| Supreme Court Reverses
Third Circuit in COPA Case |
5/13. The Supreme
Court of the U.S. issued its opinion
[PDF] in Ashcroft
v. ACLU, upholding the constitutionality of the
community standards component of the Children's Online
Protection Act (COPA). The Court remanded the case for further
proceedings.
The Statute. The COPA prohibits any person from
"knowingly and with knowledge of the character of the
material, in interstate or foreign commerce by means of the
World Wide Web, mak[ing] any communication for commercial
purposes that is available to any minor and that includes any
material that is harmful to minors".
Unlike the Communications Decency Act, which the Supreme Court
held unconstitutional in Reno v. ACLU, the COPA only affects
the web, only affects commercial communications, and only
restricts material that is harmful to minors (rather than all
indecency).
Proceedings Below. Promptly after enactement, the ACLU
and others filed a complaint in U.S. District Court (EDPenn)
against then Attorney General Janet Reno challenging the
constitutionality of the act. The District Court issued a
preliminary injunction on First Amendment grounds. The U.S.
Court of Appeals (3rdCir) affirmed. The Supreme Court then
granted certiorari.
Holding. The Court wrote that "This case presents
the narrow question whether the Child Online Protection Act's
(COPA or Act) use of ``community standards´´ to identify
``material that is harmful to minors´´ violates the First
Amendment. We hold that this aspect of COPA does not render
the statute facially unconstitutional."
However, the Court added that "The scope of our decision
today is quite limited. We hold only that COPA's reliance on
community standards to identify ``material that is harmful to
minors´´ does not by itself render the statute
substantially overbroad for purposes of the First Amendment.
We do not express any view as to whether COPA suffers from
substantial overbreadth for other reasons, whether the statute
is unconstitutionally vague, or whether the District Court
correctly concluded that the statute likely will not survive
strict scrutiny analysis once adjudication of the case is
completed below. While respondents urge us to resolve these
questions at this time, prudence dictates allowing the Court
of Appeals to first examine these difficult issues."
The Court also noted that the Attorney General did "not
ask us to vacate the preliminary injunction entered by the
District Court, and in any event, we could not do so without
addressing matters yet to be considered by the Court of
Appeals. As a result, the Government remains enjoined from
enforcing COPA absent further action by the Court of Appeals
or the District Court."
The Supreme Court vacated the judgment of the Court of Appeals
and remanded the case for further proceedings.
Now, the lower courts are free to enjoin enforcement of the
COPA on other grounds. And in the likely event that they do,
this case will likely return to the Supreme Court.
Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the opinion of the Court.
O'Connor wrote a concurring opinion. Breyer wrote a concurring
opinion in which he stated that "I believe that Congress
intended the statutory word ``community´´ to refer to the
Nation's adult community taken as a whole, not to
geographically separate local areas." Kennedy wrote a
separate concurrence in which Souter and Ginsburg joined.
Stevens dissented. He stated that he would have affirmed the
Court of Appeals. He wrote that "In the context of the
Internet, however, community standards become a sword, rather
than a shield. If a prurient appeal is offensive in a puritan
village, it may be a crime to post it on the World Wide
Web." |
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| Rep. Boucher Advocates
Amending DMCA and Shifting Burden of Proof on Fair Use |
5/10. Rep. Rick
Boucher (D-VA) gave a speech
on copyright and fair use. He advocated legislation shifting
the burden of proof on fair use from the defendants to
plaintiffs and prosecutors. He also said that he will
introduce a bill "within the next several weeks" to
amend the DMCA to provide that it is "not criminal
conduct under any circumstance to be active in furtherance of
fair use rights".
Erosion of Fair Use Rights. Rep. Boucher stated that
there has been "a consistent erosion over the last few
years of the very precious fair use rights." He
elaborated that "The fair use doctrine was in fact
created by the courts as a way to give substance to First
Amendment freedom of speech rights. Simply put, free speech
does not mean very much if you have you to get the permission
of a copyright owner in order to use words in a series that
perhaps, coincidentally, are subject to a copyright. So the
fair use doctrine was essential in the view of the American
courts in order to give vitality to our precious First
Amendment freedom of speech right."
"Today, however, that precious fair use right is under
attack as it never has been before in the history of our
country. The balance that we have always enjoyed in our law
between the rights of the owners of the intellectual property,
and the rights of the users of intellectual property is now
fundamentally changed. That balance was changed by a number of
steps."
He cited several changes, including enactment of the Digital
Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and the Copyright Term
Extension Act (CTEA), the increased use of copy protected CDs
and DVDs, the introduction of S 2048 by Sen. Ernest Hollings
(D-SC), and the experiences of Professor Felton and the
ElcomSoft corporation.
CTEA. Rep. Boucher addressed the Copyright
Term Extension Act. He stated that "I am pleased that
the U.S. Supreme Court is now examining, to determine whether
that latest copyright term is extension is consistent with the
limitations on the copyright interest that is stated in the
U.S. Constitution. And I am concerned that this shift in the
historical balance in favor of the owners of intellectual
property will broadly diminish what you are here to discuss
today, and that is the public commons of information that is
so essential for progress in our society." See, TLJ
summary of Eldred
v. Ashcroft, a constitutional challenge to the CTEA, now
pending before the Supreme Court.
DMCA. Rep. Boucher also spoke at length about the DMCA.
He stated that the "Congress in passing the DMCA granted
unprecedented rights to the owners of intellectual property,
which unless changed, will cede to the intellectual property
owner total control over the work. The new rights go well
beyond the what is necessary to ensure fair compensation to
the intellectual property owner. These new rights go well
beyond what is necessary to thwart piracy."
See, full
text of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, a 94 pages
PDF document, or 18 page summary
by the Library of Congress in PDF.
He continued that "These new rights forecast a time when
what is available for free on the library shelf today, and for
limited copying for personal use purposes, for free today,
will be converted into material available only on a pay per
use basis in the future. Total control over the work in ceded
through this law to copyright owner. And, we see the copyright
owners beginning to exercise that greater degree of control at
the present time."
"But the day will come, and granted by the power of this
law, when what is available for free today on a library shelf
will be available only for pay for use in the future. And that
is, I think, one of the great tragedies and harms of this
law."
Hollings Bill. Rep. Boucher said, "let me suggest
one other thing that troubles me a great deal, and that is the
introduction in the Senate of a bill that would serve broadly
to restrict fair use rights." See, S 2048,
the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act,
introduced by Sen.
Ernest Hollings (D-SC) and others on on March 21, 2002.
Rep. Boucher added that the Hollings bill "would do a
number of other things. It would require that all digital
receivers, recorders, and players come equipped with a
technology standard that would enable that device to respond
to content that contains this government technology standard.
Only that content could be played on the device. There is no
assurance that even if the device works, which is subject to
question, you would be able to convey that content to multiple
devices around the home. There is nothing in the legislation
to assure that. You have to make individual copies whenever
that happens, and this bill basically allows one copy to be
made. So, the device wouldn't allow the portability of content
to be lawfully acquired for devices within the home."
Rep. Boucher concluded that "The legislation is
unnecessary. And, let me just say that it is not going
anywhere. Senator Leahy,
who has jurisdiction over this matter in his Judiciary Committee,
has already said that the bill is not going to pass. And so,
we can put our minds at ease that this particular measure is
not going to pass, at least for now. But it does bespeak an
intent on the part of those who suggested its introduction
that technology be saddled with measures that would broadly
inhibit what we have all come to understand as basic fair use
rights."
Rep. Boucher's Two Legislative Proposals. He stated
that "I think that it is time that Congress re-examine
the DMCA. And, within the next several weeks, I am going to be
introducing a bill that will achieve that purpose." He
elaborated that "This bill is going to take a fairly
surgical approach. It is going to say that it is not criminal
conduct under any circumstance to be active in furtherance of
fair use rights."
Rep. Boucher stated that in the longer run he would like to
see legislation that shifts the burden of proof on fair use.
He said this: "In order to structure a somewhat broader
measure, that would create an affirmative right of fair use,
and say that individuals have this basic right, extended by
the virtue of federal law. A lawyer would say that we are
really doing is shifting the burden of proof, one way or the
other. But, that burden of proof is important. It is better to
have to make whoever is prosecuting or suing you, establish as
a part of the case in chief, that you are not exercising a
fair use right, than for you to have to offer fair use as a
defense. Lawyers will appreciate the difference." See,
codification of the affirmative defense of fair use: 17 U.S.C.
§ 107.
Rep. Boucher was the keynote speaker at a conference titled
"Protecting the Information Commons: Asserting the Public
Interest In Copyright Law and Digital Infrastructure". It
was co-hosted by the New
America Foundation and Public Knowledge. |
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| Supreme Court Upholds FCC
Pricing Rules |
5/13. The Supreme
Court of the U.S. issued its opinion
[104 pages in PDF] in Verizon
v. FCC, upholding the FCC's rules regarding how
incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) charge interexchange
carriers (IXCs) and competitors local exchange carriers (CLECs)
for access to their facilities; it reversed the U.S. Court of
Appeals (8thCir).
The Supreme Court held, in a 5-3 decision, that the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) is authorized under the Communications Act to require
state utility commissions to set the rates charged by the
incumbents for leased elements on a forward looking basis
untied to the incumbents' investment, and to require
incumbents to combine such elements at the entrants' request
when they lease them to the entrants.
The Court noted that "knowing that incumbents and
prospective entrants would sometimes disagree on prices for
facilities or services, Congress directed the FCC to prescribe
methods for state commissions to use in setting rates that
would subject both incumbents and entrants to the risks and
incentives that a competitive market would produce."
The Court wrote that "the incumbent local exchange
carriers claim error in the Eighth Circuit's holding that a
``forward looking cost´´ methodology (as opposed to the use
of ``historical´´ cost) is consistent with §252(d)(1), and
its conclusion that the use of the TELRIC forward looking cost
methodology presents no ``ripe´´ takings claim. The FCC and
the entrants, on the other side, seek review of the Eighth
Circuit's invalidation of the TELRIC methodology and the
additional combination rules. We ... now affirm on the issues
raised by the incumbents, and reverse on those raised by the
FCC and the entrants."
Justice Souter wrote the opinion of the Court, in which
Rehnquist, Stevens, Kennedy, and Ginsburg joined. Scalia and
Thomas joined in parts of the opinion. Breyer wrote a separate
opinion. O'Connor recused herself.
FCC Chairman Michael Powell
stated in a release
that "I'm pleased that the Supreme Court has affirmed the
Commission's implementation of the 1996 Telecom Act. This
decision brings much needed additional certainty to the legal
landscape and should advance the Commission's efforts to carry
out the statute's competition goals. I thank the Solicitor
General for his vigorous efforts in representing the
Commission before the Court."
IXCs and CLECs were pleased with the decision. AT&T VP/Law Mark Rosenblum
stated in a release
that "We're obviously delighted that the Supreme Court
today has again validated the Telecom Act's purpose of
establishing local phone competition." WorldCom General Counsel
Michael Salsbury stated in a release
that the decision is "a tremendous victory for consumer
and business customers and the competitive carriers such as
WorldCom that serve them. This ruling finally ends six years
of uncertainty created by Bell legal challenges and other
stonewalling." CompTel
President Russell Frisby stated in a release
that "The Supreme Court is right on target with its
assessment of TELRIC as the appropriate method for pricing the
vital elements that competitors need access to in order to
serve their customers." He added that "We hope the
FCC keeps this ruling in mind as it considers its Triennial
Review of UNEs."
In contrast, the ILECs were disappointed. USTA P/CEO Walter McCormick
stated in a release
that "Today’s ruling on TELRIC pricing is unfortunate.
The decision upholds the unjust status quo that requires local
telephone companies to give competitors access to their
networks at prices below cost. These extreme requirements
sharply discourage both incumbents and competitors from making
new investments in infrastructure."
BellSouth stated in a release
that "Today's decision maintains an unfortunate status
quo: BellSouth must continue to provide pieces of its network
to competitors at below cost prices. This status quo
discourages investment by both us and our competitors,
resulting in poorer choices for customers. We hope the FCC
will correct this incorrect pricing policy and eliminate its
unnecessary requirements to provide certain network pieces in
dockets now pending before it." See, also Verizon release.
Jeff Eisenach of the Progress
and Freedom Foundation stated in a release
that the decision makes bad economics. He wrote that
"There is nearly unanimous agreement among economists
that rules which require incumbent facilities to be sold at
below cost prices reduce the incentives for both incumbents
and new entrants to invest. But you don't have to be an
economist to know the current rules have failed: Just look at
the mess they have made in the telecom marketplace, where
investors are in the process of losing literally hundreds of
billions of dollars. As a matter of economic policy, the
current rules are not just unreasonable -- they define
unreasonableness." |
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| Treasury Official Says Info
Tech Enables Small Banks to Survive |
5/13. Under Secretary of the Treasury Peter Fisher gave a speech
to the Independent Community
Bankers of America in which he argued that information and
communications technologies will enable community banks to
survive amid consolidation of large financial institutions.
He stated that "I am skeptical of the view that the
future of financial services will be all about financial
conglomeration. I expect that small and nimble financial
institutions will compete effectively in the coming years and,
thus, I expect that well managed community banks will
prosper."
He elaborated that "Community banks have options and
advantages that can counter balance large banks' built-in
diversification advantage."
Fisher stated that one of these advantages is that
"advances in information and communication technology
offset some of the scale and diversification advantages that
large banks may have. The theory that supports large firms and
conglomerates is that it is cheaper to move information inside
a single corporation than between and among different
corporations. The communications revolution that we have lived
through in the last twenty years challenges this theory."
He continued that "Today technology permits small firms
to outsource many functions and thereby recapture some of the
advantages previously associated only with economies of scale.
In fact, small banks increasingly have been employing
technological and financial innovations to improve efficiency
and diversify operating and balance sheet risks. More of you
are turning to nonbank technology providers as a means of
outsourcing administrative and payments functions and other
activities. Eighty percent of community banks now have web
sites, up from 21 percent in 1997." |
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| People and Appointments |
| 5/13. The Senate confirmed Paul
Cassell to be a U.S. District Court Judge for the
District of Utah, by a vote of 67-20. |
|
|
| More News |
5/13. Business Software
Alliance (BSA) P/CEO Robert Holleyman wrote a letter
to Sen. Tom Daschle
(D-SD) and Sen. Trent Lott
(R-MS) in which he advocated passage of trade promotion
authority (TPA) legislation. He wrote that "Free trade is
essential for the future of the high tech industry". He
added that "TPA will give the United States the ability
to break down the trade barriers and lower the tariffs that
increasingly threaten our ability to lead and compete in the
global marketplace. Passing TPA will guarantee us a seat at
the table to help protect our economy and our jobs. As Senate
Leaders, the high tech industry is looking to you to exercise
your full leadership skills to get TPA legislation passed and
sent to the President for enactment."
5/13. The U.S. Conference
of Mayors, National League of Cities, National Association
of Counties, International Municipal Lawyers Association, and
the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and
Advisers announced that they filed a petition for review with
the U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir) of an Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) classification of cable modem service as an
information service. These groups state that they will collect
fewer fees from operators as a result.
5/13. The Cellular
Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA), Information Technology Association
of America (ITAA), Telecommunications
Industry Association (TIA) and U.S. Telecom Association
(USTA) issued releases in which they stated that they wrote
something that pertains to the "protection of the
nation's critical infrastructure", which they delivered
to Nancy
Victory (Director of the National Telecommunications
and Information Administration), and Richard
Clarke (Chairman of the President's Critical
Infrastructure Protection Board). See, substantially
identical CTIA release,
ITAA release,
and TIA release.
5/13. The U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office (USPTO) published a notice
in its web site regarding computer security. It states that
"If you receive an email purporting to be from the
webmaster@uspto.gov address, please delete it." It may
have a file attached to it that contains a malicious worm or
virus. |
|
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| About Tech Law Journal |
Tech Law Journal publishes a free access web site and
subscription e-mail alert. The basic rate for a subscription
to the TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert is $250 per year. However, there
are discounts for entities with multiple subscribers. Free one
month trial subscriptions are available. Also, free
subscriptions are available for law students, journalists,
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news items are not published in the web site until one month
after writing. See, subscription
information page.
Contact: 202-364-8882; E-mail.
P.O. Box 4851, Washington DC, 20008.
Privacy
Policy
Notices
& Disclaimers
Copyright 1998 - 2002 David Carney, dba Tech Law Journal. All
rights reserved. |
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| Tuesday, May 14 |
The House will meet at 12:30 PM for morning hour, and 2:00
PM for legislative business. No votes are expected before 6:30
PM. The House will consider a number of measures under
suspension of the rules.
The Supreme Court is on recess until May 20.
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 a 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 (CDT). The
second panel will address P3P; the speakers will be Martin
Marshall (IBM), Marc Berejka
(Microsoft), Brian
Tretick (Ernst & Young),
and Brian Zwit (AOL). See, notice.
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 Internal Revenue Service (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.
9:30 AM - 1:30 PM. George Washington University (Ashburn
Campus) and the CCIA
will co-host 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 (DOJ) 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
Avenue, 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 scheduled 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.
1:30 PM. The U.S.
Conference of Mayors, National League of Cities, National
Association of Counties, and other groups will hold a press
conference to announce the filing of a petition for review of
the FCC's
classification of cable modem service. For more information,
contact Lina Garcia at 202 861-6719. Location, Zenger Room, National Press Club, 529 14th
St. NW, 13th Floor.
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 |
The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business.
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 and 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, 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. Location: TIA, 1300 Pennsylvania
Ave., NW., Suite 350.
POSTPONED. 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 Corp.), Jonathan Potter
(DiMA), Sarah Deutsch (Verizon), and Steve DelBianco (ACT).
10:00 AM. The House
Judiciary Committee has scheduled a meeting to mark up
several bills, including HR 4623,
the Child Obscenity and Pormography Prevention Act of 2002
(which pertains to computer generated images), and HR 3215,
the Combatting Illegal Gambling Reform and Modernization Act
(Goodlatte Internet gambling bill). HR 4623 was amended
and approved by the Crime Subcommittee on May 9; it is on the
fast track for approval by the full House. HR 3215 has
been scheduled for mark up, but held over, on several previous
occasions. Audio webcast. Press contact: Jeff Lungren or Terry
Shawn at 202 225-2492. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.
10:15 AM. The House
International Relations Committee will hold a hearing
titled "The Administration’s National Export Strategy:
Promoting Trade and Development in Key Emerging Markets".
See, notice.
Location: Room 2172, Rayburn Building.
11:00 AM. The Digital
Empowerment Campaign (DEC) will hold a press conference to
advocate more federal spending for technology related grant
programs, including the NTIA's Technology
Opportunities Program and the Education Department's
Community Technology Centers program. The DEC is a coalition
that includes the Leadership
Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), the National Urban League, and
other groups. For more information, contact Cory Smith (LCCR)
at 202 466-4281 or csmith
@civilrights.org, or Rosia Lawrence (PolicyLink) at 212
629-9570 ext. 204 or rosia
@policylink.org. See, DEC
notice. Location: Senate Swamp (across the parking lot
from the main Senate entrance).
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 Univ.),
Daniel Kuehl (National Defense Univ.), and Lance Hoffman
(George Washington Univ.). 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 House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business.
9:30 AM. The Senate
Commerce Committee will 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 FCC will hold a
meeting. See, FCC
notice [PDF]. Audio webcast. Press contact: Maureen
Peratino or David Fiske at 202 418-0500. Location: FCC, 445
12th St., SW, Commission Meeting Room.
9:30 AM. The House
Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual
Property and the Internet will hold an oversight hearing
titled The Accuracy and Integrity of the WHOIS database.
Howard Beales, Director of the Consumer Protection Bureau of
the FTC will testify. Audio
webcast. Press contact: Jeff Lungren or Terry Shawn at 202
225-2492. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.
9:30 AM. The 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, 2nd floor,
Crystal Park 2, Room 200, 2121 Crystal Drive, Arlington, VA.
10:00 AM. The Senate
Judiciary Committee will hold an executive business
meeting. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building. |
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| Friday, May 17 |
10:00 AM. The House
Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime will meet to
conduct a hearing on, and mark up of, several bills, including
HR 4640,
a bill to provide criminal penalties for providing false
information in registering a domain name on the Internet, and HR 4658,
the Truth in Domain Names Act. Both of these bills had been
scheduled for hearing and mark up on May 9, but were held
over. Audio webcast. Press contact: Jeff Lungren or Terry
Shawn at 202 225-2492. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.
10:00 AM. Stuart Eisenstadt and John Weekes will speak on US
EU Trade Relations. Eisenstadt is a Co-Chairman of the
U.S. European Business Council. Weekes is a former Canadian
Ambassador to the World Trade Organization. Location: Murrow
Room, National Press Club,
529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor.
10:00 AM. The FCC's Media
Security and Reliability Council will hold a meeting. See, FCC
notice [PDF]. Location: FCC, 445 12th Street, SW,
Commission Meeting Room, TW-C305.
12:00 NOON - 2:00 PM. The Progress
& Freedom Foundation (PFF) will host a panel
discussion titled The Telecom Meltdown: Causes and Cures.
The speakers will be Thomas Lenard (PFF), Terry Barnich (New Paradigm Resources Group),
Larry Darby (Darby Associates), Blair Levin (Legg
Mason Equity Research), and Randolph May (PFF). RSVP to
Brooke Emmerick at 202 289-8928 or bemmerick @pff.org. See, notice.
Location: Room B369, Rayburn Building. |
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| Sunday, May 19 |
| Day one of a three day conference titled "Personal
Privacy in the Digital Age: The Challenge for State and Local
Governments". See, agenda.
The price to attend is $345. For more information, contact 202
347-3190 x3005 or spandy
@napawash.org Location: Hilton Crystal City, Arlington,
VA. |
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