| Trade |
4/21. President Bush gave an address
at the Summit of the Americas in Quebec City, Canada,
in which he advocated free trade, fast track trade negotiating
authority, and a new e-business fellowship program. He stated
that "The United States will work for open trade at every
opportunity. We will seek bilateral free trade agreements with
friends and partners, such as the one we aim to complete this
year with Chile. We will work for open trade globally through
negotiations in the World Trade Organization. And here in the
Americas, we will work hard to build an entire hemisphere that
trades in freedom."
President Bush stated that "I'm committed to attaining
trade promotion authority before the end of the year. I'm
confident that I will get it."
President Bush also used his Quebec address to announce an electronic
business fellowship program. He said that "we will
sponsor the creation of the new Latin E-business Fellowship
program. This will give young professionals from throughout
the Americans the opportunity to learn about information
technology by spending time with United States companies. It
will empower them with the skills and background to bring the
benefits of these technologies to their own societies."
President Bush stated in his Quebec address that "Our
commitment to open trade must be matched by a strong
commitment to protecting our environment and improving labor
standards. Yet, these concerns must not be an excuse for
self-defeating protectionism." On the previous day, the
Office of the USTR announced
that the Bush Administration will conduct written environmental
reviews of major trade agreements. See, release.
See also, USTR Robert Zoellick's April 21 press
briefing. |
|
|
| Patent Cases |
4/20. The U.S.
Court of Appeals (FedCir) issued its opinion in Bristol-Meyers
Squibb v. Ben Venue Laboratories, a patent
case. The District Court held on summary judgment that certain
claims of U.S. Patent 5,641,803 and 5,670,537, a three-hour
administration of the antitumor drug paclitaxel, are not
invalid for anticipation. The Appeals Court affirmed as
to eight claims, and reversed as to two claims.
4/20. The U.S.
Court of Appeals (FedCir) issued its opinion in Medtronic
v. ACS and Guidant, a patent infringement case.
Medtronic filed a complaint in U.S. District Court (DMinn)
against Advanced Cardiovascular Systems and Guidant alleging
infringement of its U.S. Patent No. 5,653,727, which relates
to intravascular coronary stents. The District Court held the
various claims of this patent were not infringed by
Defendants' accused product. The Court of Appeals affirmed,
holding that the District Court correctly construed the means
plus function limitation of "means for connecting
adjacent elements together." |
|
|
| New Documents |
USCA: opinion
in WorldCom v. FCC re application of Sec. 251 requirements to
DSL service provided by ILECs, 4/20 (TXT, USCA).
Bush: address
at the Summit of the Americas re free trade, fast track, and
electronic business fellowships, 4/21 (HTML, State).
Milberg: complaint
against Cisco Systems, 4/20 (PDF, Milberg). |
|
|
| Quote of the Day |
"Free trade is also about freedom. Free trade reduces
government barriers and encourages vibrant private and civic
societies governed by the rule of law. It opens societies to
people, to ideas, to debate, to competition, and also to
impartial transparent rules. That freedom creates openings for
the free press, for NGOs, not just for businesses and
entrepreneurs. And it creates openings to the outside world
through the Internet, through books, through a whole series of
new networks."
USTR Robert Zoellick, April 21 press
briefing in Quebec. |
|
|
|
| DSL and §251 |
4/20. The U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir) issued its opinion
in WorldCom
v. FCC, a petition for review of an order of
the FCC that Section 251
obligations extend to ILECs'
provision of DSL service.
The Court affirmed in part, and vacated and remanded in part.
Section
251 contains the interconnection requirements of the
Telecom Act of 1996. It provides, among other things, that
incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs), such as Verizon,
SBC, BellSouth, and Qwest, have a "duty to provide, to
any requesting telecommunications carrier for the provision of
a telecommunications service, nondiscriminatory access to
network elements on an unbundled basis at any technically
feasible point on rates, terms, and conditions that are just,
reasonable, and nondiscriminatory ..." It also provides
that ILECs have a duty "to offer for resale at wholesale
rates any telecommunications service that the carrier provides
at retail to subscribers who are not telecommunications
carriers". At issue is whether ILECs' digital subscriber
line (DSL) service is subject to these § 251 mandates.
Qwest and others requested
a clarification from the FCC regarding this issue. The FCC
issued a first order, which the Court of Appeals vacated and
remanded. The FCC then issued an a second order (see, In re
Deployment of Wireline Services Offering Advanced
Telecommunications Capability, 15 F.C.C.R. 385 (1999)) which
is the subject of this Petition for Review. In this second
order the FCC ruled that DSL based advanced services are
subject to § 251(c) obligations on two theories: first,
on the definition of "local exchange carrier", and
second, on the definitions of "telephone exchange
service" and "exchange access". The Appeals
Court vacated and remanded the FCC's classification of DSL
based advanced services as "telephone exchange
service" or "exchange access." However, the
Court denied Qwest's claim that ILECs can be subject to
§ 251(c) duties only with respect to the provision of
"telephone exchange service" or "exchange
access".
Judge Stephen Williams wrote the opinion; Judges David
Sentelle and Judith Rogers joined. |
|
|
| Crime |
4/18. A grand jury of the U.S. District Court (WDKent)
returned a superceding indictment against Kurtis Cullen and
Bruce Zak charging conspiracy to steal trade secrets,
attempted theft of trade secrets, and wire fraud. The
indictment states that defendants engaged in a scheme to buy a
proprietary computer source code from an employee of
ZirMed.com. See, release.
4/17. Kenneth Walton plead guilty in U.S. District Court (EDCal)
to three counts of wire fraud and four counts of mail fraud
for making fraudulent or shill bids on eBay. Scott Beach plead guilty
to one count of wire fraud and three counts of mail fraud. A
third defendant in this case, Kenneth Fetterman, is a
fugitive. See, release.
4/16. The U.S. District Court (DOr)
sentenced Jeffrey Stockton to serve 12 months and one day in
prison based upon his conviction for criminal copyright
infringement. Stockton willfully infringed copyrights of
Adobe Systems for purposes of private financial gain by
selling unlicensed copies over the Internet. |
|
|
| Securities Class Action |
| 4/20. The Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 572 Pension Fund
filed a complaint
[PDF] in U.S. District Court (NDCal)
against Cisco and several
of its officers and directors alleging violation of federal
securities laws. Plaintiff, which is represented by the law
firm of Milberg Weiss
and others, seeks class action status. The one count complaint
alleges violation of Section 10b and Rule 10b-5. Milberg Weiss
is a law firm that files class action securities suits against
technology companies when their stock prices drop. It has also
recently filed suits against Amazon, AT&T, Broadcom, Covad,
Deutsche Telekom, Gateway, Macromedia, Nortel, Oracle, and
many other companies. |
|
|
|
| Appointments |
4/20. President Bush announced his intent to nominate Robert
Flores to be Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). Flores is currently the VP
and Senior Counsel for the National Law Center
for Children and Families. He also served on the COPA Commission. He
is one of the leading proponents of prosecuting obscenity on
the Internet, and requiring schools and libraries receiving
e-rate subsidies to use filtering technology. However, the
OJJDP is not a prosecutorial office; it collects and
disseminates information, and provides grants and other
assistant to state and local authorities. It also has no
authority regarding the e-rate. See, release.
4/20. The FTC appointed Molly
Boast Director of its Bureau of Competition,
which enforces antitrust laws. She was Senior Deputy Director
of the Bureau from July 1999 through January 2001, and has
been the Acting Director since then. See, FTC
release. Commissioner Orson Swindle wrote a dissent
in which he praised Boast, but stated that "even if
Chairman Pitofsky's appointment of Molly Boast as Bureau
Director was not intended to frustrate a smooth transition at
the FTC, it surely could have that result." He elaborated
that "it is no secret that Ms. Boast has informed the
Commission and the staff of her intention to leave the agency
soon. Second, the President recently announced his intention
to nominate Timothy Muris as FTC Chairman." |
|
|
| More News |
4/20. The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball submitted a
comment
[PDF] to the FCC in response to its Notice of Inquiry
regarding interactive TV over cable facilities. It argued that
the FCC should not regulate the market for iTV services and
platforms at this time, but if it does, it should avoid
regulations which have an effect on the intellectual
property rights of content owners.
4/19. The U.S.
Court of Appeals (FedCir) issued its opinion in GE
v. US, an appeal of a Customs Service
classification. GE challenged the U.S. Customs Service's
classification of multi format cameras which were for use
solely with computerized tomography x-ray scanners. The U.S.
Court of International Trade granted summary judgment to the
Customs Service. The Appeals Court reversed.
4/20. The U.S. Court
of Appeals (DC Cir) heard oral argument in National
Public Radio v. FCC, Appeal No. 00-1246.
4/20. The FCC's WRC-03
Advisory Committee held a meeting to continue preparations for
the 2003 World Radiocommunication Conference.
4/20. The FCC published in its web site a copy [PDF]
of the presentation on digital TV made at the Thursday,
April 19 meeting of the FCC.
4/12. The Ministry of Justice of the People's Republic of
China granted the Seattle based law firm of Perkins Coie
authorization to open an office in Beijing. See, release. |
|
|
| 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: 1,402.
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. |
|
|