| House Republicans Announce
New e-Contract with High Tech America |
6/20. House Republicans leaders announced the latest version
of their e-Contract
with High Tech America at an event in the U.S.
Capitol. Most of its provisions are broad and vague
principles, such as "Modernizing and reforming our
education system", "Protecting intellectual property
rights", "Modernizing our spectrum allocation
process", and "Promoting research and
development."
One item on the contract is "Allowing high- speed
Internet access to flourish." A reporter asked House
Majority Leader Dick Armey
(R-TX) which of the pending broadband bills he supports. Armey
said that "I haven't found the answer to that. There are
good arguments on both sides of that issue."
Another item on the contract is "Protecting the Internet
from predatory, or multiple and discriminatory taxes on
electronic commerce." Armey was asked about this also. He
said that the Congress will likely make the ban on taxes on
Internet access permanent, and extend the moratorium on new or
discriminatory sales taxes for another three to five years.
Rep. Billy Tauzin
(R-LA), the Chairman of the Energy and Commerce
Committee stated his Committee's focus will be assuring
that there is power for the new economy, and protecting the
high tech economy against government regulation, taxation and
interference.
Rep. Sherwood
Boehlert (R-NY), the Chairman of the Education and Workforce
Committee, stated that his Committee will focus on
promoting K-12 math and science education. He also advocated
making permanent the research and development tax credit.
Rep. James
Sensenbrenner (R-WI), the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee,
also advocated making permanent the R&D tax credit. He
stated that his Committee will take up several tech issues
this year, including the Internet tax moratorium, distance
education over the Internet, fraud on the Internet, and USPTO
funding.
Rep.
Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Chairman of the Republican High Tech
Working Group, and Rep.
Lamar Smith (R-TX), Chairman of the Crime Subcommittee,
also participated. |
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| Senators Kohl and DeWine
Set Antitrust Agenda |
6/20. Sen. Herb Kohl
(D-WI), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee's
Subcommittee on Antitrust, Business Rights, and Competition,
and Sen. Mike DeWine
(R-OH), the ranking Republican on the Subcommittee, released a
joint statement about the Subcommittee's agenda for the
remainder of the years. These two Senators have always worked
in a bipartisan and cooperation manner on this Subcommittee.
Telecom. They stated that "The Subcommittee will
continue to examine competition in telecommunications and work
to ensure that the promise of the Telecommunications Act of
1996 is fully realized and that true price competition is
brought to a wide array of telecommunications services. The
Subcommittee will continue its efforts to speed the
development of local telephone competition. It will carefully
examine proposals concerning building access and stronger
enforcement to ensure nondiscriminatory access to essential
facilities. It will also strive to increase competition within
the multi- channel video programming market by working to
ensure that competitive providers have reasonable access to
programming and to promote the development of a competitive
navigation devices market. The Subcommittee will work to
ensure that media consolidation does not diminish the
diversity of viewpoints available to consumers."
Oversight of the FTC and Antitrust Division. They also
stated that "The Subcommittee will continue to work
closely with the Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade
Commission to ensure that the agencies can efficiently and
effectively carry out their enforcement
responsibilities." |
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| House Holds Hearing on
Internet Education Bill |
6/20. The House
Education and Workforce Committee's Subcommittee on 21st
Century Competitiveness held a hearing on HR
1992, the Internet Equity and Education Act of 2001,
sponsored by Rep.
Johnny Isakson (R-GA).
Rep. Buck McKeon
(R-CA), the Chairman of the Subcommittee summarized the
purpose of the bill in a prepared statement. He said that
"In the early 1990s, Congress and the Administration
enacted a number of reforms aimed at fighting abuses in our
federal financial aid programs. Examples of these abuses
included correspondence courses that offered little value to
the student or recruitment practices in which "bounty
hunters" were paid on a per-head basis to bring students
in to a particular school. In order to end these abuses,
Congress and the Administration may have ultimately imposed a
straightjacket on all of higher education where handcuffs on a
few bad actors would have sufficed. The legislation we are
considering today will remove the straightjacket while
maintaining program integrity and implement some of the
recommendations of the Web-based Education Commission."
See also, prepared testimony of witnesses: Stanley
Ikenberry (American Council on Education), Joseph
DiGregorio (Georgia Tech), Richard
Gowen (South Dakota School of Mines and Technology), Omer
Waddles (ITT Educational Services), and Lorraine
Lewis (Department of Education). |
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| Committee Approves Patent
Reexamination Bills |
6/20. The House
Judiciary Committee adopted two bills pertaining to patent
reexaminations, HR
1866 and HR
1886, by unanimous voice votes after a brief discussion.
The Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual
Property had approved both bills on May 22.
HR 1866 is intended to overturn the 1997 opinion of the U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir)
in In
Re Portola Packaging. In that case the Appeals Court held
that the restriction on the scope of reexaminations to
"substantial new questions" precludes the
consideration of prior art that was before the examiner. The
key language of the HR 1866 amends 35 U.S.C. §§ 303(a) and
312(a). It adds the following: "The existence of a
substantial new question of patentability is not precluded by
the fact that a patent or printed publication was previously
cited by or to the Office." This final clause ("or
to the Office") is an amendment added at the June 20 mark
up.
HR 1886 affords all participants, including third party
requesters, in reexamination proceedings, judicial review
before federal appeals courts. It was adopted without any
further amendment. Rep.
Howard Coble (R-NC) stated that "while I strongly
endorse the professionalism of the Patent and Trademark
Office, I also believe that it is necessary to place a check
on the PTO's actions by affording all participants judicial
review before a federal appeals court." Rep. Zoe Lofgren
(D-CA) also spoke in favor of the bill. She stated that it is
"a good, although small, step, in improving the
reexamination procedure, and we note that, and I think the
Chairman agrees, that there may be some additional measures
that we will need to take." |
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| Committee Approves DOJ
Authorization Bill |
| 6/20. On June 19, Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) and Rep.
John Conyers (D-MI) introduced HR 2215, a bill to authorize
appropriations for the Department
of Justice for FY 2002. The House Judiciary
Committee amended and approved the bill on June 20. It
authorizes appropriations of $140,973,000 for the Antitrust Division. See, release. |
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| FCC Adopts Report on
Wireless Competition |
6/20. The FCC adopted, but did not release, its sixth annual
report on the state of competition in the wireless
marketplace. The FCC stated in a release
that "the wireless industry continued to experience
increased competition and innovation. This has meant lower
prices and an increased diversity in service offerings for
many consumers."
The FCC stated that "The mobile telephony sector
experienced another year of strong growth and competitive
development. In the twelve months ending December 2000, this
sector generated over $52.5 billion in revenues, increased
subscribership from 86.0 million to 109.5 million, and
produced a nationwide penetration rate of roughly 39
percent." The FCC also said that "at the end of
2000, digital customers made up 62 percent of the industry
total, up from 51 percent at the end of 1999 and 30 percent in
1998".
The FCC also addressed developments in mobile data services,
including "paging / messaging services; mobile
telephone Internet access; data services offered over handheld
personal digital assistant (PDA) devices with a mobile
Internet connection; and mobile data offerings by dedicated
data network operators." The FCC said that "the
mobile data sector has continued its transition from paging /
messaging to mobile Internet access services." |
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| FCC Adopts NOI on Video
Competition |
| 6/20. The FCC adopted, but did not release, a Notice of
Inquiry (NOI) into the status of competition in the market for
the delivery of video programming. The FCC stated in a release
that "The NOI seeks information that will allow the FCC
to evaluate the status of competition in the video
marketplace, prospects for new entrants to that market, and
its effect on the cable television industry and consumers. The
NOI also solicits information regarding the extent to which
consumers have choices among video programming distributors
and delivery technologies." Comments are due by August 3.
Reply comments are due by September 5. (CS Docket No. 01-129.) |
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| House Holds Hearing on
Campaign Finance Bill |
| 6/20. The House
Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Telecommunications
and the Internet held a hearing on campaign finance
proposals impacting broadcasters, cable operators and
satellite providers. At issue is the Torrecilli amendment
to the McCain Feingold campaign bill, S 27. See, opening
statement of Subcommittee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and opening
statement of Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-LA). See also, prepared
testimony of witnesses: Lillian
BeVier (University of Virginia Law School), Dwight
Morris (Campaign Study Group), Andrew
Wright (Satellite Broadcasting and Communications
Association), Jack
Sander (Belo Corporation), Joshua
Sapan (Rainbow Media Holdings), and Paul
Taylor (Alliance for Better Campaigns). |
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| Bush Nominates DC Judges |
| 6/20. President Bush nominated John Bates and Reggie
Walton to be Judges of the U.S. District for the District
of Columbia. See, release.
Walton is a Judge of the Superior Court of the District of
Columbia. He was deputy drug czar under the elder George Bush.
He was also an Assistant United States Attorney for the
District of Columbia before becoming a judge. Bates is a
former Deputy Independent Counsel in the Office of the
Independent Counsel, where he worked on the Whitewater matter.
He is also a member of the Washington DC law firm of Miller Chevalier. See, MC
bio. |
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| Thursday, June 21 |
9:30 AM. The Senate
Finance Committee will hold the second of two days of
hearings on granting the President trade promotion
authority. Location: Room 215, Dirksen Building.
9:30 AM. The House
Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and
Consumer Protection will hold a hearing titled Information
Privacy: Industry Best Practices and Technological Solutions.
Room 2123, Rayburn Building. The scheduled witnesses are:
• Michael Wallent (Microsoft).
• Austin Hill (Zero- Knowledge).
• Frances Schlosstein (Webwasher).
• Stephen Hsu (SafeWeb).
• John Schwarz (Reciprocal).
• Trevor Hughes (Engage).
• Jerry Cerasale (DMA).
• Steven Cole (BBB).
• Jerry DeVault (Ernst & Young).
• Marc Rotenberg (EPIC).
10:00 AM. The Senate
Commerce Committee will hold a hearing on international
trade issues. Location: Room 253, Russell Building.
10:00 AM. The Joint Economic Committee will hold a hearing to
examine cyber security issues. Location: Room 562, Dirksen
Building.
10:00 AM. The Senate Small Business Committee will hold a
hearing on S 856, the Small Business Technology Transfer
Program Reauthorization Act of 2001. Location: Room 428A,
Russell Building.
11:30 AM. The Senate
Finance Committee will hold a hearing on several
nominations. Location: Room 215, Dirksen Building. The
nominees include Allen Johnson (Chief Agricultural Negotiator,
USTR), William Lash (Asst. Sec. of Market Access and
Compliance, DOC), and Brian Roseboro (Asst. Sec. of Financial
Markets, Treasury).
Sold Out. 12:00 NOON. The Federal Communications Bar
Association will host a lunch. FCC Chairman Michael
Powell will speak. Doors open at 12:00 NOON, the luncheon
starts at 12:30 PM, and Powell's remarks will begin at 1:00
PM. RSVP to Arlice Johnson at arlice@fcba.org.
Location: Congressional Senate Room, 2nd Floor, Capital
Hilton, 16th & K Streets, NW, Washington DC.
12:30 PM. A Privacy Task Force will hold a press conference.
For more information, contact Jake Lewis at 202-387-8030.
Location: West Room, National
Press Club, Washington DC.
1:00 PM. The House
Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime will hold a
legislative hearing and mark up session on HR
1877, the "Child Sex Crimes Wiretapping Act of
2001". Location: Room 2237, Rayburn Building. |
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| HP Settles More Injet
Patent Cases |
| 6/20. Hewlett Packard
stated that it has settled more outstanding patent
infringement litigation regarding its thermal inkjet printer
cartridges. HP settled proceeding in Germany and France
against International United Technology (IUT) and other
companies. HP described the settlement as follows: "IUT
acknowledges that its inkjet cartridges infringe several of
HP's European patents and has agreed to immediately cease and
desist from offering and/or selling the infringing cartridges
in the relevant European countries. IUT will also make a
payment to HP in respect of past sales. Under the terms of the
settlement, neither party will disclose additional
details." See, HP
release. |
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