| House Judiciary Committee
Progress on Tech Related Bills |
5/9. The House
Judiciary Committee dealt with several technology related
bills this week. The following is a summary of the action on
each bill.
HR 3215,
the Combatting Illegal Gambling Reform and Modernization
Act. This is Rep.
Bob Goodlatte's (R-VA) Internet gambling bill. On
Wednesday, May 8, the Committee began mark up. However, it
proceeded only as far as opening statements. The Committee has
not yet scheduled a continuation of this mark up.
HR 3482,
the Cyber Security Enhancement Act of 2001. The
Committee amended and approved this bill on Wednesday, May 8.
HR 4623,
the Child Obscenity and Pormography Prevention Act of 2002.
The Crime Subcommittee held a hearing on the morning of
Thursday, May 9, and then amended and approved the bill later
in the day. The full Committee is likely to mark up the bill
next week. The full House may approve the bill before the
Memorial Day recess.
HR 4640,
a bill to provide criminal penalties for providing false
information in registering a domain name on the Internet. The
Crime Subcommittee had scheduled this bill for its hearing and
mark up meetings on Thursday, May 9. However, it was removed
from the agenda of both meetings.
HR 4658,
the Truth in Domain Names Act. The Crime Subcommittee
had scheduled this bill for its hearing and mark up meetings
on Thursday, May 9. However, it was removed from the agenda of
both meetings. |
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| House Research Subcommittee
Approves Two Bills |
5/9. The House
Science Committee's Subcommittee on Research held a
hearing on HR 4664, the National Science Foundation
Reauthorization Act of 2002. The bill would authorize the
doubling the agency's budget in five years. The Subcommittee
approved one amendment, renaming the bill the Investing in
America's Future Act. The bill, as amended, was then approved
by a unanimous voice vote.
The Subcommittee on Research also approved by voice vote at
its May 9 meeting HR 3130,
the Undergraduate Science, Mathematics, Engineering, and
Technology Education Improvement Act, which was introduced
under the title, Technology Talent Act of 2001.
This bill would authorize grants to be awarded on a
competitive basis to institutions of higher education to
increase the number of students studying and receiving
associates or bachelor's degrees in science, mathematics,
engineering, and technology.
Both bills are likely to be approved by the full Science
Committee before the Memorial Day recess. There was no dispute
within the Committee over these bills. However, whether the
full House will go along is altogether another question. |
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| FCC Announces Agenda of May
16 Meeting |
5/9. The Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) announced the agenda for
its Thursday, May 16, meeting. See, agenda.
It includes approval of the following items.
A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking concerning section 272(f)(l),
the sunset of the BOC separate affiliate and related matters.
A Report and Order allowing private cable operators to use
frequencies in the 12 GHz band of the Cable Television Relay
Service (CARS). (CS Docket No. 99-250; RM-9257).
An Order concerning extension of the October 5, 2001, digital
television construction deadline; and a Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking on remedial steps for failure to comply with the
DTV construction schedule.
A Second Report and Order concerning regulations for spread
spectrum systems. (ET Docket No. 99-231).
A Report and Order concerning service rules for the 216-220
MHz, 1390-1395 MHz, 1427-1432 MHz, 1670-1675 MHz, 2385-2390
MHz and the paired 1392-1395 MHz and 1432-1435 MHz Bands. (WT
Docket No. 02-8; RM-9267, RM-9692, RM-9797, RM-9854, RM-9882). |
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| FRB Vice Chairman Addresses
Communications, Information and Terrorism |
5/9. Federal
Reserve Board Vice Chairman Roger
Ferguson gave a speech
titled "Implications of 9/11 for the Financial Services
Sector". He recommended that financial institutions
should seek greater redundancy of telecommunications services
through alternative technologies, including Internet,
satellite, and wireless services. He spoke at the Conference
on Bank Structure and Competition, in Chicago, Illinois.
He first reviewed the affect of the terrorist attack in New
York City upon communications. He stated that "The
destruction of telecommunications infrastructure supporting
lower Manhattan disrupted the telephone connections for
several days between the whole nation and financial markets
and intermediaries located in the lower Manhattan financial
district. This disruption created bottlenecks in the
processing of financial transactions and caused a temporary --
but severe -- dislocation of liquidity for financial
institutions. The primary markets closed temporarily, to
facilitate disaster recovery efforts and to ensure fair and
orderly markets, until telecommunications could be
restored."
He added that "Banks and other financial intermediaries
stayed open. Key wholesale and retail payments system remained
operational, like other financial activities, except to the
extent that telecommunications disruptions had a temporary or
local effect."
He next offered his assessment of why the financial system
performed so well following the terrorist attacks.
"First, the financial industry incorporated information
technology into its business processes many years ago and
since then has encouraged innovations in business process to
achieve efficiency and security. As a result, industry
participants are extremely knowledgeable about technology and
the related operations risk."
"Second, financial institutions understand that it is in
their best business interest to make business continuity
planning an executive management issue, requiring top level
involvement and not insignificant investment. Preparations for
the century date change gave us a much clearer understanding
of the financial system's dependence on technology and on the
complexities of managing operations risk", said Ferguson.
"Third, financial institutions have long understood the
need for strong internal controls and physical security. As
banks increased reliance on information technology, they
naturally incorporated measures to ensure the security of
information. Moreover, financial institutions recognized
immediately that the increasing role of information system
networks and the Internet in the financial markets engendered
new risks, and they became leaders in addressing cyber
protection issues." He then praised the financial
industry information sharing and analysis center (ISAC).
Ferguson also offered a few lessons to be learned from
September 11. He said that "institutions will need to
develop internal business resumption standards and define
their recovery targets in a fairly consistent manner." He
also stated that "financial institutions should seek
greater redundancy of telecommunications services through
alternative technologies (Internet, satellite, and wireless)
and eliminate potential single points of failure." |
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| Friday, May 10 |
The House will meet at 9:00 AM for legislative business. No
votes are expected after 2:00 PM.
The Supreme Court is on recess until May 13.
8:30 AM - 4:30 PM. The New
America Foundation and Public Knowledge
will co-host a conference titled "Protecting the
Information Commons: Asserting the Public Interest In
Copyright Law and Digital Infrastructure". At 9:00 AM Rep. Rick Boucher
(D-VA) will give the keynote address titled "Public
Interest Principles for Digital Rights Management
Systems". RSVP to Tina Sherman at 202 986-2700 or sherman @newamerica.net.
See, agenda.
Location: National Guard Association, 1 Massachusetts Ave.
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. The Copyright
Office will hold "a public roundtable discussion
concerning issues raised in the course of an ongoing
rulemaking proceeding to adopt requirements for giving
copyright owners reasonable notice of the use of their works
for sound recordings under the section 114 and 112 statutory
licenses and for how records of such use shall be kept and
made available to copyright owners." See, notice
in Federal Register. Requests to attend or participate must be
submitted by close of business on Monday, May 6, 2002.
Location: Room LM620 (Dining Room A), Madison Building, First
and Independence Avenue, SE.
9:30 AM. The U.S.
Court of Appeals (DCCir) will hear oral argument in AT&T
v. FCC, No. 01-1467, and Verizon v. FCC, No.
01-1371. Judges Ginsburg, Randolph and Tatel will preside.
Location: 333 Constitution Ave. NW.
9:30 AM - 1:00 PM. The SEC will hold
an event titled "Investor Summit" which will also be
webcast. See, SEC release.
Location: WOD Room, basement, SEC, 450 5th Street NW.
10:00 AM. The House
Government Reform Committee's Subcommittee on Technology
and Procurement Policy will hold a hearing titled
"Intellectual Property and Government R&D for
Homeland Security". Location: Room 2154, Rayburn
Building.
10:00 AM. The U.S.
Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in ULead
Systems v. Lex Computer, No. 01-1320, an appeal from the U.S. District Court (CDCal).
The lower court held that U.S.
Patent No. 4,538,188 is unenforceable due to the owner's
inequitable conduct in fraudulently paying reduced small
entity maintenance fees to the USPTO when it
was not a small entity. Location: LaFayette Square, at 717
Madison Place, NW.
11:30 AM. The American
Electronics Association (AEA) will hold a press briefing
regarding the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) proposal to
impose payroll taxes on certain broad based stock options
beginning January 1, 2003. To participate by telephone, call
703 871-3016. See, AEA
notice. RSVP to Deanna Keim at 202 289-6700 or djkeim @abcstaff.org.
Location: AEA, 601 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 6th Floor. (The
entrance is on Indiana Ave. between 6th and 7th Streets.)
12:15 PM. The The FCBA's
Wireless Committee will host a luncheon. The speaker will be
Ed Thomas, Chief of the FCC's Office of Engineering and
Technology. RSVP by May 7 to wendy
@fcba.org. The price is &15. Location: Sidley Austin,
1501 K Street, NW.
1:00 PM. The House
Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Telecommunications
and the Internet will hold a field hearing titled
"Chatting On Line: A Dangerous Proposition for
Children." Rep.
Fred Upton (R-MI) will preside. Press contact: Ken Johnson
or Jon Tripp at 202-225-5735. Location: Kalamazoo Valley
Community College M-Tec Facility, Oshtemo, Michigan. |
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| Monday, May 13 |
| The Supreme Court of the U.S. returns from recess. |
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| Tuesday, May 14 |
8:45 AM - 3:45 PM. The National
Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Advanced Technology Program
(ATP) Advisory Committee will hold a meeting that will be open
in part, and closed in part. The agenda includes a discussion
on universities and R&D technology issues, a presentation
on In-Q-Tel (the CIA's
Silicon Valley venture capital group), an update on the ATP
competition, and a presentation on a study on the ATP Computer
Based Software Focus Program. Pre-registration by May 9 is
required for attendance; submit your name, time of arrival,
e-mail address and phone number to Carolyn Stull at carolyn.stull @nist.gov
or 301 975-5607. See, notice
in Federal Register. Location: NIST, Administration Building,
Lecture Room A, Gaithersburg, MD.
9:00 - 11:00 AM. The U.S.
Chamber of Commerce (USCC), Ernst & Young, and the
Internet Education Foundation (IEF) will co-host forum on
online privacy and the Platform
for Privacy Preferences (P3P) created by the World Wide
Web Consortium (W3C). Rep. Adam Smith
(D-WA) will make opening remarks. There will be two panels.
The first panel will address online privacy issues; the
speakers will be Joe Rubin (USCC), Shane Ham (Progressive Policy Institute),
and Ari Schwartz (Center for
Democracy and Technology). The second panel will address
P3P; the speakers will be Martin Marshall (IBM), Marc Berejka (Microsoft), Brian Tretick
(Ernst & Young), and
Brian Zwit (AOL). RSVP by e-mail to rsvp @p3ptoolbox.org, or
call Joshua Freed (IEF) at 202 638-4370. Coffee and snacks
will be provided. Location: Herman Lay Room, USCC, 1615 H
Street, NW.
TIME CHANGE. 9:00 AM. The IRS
will hold a hearing on proposed regulations relating to tax
treatment of incentive stock options and options granted
under employee stock purchase plan. See, original
notice in the Federal Register. See also, supplemental notice
rescheduling hearing time, Federal Register. Location:
Auditorium, Internal Revenue Building, 1111 Constitution
Avenue, NW.
9:30AM - 1:30 PM. George Washington University (Ashburn
Campus) and the CCIA
will cohost a pair of panels discussions. The first panel will
address last mile broadband deployment. The second panel will
address how to protect audio and video property rights. See, notice. For more
information, contact Sandy Rose at 703 726-8310 or sandyr @gwu.edu. Location:
20101 Academic Way, Ashburn, VA. (This is east of Leesburg on
the north side of Route 7, west of Route 28.)
9:30 AM - 4:00 PM. The Antitrust
Division of the Department of Justice and the FTC
will hold another in their series of hearings on antitrust and
intellectual property. This event is titled "Antitrust
Analysis of Licensing Practices". At 9:00 AM there will
be a panel titled "Antitrust Analysis of Specific
Intellectual Property Licensing Practices". At 1:30 PM
there will be a panel titled "Practical Issues
Encountered in Antitrust Analysis of Licensing
Practices". The DOJ requires that attendees provide their
name and date of birth 24 hours in advance to Kathleen Leicht
at kathleen.leicht
@usdoj.gov or 202 514-7018. For more information, contact
Gina Talamona in the Office of Public Affairs at 202 514-2007,
or Frances Marshall in the Antitrust Division at 202 305-2520.
Location: Great Hall, DOJ, Main Building, 950 Pennsylvania
Ave., NW.
10:00 AM. The Senate Indian Affairs Committee and the Senate Commerce
Committee will hold a joint hearings on communications
issues in Indian country.
10:00 AM. The Senate
Banking Committee will hold a hearing on the Annual
National Export Strategy Report of the Trade Promotion
Coordinating Committee. The witnesses include: Donald Evans
(Secretary of Commerce), Eduardo Aguirre (Export Import Bank),
Hector Barreto (SBA), Peter Watson (Overseas Private
Investment Corp.), and Thelma Askey (U.S. Trade and
Development Agency). Location: Room 538, Dirksen Building.
Deadline to submit oppositions and responses to the FCC in its
AT&T Comcast merger review proceeding. This proceeding is
titled "In the Matter of Applications for Consent to the
Transfer of Control of Licenses, Comcast Corporation and
AT&T Corp., Transferors, To AT&T Comcast Corporation,
Transferee". See, FCC
notice. |
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| Wednesday, May 15 |
8:45 - 9:30 AM. FTC Commissioner Orson
Swindle will give the opening keynote address titled "The
Urgency of Security In A Networked World" at the
Information Integrity World Summit. See, notice.
Location: Wyndham Washington, 1400 M Street NW.
9:30 AM. The Senate
Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing to examine
copyright royalties, focusing on webcasting. Press contact:
Mimi Devlin 202 224-9437. Location: Room 226, Dirksen
Building.
9:30 AM - 12:00 NOON. The U.S. International
Telecommunication Advisory Committee (ITAC), which advises
the Department of State on
policy and technical issues with respect to the International Telecommunication
Union, will meet to prepare for the June 2002 meeting of
the Telecommunication Sector Advisory Group (TSAG). Location: TIA, 1300 Pennsylvania
Ave., NW., Suite 350.
11:00 AM. The Cato Institute
will host a panel discussion titled "Digital Copy
Protection: Mandate It? Ban It? Or Let the Market
Decide?" The speakers will be Rick Lane (News
Corporation), Jonathan Potter (Digital Media Association),
Sarah Deutsch (Verizon), and Steve DelBianco (Association for
Competitive Technology). See, online
registration page. Webcast. Location: Cato, 1000
Massachusetts Ave., NW.
12:30 PM? The Association of
Federal Communications Consulting Engineers will hold a
luncheon meeting. For more information, contact Noel Luddy at luddyen @aol.com or 301
299-2270.
7:30 PM. There will be a panel discussion titled "Tech
Talk: Information Security and Information Warfare". The
panelists will be Robert Norris (National Defense University),
Daniel Kuehl (National Defense University), and Lance Hoffman
(George Washington University). The event is free, but
reservations are required. Call 202 662-7501 or email pnelson @press.org for
reservations. For more information, contact Laura Falacienski
at 202 662-7564 or lauraf
@press.org. Location: National
Press Club, Murrow Room, 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor.
Deadline to submit comments to the USTR
regarding the requests of 23 nations to join the WTO.
See, notice
in Federal Register.
Deadline to submit comments to the USPTO regarding
its plan to disseminate all future editions of the Trademark
Manual of Examining Procedure solely in electronic format.
See, notice
in Federal Register. |
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| Thursday, May 16 |
The Senate
Commerce Committee may hold a meeting to mark up bills.
The agenda may include S 2037,
a bill providing for the establishment of a national emergency
technology guard, and S 2182,
the Cyber Security Research and Development Act, a bill to
authorize funding for computer and network security research
and development and research fellowship programs. The agenda
may also include S 630,
the Can Spam Act. See, Sen. Burns release.
Press contact: Andy Davis at 202 224-6654. Location: Room 253,
Russell Building.
9:30 AM. The Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) will hold a meeting. Audio
webcast. Press contact: Maureen Peratino or David Fiske at 202
418-0500. Location: FCC, 445 12th Street, SW, Room TW-C05
(Commission Meeting Room).
9:30 AM. The U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office (USPTO) will hold a public hearing on its
proposed plan to eliminate the paper patent and trademark
registration collections from its public search facilities,
and to transition to electronic patent and trademark
information collections. The USPTO is seeking public comment
on issues related to this proposed plan. The USPTO is also
seeking input on whether any governmental entity or non-profit
organization is interested in acquiring the paper patent and
trademark registration collections to be removed from the
USPTO's public search facilities. See, notice
in Federal Register. Location: Patent Theater, second floor,
Crystal Park 2, Room 200, 2121 Crystal Drive, Arlington, VA. |
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| More News |
5/9. President Bush urged Senate Democrats to stop delaying
hearings and confirmations of his judicial nominees. He stated
that "We have a vacancy crisis in America. There are too
many seats that aren't filled with judges and, therefore,
America hurts, America is not getting the justice it needs.
Ours is a system that relies upon an independent court system,
and when there is vacancies, the American people suffer. And I
call upon the Senate to approve -- at least give hearings to
people we've sent up to the Senate." See, transcript
of press conference, and White House release.
5/8. Lori Richards, Director of the Securities and Exchange Commission's
(SEC) Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations, gave
a speech
titled "Analysts Conflicts of Interest: Taking Steps to
Remove Bias". She spoke to the Financial Women's Association
in New York, New York.
5/7. Bruce Mehlman, Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy
at the Commerce Department, gave a speech
titled "Innovation in America 2002: What's the Role for
Our Federal Labs?". He spoke to the Federal Lab Consortium
in Little Rock, Arkansas. He said that "Knowledge
development and technology commercialization are the new
drivers of economic growth, both in the U.S. and around the
world. Our ability to create new innovations and harness their
power will directly impact our national prosperity, security
and global influence."
5/9. A jury of the U.S.
District Court (NDCal) returned a guilty verdict against
Keith Kim on one count of making a material false statement to
the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC), in violation of 18
U.S.C. § 1001. The statement was made during the SEC's
investigation into the trading in shares of Meridian Data,
Inc., based upon insider information that Meridian and Quantum
Corp. were in merger negotiations. See, USAO
release. |
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