| Cert Granted |
3/5. The Supreme
Court granted certiorari in Richard Mathias v. WorldCom, a
case regarding the authority of federal courts to review state
utility commission decisions regarding Section 252 interconnection
agreements. See, opinion
of the U.S. Court of Appeals (7thCir). The Supreme Court
limited the issues on certiorari to:
"1. Whether a state commission's action relating
to the enforcement of a previously approved section 252
interconnection agreement is a "determination under
[section 252]" and thus is reviewable in federal court
under 47 U.S.C. §252(e)(6).
2. Whether a state commission's acceptance of Congress'
invitation to participate in implementing a federal regulatory
scheme that provides that state commission determinations are
reviewable in federal court constitutes a waiver of Eleventh
Amendment immunity.
3. Whether an official capacity action seeking
prospective relief against state public utility commissioners
for alleged ongoing violations of federal law in performing
federal regulatory functions under the federal
Telecommuncations Act of 1996 can be maintained under the Ex
parte Young doctrine."
See, Order
List [PDF], at pages 2-3. |
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| Trade Talks |
| 3/5. EU officials are in Washington DC for trade meetings
with U.S. officials and legislators. The EU's representatives
include Anna Lindh (Foreign Minister of Sweden), Javier
Solana (EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and
Security Policy), and Chris
Patten (EU Commissioner for External Relations). Sen. Chuck Grassley
(R-IA), Chairman of the Senate Finance
Committee, and other Committee members, met with Pascal
Lamy (EU Trade Commissioner) on March 5. Lindh, Solana, and
Patten will hold a press conference at 3:45 PM on March 6 at
the National Press Club. See, EU
release. |
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| CyberCash Ch. 11 |
| 3/2. CyberCash filed
a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition in U.S.
Bankruptcy Court (DDel). CyberCash provides electronic
payment technologies and services. CyberCash also announced
that it has "entered into an asset purchase agreement
under which Network 1
Financial will acquire all of CyberCash's operating
assets." See, release. |
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| New Documents |
Armey:
letter
to HHS Sec. Thompson re medical privacy regulations, 3/5
(HTML, TLJ).
SEC:
advance notice
of rule making proceedings regarding electronic records and
E-SIGN Act, 3/5 (HTML, TLJ).
Milberg:
complaint
against Broadcom, 3/5 (PDF, Milberg). |
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| Quote of the Day |
"A 'Trust me, I'm from the government' approach just
won't wash. People who are concerned about having their
medical histories wind up in the wrong hands don't care
whether it is their doctor or their government that threatens
their privacy. They want their privacy protected. The federal
government certainly has not earned a reputation of
trustworthiness in the handling of medical records or in
safeguarding Internet privacy sufficient to justify the
proposed regulation."
Rep. Dick Armey (R-TX), March 5 letter
to HHS Sec. Tommy Thompson regarding medical privacy
regulations. |
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| Medical Privacy |
3/5. House Majority Leader Dick
Armey (R-TX) sent a letter
to Secretary Tommy Thompson of the Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS) asking him to suspend implementation of proposed medical
privacy regulations drafted by the Clinton
administration. He wrote: "The HIPAA
regulations were drafted to address a concern that many
Americans have that their personal medical records are not
kept private. ... The proposed HIPAA regulations, however, may
actually have the opposite effect, putting private personally
identifiable information at greater risk than exists today.
What has not been widely reported are the rule's new mandates
requiring doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers
to share patients' personal medical records with the federal
government, sometimes without notice or advanced
warning." See also, HIPAA.
2/23. Sec. Thompson released a statement
in which he said that the medical privacy regulations
"are intended to ensure patients that the privacy of
their medical records is secure, and to ensure that this
information is used appropriately. This administration is
absolutely committed to achieving these goals." He added
that "under the Congressional Review Act, HHS was legally
required to submit this regulation for consideration by the
Congress for a 60-day period. Due to an oversight under the
prior administration, this requirement was not met. As a
result of this oversight, the 60-day period of Congressional
review did not begin until Feb. 13, and therefore the
effective date of the regulation has been delayed until April
14, 2001." |
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| More News |
3/5. The Department of
Education published in the Federal Register a notice
and request for comments regarding its development and
implementation of a system to administer grants via the
Internet. See, Federal Register, March 5, 2001, Vol. 66, No.
43, Pages 13381 - 13383.
3/5. The U.S.
Court of Appeals (DC Cir) heard oral argument in Building Owners
Managers Association v. FCC.
3/5. The U.S.
Court of Appeals (FedCir) heard oral argument in Intergraph v.
Intel,
3/5. The U.S.
Court of Appeals (FedCir) heard oral argument in Tegal
Corp. v. Tokyo Electron.
3/5. The Senate began its debate on S
220, the bankruptcy reform bill. The House passed
its version of the bill, HR
333, last week.
3/5. The Business Software
Alliance (BSA), a group that represents large U.S.
software makers in copyright infringement matters, announced
that it settled claims against eight California entities for a
total of $512,000. The eight entities had on their computers
unlicensed copies of software produced by Adobe, Autodesk,
Macromedia, Microsoft, and Symantec. See, BSA
release. |
|
|
| Class Action Suits |
3/5. Deborah Kurtz and others filed a complaint
[PDF] in U.S. District Court (CDCal)
against Broadcom and three
of its officers alleging violation of federal
securities laws. Plaintiffs, who are represented by the law
firm of Milberg
Weiss and others, seek class action status. Count one
alleges violation of § 10b
and Rule 10b-5 thereunder by all defendants (fraud). Count two
alleges violation of § 20(a)
by the individual defendants (controlling person liability).
Broadcom makes integrated circuits for broadband
communications markets, including cable settop boxes, cable
modems, high speed networking, DSL, and satellite
transmission. Milberg Weiss is a law firm that specializes in
bringing class action lawsuits against technology companies
when their stock prices drop.
Complaints seeking class action status have also recently been
filed against Xerox (see, release
by Cauley Geller), Verizon
(see, release
by Lowey Dannenberg), i2
Technologies (see, complaint
[PDF] by Milberg), and Worldwide
Xceed Group (see, complaint
[PDF] by Milberg). |
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| Today |
The Consumer Electronics
Association (CEA) will host a conference titled "The
Digital Download: Public Access to Content in a Digital
World". The price is $299. See, CEA
release. Location: Renaissance Mayflower Hotel, Washington
DC. Rep.
Rick Boucher (D-VA) will be the luncheon keynote speaker.
At 3:30 PM Rep.
Billy Tauzin (R-LA) will deliver an address.
9:00 AM. The Department of Commerce, Bureau of Export Administration,
Regulations and Procedures Technical Advisory Committee
(RPTAC) will hold a meeting, part of which will be open to the
public, and part of which will be closed. Location: Room 3884,
in the Herbert Hoover Building, 14th Street. Washington DC.
See, notice
in Federal Register.
12:00 NOON. George Bell, Chairman and CEO of Excite@Home, will
gave an address titled The Death of Dial-Up, The Birth of
Broadband, and the Revolution in Our Living Rooms. Lunch
will follow. Location: Cato
Institute, 1000 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington DC.
3:30 PM. There will be an event at the National Press Club titled
"The European Union - U.S. Relationship: The Road
Ahead". The speakers will be Anna Lindh (Minister of
Foreign Affairs of Sweden, representing the EU Presidency),
Javier Solana (EU High Representative for Common Foreign and
Security Policy), and Chris Patten (EU Commissioner for
External Affairs). Location: NPC, First Amendment Lounge, 529
14th St. NW, 13th Floor, Washington DC, 20045. |
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| SEC News |
3/1. The SEC announced
11 enforcement actions against 23 companies and individuals
that used the Internet to defraud investors. The frauds were
accomplished by a variety of online means, including
"spam" emails, electronic newsletters, websites,
hyperlinks, message boards and other Internet media. See, SEC release.
3/5. The SEC published
in the Federal Register an advanced notice
of proposed rulemaking on electronic reporting and
recordkeeping and delayed effective date of recordkeeping
provisions in the Electronic Signatures in Global and National
Commerce (E-SIGN) Act of 2000. See, Federal Register, March 5,
2001, Vol. 66, No. 43, Pages 13273 - 13274. |
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| About Tech Law Journal |
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