| Adobe Advocates Release of
eBook Cracker |
7/23. Adobe recommended
the release of Dmitry Sklyarov from jail. The U.S. Attorney's
Office (NDCal)
charged Dmitry Sklyarov by criminal
complaint [PDF] with one count of trafficking in a product
designed to circumvent copyright protection measures in
violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). See,
17
U.S.C. § 1201. The complaint states that Sklyarov
developed for sale and distribution a program that can convert
Adobe's eBooks into naked files that can be read, copied, and
stored on any computer.
Colleen Pouliot, SVP and General Counsel for Adobe, said in a release
that "the prosecution of this individual in this
particular case is not conducive to the best interests of any
of the parties involved or the industry. ElcomSoft's Advanced
eBook Processor software is no longer available in the United
States, and from that perspective the DMCA worked. Adobe will
continue to protect its copyright interests and those of its
customers." |
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| Copyright Office to Hold
Arbitration Proceeding on Webcasting Rates and Terms |
| 7/23. The Copyright
Office (CO) published a notice
of initiation of arbitration proceeding in the Federal
Register regarding webcasting of digital sound recordings. The
notice states that the CO "is announcing the initiation
of and schedule for the 180-day arbitration period to set the
rates and terms for two compulsory licenses. One license
allows certain eligible nonsubscription services to perform
sound recordings publicly by means of digital audio
transmissions and the other allows a transmitting organization
to make an ephemeral recording of a sound recording for the
purpose of making a permitted public performance." The
proceedings will begin with opening statements on July 30,
2001. Presentation of direct cases is scheduled for July 31
through September 13. See, Federal Register, July 23, 2001,
Vol. 66, No. 141, at Pages 38324 - 38326. |
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| Copyright Office Issues
NPRM |
| 7/23. The Copyright
Office (CO) published a notice
of proposed rule making in the Federal Register regarding
rates and terms for the digital performance of sound
recordings. The CO requests comment on proposed regulations
that will govern the RIAA collective when it functions as the
designated agent receiving royalty payments and statements of
accounts from nonexempt, subscription digital transmission
services which make digital transmissions of sound recordings
under the provisions of Section
114 of the Copyright Act. Comments are due by August 22,
2001. See, Federal Register, July 23, 2001, Vol. 66, No. 141,
at Pages 38226 - 38229. |
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| House Passes DOJ
Appropriations Authorization Bill |
7/23. The House passed HR
2215, the 21st Century Department of Justice
Appropriations Authorization Act, by a voice vote. The bill
authorizes $3,507,109,000 for the FBI and $140,973,000 for the
Antitrust Division. It
also requires the DOJ to report to the Congress on its use of
Carnivore, and to appoint a Deputy Inspector General to
oversee the troubled FBI.
Carnivore. The bill provides, at Section 306, that the
DOJ must provide detailed reports to the Congress regarding
its use of the Internet surveillance systems known as both
"Carnivore" and "DCS 1000". The bill
requires that for FY 2001 and FY 2002 "the Attorney
General and the Director of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation shall provide to the Judiciary Committees of the
House of Representatives and Senate a report detailing -- (1)
the number of times DCS 1000 was used for surveillance during
the preceding fiscal year; (2) the Department of Justice
official or officials who approved each use of DCS 1000; (3)
the criteria used by the Department of Justice officials to
review requests to use of DCS 1000; (4) a complete description
of the process used to submit, review, and approve requests to
use DCS 1000; (5) the specific statutory authority relied on
to use DCS 1000; (6) the court that authorized each use of DCS
1000; (7) the number of orders, warrants, or subpoenas applied
for, to authorize the use of DCS 1000; (8) the fact that the
order, warrant, or subpoena was granted as applied for, was
modified, or was denied; (9) the offense specified in the
order, warrant, subpoena, or application; and (10) the nature
of the facilities from which, or the place where the contents
of, electronic communications were to be disclosed."
Inspector General. The bill also provides, at Section
304, in part, that "The Inspector General of the
Department of Justice shall appoint a Deputy Inspector General
for the Federal Bureau of Investigation who shall be
responsible for supervising independent oversight of programs
and operations of the Federal Bureau of Investigation until
September 30, 2004." Rep. James
Sensenbrenner (R-WI), Chairman of the House Judiciary
Committee, stated in a release
that "This position is necessary because of the recent
spy scandal, the FBI's failure to comply with the document
disclosure agreement in the McVeigh case, and now the
revelation about missing firearms and computers at our
nation's number one crime fighting agency. These problems cry
out for attention, and I believe there needs to be one person
at the IG's office whose sole focus is the review of FBI
operations." |
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| G8 Communiqué |
7/22. Leaders of eight major democratic nations and Russia
issued a Communiqué
at the conclusion of their summit meeting in Genoa, Italy.
They agreed to promote free trade and a new round
of multilateral negotiations. They wrote: "Open trade and
investment drive global growth and poverty reduction. That is
why we have agreed today to support the launch of an ambitious
new Round of global trade negotiations with a balanced
agenda." The statement also addresses in vague language
protecting intellectual property rights and expanding
the use of information technology.
Intellectual Property Rights. The Communiqué states
that "Increased market access must be coupled with the
capacity to take advantage of it. Thus, to help developing
countries benefit from open markets, we will better
co-ordinate our trade related assistance to: provide bilateral
assistance on ... the protection of intellectual property
rights ..." It also states that "To promote further
investments in the knowledge- based economy, we call on the
WTO and the World Intellectual Property Rights Organisation,
in collaboration with the World Bank, to help the poorest
countries comply with international rules on intellectual
property rights."
Promoting Use of IT. The Communiqué states that
"we will work to expand the use of information and
communications technology (ICT) to train teachers in best
practices and strengthen education strategies. We especially
encourage the private sector to examine new opportunities for
investment in infrastructure, ICT and learning materials. ...
ICT holds tremendous potential for helping developing
countries accelerate growth, raise standards of living and
meet other development priorities. ... We also encourage
development of an Action Plan on how e-Government can
strengthen democracy and the rule of law by empowering
citizens and making the provision of essential government
services more efficient." |
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| U.S. Singapore Trade
Agreement |
| 7/20. The USTR stated
that the U.S. and Singapore concluded the fourth round of
negotiations on the U.S. Singapore Free Trade Agreement (FTA)
in London. The USTR stated in a release
that "The two sides continued intensive negotiations on a
wide range of issues, including trade in goods, customs and
rules of origin, textiles, trade in services, investment,
intellectual property rights, and government procurement.
Significant progress was achieved in services and rules of
origin. The two sides agreed to adopt the negative list
approach for services and investment and to develop state of
the art rules of origin to take into account the globalization
of manufacturing in a knowledge-based world economy." The
parties will resume negotiations during the week of September
17-21, 2001 in London. |
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| .us Domain Management |
7/20. Rep. Ed Markey
(D-MA), the ranking Democrat on the House Telecom and Internet
Subcommittee, sent a letter [PDF]
to Commerce Secretary Donald Evans regarding the .us top level
domain.
Rep. Markey stated that the "NTIA has announced its
intent to contract out management of the ".us"
domain, apparently to any contractor willing to run the ccTLD
registry service at no cost to the government. I strongly
suggest that the Department of Commerce reconsider this
proposal for several reasons." He went on to state that
it should be managed "in the public interest, serving all
Americans in a non-commercial context." Moreover, he
stated that "it is inexcusable to give away this public
asset without due compensation".
On June 13, NTIA,
which is a part of the Commerce Department, issued a Request
for Quotations (RFQ) for management of the .us domain. The
final date for responses to the RFQ is July 27. |
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| FEC Fines Tech PACs |
| 7/23. The FEC fined the Nortel
Networks PAC, Cable & Wireless PAC, and Circuit City PAC
$1,000 each for failure to file reports pursuant to the
Federal Election Campaign Act. See, FEC release. |
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| New Documents |
Markey:
letter to
Commerce Sec. Evans re .us domain management, 7/20 (PDF,
Markey).
CO:
notice
of proposed rule making, 7/23 (HTML, FedReg).
CO:
notice
of arbitration proceeding re webcasting rates and terms, 7/23
(HTML, FedReg).
G8:
communiqué,
7/22 (HTML, State). |
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| 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: 1,844.
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. |
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| Tuesday, July 24 |
8:30 AM - 3:30 PM. The Consumer
Electronics Association will hold a conference titled
"The DTV Transition: Is Laissez Faire Fair?" The
keynote speaker will be Sen.
Conrad Burns (R-MT); he will speak at 8:35 AM. The price
is $199 in advance, and $299 at the door. Location: Ronald
Reagan Building and International Trade Center, Polaris Room,
1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington DC. See, full
schedule.
9:30 AM. The House
Commerce Committee's Telecommunications and Internet
Subcommittee will hold a hearing titled "U.S. Deployment
of Third Generation Wireless Services: When Will It
Happen and Where Will It Happen?" Location: Room 2123,
Rayburn House Office Building. The witnesses will be Michael
Dempsey (Catholic Television Network), William Hatch (Commerce
Dept.), Julius Knapp (FCC Office of Engineering and Tech.),
Denny Strigl (Verizon Wireless), Linton Wells (Defense Dept.),
Thomas Wheeler (CTIA).
10:00 AM. The House Financial
Services Committee's Financial Institutions
Subcommittee will hold a hearing on HR
556, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Funding Prohibition
Act, and other Internet gambling proposals. Location: Room
2128, Rayburn House Office Building. The scheduled witnesses
will be Rep. James Leach (R-IA), Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA),
Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), Michael Farmer (Wachovia Bank Card
Services), Bob Frederick (NCAA), Ernest Stevens (National
Indian Gaming Assoc.), Edwin McGuinn (E-Lottery), Timothy
Kelly (Nat. Gambling Impact Study Comm'n).
10:00 AM. The House
Judiciary Committee will hold a meeting to mark up eight
bills, including HR
2047, the Patent and Trademark Office Authorization Act of
2002. Location: Room, 2141 Rayburn Building.
10:00 AM. The Cato Institute
will host a panel discussion titled "Broadband and the
Markets: Perspectives from the Investment Community."
The speakers will be Doug Ashton (Bear Stearns), Blake Bath
(Lehman Brothers), Scott Cleland (Precursor Group), and Erik
Olbeter (Schwab Capital Markets). Location: Cato Institute,
1000 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington DC.
10:00 AM. The Senate
Banking Committee will hold a hearing on monetary policy
at which Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan will
testify. The Committee will also hold a business meeting to
consider the nomination of Harvey Pitt, to be a
Chairman of the SEC. Location:
Room 216, Hart Building.
RESCHEDULED TO JULY 31. 10:00
AM. The House
Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight and
Investigations will hold a hearing for titled "How Secure
is Sensitive Commerce Department Data and Operations? A Review
of the Department's Computer Security Policies and
Practices." Location: Room 2322, Rayburn House Office
Building.
2:00 PM. The House
Financial Services Committee's Domestic and Monetary
Policy, Technology and Economic Growth Subcommittee will hold
a hearing on the security and design of currency. The
hearing will focus on preliminary plans for further redesign
and security changes to thwart currency counterfeiting. The
hearing might also address privacy implications of proposed
currency technologies. See, release.
Room 2128, Rayburn Building. |
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| Wednesday, July 25 |
9:00 AM. The American
Enterprise Institute (AEI) will host a panel discussion
titled "The Law and Economics of Anticompetitive Behavior
by Public Enterprises." The scheduled speakers are Dennis
Logue (University of Oklahoma), John Lott (Yale University),
Gregory Sidak (AEI), and Peter Wallison (AEI); the moderator
will be Rick Geddes (Fordham University). See, online registration
page. Location: AEI, 1150 17th Street, NW, Washington DC.
9:00 AM. The Department of Commerce's Bureau of Export Administration's
Information Systems Technical Advisory Committee (ISTAC) will
hold the first session of a two day meeting. Part of the
meeting is open to the public, and part is closed. See, notice
in Federal Register, June 29, 2001, Vol. 66, No. 126, at Page
34613. Location: Herbert Hoover Building, Room 3884, 14th
Street between Pennsylvania Avenue and Constitution Avenue,
NW., Washington DC.
9:30 AM. The Senate
Appropriations Committee's Labor, Health and Human
Services, and Education Subcommittee will hold a hearing to
examine education technology issues. Location: Room
106, Dirksen Building.
9:30 AM. The Trade and Environment Policy Advisory Committee
will hold a meeting on from 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM. The meeting
will be closed to the public from 9:30 AM to 12:00 NOON. For
more information, contact Heather Wingate (Office of the USTR)
at 202-395-6120. See, notice
in Federal Register. Location: USTR ANNEX Building in
Conference Rooms 1 and 2, located at 1724 F Street, NW,
Washington DC.
2:00 PM. The Senate
Judiciary Committee's Technology, Terrorism, and
Government Information Subcommittee will hold an oversight
hearing on the FBI's National
Infrastructure Protection Center and fighting cybercrime.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) will preside. Location: Room 226,
Dirksen Building. |
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