| SEC Official Addresses Data
Backup, Communications, and Terrorism |
1/8. Annette Nazareth, Director of the Securities & Exchange
Commission's (SEC's) Division of Market Regulation, gave a
speech
to The Bond Market Association Legal and Compliance
Conference. She addressed the necessity of frequent off site
data backup and redundant communications for securities market
participants in light of new terrorist threats.
She stated that "my sense is that most now recognize the
need for more rigorous plans that address problems of wider
geographic scope and longer duration. For many, the September
11 attacks made clear the possibility of a large scale
regional disaster. Thus, there seems to be consensus that
business continuity planning needs to adapt -- to plan for
events of wider scope and, in general, become more robust and
resilient."
She stated that it is important for securities market
participants to maintain "an adequate ``desktop´´
recovery strategy -- one that contemplates the movement of, at
minimum, core employees to fully functional backup office
space ..."
She also addressed data backup strategies. "Market
participants also realized the importance of maintaining
current copies of records and software at their backup
facilities (or other secure location). Some firms had been in
the practice of sending records offsite only at weekly or
monthly intervals. As a result, when they lost their primary
offices, they had to devote substantial resources to
reconstruct records that had not yet been transferred to their
backup facilities. Many of these firms now intend to ship
records offsite more frequently, perhaps daily or even several
times per day."
Nazareth also stressed the importance of redundant
communications facilities. "A crucial lesson learned from
the events of September 11 -- but one not entirely within the
control of the securities industry -- is the importance of
connectivity and the need to ensure that an organization has
truly redundant telecom arrangements."
She continued that "Many firms thought they had achieved
redundancy in their communications systems, by making
arrangements with multiple telecom providers, only to discover
that the lines of all those providers went through the same
Verizon switching facility -- which happened to be located
next to the World Trade Center. Others had taken the time to
map their telecom lines to assure diverse routing, only to
find out that their telecom providers had rerouted some of
those lines - and eliminating that diversity -- without
telling them, or contracted out the service to other providers
already in use by the firm. Going forward, the securities
industry must assure that diverse routing is acquired and
maintained, so that truly redundant communications systems are
created." |
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| Fourth Circuit Dismisses
Domain Name Appeal as Moot |
| 1/10. The U.S.
Court of Appeals (4thCir) issued its opinion
in Heathmount
v. Technodom.com, a domain name dispute. The
plaintiff is Heathmount, a Canadian corporation. It filed a
complaint in U.S. District Court (EDVa) in which it plead an
in rem action against two domain names pursuant to the
Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, 15
U.S.C.A. § 1125(d). It alleged bad faith registration of
domain names that included its trademarks. This is an
interlocutory appeal on jurisdictional and constitutional
issues. However, the plaintiff has since abandoned the
trademarks, and moved to dismiss the complaint. The Appeals
Court dismissed the appeal as moot. |
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| Novell Settles with
Infringers |
| 1/10. Novell announced
that it settled its lawsuit against Cableware Technology, Inc.
and MJ Systems, Inc. Novell filed a complaint in U.S. District Court (CDCal)
against these defendants alleging that they produced
counterfeit Novell software and labels, illegally repackaged
Novell software, and distributed stolen software. Novell
stated that the terms of the settlement include a permanent
injunction, and a cash payment of $750,000, which it has
received. See, Novell
release. |
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| More News |
1/10. Motient Corporation
filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition with the U.S.
Bankruptcy Court (EDVa). Motient operates a two way wireless
packet data network that is used by Blackberry devices. See, Motient
release.
1/10. The USPTO announced
that it will launch a television and radio ad campaign in five
media markets to counter the flood of deceptive advertising
aimed at independent inventors. It will also run ads in print
magazines. See, USPTO
release. |
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| Andersen Destroyed Enron
Electronic Records |
1/10. Andersen stated
that it "has notified the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice, and is also
notifying congressional committees and other agencies
investigating the Enron collapse, that in recent months
individuals in the firm involved with the Enron engagement
disposed of a significant but undetermined number of
electronic and paper documents and correspondence relating to
the Enron engagement." See, Andersen
release.
Rep. Billy Tauzin
(R-LA), Chairman of the House Energy and
Commerce Committee, stated in a release
that "This is a deeply troubling development. It should
never have happened. While Andersen has assured the Committee
that it will work vigorously to retrieve all electronic
documents, we may never know if all of the relevant records
were recovered. ... our Committee will get to the bottom of
this debacle."
See also, transcript
of press conference of President Bush.
Attorney General John Ashcroft stated in a release
that he and his Chief of Staff, David Ayres, "have
recused themselves in all matters arising out of allegations
of misconduct by Enron Corporation ..." |
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| USPTO Announces Top 10
Patent Recipients |
1/10. The U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office (USPTO) announced the top ten private
sector recipients of patents in 2001. They are, in order, IBM,
NEC, Canon, Micron, Samsung, Matsushita, Sony, Hitachi,
Mitsubishi, and Fujitsu. IBM was issued 3,411 patents -- up
from 2,886 in 2000. See, USPTO
release.
Nick Donofrio, IBM's SVP for
technology and manufacturing, stated that "One of the
biggest myths of 2001 was that innovation was dying along with
the dot.com bust ... The fact is that innovation is thriving
in the research and development labs of corporate America and
companies around the world, as this year's patent results
confirm," See, IBM release. |
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| Securities Fraud |
1/10. The SEC filed a
civil complaint
in U.S. District Court (SDFl) against Global Datatel, Inc.,
Richard Baker (Global's CEO), Mario Habib (President of
Global's subsidiary, eHOLA), and Stuart Bocker, alleging
violation of federal securities laws. The complaint alleges
that Global, Baker and Habib disseminated false and misleading
information about Global and eHOLA via the Internet, and by
other methods. Global is a Nevada Corporation located in
Delray Beach, Florida. It was a computer systems integrator
and Internet service provider operating in Central and South
America. It filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition on October
2, 2001. eHOLA purported to provide Internet service in
Central and South America. See, SEC
release.
1/9. The SEC filed a civil complaint
in U.S. District Court (DNeb) against David Guenthner and Jay
Samuelson alleging violation of federal securities laws. The
complaint alleges that David Guenthner, the CFO of InaCom
Corp., and Jay Samuelson, InaCom's assistant controller,
submitted SEC 10-Q forms that improperly accrued unallocated,
general reserves, then reversed $7.1 million of these reserves
into income. InaCom was a computer reseller, specializing in
purchasing computers from major manufacturers and customizing
them for corporate end users. It filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy
petition on June 16, 2000, and ceased its operations. |
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| GAO Releases Report on
Delays in Export Licensing |
| 1/10. The General Accounting
Office (GAO) released a report [PDF]
titled "Export Controls: Reengineering Business Processes
Can Improve Efficiency of State Department License
Reviews". This report concluded that "License
applicants have long complained that they cannot predict how
long a license review may take and are frustrated by delays.
Although licensing officers and license reviewers require time
to deliberate and ensure that license decisions are
appropriate, a substantial number of applications become
stalled between reviews by licensing officers and reviewers.
Improving efficiency, predictability, and timeliness of the
process may be achieved with relatively small changes in
guidelines and procedures." The report was prepared at
the request of Sen. Daniel
Akaka (D-HI) and Sen.
James Inhofe (R-OK), the Chairman and ranking Republican
on the Senate Armed Services Committee's Subcommittee on
Readiness and Management Support. |
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| People and Appointments |
1/10. The U.S. Telecom
Association (USTA) today announced that it has hired three
people: Daniel Phythyon, John Abel, and Patricia Cole. Daniel
Phythyon will be SVP, Law and Policy. He was previously an
attorney with the Washington DC law firm of Wilmer Cutler & Pickering.
Before that he was Chief of the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications
Bureau. Before that, he was Director of the FCC's Office
of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs. He has also
worked as the National
Association of Broadcasters' top Congressional lobbyists,
and as Majority Staff Counsel to the Senate Commerce
Committee's Communications Subcommittee. John Abel
will be SVP, Membership, Marketing and Business Development. Patricia
Cole will be SVP, Chief Financial Officer. In addition, Tom
Amontree, who joined the USTA last summer, was named SVP,
Strategic Communications. See, USTA
release.
1/10. Michael Ferrante was named Chief of the FCC's
Wireless Telecommunications Bureau's Commercial Wireless
Division's Licensing & Technical Analysis Branch. This
branch is responsible for processing and issuing the licenses
for all commercial mobile radio services (CMRS). See, FCC
release [PDF]. |
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| Monday, Jan 14 |
9:30 AM. The U.S.
Court of Appeals (DCCir) will hear oral argument in Sinclair
Broadcast Group v. FCC, No. 01-1079. Judges Sentelle,
Rogers and Williams will preside.
9:30 AM. The U.S.
Court of Appeals (DCCir) will hear oral argument in COMSAT
Corp v. FCC, No. 00-1458. Judges Sentelle, Rogers and
Williams will preside. |
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| Tuesday, Jan 15 |
8:30 AM - 5:00 PM. The North American Numbering Council (NANC)
will meet. Location: FCC, 445 12th Street, SW, Room TW-C305
(Commission Meeting Room).
9:30 AM. The Communications
for Coordinated Assistance and Response to Emergencies
Alliance (Comcare) will hold a press conference to release
a report titled "The E-Safety Program -- Making Americans
Safer". For more information contact Alan Kitey at akitey@comcare.org or 202
429-0574. See, Comcare
release. Location: Zenger Room, National Press Club, 529 14th
St. NW, 13th Floor.
1:30 PM. The U.S. International Telecommunication Advisory
Committee (ITAC) will hold a meeting. See, notice
in Federal Register, October 17, 2001, Vol. 66, No. 201, Page
52825. Location: State Department. |
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| Wednesday, Jan 16 |
8:30 AM - 5:00 PM. The North American Numbering Council (NANC)
may continue its meeting of January 15, if necessary.
Location: FCC, 445 12th Street, SW, Room TW-C305 (Commission
Meeting Room).
11:00 AM. The Cato Institute
will host a panel discussion titled "Closing 'Windows' on
Antitrust or Opening a New Era of Intervention? Competition
Policy after the Microsoft Settlement". The participants
will be Jeffrey Eisenach (Progress and Freedom Foundation),
Robert Levy (Cato), Kenneth Starr (Kirkland & Ellis),
Jonathan Zuck (Association for Competitive Technology), and
James Miller (Citizens for a Sound Economy). A luncheon will
follow. See, online
registration page. Location: Cato Institute, 1000
Massachusetts Avenue, NW. |
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| Thursday, Jan 17 |
| 9:30 AM. The Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) will hold a meeting that
will focus on a review of FCC policies and procedures by the
Commissioners and senior agency officials. There will be three
panel presentations. Panel One will include Chiefs of the Mass
Media Bureau, Cable Service Bureau and Common Carrier Bureau.
Panel Two will include the Chiefs of the Consumer Information
Bureau and the Enforcement Bureau. Panel Three will include
the Chiefs of the Office of Engineering and Technology, the
International Bureau, and the Wireless Telecommunications
Bureau. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room (Room TW-C305),
445 12th Street, SW. |
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