| Breaking News |
| 4/13. The Wall Street Journal reports in a story
in its interactive edition that the FCC will soon approve new reciprocal
compensation rules that will "cut the amount of money
phone companies have to pay competitors for completing
Internet-bound calls by as much as 67% over three years
..." The FCC will hold a meeting on Thursday, April 19.
(The WSJ is a subscription web site.) |
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| Cybersquatting |
| 4/12. The World Intellectual
Propoerty Organization (WIPO) released an interim
report [203 pages in PDF] titled "The Recognition of
Rights and the Use of Names in the Internet Domain Name
System." The report addresses abusive registration of
domain names in relation to personal names, trade names, names
and acronyms of international intergovernmental organizations,
geographical indications (such as for wines), and
International Nonproprietary Names for pharmaceutical
substances. The WIPO also seeks public comment. The WIPO will
also hold a series of public hearings around the world,
including one in Washington DC on May 29, 2001. See also, WIPO
release. |
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| PRC Trade |
| 4/12. Bush released a statement
on relations with the PRC in which he said that "China's
decision to prevent the return of our crew for 11 days is
inconsistent with the kind of relationship we have both said
we wish to have. As we move forward, the United States and
China will, no doubt, again face difficult issues and
fundamental disagreements. We disagree on important basic
issues such as human rights and religious freedom. At
times, we have different views about the path to a more stable
and secure Asian-Pacific region. We have different values, yet
common interests in the world. We agree on the importance
of trade and we want to increase prosperity for our
citizens." See also, State
Dept. release. |
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| IRS |
| 4/11. A grand jury of the U.S. District Court (NDCal)
returned an indictment
[PDF] against Yong Ho Ko (aka James Ko), Yong Uk Ko (aka Paul
Ko), and Jungah Choi (aka Joanne Choi) alleging tax fraud and
conspiracy in connection with their operation of a circuit
board manufacturing business. The indictment alleges that Yong
Ho Ko, the sole owner of Twin Technology, a San Jose
corporation that assembles printed circuit boards for computer
manufacturers, his brother Yong Uk Ko, who is the VP of the
company, and Jungah Choi, who is a company sales
representative, received money from an electronics scrap
material recycling business and failed to report that income
on their federal income tax returns. David Callaway is the AUSA
who is prosecuting the case. See also, USAO
release. |
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| New Documents |
WIPO:
interim
report on abusive registration of domain names, 4/12 (PDF,
WIPO).
Burghardt:
speech
re US EU relations, 4/12 (HTML, EU).
GAO:
report
on Defense Dept. use of information technology, 4/12 (PDF,
GAO).
GAO: report
on record linkage and privacy, 4/12 (PDF, GAO). |
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| Medical Privacy |
4/12. President Bush and Secretary of Health and Human
Services Tommy Thompson announced that the medical privacy
regulations released in the closing days of the Clinton
administration will be implemented. See, Bush
statement and Thompson
statement. The rules, which were promulgated pursuant to
the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA),
were opposed by many health care providers, trade groups and
Members of Congress. The rules take effect on April 14, but
the health care industry has two years to come into
compliance. The HHS Dept. released these rules on December 20,
2000. See, HHS
summary, and the entire text of the regulations.
The regulations were also published in the Federal Register on
December 28, 2000. See also, HHS's HIPAA page.
Sec. Thompson said that "we will immediately begin the
process of implementing the patient privacy rule."
President Bush stated that "Today, I directed Secretary
Thompson to allow a federal rule that will protect the privacy
of medical information for millions of Americans to become
effective. For the first time, patients will have full access
to their medical records and more control over how their
personal information will be used and
disclosed. The rule also provides a clear avenue of
recourse for those Americans whose medical privacy has been
compromised." Bush added, "I have asked Secretary
Thompson to recommend appropriate modifications to the
rule ..."
Rep. Billy Tauzin
(R-LA), House
Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over this
matter, released a statement
in which he said that "Given the many legitimate concerns
raised at our recent hearing, it's critically important for
Secretary Thompson to immediately begin the process of
amending and improving the new privacy rules. In addition to
being too costly and too complex, the regulations fail to
fully protect the privacy of all Americans. In some respects,
the new privacy rules could even weaken - not improve - the
confidential nature of certain medical records." The
Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Health held a hearing
on March 22.
The Consumers Union
released a statement
in which it praised Bush's and Thompson's decision. CU's Frank
Torres stated that "much of the criticism against these
rules is nothing more than scare tactics concocted by
businesses that make money from data sharing." |
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| More News |
4/12. The GAO
published a report
[71 pages in PDF] titled "DOD INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY:
Software and Systems Process Improvement Programs Vary in Use
of Best Practices."
4/12. The GAO
released a report
[172 pages in PDF] titled "Record Linkage and Privacy:
Issues in Creating New Federal Research and Statistical
Information."
4/11. Guenter
Burghardt, head of the European Commission delegation to
the US, gave a speech
in Chicago, Illinois, titled "Recent Political and
Economic Developments in the EU: Implications for the
Transatlantic Relationship."
4/12. The NTIA
published a notice
in the Federal Register of its intent to award a .edu
management contract to EDUCAUSE. See, Federal Register, April
12, 2001, Vol. 66, No. 71, at Pages 18913 - 18914. The NTIA
also published a copy
of this notice in its web site on April 11. |
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|
| NetZero v. Juno |
| 4/12. The U.S. District Court (CDCal)
denied NetZero's motion
for a preliminary injunction against Juno. NetZero filed a complaint
on December 26, 2000, against Juno
alleging patent infringement. NetZero, an ISP and web
marketer, asserts that it is the exclusive licensee of U.S.
Patent No. 6,157,946, which applies to a process that
enables an ISP to display ads or messages through a window
that is separate from the browser, and that Juno, a competing
ISP, has infringed this patent. The District Court granted
NetZero a temporary
restraining order on January 5. This latest ruling lifts
that TRO. Juno General Counsel Richard Buchband stated that
"by denying NetZero's request for a preliminary
injunction, the court sends an important signal that it has
doubts that the '946' patent will stand up at trial."
See, Juno
release. |
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| E-SIGN & the FEC |
| 4/12. The Federal Election
Commission (FEC) released a draft advisory opinion
regarding the use of web sites to authorize payroll deductions
for political actions committees. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter
submitted a Request
for Advisory Opinion [26 pages in PDF] to the FEC on March
6 requesting an opinion that it is permissible, pursuant to
the E-SIGN Act, to use electronic signatures to
authorize payroll deductions for the MSDW political action
committee. MSDW wrote: "Given the near-ubiquitous use of
computer and Internet technology in the workplace today,
MSDWPAC would like to solicit its restricted class members via
the Internet and accept their payroll deduction authorizations
in a form other than the traditional, written signature on a
hard copy. Specifically, MSDWPAC intends to establish an
Internet website which would enable its restricted class
members to authorize payroll deductions via electronic
signature. To ensure that only restricted class members have
access to this website, it will be password protected."
The draft opinion states that what MSDW plans to do is
permissible. However, the FEC reached this conclusion on the
basis of federal election law, without applying or construing
the E-SIGN Act, except to say, in a footnote, that "the
Commission's approach here is similar to that prescribed in
the E-Signatures Act". The FEC will consider this draft
advisory opinion at its meeting on Thursday, April 19, 2001.
Public comments are due by 12:00 NOON ET, April 18. |
|
|
| Today |
9:30 AM. The U.S.
Court of Appeals (DC Cir) will hear oral argument in
Telecom Resellers v. FCC, Appeal No. 00-1144. Judges Williams,
Ginsburg and Rogers will preside.
Deadline to submit requests to appear at public hearing to be
held by the USTR on
further actions against Ukraine for its denial of adequate
protection of intellectual property rights. On March 12, the
USTR designated Ukraine as a "Priority Foreign
Country" under the "Special 301" program. A
public hearing will be held on April 27, 2001. See, notice
in the Federal Register, April 6, 2001, Vol. 66, No. 67, at
Pages 18346 - 18348. See also, USTR
release of March 13.
Starting today the Immigration
and Naturalization Service (INS) will only accept the
December 18, 2000, version of Form I-129W, titled "H-1B
Data Collection and Filing Fee Exemption." Prior editions
of the form will not be accepted. See, notice
in Federal Register, March 30, 2001, Vol. 66, No. 62, at Page
17442. |
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