| Pitt to Chair SEC |
| 5/7. President Bush will nominate Harvey
Pitt to be Chairman of the SEC. He
will replace Arthur Levitt, who departed in February. Laura
Unger has been Acting Chairman since February. Pitt is a
partner in the Washington DC and New York City offices of the
law firm of Fried
Frank. His clients include the New York Stock Exchange and
Lloyd's of London. He worked at the SEC in the 1970s,
culminating as General Counsel from 1975 - 1978. Pitt is a
co-author of several treatises on the securities industry and
law, including Securities
in the Electronic Age (2000) and The
Law of Financial Services (1988). |
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| Free Trade & the
Internet |
5/7. President George Bush gave a speech
to the Council of the Americas at the State Department in
Washington DC in which he made the case for free trade.
He stated that "Americans are the world's pre-eminent
inventor of new technology and the world's biggest foreign
investor. We're the world's most efficient food producer, and
the world's leading source of information and entertainment.
For our farmers and our inventors, for our artists and for
ordinary savers, open trade pays off in the form of higher
incomes and higher returns." He then added that
"Open trade is not just an economic opportunity, it is a
moral imperative. Trade creates jobs for the unemployed. When
we negotiate for open markets, we are providing new hope for
the world's poor. And when we promote open trade, we are
promoting political freedom."
Secretary of State Colin Powell also gave a speech
to the Council of the Americas. He stated that "In
Quebec, we were all excited by the possibilities of closing
the digital divide to make sure that nobody's child, nobody's
school, nobody's society, is left behind from the power of the
information and technology revolution, so that the poorest and
most disadvantaged members of society get that same access.
... But we can't deny youngsters the opportunity to learn, to
have the world come into their world, have their lives changed
by this power. And by so doing we would increase economic
integration, bring the poor and marginalized into fuller
participation in their own democratic systems. As I say, I
hope you and the business community will use your energies and
creativity to help make the Internet a force for prosperity
and for democracy."
The Council
of the Americas is a New York City based business group
that promotes free trade in the Western Hemisphere. See also, USTR Robert
Zoellick's speech,
and Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs Peter
Romero's speech. |
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| People & Appointments |
5/3. Eric Holder will join the Washington DC law firm
of Covington & Burling
as a partner. He previously was the Deputy Attorney General.
He will handle complex civil and criminal cases, domestic and
international advisory matters, and internal corporate
investigations. See, CB
release.
4/30. Randolph Moss rejoined the Washington DC office
of the law firm of Wilmer
Cutler & Pickering as a partner. Moss was Assistant
Attorney General for the Office
of Legal Counsel. See, WCP
release.
5/2. Tim Simeone joined the Washington DC law firm of Harris Wiltshire &
Grannis as an associate. Simeone taught courses titled
"Computer Law" and "The First Amendment in
Cyberspace" last year at Villanova University Law School.
Before that he was a legal consultant to the Antitrust Division of the
Department of Justice in connection with the Microsoft
litigation. He also clerked for Justice David Souter. See, HWG
release.
5/1. Sterling Brennan was named managing partner of the
Orange County office of the law firm of Morrison & Foerster. He
succeeds Dean Zipser, who served as managing partner for over
three years. Zipser will continue to chair the litigation
group in Orange County. See, MoFo
release.
4/30. Robert Fore joined the law firm of Wilson Sonsini
as a partner in the Fund Services Group, which provides legal
services and counsel to venture capital and other private
equity funds. He previously worked for Bank of America
companies as general counsel to their worldwide private equity
businesses. See, WSGR
release. |
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| New Documents |
Bush:
speech
re free trade, 5/7 (HTML, State).
CPowell:
speech
re trade and the Internet, 5/7 (HTML, State).
MPowell:
letter
to Congress requesting increased enforcement authority for the
FCC, 5/7 (HTML, FCC).
SEC: guidance
on E-SIGN Act and broker dealer records, 5/7 (TXT, FedReg). |
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| Quote of the Day |
"Societies that open to commerce across their borders
will open to democracy within their borders, not always
immediately, and not always smoothly, but in good time."
President George Bush, speech,
May 7. |
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| FCC Enforcement |
5/4. FCC Chairman Michael Powell sent a letter
to the leaders of the Senate and House Commerce and
Appropriations Committees in which he requested increased
authority in enforcement actions against incumbent local
exchange carriers (ILECs) for violation of local competition
provisions of the 1996 Telecom Act. He stated that "in
some cases, CLECs may have been stymied by practices of
incumbent local exchange carriers that appear designed to slow
the development of local competition."
Powell wants legislation increasing the maximum fine from $1.2
Million to $10 Million. He wrote: "Currently, under 47 U.S.C.
§ 503(b)(2)(B), the Commission's forfeiture authority
against common carriers for any single continuing violation of
the Act or the Commission's rules is limited $1.2 million,
including inflationary adjustments. Given the vast resources
of many of the nation's ILECs, this amount is insufficient to
punish and to deter violations in many instances. Congress
should consider increasing the forfeiture amount to at least
$10 million in order to enhance the deterrent effect of
Commission fines.
Powell also asked for a longer statute of limitations for
forfeiture actions against common carriers. It is currently
set at one year from the date of the alleged violation. He
also asked that the FCC be given authority to award punitive
damages, attorneys fees and costs in formal complaint cases
filed under § 208. |
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| Patent Infringement |
| 5/7. The U.S.
Court of Appeals (FedCir) issued its opinion in Intellectual
Property Development v. TCI, a case involving standing
to sue in a patent infringement matter. The case
involves U.S.
Patent No. 4,135,202, which pertains to wired broadcasting
systems with fiber optic lines. The District Court (CDCal)
granted the motion filed by Intellectual Property Development
to dismiss its complaint against TCI with prejudice and to
dismiss TCI's counterclaims without prejudice. The Appeals
Court affirmed. |
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| On Sale Bar |
| 5/7. The U.S.
Court of Appeals (FedCir) issued its opinion in Robotic
Vision Systems v. View Engineering, a patent
infringement case involving the on sale bar. 35 U.S.C.
§ 102(b) provides that "A person shall be
entitled to a patent unless ... the invention was ... on
sale in this country, more than one year prior to the date of
the application for patent in the United States." Robotic
is the assignee of U.S.
Patent 5,463,227, which discloses a method of scanning the
leads on integrated circuit devices that are arranged in rows
and columns on a multi-pocketed tray. The application for the
'227 patent was filed on June 24, 1992, thus making June 24,
1991 the critical date for the purpose of applying § 102(b).
As soon as the patent was granted, Robotic filed a complaint
in the U.S. District Court (CDCal)
against View alleging that its three dimensional scanning
machines infringed the patent '227 patent. View filed a motion
for summary judgment on the grounds that the patent was
invalid under the on sale bar. The District Court held that
claim 1 of the '227 patent is invalid. The District Court
applied the Supreme Court's two part test in Pfaff
v. Wells Electronics, 525 U.S. 55 (1998); the invention
was (1) the subject of a commercial offer for sale before the
critical date, and (2) ready for patenting before the critical
date, and hence, the patent is invalid. The Appeals Court
affirmed. |
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| E-SIGN and the SEC |
| 5/7. The SEC published
in the Federal Register a guidance
on the operation of its rule permitting electronic storage of
broker- dealer records in light of the recently enacted
Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act of
2000 (E-SIGN Act). See, Federal Register, May 7, 2001, Vol.
66, No. 88, at Pages 22916 - 22921. |
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| More News |
5/2. The Washington DC based law firm of Wiley Rein & Fielding
opened its office in McLean, Virginia. See, release.
The office will be run by Michael
Senkowski and Rand
Allen, head of the firm's Telecommunications and
Government Contracts practice groups, respectively. Partners Greg
Cirillo and Dan
Hassett, whose practices involve representing technology
companies, will also work out of this office.
5/7. The Federal Trade
Commission held the first day of a two day workshop on
competition issues that arise in connection with business to
business (B2B) and business to consumer (B2C) e-commerce. See,
release.
The workshop continues on May 8.
5/7. The Electronics Industry Alliance (EIA) began a three day
conference in Washington DC. See, EIA conference web
site and agenda. |
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|
| Today |
Second day of two day workshop hosted by the Federal Trade Commission on
competition issues that arise in connection with business to
business (B2B) and business to consumer (B2C) e-commerce. See,
release.
Day two of a three day conference hosted by the Electronics
Industry Alliance (EIA). See, EIA conference web
site and agenda.
Location: Grand
Hyatt Hotel, 1000 H Street NW, Washington DC.
9:00 - 11:00 AM. The EIA will host an event titled "CIA
Tour and Briefing." CIA Director George Tenet will speak.
Location: CIA, Langley VA.
9:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The Telecommunications Service Priority
(TSP) System Oversight Committee will hold a meeting.
Location: 701 South Court House Road, Arlington, VA in the NCS
conference room on the 2nd floor. See, notice
in Federal Register, April 20, 2001, Vol. 66, No. 77, at Page
20337.
9:30 AM. The Senate
Banking Committee's Subcommittee on Housing and
Transportation will hold an oversight hearing to examine the
Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO), Fannie
Mae and Freddie Mac. Sen.
Wayne Allard (R-CO) will preside. The witnesses will be
Armando Falcon (Director of OFHEO), Franklin Raines (Ch/CEO of
Fannie Mae), Leleand Brendsel (Ch/CEO Freddie Mac). The
hearing might also address privacy issues. Location: Room 538,
Dirksen Building.
10:00 AM. The Senate
Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on patents
relating to genetics and biotechnology. Location: Room
226, Dirksen Building.
12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The EIA will host a luncheon at which Sen. John Kerry (D-MA)
will be the keynote speaker.
The Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee will host
a panel discussion titled "Sex, Hate and Kids Online:
Policy Options for the Internet." The scheduled speakers
include Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Rep. Jennifer Dunn (R-WA),
Don Telage (Chairman, COPA Commission), Jerry Berman (COPA
Commission), Bob Flores (COPA Commission), Larry Magid (LA
Times Columnist), Michael Hiembach (FBI), Robin Raskin (Family
PC Magazine). Lunch will be served. RSVP to RSVP@netcaucus.org or
call Danielle at 202-638-4370. Location: Room HC-5, Capitol
Building.
1:00 PM. The Association
for Competitive Technology (ACT) will sponsor a lunch to
present a study of the costs to small business of privacy
laws and regulations. The speakers will be Jonathan Zuck,
President of ACT, and Robert Hahn, Director, of the AEI-Brookings
Joint Center for Regulatory Studies. Location: Capitol Hill
Club, 300 First St., SE, Washington DC. For more information,
contact Vince Sampson at 202-331-2130 x103 or vsampson@ACTonline.org.
2:00 PM. The USTA will hold
a press conference on HR
1542, the Internet Freedom and Broadband Deployment Act of
2001. The participants will be Gary Lytle (P/CEO of the USTA),
Tom Tauke (SVP of Verizon), Paul Schroeder (President of the
Alliance for Public Technology), and Paul Beckner (P/CEO of
Citizens for a Sound Economy). Location: USTA, 1401 H Street
NW, City Center Building, 6th Floor, Washington DC. See, release.
3:00 PM. The House
Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and
Consumer Protection will hold a hearing titled Opinion
Surveys: What Consumers Have To Say About Information Privacy.
The witnesses will be Frank Newport (Gallup Poll), Harrison
"Lee" Rainie (Pew Internet & American Life
Project), Alan Westin (Columbia University), Humphrey Taylor
(Harris Interactive), and Sandra Bauman (Wirthlin Worldwide).
Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.
6:00 PM. The EIA will host a dinner at which President Bush
will be the keynote speaker. |
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| Wednesday, May 9 |
Day three of a three day conference hosted by the
Electronics Industry Alliance (EIA). See, EIA conference web
site and agenda.
Location: Grand
Hyatt Hotel, 1000 H Street NW, Washington DC.
9:30 AM. The U.S.
Court of Appeals (DC Cir) will hear oral argument in Qwest
v. FCC, Appeal No. 00-1376. Judges Williams, Ginsburg, and
Rogers will preside.
10:00 AM. The House
Commerce Committee will meet to mark up HR
1542, "The Internet Freedom and Broadband Deployment
Act of 2001." Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building. |
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