pascucci
(litigation), Magan Ray (employment services), and Steven
Sprinkle, (intellectual property and technology). See, release. |
|
|
| Today |
9:30 AM. The U.S.
Court of Appeals (DC Cir) will hear oral argument in Building
Owners Managers Association v. FCC, Appeal No. 99-1009.
Judges Randolph, Rogers and Garland will preside.
10:00 AM. Oral argument before the U.S. Court of
Appeals (FedCir) in Intergraph v. Intel, Appeal No.
00-1368. Location: Courtroom 203.
10:00 AM. Oral argument before the U.S. Court of
Appeals (FedCir) in Tegal Corp. v. Tokyo Electron, Appeal
Nos. 00-1009, 00-1209, 00-1239, and 00-1307. Location:
Courtroom 201.
2:00 PM. The Senate is scheduled to begin consideration of S
220, the bankruptcy reform bill. |
|
|