Sen. Hollings wrote that "At present, over a third of all 911 calls are made on wireless phones. But in the future, as the number of wireless minutes increases and as more Americans begin to rely on a mobile phone as their only phone, the need to locate individuals who may be unaware of their surroundings or unable to communicate them to emergency personnel will only grow more acute."

He stated that "over the past six years, the FCC has changed its rules, extended its deadlines, and granted waivers to almost every carrier in the nation. Because continued delay will only put more lives at risk, the Commission must redouble its efforts to enforce its E911 rules aggressively and to see that wireless carriers act expeditiously to implement this life-saving technology."

Sen. Hollings' letter also requested the production of documents.

Last week, several Senators and Representatives formed an E911 Caucus. See, release of Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT).

The Commerce Committee's Communications Subcommittee is scheduled to hold a hearing on E911 on Wednesday, March 5. The first group of witnesses will include three co-chairs of the E911 Caucus: Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL), and Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA). The fourth co-chair is Sen. Burns. However, as Chairman of the Communications Subcommittee, he will preside at the hearing.

The next panel will include FCC Commissioners Kathleen Abernathy and Jonathan Adelstein. Finally, the Subcommittee will hear from Jenny Hanson (State of Montana), John Melcher (National Emergency Number Association), Thera Bradshaw (International Associated Public Safety Communications Officials), Michael Amarosa (TruePosition, Inc.), and Mark Tuller (Verizon Wireless).

Section 7 of this order is an amended version of Executive Order 13231, dated October 16, 2001, and titled "Critical Infrastructure Protection in the Information Age". The amended version provides that "It is the policy of the United States to protect against disruption of the operation of information systems for critical infrastructure and thereby help to protect the people, economy, essential human and government services, and national security of the United States, and to ensure that any disruptions that occur are infrequent, of minimal duration, and manageable, and cause the least damage possible. The implementation of this policy shall include a voluntary public-private partnership, involving corporate and nongovernmental organizations."

Section 13 of this order amends Executive Order 13133, dated August 5, 1999, and titled "Working Group on Unlawful Conduct on the Internet". The sole change is adding the Secretary of Homeland Security to the membership of the working group.

Section 46 of this order amends Executive Order 12472, dated April 3, 1984, and titled "Assignment of National Security and Emergency Preparedness Telecommunications Functions".

Section 47 of this order amends Executive Order 12382, dated September 13, 1982, and titled "President's National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee".

Section 86 of this order provides an exception to the provisions of the Government Employees Training Act for "Those elements of the Department of Homeland Security that are supervised by the Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection through the Department's Assistant Secretary for Information Analysis ..."

The event provided the members the chance to speak to all five Commissioners, as well as most of their legal advisors, and many other top FCC staff members, who sat in the audience behind the Commissioners.

Media Ownership. The most frequently raised topic, other than the FCC's Triennial Review order, was the FCC's pending review of media ownership rules.

Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) (at right), the ranking Democrat on the full Committee, stated that the FCC "will soon conclude a proceeding that appears to be aimed at weakening or eliminating its present media ownership rules. The premise underlying this proceeding is that the emergence of new media platforms -- in particular, cable and the Internet -- has created so many voices that we needn’t worry about the tremendous consolidation that continues to occur in the industry."

Rep. Dingell said, "Mr. Powell, I challenge that premise. While there has been an expansion of delivery systems, the most watched national news broadcasts, the most popular cable news channels, and the most visited websites for news and information are all owned and controlled by only a handful of companies." See, prepared statement.

In contrast, Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL), who has sponsored legislation that would relax media ownership rules, advanced his proposals.

Telemedicine. Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA) raised "telemedicine service, and what needs to done in order to make it more available in more places in rural America. Almost a year ago, in April of 2002, the Commission issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking looking for ways that the rural health care support mechanism could be streamlined and enhanced in order to make services more available to health care facilities in rural America, while staying within the existing statutory framework, and keeping the existing cap in place. I responded to that notice with extensive comments making specific recommendations on ways to that telemedicine service could become more available to more facilities through appropriate Commission action. I know that many other people also responded with comments to your notice. But now, almost a year has gone by, and I am just hoping that you can put this issue forward on your agenda and reach a decision with regard to these much needed regulations, in just the next couple of months." He continued that many clinics in his district would like to provide telemedicine services, but that the current rates are beyond their reach.

Chairman Powell said, "I share your enthusiasm". He said "we will continue to move ahead and try to get this done as soon a possible." See, NPRM [35 pages in PDF] in FCC proceeding titled "In the Matter of Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) Regarding the Universal Service Support Mechanism for Rural Healthcare". This is WC Docket No. 02-60. See also, comment [8 pages in PDF] submitted by Rep. Boucher on July 31, 2002.

Schools and Libraries. Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) (at right) discussed the FCC's e-rate subsidies for schools and libraries. He noted that FCC investigations have found "fraud and financial abuse" by some applicants for e-rate funds. He continued that some institutions are being denied funds for "minor technical irregularities" on their applications, while others obtain funds by fraud. He urged the Commissioners to solve this problem.

E911. Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL), who is one of four co-chairs of the newly formed E911 Caucus, used his time to question the Commissioners on the impact of the Triennial Review order on E911 services.

Discrimination by Transport Providers. Rep. Boucher also raised the FCC's ongoing broadband regulatory classification proceeding, and discrimination by transport providers. He said that "Companies that own transport, and also are either affiliated with, or directly own a content provider, have the very convenient ability to use their transport mechanism in order to discriminate in favor of their own content or their affiliated content to the disadvantage of the unaffiliated content provider. I think that kind of discrimination is wrong. I think that the transport provider should not slow down access to the competitor's sites. I think that the transport provider should not use his position in order to degrade the quality of the receipt of the program or other transmission of the competitor's site. And I would assume that you would also agree with that kind of conduct is wrong, it is anti-consumer, and should be unlawful under Commission regulation."

He asked if the Commissioners "would be willing to consider as a part of your broadband regulatory classification proceeding adopting a position that would not allow this kind of discriminatory conduct to occur."

See, the FCC's NPRM [58 pages in PDF], adopted at its February 14, 2002 meeting, and the FCC's notice in the Federal Register. This NPRM pertains to the appropriate regulatory framework for broadband access to the Internet over wireline facilities. This is Docket 02-33.

Internet Taxes. Rep. Chris Cox (R-CA) used the occasion to solicit support from other members of the Subcommittee for extending the ban on new and discriminatory internet taxes. Rep. Cox is the sponsor of HR 49, the Internet Tax Nondiscrimination Act, a bill to permanently extend the moratorium enacted by the 1998 Internet Tax Freedom Act. The 107th Congress passed HR 1552, which extended the moratorium until November 1, 2003. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) is the sponsor of companion legislation in the Senate, S 52. See also, story titled "Rep. Cox and Sen. Wyden Introduce Bill to Make Permanent Net Tax Ban", in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No.580, January 10, 2003.

2/28. The Cato Institute released a paper [17 pages in PDF] titled "Should Congress Repeal Securities Class Action Reform?" The paper examines the effects of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA). Technology companies lobbied for its passage. The paper concludes that "The hard evidence does not support repealing the PSLRA. In fact, securities class actions are being filed at a record pace. And although a higher percentage of these lawsuits is being dismissed now than before the act, the ones that survive lead to larger settlements. ... In short, the PSLRA is working well, although not as well as intended, and there do not appear to be grounds to either repeal or significantly amend it. A better course for reform would be to change the damages remedy in securities fraud class actions to focus on deterrence." The paper was written by Adam Pritchard. See also, executive summary.

2/27. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) published in its web site PDF scans of 180 pages of records that it obtained from the Department of Defense (DOD) regarding the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Total Information Awareness (TIA) project. The EPIC has submitted requests for records pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. § 552, and filed complaints against the DOD in the U.S. District Court (DC) alleging failure to comply with the FOIA. See, records obtained by the EPIC: Part 1 [5.6 MB], Part 2 [6.4 MB], Part 3 [5.0 MB], and Part 4 [3.5 MB].

2/27. The Progress and Freedom Foundation (PFF) released a paper [PDF] titled "Intellectual Property in the Internet Age: The Meaning of Eldred". On January 15, 2003, the Supreme Court issued its opinion [89 pages in PDF] in Eldred v. Ashcroft, upholding the constitutionality of the Copyright Term Extension Act, which retroactively extended the maximum duration of copyrights. The PFF concluded that "Eldred is a useful addition to the oeuvre of copyright law, important because it repelled what could have been a serious challenge to fundamental premises. It also left the gate open for arguments that the Internet Age, with its fantastic promise for reducing transaction costs, makes the protection of property rights more important, not less, and that the true interest of consumers lies in developments based on this principle, not on a vague ethos of fuzzy communitarianism." See also, TLJ story titled "Supreme Court Upholds CTEA in Eldred v. Ashcroft", January 15, 2003.

2/28. Microsoft announced that it signed an agreement with the China Information Technology Security Certification Center (CNITSEC) to participate in the recently announced Government Security Program (GSP). Microsoft stated in a release that "GSP is a global initiative that provides national governments with controlled access to Microsoft Windows source code and other technical information they need to be confident in the security of the Windows platform." See also, Microsoft release regarding Bill Gates' trip to Beijing.

2/27. Lucent stated in a release that it "reached an agreement in principle with the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission, which would resolve the commission's investigation of the company. The agreement is subject to final approval of the commission. ... Under the agreement in principle, the company would pay no fines or penalties and would not be required to make any financial restatements. The settlement would conclude the SEC's investigation of Lucent."

2/28. EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy will be in Washington DC on March 3 and 4 for meetings with U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Zoellick, Secretary of the Treasury John Snow, Stephen Friedman (Counsel of Economic Advisors), Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans, Sen. Charles Grassly (R-IA) (Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee), International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Horst Koehler, Rep. Sandy Levin (D-MI), and Rep. Bill Thomas (R-CA) (Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee). He will also speak at a Brookings Institute event, and at a Congressional Economic Leadership Institute luncheon. See, TLJ calendar.

2/28. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) published in its web site reports from 31 trade advisory committees regarding the recently completed free trade agreements (FTAs) with Singapore and Chile. The Trade Act of 2002 requires these reports for trade agreements negotiated pursuant to the President's Trade Promotion Authority (TPA). See, USTR release. With respect to the Singapore FTA, see the report [PDF] of the Industry Sector Advisory Committee (ISAC) on Electronics and Instrumentation, report [17 pages in PDF] of the ISAC on Services (which covers e-commerce, telecommunications and information technology services), report [21 pages in PDF] of the Industry Functional Advisory Committee (IFAC) on Intellectual Property Rights, and the report [PDF] of the IFAC on Electronic Commerce. With respect to the Chile FTA, see the report [PDF] of the IFAC on Intellectual Property Rights, report [PDF] of the IFAC on Electronic Commerce, report [PDF] of the ISAC on Services, and the report [PDF] of the ISAC on Electronics and Instrumentation.

2/28. President Bush gave a speech to employees of the Department of Homeland Security at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center Washington, DC. He stated that "The Department of Homeland Security is also charged with strengthening our defenses against cyber-terrorism and the even greater dangers of biological, chemical or nuclear weapons. We've established a science and technology directorate within the Department so we can apply some of our nation's best minds to the task of protecting our people. I've nominated a good man, Dr. Charles McQueary, to head up this effort." The Senate Commerce Committee has scheduled a confirmation hearing for McQueary for Tuesday, March 4.

Donald Williams is a computer consultant. Dominion Technology Partners (Dominion) is a company that recruits computer consultants and places them with companies on a temporary basis. Dominion also sometimes uses an employment brokerage company to place its consultants.

Dominion hired Williams as an at-will employee, paying him $80 per hour for work performed for Dominion clients. There was no express confidentiality or non-compete agreement between Williams and Dominion. Dominion then contracted with employment brokerage company ACSYS to place Williams; ACSYS, in turn, placed Williams with a company, Stihl, that needed a computer consultant to oversee the installation of a new software package on computer systems. Stihl paid ACSYS $165 per hour for Williams' services. ACSYS paid Dominion $115. Dominion paid Williams $80.

Stihl was satisfied with Williams' work, and continued to contract for his services on other projects. Williams made arrangements to become an employee of ACSYS. Then, he terminated his employment with Dominion, and went to work for ACSYS, for $100 per hour.

Dominion sued Williams, but not ACSYS, in Virginia state court alleging breach of contract, tortious interference with business relationships and prospective business relationships, breach of fiduciary duty, and business conspiracy in violation of Virginia Code §§ 18.2-499 and 18.2-500. Following a jury trial, the trial court awarded judgment to Dominion on three theories of liability: breach of a fiduciary duty, interference with business relationships, and statutory business conspiracy. Williams appealed.

The Supreme Court reversed, and entered judgment for Williams. It wrote that "an employee-at-will, owes a fiduciary duty of loyalty to his employer during his employment", and this includes "the more specific duty that the employee not compete with his employer during his employment." However, "in the absence of a contract restriction regarding this duty of loyalty, an employee has the right to make arrangements during his employment to compete with his employer after resigning his post."

The Supreme Court commented that other types of employee conduct, such as misappropriation of trade secrets, misuse of confidential information, and solicitation of an employer's clients or other employees prior to termination of employment, would constitute breach of fiduciary duty. However, the court wrote that "it cannot be said that Williams' conduct to safeguard his own interests was either disloyal or unfair to Dominion". It added that "Dominion's disappointment that its hopes did not bear the expected additional benefit it might have obtained under a different contractual agreement with ACSYS does not translate into a breach of any fiduciary duty Williams owed to Dominion."

9:00 AM - 4:00 PM. The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) will hold a meeting. The agenda includes Presentation of R&D Subcommittee Draft Report on Technology Transfer and Discussion of PCAST’s Nanotechnology Work Plan. Pre-clearance is required to attend. Part of the meeting will be closed. See, PCAST notice and notice in the Federal Register, February 24, 2003, Vol. 68, No. 36, at Page 8608. Location: Indian Treaty Room, Eisenhower Executive Office Building, 17th Street and Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Intellectual Property Development v. UA Columbia Cablevision, No. 02-1248, an appeal from the U.S. District Court (SDNY) in a patent case. Location: Courtroom 402, 717 Madison Place, NW.

11:30 AM. EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy will hold a press briefing. See, EU notice. Location: Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), 600 17th Street, NW.

Deadline to file FCC Form 477 with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). All providers of local telephone service that serve 10,000 or more voice grade equivalent lines, or wireless channels, in a given state must file this form. Also, facilities based providers that serve at least 250 one-way or two-way broadband (defined here as in excess of 200 kilobits per second) service lines, or wireless channels, in a given state (or have at least 250 customers for such service in a given state) must also file. This form provides the FCC with the data that it uses for its twice per year report on the growth in use of broadband services. See, FCC notice [MS Word].

Deadline to submit comments to the Copyright Office (CO) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) relating to proposed regulations that set rates and terms for the use of sound recordings by preexisting subscription services for the period January 1, 2002 through December 31, 2007. For more information, contact David Carson (General Counsel) or Tanya Sandros (Senior Attorney, Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel) at 202 707-8380. See, notice in the Federal Register, January 30, 2003, Vol. 68, No. 20, at Page 4744-4747.

Day one of a three day conference titled "Securing Your Cyber Frontier Through Awareness, Training and Education" hosted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Federal Information Systems Security Educators' Association (FISSEA). See, conference web site. Location: The Hilton Hotel, 8727 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, MD.

9:00 AM. The Bureau of Industry and Security's (BIS) Regulations and Procedures Technical Advisory Committee will hold a partly open and partly closed meeting. The agenda includes a discussion of encryption regulation recommendations. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 18, 2003, Vol. 68, No. 32, at Page 7765. Location: Room 3884, Hoover Building, 14th Street between Constitution and Pennsylvania Avenues, NW.

9:30 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing titled "The War Against Terrorism: Working Together to Protect America." The scheduled witnesses are Attorney General John Ashcroft, FBI Director Robert Mueller, and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge. See, notice. Location: Room 106, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing on several pending nominations, including that of Charles McQueary to be Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Science and Technology. Location: Room 253, Russell Building.

10:00 AM. The House Government Reform Committee's Subcommittee on Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations and the Census will hold a hearing titled "Federal E-Government Initiatives: Are We Headed in the Right Direction?" The scheduled witnesses are Mark Forman (Office of Management and Budget), Joel Willemssen (General Accounting Office), David McClure (The Council for Excellence in Government), and Leonard Pomata (webMethods). Press contact: Bob Dix at 202 225-6751. Location: Room 2154, Rayburn Building.

12:30 PM. The House Homeland Security Committee will hold its organizational meeting. Press contact: Kate Whitman at 202 225-5611. Location: Room 2172, Rayburn Building.

2:00 PM. Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans will host an event titled "Launch of Digital Freedom Initiative". The other participants will include John Morgridge (Chairman of Cisco Systems), Carly Fiorina (Ch/CEO of Hewlett Packard), John Bridgeland (Director of USA Freedom Corps), Andrew Natsios (Administrator of USAID), Gaddi Vasquez (Director of the Peace Corps), and Henando de Soto (President of the Institute for Liberty and Democracy). The Department of Commerce notice contains this restriction: "Members of the press without White House press credentials who want to cover the event must fax your name (as it appears on your driver's license), social security number and date of birth on company letterhead to (202) 456-9720 no later than 5:00 p.m. on Monday, March 3. You do not need to confirm receipt. You will be cleared for access to the White House via the Northwest Gate and will proceed to the Press Briefing Room. You must be in the Press Briefing Room by 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 4." Location: Room 450, Eisenhower Building.

12:30 PM. EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy will speak at a luncheon conference organized by the Congressional Economic Leadership Institute (CELI) titled "EU and US Trade Relations: Challenges Ahead". RSVP to 202 546-5007 or pm@celi.org. Location: 201 Massachusetts Ave., NE.

2:30 PM. 11:30 AM. EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy will hold a press briefing. See, EU notice. Location: EU Delegation.

Deadline to submit comments to the General Services Administration (GSA) in response to its notice of proposed rulemaking regarding Section 211 of the E-Government Act of 2002. Section 211 authorizes the Administrator of GSA to provide for the use by States or local governments of its Federal Supply Schedule for "automated data processing equipment (including firmware), software, supplies, support equipment, and services ...'' See, Federal Register, January 23, 2003, Vol. 68, No. 3220, at Pages 3220-3225.

Extended deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding SBC's Section 271 application to provide in-region interLATA service in the state of Michigan. This is WC Docket No. 03-16. See, FCC notice.

POSTPONED. 9:30 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on judicial nominations. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing on the Bush administration's trade agenda. Location: Room 215, Dirksen Building.

The Supreme Court will hear oral argument in U.S. v. American Library Association, No. 02-361. This is the CIPA case.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Copyright Office (CO) in response to its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) regarding the form, content, and manner of service of notices of termination under Section 203 of the Copyright Act. 17 U.S.C. § 203 pertains to the termination of transfers and licenses granted by the author. See, notice in the Federal Register, December 20, 2002 Vol. 67, No. 245, at Pages 77951 - 77955. For more information, contact David Carson, CO General Counsel, at 202 707-8380.

Day one of a three day conference hosted by the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) titled "Annual Economic Development Summit". See, program. Location: Washington Hilton.

Day two of a three day conference titled "Securing Your Cyber Frontier Through Awareness, Training and Education" hosted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Federal Information Systems Security Educators' Association (FISSEA). See, conference web site. Location: The Hilton Hotel, 8727 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, MD.

9:30 AM. The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing on the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Spectrum Policy Task Force's (SPTF) report and spectrum issues. The scheduled witnesses include Steven Berry (Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association), Kevin Kahn (Intel), Paul Kolodzy (former Chair of the FCC SPTF), Gregory Rosston (Stanford), Michael Calabrese (New America Foundation). Location: Room 253, Russell Building.

9:30 AM - 1:30 PM. The Communitarian Network will host a conference titled "Improving Identification: Enhancing Security, Guarding Privacy". See, agenda. Location: Room 188, Russell Building.

The House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property will hold a hearing titled "Copyright Piracy Prevention and the Broadcast Flag". Webcast. Location: Room 2237, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM - 12:00 PM. The Department of State's International Telecommunication Advisory Committee (ITAC) will meet. A notice in the Federal Register states that the purpose of this meeting is "to begin preparations for the meeting of the ITU Telecommunications Development Advisory Group, which will take place March 19-21, 2003 in Geneva, Switzerland", and/or "to prepare for the 2003 meeting of the Telecommunications Development Advisory Group (TDAG)". The notice also states requirements for admission. See, Federal Register, February 6, 2003, Vol. 68, at Page 6250. Location: State Department.

12:00 NOON. The Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee will host a panel discussion on online privacy issues. The topics will include "whether online and offline collection should be treated the same, federal preemption, private rights of action and the impact of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and Gramm Leach Bliley debates." To attend, RSVP to rsvp@netcaucus.org or 202 638-4370. Lunch will be served. Location: Reserve Officers Association, 1st and Constitution, NE.

3:30 PM. Graeme Dinwoodie (Professor of Law, Chicago Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology) will give a lecture titled "Internationalizing Intellectual Property Law: Soft Law, Soft Power and Other Mechanisms". For more information, contact Julie Cohen at jec@law.georgetown.edu. Location: Georgetown University Law Center, Faculty Lounge, 600 New Jersey Ave., NW.

Day two of a three day conference hosted by the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) titled "Annual Economic Development Summit". See, program. Location: Washington Hilton.

Day three of a three day conference titled "Securing Your Cyber Frontier Through Awareness, Training and Education" hosted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Federal Information Systems Security Educators' Association (FISSEA). See, conference web site. Location: The Hilton Hotel, 8727 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, MD.

Day three of a three day conference hosted by the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) titled "Annual Economic Development Summit". See, program. At 10:00 AM, there will be a panel discussion titled "Technological Innovation". The scheduled speakers include Chris Israel (Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Technology Policy, Technology Administration), Marc Stanley (Acting Director, Advanced Technology Program, Technology Administration), and Bill Brundage (Commissioner, Office for the New Economy, State of Kentucky). Location: Washington Hilton.