| Sen. Bennett Introduces
Cyber Security Bill |
9/24. Sen. Robert
Bennett (R-UT) and Sen.
Jon Kyl (R-AZ) introduced S
1456, the "Critical Infrastructure Information
Security Act of 2001." One of the main purposes of the
bill to encourage information sharing pertaining to cyber
security issues, by removing legal disincentives for such
actions.
The bill would provide a Freedom of Information Act
exemption for certain cyber security information provided
to certain federal agencies, including the NIPC, FCC, Justice
Department, Defense Department, and Commerce Department. The
bill would also provide an antitrust exemption for
certain collaboration on cyber security issues. The bill was
referred to the Senate
Governmental Affairs Committee, of which Sen. Bennett is a
member. See also, Bennett
release. |
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| Sen. Graham Introduces FISA
Bill |
| 9/21. Sen. Bob Graham
(D-FL) and four other Democrats introduced S
1448, the "Intelligence to Prevent Terrorism Act of
2001". The bill would amend the electronic surveillance
authority under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
The bill was referred to the Senate Intelligence
Committee, of which Sen. Grahm is the Chairman. |
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| Rep. Smith Introduces
Electronic Surveillance Bill |
9/20. Rep. Lamar
Smith (R-TX) introduced HR
2915, the "Public Safety and Cyber Security
Enhancement Act of 2001". The bill was referred to the House Judiciary
Committee, of which Rep. Smith is a senior member.
The bill contains several provisions pertaining to
surveillance of electronic communications. It would amend the
pen register and trap and trace sections of Title 18, which
currently allow law enforcement agencies (LEAs) to obtain
orders to obtain incoming and outgoing telephone numbers. The
bill would extend the information obtainable under pen
register and trap and trace orders to include Internet routing
and addressing information.
It would also expand LEAs' authority to intercept computer
trespasser information. Current law does not allow victims of
computer trespassing to request LEA assistance in monitoring
unauthorized attacks as they occur. This bill would change
this.
This bill would also define "computer trespasser" as
"a person who is accessing a protected computer without
authorization and thus has no reasonable expectation of
privacy in any communication transmitted to, through, or from
the protected computer".
This bill includes some of the same language that is in the
Bush Administration's draft
[PDF] of the "Anti Terrorism Act of 2001," which is
a much larger and more comprehensive bill than HR 2915. The
House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the
Administration's proposal on Monday, September 24. Committee
Chairman James
Sensenbrenner (R-WI) announced at the conclusion of that
hearing that the Committee would mark up that bill some time
next week. |
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| People |
9/18. John
Barker joined the Washington DC office of the law firm
of Arnold & Porter
as Of Counsel. He will focus on export control, international
technology transfer, and trade sanction issues. He previously
was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nonproliferation Controls
at the State Department. Before that, he was Deputy Assistant
Secretary for Export Controls. See, A&P
release.
9/17. Stellman Keehnel joined the Seattle office of the
law firm of Gray Cary. He
focuses on securities class action defense and intellectual
property litigation. See, GC
release.
9/26. Alison
Pauly, Stefani
Shanberg and Amy Smith
joined the Menlo Park office of the law firm of Perkins Coie as
associates in the firm's intellectual property and patent
practice group. Pauly and Shanberg focus on intellectual
property litigation. Both were formerly associates at the law
firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich
& Rosati in Palo Alto. Smith is a patent prosecution
attorney with specialties in biology and chemistry who
previously worked at Woodard Emhardt Naughton Moriarty &
McNett in Indianapolis, Indiana. See, PC
release.
9/11. Karen Kincaid, a partner in the communications
practice of the law firm of Wiley
Rein & Fielding, died on September 11 in the crash of
American Airlines Flight 77. See, WRF
statement. |
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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
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Number of subscribers: 2,093.
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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| Sen. Enzi Introduces
Internet Education Bill |
9/21. Sen. Mike Enzi
(R-WY) and others introduced S
1445, the Internet Equity and Education Act of 2001, a
bill to make it easier to obtain federal financial aid for web
based education programs. The bill was referred to the Senate
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, of which
Sen. Enzi is a member.
The bill would amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to
expand the opportunities for higher education via the
Internet. Currently, the HEA limits the amount of aid a
student enrolled in distance education courses delivered via
telecommunications may receive if the institution offers half
or more of its courses by correspondence or
telecommunications. S 1445 would remove this limitation for
postsecondary institutions that are already participating in
the federal student loan programs with student loan default
rates under 10%. The bill would also repeal the 12-hour rule
with respect to non-standard term programs. This rule governs
the amount of "seat-time" students must spend in
class per week. Finally, the bill addresses incentive
compensation.
The House Education
and Workforce Committee passed a similar bill, HR
1992, sponsored by Rep.
Johnny Isakson (R-GA), on August 1, by a vote of 31 to 10.
Opponents, such as Rep.
Patsy Mink (D-HI), argued that the changes contained in
this legislation would invite abuse of student loan programs,
and increase the student loan default rates.
"The Internet is a valuable tool that can be used to
improve learning opportunities. Further increasing the
flexibility of distance education programs through the
Internet would benefit students, especially those in rural
areas," said Sen. Enzi in a release. |
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| GAO Reports on IPR and
E-Commerce Aspects of FTAA |
9/26. The GAO
released a report
[131 pages in PDF] titled "Free Trade Area of the
Americas: Negotiators Move Toward Agreement That Will Have
Benefits, Costs to U.S. Economy." It concludes that
"the United States could benefit substantially from
commitments from other FTAA countries to liberalize services
and strengthen protection of investment and IPR."
Intellectual Property Rights. The report concludes that
"Because the United States maintains a decisive
competitive advantage in high technology, knowledge based
industries that are dependent on IPR, this is one of the most
important topics for U.S. negotiators. FTAA countries have
somewhat divergent interests in this area. Developed countries
want to bolster enforcement of existing rules and cover new
technologies, such as the Internet and biotechnology.
Developing countries, despite wider recognition of the
importance of IPR to fuel innovation and investment, are
reluctant to go beyond existing trade and IPR treaties and
face the need to build enforcement capacity. Certain issues
within the negotiations, such as compulsory licensing and the
patenting of plants, animals, and biological processes, may
also prove controversial." See also, report at pages
58-64.
Electronic Commerce. The report states that
"Because fostering a supportive environment and
maintaining a liberal trading regime for e-commerce are goals
of FTAA nations, they have created a forum to share
information. E-commerce issues also arise in several areas of
the FTAA negotiations, such as the exchange of goods and
services and the protection of intellectual property. The FTAA
could result in commitments that provide a more open and
predictable environment for this promising technology."
See also, report at pages 82-84. |
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| More Intel Via Patent
Infringement Suits Filed |
| 9/26. Intel announced
that it filed four patent infringement lawsuits in Germany,
the United Kingdom, and Hong Kong against Via Technologies
and others. Intel alleges that "Via's C3 Microprocessors
and P4X266 chipsets infringe on eight Intel patents."
Intel's complaint filed in Germany alleges that the P4X266
chipset infringes on European patent EP 0 694 849 and German
patent DE 195 80 990. One Intel complaint filed in the United
Kingdom alleges that Via's P4X266 chipset infringes on U.K.
patent 2 287 162B and European patent 694 849 B1. Another
Intel complaint filed in the United Kingdom alleges that Via's
C3 microprocessor infringes U.K. patent 2 230 118, U.K. patent
2 261 753 and U.K. patent 2 326 494. Finally, Intel's
complaint filed in Hong Kong alleges that Via's C3
microprocessor infringes Hong Kong patent 931073, Hong Kong
patent 1006754 and Hong Kong patent 1016711. See, Intel
release. |
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| Thursday, Sept 27 |
Yom Kippur. The Senate will not be in session. There will be
no votes in the House.
Deadline to submit reply comments to the FCC in
response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding
implementation of the local competition provisions of the
Telecom Act of 1996. This NPRM invites parties to update and
refresh the record on issues pertaining to the rules the FCC
adopted in the First Report and Order in CC Docket No. 96-98.
See, notice
in Federal Register, August 13, 2001, Vol. 66, No. 156, at
Page 42499.
Deadline to submit comments to the USPTO on issues
associated with the development of a plan to remove the patent
and trademark classified paper files from the USPTO's public
search libraries. See, notice
in Federal Register, August 27, 2001, Vol. 66, No. 166, at
Pages 45012 - 45014.
Deadline to submit comments to the Copyright Office (CO)
on proposed amendments to the regulations governing the
content and service of certain notices on the copyright owner
of a musical work. The notice is served or filed by a person
who intends to use the work to make and distribute
phonorecords, including by means of digital phonorecord
deliveries, under a compulsory license, pursuant to 17 U.S.C.
§ 115. See, notice
in Federal Register, August 28, 2001, Vol. 66, No. 167, Page
45241 - 45245.
5:30 PM. Guy Verhofstadt (Prime Minister of Belgium and
President of the European Council) and Romano Prodi
(President of the European Commission and former Prime
Minister of Italy) will speak on "E.U. U.S. Cooperation
in Fighting Terrorism." Location: Murrow Room, National
Press Club, 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor, Washington DC. |
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| Friday, Sept 28 |
There will be no votes in the House. The Senate will meet in
pro forma session.
CANCELLED. 10:00
AM - 12:00 NOON. The FCC's WRC-03 Advisory Committee will hold
a meeting to continue preparations for the 2003 World
Radiocommunication Conference. Location: Federal
Communications Commission, 445 12th Street, SW, Room TW-C305,
Washington DC. See, notice
in Federal Register, September 7, 2001, Vol. 66, No. 174, at
Pages 46793 - 46794.
Extended deadline for submitting comments and notices of
intent to participate in a copyright arbitration royalty panel
proceeding to the Copyright
Office regarding its proposed regulations that will govern
the Recording Industry
Association of America (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, pursuant to 17 U.S.C.
§ 114. See, notice
[PDF] in Federal Register, September 21, 2001, Vol. 66, No.
184, at page 48648.
Deadline to submit rebuttal comments to the USTR in its
investigation of the intellectual property laws and practices
of the government of Ukraine. See, notice
in Federal Register, September 24, 2001, Vol. 66, No. 185, at
Page 48898. Location: Office of the USTR, 1724 F Street, NW,
Rooms 1 and 2, Washington DC. |
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| Monday, Oct 1 |
9:30 AM. The U.S.
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit will
hear oral argument in AT&T Wireless Services v. FCC,
No. 00-1304. Judges Edwards, Rogers and Tatel will preside.
Location: 333 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington DC.
2:00 PM. Timothy Muris, Chairman of the FTC,
and lawyers and investigations from FTC's Bureau of Consumer
Protection will hold a press conference to announce an
Internet fraud enforcement initiative. Location: FTC Internet
lab, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington DC. |
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| More News |
9/26. The NTIA
published a notice
of vacancy for the position of Associate Administrator for
International Affairs. This position is responsible for the
development and management of the NTIA's international
telecommunications and information policy. The job pays
$120,261 to $133,700.
9/26. The FTC announced that it
settled a civil lawsuit that it filed in U.S. District Court (DAriz)
against RJB Telecom and its principals for illegally billing
consumers' credits cards and phone bills for access to their
pormographic web sites. The settlement agreement bars
deceptive billing practices in the future, requires e-mail
confirmation of membership requests and prompt refunds of
improperly billed charges, and the establishment of a $250,000
escrow fund, to be forfeited if the settlement agreement is
violated. See, FTC release.
9/25. WorldCom
announced that it received approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy
Court (SDNY) to acquire DSL assets of Rhythms. See, WC
release.
9/26. Exodus Communications
filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition with the U.S.
Bankruptcy Court (DDel). See, Exodus
release. |
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