3/16. Secretary of State Colin Powell, who is on a trip to India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, gave an interview to Karan Singh of Doordarshan News in New Delhi, India in which the two discussed outsourcing. Powell said that "outsourcing is just a fact of life in this 21st century, global economic environment".

Powell (at right) stated that "It is a real problem when people lose jobs, it becomes a political problem. And outsourcing has caused the loss of some jobs in the United States."

"But outsourcing is just a fact of life in this 21st century, global economic environment in which we live. We outsource to India. India, in some instances, outsources back to the United States when Indian businessmen ask for American lawyers or accountants or others to provide a service for Indian businesses", said Powell.

He continued that "And so what we have to do is make sure our people understand what outsourcing is about. How it is important to us and important to the nation when we outsource jobs, and then work hard to make sure to provide alternatives for those workers who have lost their jobs, and also to make sure that in our trade relations with other nations, they are encouraging us to invest and to trade with them by removing barriers and taking other actions that make it easier to enter into their markets, into the Indian market. In fact, it has turned out to be one of the major subjects we talked about today, how India can delve further with respect to economic reform and make it easier for the United States to do this with India, to the benefit of India and to the benefit of the United States."

See, transcript of interview.

3/12. Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-LA) introduced HR 3969, the "Foreign Government Ownership Act of 2004", a bill to bar any foreign government from controlling more than 25% of any entity to owns a license issued by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The bill was referred to the House Commerce Committee.

The bill provides that "no license, permit, or operating authority under this Act may be granted to or held by a corporation, joint venture, partnership, other business organization, trust, or other entity after the date of enactment of the Foreign Government Ownership Act of 2004, if that corporation, joint venture, partnership, other business organization, trust, or other entity is directly or indirectly controlled by a foreign government or its representative".

The bill defines control as either "(1) more than 25 percent of the ownership, voting rights, capital stock, or other interest in that corporation or other entity is owned, held, or controlled, directly or indirectly, by a foreign government or its representatives; (2) a foreign government or its representatives has the authority to approve or disapprove the appointment or employment of any officer of the corporation, joint venture, partnership, other business organization, trust, or other entity; or (3) a foreign government or its representative has the authority to exercise control over such corporation, joint venture, partnership, other business organization, trust, or other entity in any other manner."

The ban would be absolute. The FCC would have no authority to waive this requirement.

The bill does not affect control by the U.S. government, states, or subdivisions thereof.

Nor does the bill affect control by foreign companies or persons that are not controlled by foreign governments. Of course, there is the matter of the Exon Florio provision. That is, Section 5021 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 amended Section 721 of the Defense Production Act of 1950 to give the President authority to suspend or prohibit any foreign acquisition, merger or takeover of a U.S. corporation that is determined to threaten the national security of the United States. As a practical matter, this authority is exercised by the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS), an interagency entity chaired by the Secretary of the Treasury.

3/15. The U.S. District Court (NDCal) issued a Case Management Order that adopts the Case Management Statement and Proposed Order submitted by the parties in the antitrust case, U.S. v. Oracle.

This provides, among other things, that "Trial shall commence on June 7, 2004, or as soon thereafter as the Court calendar permits. Each side shall have at least 8 full trial days to submit its respective case." This also addresses initial disclosure, pre-trial discovery, witness lists, exhibit lists, deadlines and other pre-trial matters.

The Court also issued a Stipulated Protective Order pertaining to the protection of confidential information.

On February 26, 2004, the U.S. and seven states filed a complaint against the Oracle Corporation alleging that Oracle's proposed acquisition of PeopleSoft, Inc. would lessen competition substantially in interstate trade and commerce in violation of Section 7 of the Clayton Act, which is codified at 15 U.S.C. § 18. The plaintiffs seek an injunction of the proposed acquisition.

See, story titled "Antitrust Division Sues Oracle to Enjoin Its Proposed Acquisition of PeopleSoft" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 846, March 1, 2004.

This case is U.S., et al. v. Oracle, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, D.C. No: C 04-00807 VRW, Judge Vaughn Walker presiding.

3/16. The U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir) issued its opinion in Verizon New York v. NLRB, upholding an enforcement order of the NLRB requiring Verizon to bargain with a union before it can deny time off with pay for participating in a blood donation drive.

Verizon is a company that provides telecommunications and other services in the state of New York. Some of its employees are member of a union named the Communications Workers of America (CWA). Verizon and the CWA have entered into a collective bargaining agreement. Verizon terminated a practice in one area of giving employees time out from work, with pay, to participate in blood drives. The CWA complained to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which found that Verizon violated § 8(a)(5) and (1) of the National Labor Relations Act by refusing to bargain with the CWA over elimination of its blood drive practice. The Court of Appeals affirmed.

§ 8(d) of the NLRA defines collective bargaining as "the performance of the mutual obligation of the employer and the representative of the employees to meet at reasonable times and confer in good faith with respect to wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment". § 8(a) addresses collective bargaining requirements. The Court reasoned that Verizon's decision to end its practice of giving time off to participate in blood drives is a mandatory subject of bargaining because it concerns wages and hours.

This case is Verizon New York, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board, a petition for review of an order of the NLRB, Nos. 03–1155 and 03–1180.

3/15. Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-SC) and other Senators wrote a letter [PDF] to Attorney General John Ashcroft urging him to "appeal" the Appeals Court opinion [62 pages in PDF] in USTA v. FCC.

The letter was cosigned by Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT), and Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI), who, like Sen. Hollings, are senior members of the Senate Commerce Committee.

On March 2, 2004 the U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir) issued its opinion [62 pages in PDF] in USTA v. FCC overturning key parts of the FCC's triennial review order (TRO). The opinion leaves largely untouched those portions of the TRO in which the FCC refrained from unbundling next generation broadband facilities. The opinion vacates those portions of the TRO in which the FCC delegated decision making authority to the states to make impairment findings. See, story titled "Appeals Court Overturns Key Provisions of FCC Triennial Review Order", also published in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 848, March 3, 2004.

The four Senators wrote that "The appeals court invalidated the FCC's rules implementing the statute's requirement allowing competitive local telephone companies to lease portions of the incumbent carriers' networks -- but at a fair price. The court found, wrongly, that the FCC could not ask the state public utility commissions to apply the FCC-mandated requirements. Congress plainly contemplated a role for the states in determining the extent of the incumbents' obligations to lease their networks. Section 251(d)(3) of the Act specifically provides that "in prescribing and enforcing regulations to implement the requirements of this section, the Commission shall not preclude the enforcement of any regulation, order, or policy of a State commission that establishes access and interconnection obligations of local exchange carriers..."

The Senators continued that "The decision failed to recognize the balance the Act sought to strike. The Bell companies were permitted to enter the long distance market if and only if they could show they made their networks available for competitors (including long distance companies) to enter the local telephone service market. Every Bell incumbent has now entered the long distance market while long distance and other competitors have leased the Bell networks to enter the local market. The result has been a wide array of service offerings at a much lower price for consumers. Competition has really worked."

3/16. President Bush announced his intent to nominate Jon Dudas (at right) to be Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Dudas has been the acting Director since the departure of former Director James Rogan in January. Dudas was appointed Deputy Under Secretary and Deputy Director in January of 2002. He previously worked as Counsel to the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property, and as Counsel for Legal Policy and Senior Floor Assistant for the Office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives. See, White House release.

3/16. MCI WorldCom's Board of Directors elected Nicholas Katzenbach as non-executive Chairman of the Board. He has been a member of the Board since December of 2002. MCI WorldCom stated in a release that the election is "effective upon MCI's emergence from Chapter 11 protection". Katzenbach was the Attorney General of the United States early in the administration of former President Lyndon Johnson.

3/16. Andy Davis was named Communications Director for Sen. John Kerry's (D-MA) Senate office. He previously worked for Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-SC), handling, among other tasks, communications regarding the Senate Commerce Committee. Sen. Hollings is the ranking Democrat on the Committee, but is retiring at the end of the current Congress. Sen. Kerry is also a member of the Committee. The interim communications director for Sen. Hollings' Committee activities is Ilene Zeldin at 202 224-6654.

3/16. The General Accounting Office (GAO) released a report [89 pages in PDF] titled "Information Security: Technologies to Secure Federal Systems". The report, which was prepared for the House Government Reform Committee, categorizes and describes commercially available cybersecurity technologies that federal agencies can use to defend their computer systems against cyber attacks.

3/16. BellSouth filed two complaints in U.S. District Court (NDGa) against Comverse Technology, Inc. alleging patent infringement. See, BellSouth release. BellSouth alleges infringement of U.S. Patent No. 5,764,747 titled "Personal number communication system", and U.S. Patent No. 5,857,013 titled "Method for automatically returning voice mail messages". Comverse makes software and systems enabling network-based multimedia enhanced communication services.

3/16. Treasury Secretary John Snow gave a speech to the American Tort Reform Association in Washington DC in which he condemned frivolous litigation.

3/15. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) announced that it has written a paper titled "Minding Culture: Case Studies on Intellectual Property and Traditional Cultural Expressions´". The WIPO stated in a release that this paper is "planned to guide the work of WIPO on how the intellectual property system can respond to the needs and expectations of the custodians of traditional cultures and knowledge".

3/12. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a Notice of Apparent Liability (NAL) [35 pages in PDF] that proposes to fine Qwest Communications $9 Million for willfully and repeatedly violating its statutory obligations under 47 U.S.C. § 252(a)(1) by failing to file 46 interconnection agreements with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission and the Arizona Corporation Commission for approval under 47 U.S.C. § 252. FCC Chairman Michael Powell wrote in a statement [PDF] that this is "the largest proposed forfeiture in the Commission’s history". He added that "This action sends a clear message, along with the complementary state actions, that violations of the key pro-competitive provisions of the Act will not be tolerated."

3/11. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Michael Copps gave a speech [PDF] in Washington DC titled "An Always On Campaign for Consumers".

3/10. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy gave a speech [7 pages in PDF] in Washington DC titled "Ensuring That ETC Designations Serve the Public Interest".

The House will meet at 1:00 PM for legislative business. See, Republican Whip Notice.

8:30 AM - 3:30 PM. The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) will host a conference titled "National Software Summit: Workshop on the Software Workforce". See, notice. For more information, contact Eerik Kreek at ekreek@itaa.org. Location: George Mason University, Arlington Campus.

8:30 AM - 5:00 PM. Day two of a three day meeting of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board (ISPAB). See, notice in the Federal Register, March 8, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 45, at Pages 10677 - 10678. Location: Hyatt Regency Hotel Bethesda, 7400 Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda, MD.

9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. The Cellular Telecom and Internet Association (CTIA) and the Rural Cellular Association (RCA) will host a day long conference titled "Local Number Portability: Small Carrier Best Practices Forum". See, agenda and registration form. Prices vary. For more information contact Vanessa Ortiz at vortiz@ctia.org or 202 736-3677, or Lori Messing at lmessing@ctia.org. Location: St. Regis Hotel.

10:00 AM. The House Government Reform Committee's Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations will hold a hearing titled "U.S. Preparation for the World Radio Conferences: Too Little, Too Late?" The witness will be Jeffrey Shane (Department of Transportation), William Readdy (National Aeronautic and Space Administration), Michael Gallagher (acting Administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration), Kathleen Abernathy (Federal Communications Commission), David Gross (Department of State), Linton Wells (Department of Defense), James Schlesinger (Center for Strategic and International Studies), John Bryant (U.S. Ambassador to 1997 World Radio Conference), Gail Schoettler (U.S. Ambassador to 2000 World Radio Conference Janice Obuchowski (U.S. Ambassador to 2003 World Radio Conference). See, notice. Press contact: Bob Briggs at 202 225-2548. Location: Room 2154, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The House Government Reform Committee will hold a hearing on HR 3880, the "Internet Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act". Press contact: David Marin or Drew Crockett (202) 225-5074. Location: Room 2154, Rayburn Building.

12:00 NOON. The Cato Institute will host a luncheon tiled "Telecom Reform after the D.C. Circuit Decision: Is It Time for a New Telecom Act?". Bill Barr (EVP and General Counsel of Verizon) and Adam Thierer (Cato). See, notice. Location: Room G11, Dirksen Building, Capitol Hill.

1:00 PM. The House Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies will hold a hearing on the proposed budget for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). FBI Director Robert Mueller is scheduled to testify. Location: Room 2359, Rayburn Building.

1:30 PM. Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL), and others will hold a press conference to announce the introduction of HR ___, the "Reaffirmation of American Independence Resolution". This resolution affirms the sense of Congress that judicial decisions should not be based on any foreign laws, court decisions, or pronouncements of foreign governments unless they are expressly approved by Congress. Location: House Radio/TV Gallery, Room H-321, Capitol Building.

1:30 - 3:30 PM. The WRC-07 Advisory Committee's Informal Working Group 2: Satellite Services and HAPS will meet. See, notice [PDF]. Location: Leventhal Senter & Lerman, 7th Floor Conference Room, 2000 K Street, NW.

The U.S. Trade Representative's (USTR) Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) will hold a hearing regarding negotiating objectives for the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between the U.S. and four Andean countries (Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia). See, notice in the Federal Register, February 17, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 31, at Pages 7532 - 7534. Location: unannounced.

The House will meet at 1:00 PM for legislative business. See, Republican Whip Notice.

8:00 AM - 5:00 PM. The Department of Justice's (DOJ) Antitrust Division will host a conference titled "Developments in the Law and Economics of Exclusionary Pricing Practices: From Classroom to Courtroom". Judge Richard Posner (U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit) will be the luncheon speaker. Reservations are required. The deadline to register is March 8. The event is free. See, notice. Location: The Ronald Reagan Building, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

8:30 AM - 1:00 PM. Day three of a three day meeting of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board (ISPAB). See, notice in the Federal Register, March 8, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 45, at Pages 10677 - 10678. Location: Hyatt Regency Hotel Bethesda, 7400 Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda, MD.

9:00 AM. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy announced that she will "hold a briefing for members of the media". For more information, contact Meribeth McCarrick at 202 418-0654 or Meribeth.Mccarrick@fcc.gov. Location: FCC, Room 8B115, 445 12th Street, SW.

9:00 - 11:00 AM. The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) will host a panel discussion titled "Are Shareholder Lawsuits Useful or Frivolous?". See, notice. Location: AEI, 12th, 1150 17th St., NW.

10:00 AM. The House Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies will hold a hearing on the proposed budget for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Acting Director of the USPTO Jon Dudas will testify. Location: Room H-309, Capitol Building.

10:00 AM. The House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims will hold an oversight hearing titled "US VISIT: A Down Payment on Homeland Security". The hearing will be webcast by the Committee. Press contact: Jeff Lungren or Terry Shawn at 202 225-2492. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The State Department Advisory Committee on International Communications and Information Policy (ACICIP) will meet to decide on establishing subcommittees or working groups to focus on specific geographic regions or technologies. Ambassador David Gross will participate. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 11, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 48, at Pages 11696-11697. Location: Room 1105 of the State Department's Truman Building.

10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The House Science Committee will hold a hearing titled "2003 Presidential Awardees for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching: A Lesson Plan for Success". The Committee will webcast the hearing. Location: Room 2318, Rayburn Building.

12:15 - 1:45 PM. Richard Whitt of MCI WorldCom will present at paper titled "A Horizontal Leap Forward: Formulating A New Public Policy Framework Based On The Network Layers Model" at brown bag lunch hosted by the New America Foundation (NAF). RSVP to Jennifer Buntman at 202 986-4901 or to buntman@newamerica.net. See, notice. Location: NAF, 1630 Connecticut Ave, 7th Floor.

2:00 - 5:00 PM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Internet Policy Working Group (IPWG) will hold a "Solutions Summit" on 911/E911 issues that arise as communications services move to internet based platforms. See, FCC release [PDF]. Location: FCC, 445 12th St., SW.

2:00 - 4:30 PM. The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) will host a pair of panel discussions titled "Trade Remedies". See, notice. Location: AEI, 12th, 1150 17th St., NW.

3:15 PM. Phil Bond, of the Department of Commerce's Technology Administration, will speak at a conference hosted by the International Economic Development Council on March 17-19. Bond will release the 4th edition of the State Indicator's Report: The Dynamics of Technology-Based Economic Development. Location: Omni Shoreham Hotel.

TIME? Joel Reidenberg (Fordham University School of Law) will give a lecture titled "The Regulation of Information Flows in a Networked Society". This is a part of Georgetown University Law Center's (GULC) Colloquium on Intellectual Property & Technology Law Series. For more information, contact Julie Cohen at 202 662-9871. Location: GULC, 600 New Jersey Ave., NW.

Deadline to submit comments to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) in response to its notice in the Federal Register requesting comments to assist it in developing "recommendations for improving the United States' spectrum management policies regarding the organization, processes, and procedures affecting Federal government, State, local and private sector spectrum use". The NTIA is conducting this review pursuant to a memorandum from President Bush. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 2, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 21, at Pages 4923 - 4926. See also, story titled "NTIA Seeks Public Comments on Spectrum Management" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 832, February 9, 2004, and story titled "Bush Issues Spectrum Policy Memorandum" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 675, June 6, 2003.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding modifying it frequency coordination rules to promote sharing between non-geostationary satellite orbit (NGSO) and geostationary satellite orbit (GSO) fixed-satellite service (FSS) operations and various terrestrial services operating in several frequency bands. This NPRM considers a joint proposal submitted by SkyBridge and the Fixed Wireless Communications Coalition (Growth Zone Proposal). This is ET Docket No. 03-254.

9:30 AM. Phil Bond, of the Department of Commerce's Technology Administration, will speak on "the importance of math and science education" at the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition. Location: Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD.

12:00 NOON. Jon Dudas, the acting head of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will give a luncheon address on "the importance of intellectual property to the business community" at the Eighth Annual Alexandria Technology Achievement Week. The price is $40. For more information, call 703 549-1000 ext. 207. Location: Radisson Hotel Old Town, 901 North Fairfax Street, Alexandria, VA.

2:30 - 4:30 PM. 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a continuing legal education (CLE) program titled "How Electronic Filing is Changing Litigation". Prices vary. For more information, call 202 737-4700. Location: Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

TIME? The Oracle Corporation and the George Washington University Law School will host a symposium titled "Willful Patent Infringement". The event is free, and open to the public, but registration is required. See, event web site. For more information, contact Laura Heymann at lheymann@law.gwu.edu or 202 994-0420. Location: Jacob Burns Moot Court Room, GWU Law School, 2000 H Street, NW.

Deadline for state and local law enforcement agencies to submit applications to the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) to participate in the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 3, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 22, at Pages 5187 - 5193.

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Science and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) regarding its draft publication [58 pages in PDF] numbered "DRAFT Special Publication 800-30, Rev A" and titled "Risk Management Guide for Information Technology Systems". This publication updates Special Publication 800-30 to reflect the results of the FISMA Implementation Project, to improve internal consistency within the document, and generally improve the document readability. Comments should be addressed to gary.stoneburner@nist.gov.

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Science and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) regarding its draft publication [33 pages in PDF] numbered "DRAFT Special Publication 800-27 Rev A" and titled "Engineering Principles for Information Technology Security (A Baseline for Achieving Security)". It was written by Gary Stoneburner, Clark Hayden, and Alexis Feringa. Comments should be addressed to gary.stoneburner@nist.gov.

The Supreme Court will return from the recess that it began on March 8.

9:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) will host a tutorial on recent field studies of digital TV (DTV) translators. Location: FCC, 445 12th Street, SW, Room TWC305 (Commission Meeting Room).