| Notice from the Publisher |
| TLJ apologizes that there was no Daily E-Mail Alert on
Wednesday, May 15. High winds in Washington DC knocked over an
oak tree that cut lines that serve TLJ. TLJ was without
electrical power or Internet access for much of Tuesday and
Wednesday. |
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| Court Stays Surveillance
Order in Paramount v. ReplayTV |
5/15. The U.S.
District Court (CDCal), Judge Florence Marie Cooper
presiding, granted SONICblue's request for a temporary stay of
the its April 26 ruling in Paramount Pictures v. ReplayTV
mandating surveillance of ReplayTV 4000 television users. The ReplayTV
4000, sold by SONICblue,
is a personal video recorder that enables users to store
television programming to hard disks. The Court also set June
3 for a hearing on SONICblue's motion to vacate.
On May 13, the Electronic
Privacy Information Center (EPIC) and other groups filed
an amicus
curiae brief [PDF] with the District Court. They wrote
that "Requiring disclosure of consumer viewing habits in
the emerging digital environment raises far reaching privacy
questions and implicates the design of new technology."
On May 14, the Consumer
Electronics Association (CEA) and other trade groups filed
a second amicus
curiae brief [PDF]. It was joined in the brief by the Information Technology Association
of America (ITAA), the Computer
& Communications Industry Association (CCIA), and the Association for Competitive
Technology (ACT).
These trade groups wrote that "Although framed as a
simple discovery order, the Magistrate Judge's order of April
26, 2002 appears to be breathtaking in scope. Defendants must
fundamentally alter the structure of their product and their
customer relationship by creating and adding complex new
software to monitor customers' individual use of the ReplayTV
product. The order compels the design, development, and
implementation of specific computer technologies to assist
Plaintiffs in the collection of evidence. Simply put, the
Magistrate Judge has ordered Defendants to create a new
software work against their will, transmit it to user's homes
without users' consent, and install it on consumers' property
without their consent, in order to retrieve detailed
information from them without their consent, to transmit it to
third parties without their consent."
See also, EPIC
release, CEA
release, and SONICblue
release. |
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| House Judiciary Committee
Postpones Hearings |
5/15. The House
Judiciary Committee postponed from Wednesday, May 15, to
Thursday, May 16, its mark up of 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.
The House Judiciary
Committee's Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property
and the Internet postponed its oversight hearing titled
"The Accuracy and Integrity of the WHOIS Database",
which had been scheduled for Thursday, May 16. No new date has
been set.
The House Judiciary
Committee's Subcommittee on Crime postponed its 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, and then on May
17. No new date has been set. |
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| Appeals Court Opinions |
5/15. The U.S.
Court of Appeals (6thCir) issued its opinion
in Conwood
v. U.S. Tobacco, an antitrust case
involving smokeless tobacco. Conwood prevailed in the District
Court on its Sherman Antitrust Act, 15 U.S.C.
§ 2, claim involving use of monopoly position to
exclude competitors from the market. The Court of Appeals
affirmed.
5/15. The U.S.
Court of Appeals (FedCir) issued its opinion
[MS Word] in Cooper
Cameron v. Kvaerner Oilfield Products, a patent
case. The case involves U.S.
Patent 5,544,707 and U.S.
Patent 6,039,119 which pertain to the oil business.
Specifically, they are directed to subsea wellheads having a
horizontal spool tree arrangement that protects the integrity
of the well during workover activities for repair and
maintenance. The Appeals Court's opinion addresses the
doctrine of equivalents, invalidity for inadequate written
description, and documents that qualify as "printed
publications" under 35 U.S.C.
§ 102.
5/15. The U.S.
Court of Appeals (9thCir) issued an opinion
[PDF] in Vizcaino
v. Microsoft, the long running litigation
between Microsoft and its freelance workers. This
opinion pertains only to the amount of attorneys' fees awarded
to class counsel. The District Court entered an order
approving class counsel's fee request of $27,127,800, which
was 28% of the cash settlement fund. The Court of Appeals
affirmed. |
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| More News |
5/15. Robert Sachs, P/CEO of the National Cable and
Telecommunications Association (NCTA), gave a speech
at the Advanced Television
Systems Committee (ATSC) annual meeting in which he
addressed the DTV transition. He stated that "HDTV will
bolster cable's competitiveness and value proposition to
consumers. This is why the cable industry two weeks ago
pledged strong support for voluntary industry actions to speed
the transition to digital television proposed by Chairman
Powell." He also said that "Key to the creation of
more HDTV programming are digital rights protections. The
cable industry shares the broadcast industry's desire to
protect copyrighted digital video content from being
retransmitted for free over the Internet."
5/15. The USPTO published
the May
issue of the USPTO Pulse in its web site. |
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| FCC Approves Georgia's and
Louisiana's Long Distance Requests |
5/15. The Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) approved BellSouth's Section
271 application to provide in region interLATA service
originating in the states of Georgia and Louisiana. This is
the first 271 approval for BellSouth.
Rep. Billy Tauzin
(R-LA), the Chairman of the House Commerce Committee,
stated in a release that "I am delighted that Louisiana
consumers will now reap the benefits of unfettered local and
long distance telephone competition."
Duane Ackerman, Ch/CEO of BellSouth stated in a release
that "We are pleased that the Federal Communications
Commission, after a very lengthy and thorough examination of
BellSouth's compliance with the Telecommunications Act's
market opening requirements, has affirmed that we have in fact
met our obligations to our competitors who currently serve
over 4.2 million customer lines in our region ... With today's
approval we will now move ahead with our plan to obtain long
distance relief in all nine of our states."
This is FCC Docket No. WC 02-35. See also, FCC
release. |
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| Groups Oppose Hollings'
Bill To Regulate Online Information Practices |
5/15. The Computer &
Communications Industry Association (CCIA) announced its
opposition S 2201,
the Online Personal Privacy Act. The Senate Commerce
Committee is scheduled to mark up this bill on Thursday,
May 16.
CCIA P/CEO Ed Black wrote in a letter
to Sen. Ernest Hollings
(D-SC), the sponsor of the bill and Chairman of the Committee,
that "this legislation will cause great harm to the
Internet and e-commerce, discriminating against those who
conduct business online."
Black continued that "We are particularly concerned with
the proliferation of litigation that we anticipate would
result from adoption of this legislation. Given the fragile
economic state of many Internet based companies, the threat of
massive litigation, coupled with costly and burdensome
regulations mandating access requirements and onerous sign-on
schemes would have a disastrous impact. We believe this
legislation would also harm consumers as the free flow of
services and information facilitated by the Internet and
online commerce would be greatly curtailed." See also, CCIA release.
Also on May 15, the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce urged the Committee to reject the
bill. The Chamber's Bruce Josten stated in a release
that "If enacted, this bill would derail the growth of
online commerce and could actually increase identity thefts by
making it easier to obtain personal information." |
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| FCC Meeting Agenda |
The Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) is scheduled to consider the following
items at its May 16 meeting.
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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| People and Appointments |
| 5/15. President Bush nominated Kevin Ryan to be the
U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California for the
term of four years. Ryan has been a Judge on the Superior
Court of California since 1999. Before that he was a Judge on
the San Francisco Municipal Court. And before that, he was
Deputy District Attorney in the Alameda County District
Attorney's Office. See, White
House release. |
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| About Tech Law Journal |
Tech Law Journal publishes a free access web site and
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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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free access. However, copies of the TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert and
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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| Thursday, May 16 |
The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business.
The Supreme Court is on recess until May 20.
9:30 AM. The Senate
Commerce Committee will hold a meeting to mark up several
bills. The agenda includes: S 2037,
a bill providing for the establishment of a national emergency
technology guard; 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; S 630,
the Can Spam Act; S 2201,
a bill pertaining to information privacy online; S 414,
a bill to amend the National Telecommunications and
Information Administration Organization Act to establish a
digital network technology program. 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 Street, SW, Commission Meeting Room.
POSTPONED. 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.
Press contact: Jeff Lungren or Terry Shawn at 202 225-2492.
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, second floor,
Crystal Park 2, Room 200, 2121 Crystal Drive, Arlington, VA.
10:00 AM. The Senate
Judiciary Committee will hold an executive business
meeting. The agenda includes consideration of S 848, the
Social Security Number Misuse Prevention Act of 2001,
sponsored by Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) and Sen. Judd Gregg
(R-NH), and S 1742, the Restore Your Identity Act of 2001,
sponsored by Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA). The agenda also
includes votes on several pending judicial nominations,
including Brooks Smith (U.S.C.A., 3rd Circuit), Richard
Clifton (U.S.C.A., 9th Circuit), Christopher Conner (U.S.D.C,
Middle District of Pennsylvania), Joy Conti (U.S.D.C. Western
District of Pennsylvania), and John Jones (U.S.D.C., Middle
District of Pennsylvania. 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 (MSRC) 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 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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| Saturday, May 18 |
| Day one of a five day annual conference of the INTA. See, agenda.
Location: Washington Convention Center. |
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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 Ext. 3005 or spandy
@napawash.org Location: Hilton Crystal City, Arlington,
VA. |
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| Monday, May 20 |
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Day one of a two day public workshop
hosted by the FTC to explore issues
relating to the security of consumers' computers and the
personal information stored in them or in company databases.
See, notice
to be published in the Federal Register. The FTC previously
announced that this event would be held on May 16 and 17. See,
notice
in Federal Register. Location: 600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.
Day two of a three day conference titled "Personal
Privacy in the Digital Age: The Challenge for State and Local
Governments".
Day three of a five day annual conference of the INTA. See, agenda.
Location: Washington Convention Center. |
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| Tuesday, May 21 |
President Bush will leave the country for visits to Germany,
France and Russia. He will return on May 27.
9:00 AM - 2:00 PM. Day two of a two day public workshop hosted
by the FTC to explore issues
relating to the security of consumers' computers and the
personal information stored in them or in company databases.
See, notice
to be published in the Federal Register. The FTC previously
announced that this event would be held on May 16 and 17. See,
notice
in Federal Register. Location: 600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.
12:00 NOON - 1:00 PM. Howard Beales, Director of the FTC's
Bureau of Consumer Protection, will give the closing keynote
address at the conference titled "Personal Privacy in the
Digital Age: The Challenge for State and Local
Governments". Location: Hilton Crystal City, Arlington,
VA.
12:15 PM. The FCBA's
Young Lawyers Committee will host a brown bag lunch. Steve
Berry (VP for Government Affairs at the CTIA) will address Wireless
Issues on the Hill. Location: Hogan & Hartson,
Conference Room 9E-407, 555 13th Street, NW (east tower).
2:00 - 4:00 PM. The Department of State's U.S. International
Telecommunication Advisory Committee will meet to debrief the
just completed International Telecommunication Union Council
meeting. Persons intending to attend the meeting should send a
fax to the State Department with security related information.
See, notice
in Federal Register. Location: Room 1408, State Dept.
Day three of a three day conference titled "Personal
Privacy in the Digital Age: The Challenge for State and Local
Governments".
Day four of a five day annual conference of the INTA. See, agenda.
Location: Washington Convention Center. |
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