5/11. Timothy Muris, the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), announced that he plans to leave the FTC "this summer". President Bush nominated Deborah Majoras to replace him.

Muris (at right) said in a brief statement that "I plan to leave the Federal Trade Commission this summer."

He continued that "Serving as Chairman of the Commission has been the greatest honor of my professional career. I deeply appreciate the trust that President Bush placed in me by providing this opportunity to serve. As I have said repeatedly, the mission of the agency is vital; the issues are fascinating; and the people are outstanding. It is a great pleasure to work with such superb fellow Commissioners and staff."

"President Bush's nominee to replace me is Deborah P. Majoras. She is a highly talented and experienced lawyer, and, if confirmed by the Senate, would be an excellent Chairman. I look forward to my remaining tenure at the FTC and to a smooth transition to the next Chairmanship."

Muris has been Chairman since early 2001. He was previously at law professor at George Mason University. He also had previous experience at the FTC before becoming Chairman. He was Assistant Director of the Planning Office from 1974 to 1976, Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection from 1981 to 1983, and Director of the Bureau of Competition from 1983 to 1985. He was a law professor from 1988 to 2001. Although, he also worked as of counsel to major law firms -- Collier Shannon Rill & Scott , and then Howrey Simon.

Muris's predecessor, Robert Pitofsky, is also a law professor, at Georgetown University Law Center.

Majoras, in contrast, is a practicing antitrust lawyer in the Washington DC office of the law firm of Jones Day.

A search of political contributors in the Political Money Line website turns up 212 contributions from Jones Day employees thus far in the 2004 election cycle. Most of these contributions are to Republicans.

From 2001 to 2003, Majoras was Deputy Assistant Attorney General (DAAG), and then Principal DAAG, in the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division.

The Jones Day biography of Majoras references her experience in representing large pharmaceutical companies in antitrust matters. However, she also had some experience at the DOJ working on technology related cases, including the Microsoft and First Data/Concord cases.

Also, on March 5, 2004, President Bush named Majoras to be a member of the Antitrust Modernization Commission. See, White House release.

Bush nominated Majoras to serve the remainder of a seven year term expiring on September 25, 2008. See, White House release announcing Bush's intent to nominate Majoras, and release announcing her nomination.

5/11. Justice and homeland security department heads from the Group of Eight (G8) nations met in Washington DC on May 10 and 11 to discuss security issues. On May 11, at the conclusion of the meeting, they held a press conference and released documents. They addressed, among other issues, greater information sharing, border security, transportation security, biometric identification and official corruption. See, transcript.

In addition, the meeting addressed cyber security. U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft stated that "we will seek ways to strengthen domestic laws that criminalize misuse of computer networks."

Canada's Justice Minister and Attorney General Irwin Cotler (at right) stated that "we adopted today a significant and comprehensive blueprint or plan of action in four distinct areas. ... The third is the combating of cyber crime, particularly in matters of hate crimes, cyber terrorism and cyber pormography." See also, release of the Canadian Department of Justice.

The G8 department heads also issued a document [4 pages in PDF] titled "Communique", which addresses cyber security issues in greater length, though not much greater detail. It states that "all countries must continue to improve laws that criminalize misuses of computer networks and that allow for faster cooperation on Internet-related investigations."

The Communique states that "A key aspect of our work in preventing and combating global terrorism and criminal activity is enhancing our abilities to respond to those who use electronic communications and the freedoms of cyberspace to threaten public safety. The network of 24-hour points of contact for high-tech crime, which we created in 1997 among G8 countries, has grown almost five-fold. In March, our G8 experts hosted a training conference in Rome for the membership of this network. The conference, which focused on improving operational aspects of urgent cross-border investigations, was attended by senior representatives from computer crime units from six continents. We commend this kind of capacity-building -- which extends well beyond our membership -- and seek further efforts that combine operational aspects with practical exercises."

It also states that "To truly build global capacities to combat terrorist and criminal uses of the Internet, all countries must continue to improve laws that criminalize misuses of computer networks and that allow for faster cooperation on Internet-related investigations. With the Council of Europe’s Convention on Cybercrime coming into force on July 1, 2004, we should take steps to encourage the adoption of the legal standards it contains on a broad basis."

Finally, it states that "We are pleased that the essential elements of the principles for protecting critical information infrastructures that we approved last year have since been adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. Today we endorse Best Practices for Network Security, Incident Response and Reporting to Law Enforcement (attached) and we encourage other similar work to improve cooperation with victims and the providers of communications services." (Parentheses in original.)

The G8 department heads also issued a document [9 pages in PDF] for network operators and systems administrators titled "Best Practices for Network Security, Incident Response and Reporting to Law Enforcement".

The eight nations are the United States, Great Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, Canada and Italy.

5/10. Makan Delrahim, a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division, gave a speech in London, United Kingdom titled "Forcing Firms to Share the Sandbox: Compulsory Licensing of Intellectual Property Rights and Antitrust".

He stated that while courts have imposed compulsory licensing as a remedy in antitrust cases, it "also has the real potential to harm innovation."

He added that "Compulsory licensing as a merger remedy is a well-established tool and has not been particularly controversial. Non-merger compulsory licensing imposed by an agency or the courts, though, should be a rare beast."

Delrahim said that "There are important policy reasons to cause us to be cautious when considering a compulsory licensing remedy. The most important of these is the concern that an improperly-designed compulsory license can stifle innovation."

"Some of the risks being taken by today's innovators are massive, with rewards systems that may be very fragile and that could potentially be destroyed by over-aggressive antitrust remedies."

Another problem he raised with compulsory licensing is the problem of drafting the order. He stated that "For antitrust enforcers, licensing is not what we would call our ``core competence.´´" For example, he asked, "how do you set a reasonable royalty?"

He concluded by pointing out that "I can identify three circumstances where compulsory licensing is particularly likely to be appropriate" -- in mergers cases, as an alternative to divestiture, and in cases where there is an extraordinary level of concentration and the defendant is resistant to reform.

He elaborated that "compulsory licensing may be used in a non-merger case when other, less restrictive remedies would most likely fail to address anticompetitive conduct by a defendant. Before imposing the remedy in this type of case, we would look for an extraordinary level of market dominance and a demonstrated history of monopolization and resistance to reform. In other words, we would look for a situation where the chief objections to compulsory licenses evaporate, because monitoring the defendant's behavior has already been demonstrated to be a problem and the harm to other innovation, by other competitors, trumps the alleged harm to the defendant's innovation incentives. But even if compulsory licensing is justified in such a case, the antitrust authorities should draft the license as narrowly as possible."

5/11. The U.S. Court of Appeals (2ndCir) issued its opinion [32 pages in PDF] in CalPERS v. WorldCom, a securities case involving the conflicting removal provisions of the Bankruptcy Code and the Securities Act of 1933. The Appeals Court held that the bankruptcy removal provision controls.

Soon after WorldCom announced that it had improperly treated $3.8 Billion in ordinary costs as capital expenditures, plaintiffs' lawyers started filing a multitude of complaints alleging securities fraud against WorldCom, its former executives, directors, its bond underwriters, its accountants, and research analysts. These actions were consolidated in the U.S. District Court (SDNY).

WorldCom filed a Chapter 11 petition for bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court (SNDY).

The plaintiffs below, and appellants in this appeal, are the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS), which bought WorldCom bonds. CalPERS carefully drafted its complaint for the purpose of attempting to evade removal to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. It filed complaints in state courts, and only plead under the Securities Act of 1933, which provides in Section 22(a), which is codified at 15 U.S.C. § 77v(a), that "no case arising under this subchapter and brought in any State court of competent jurisdiction shall be removed to any court of the United States."

The Bankruptcy Code provides, at 28 U.S.C. § 1452(a), that claims that are "related to" a bankruptcy case may be removed to the Bankruptcy Court.

That is, there is a conflict between these two provisions.

The District Court held that the anti-removal provision in the Securities Act of 1933, 15 U.S.C. § 77v(a), does not preclude removal of the individual actions under the bankruptcy removal statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1452(a).

The Court of Appeals wrote that this is a "case of first impression in the courts of appeals", and a "close question", and affirmed the District Court.

It held that "generally nonremovable claims brought under the Securities Act of 1933 may be removed to federal court if they come under the purview of 28 U.S.C. § 1452(a), which confers federal jurisdiction over claims that are related to a bankruptcy case. In so holding, we do not decide whether the particular claims at issue in this case come under the purview of 28 U.S.C. § 1452(a). Instead, we simply affirm the District Court’s decision to assert jurisdiction over the Bondholders’ individual Securities Act claims despite the conflict between Section 22(a) and Section 1452(a)."

This case is California Public Employees Retirement System v. WorldCom, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, App. Ct. No. 04-0219, an appeal from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

5/11. President Bush announced his intent to nominate Brett Palmer to be Assistant Secretary of Commerce for (Legislative Affairs). See, White House release.

5/11. The Senate passed S 1637, the "Jumpstart Our Business Strength (JOBS) Act". See, Roll Call No. 91. This bill would, among other things, replace the foreign sales corporation (FSC) and extraterritorial income (ETI) tax regimes that the World Trade Organization (WTO) found were illegal export subsidies.

5/5. Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) introduced HR 4286, the "Andrew Carnegie Libraries for Lifelong Learning Act", a bill to authorize the appropriation of $200,000,000 to provide grants to states for the "technology enhancement of public libraries". It states that technology enhancement means providing "access to information in electronic and other formats made possible by new information and communications technologies". This bill was referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

5/11. Erkki Liikanen, the European Commission's member responsible for Enterprise and the Information Society, gave a speech in London, United Kingdom, titled "Mobile Communications and the EU's New Regulatory Framework".

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. The agenda includes consideration of several non-technology related bills. See, Republican Whip notice.

The Senate will meet at 9:30 AM. It will begin consideration of S 1248, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) reauthorization bill.

9:00 AM. Day two of a two day conference hosted by the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA). At 9:00 AM Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), the Chairman of the House Science Committee, will speak. At 9:45 AM there will be a briefing titled "Important Developments In Key CCIA Policy Activities". At 10:45 AM Rep. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), the Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, will speak. At 12:00 NOON lunch will be served; Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) will be the keynote speaker. At 2:00 PM, Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) will speak. At 2:45 PM Meredith Attwell of the National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA) will speak. At 3:30 PM FTC Commissioner Mozelle Thompson will speak. See, agenda [PDF]. For more information, contact Will Rodger at 202 783-0070 or wrodger@ccianet.org. Location: St. Regis Hotel, 16th and K Streets, NW.

9:00 AM - 3:00 PM. The National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Advanced Technology Program Advisory Committee will hold a partially closed meeting. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 26, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 80, at Pages 22487 - 22488.

9:30 AM. The Senate Commerce Committee will hold another hearing on telecommunications policy. This hearing will be titled "Telecommunications Policy Review: A View from Industry". The witnesses will be Ivan Seidenberg (Ch/CEO of Verizon), Brian Roberts (P/CEO of Comcast), Scott Ford (P/CEO of ALLTEL), Garry Betty (P/CEO of Earthlink), Delbert Wilson (former CEO of the Central Texas Telephone Cooperative). The hearing will be webcast by the Committee. See, notice. Press contact: Rebecca Fisher at 202 224-2670 or Rebecca_Hanks @commerce.senate.gov. Location: Room 253, Russell Building.

10:00 AM. The House Judiciary Committee will meet to mark up various bills and resolutions held over from the Committee's meeting of May 5. The agenda still includes 12 items. The Committee is unlikely to complete this agenda in one meeting. The agenda includes HR 3754, the "Fraudulent Online Identity Sanctions Act", HR 1731, the "Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act", S 1301, the "Video Voyeurism Prevention Act of 2003", HR 3632 the "Anti-counterfeiting Amendments of 2003", and HR 338  the "Defense of Privacy Act". The meeting 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. The House Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection will hold a hearing on HR 107, the "Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act of 2003". Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA) and Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) introduced this bill on January 7, 2003, and an earlier version, HR 5544 (107th Congress), in late 2002. It would roll back the anti-circumvention provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) by creating fair use exceptions to the bans on circumvention of technological measures to protect copyrighted works, and by providing an exception for scientific research into technological protection measures. See, story titled "Reps. Boucher and Doolittle Introduce Digital Fair Use Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 582, January 14, 2003, and stories titled "Reps. Boucher and Doolittle Introduce Digital Media Consumer Rights Act" and "Summary of the Digital Media Consumer Rights Act" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 532, October 4, 2002. The witnesses will be Rep. Boucher, Rep. Doolittle, Jack Valenti (MPAA), Lawrence Lessig (Stanford Law School), Gary Shapiro (Consumer Electronics Association), Cary Sherman (RIAA), Allan Swift (Colling Murphy), Miriam Nisbet (American Library Association), Robert Holleyman (Business Software Association), Peter Jaszi (American University), Debra Rose (Entertainment Software Association), Chris Murray (Consumers Union), Gigi Sohn (Public Knowledge), and Robert Moore (321 Studios). See, notice. Press contact: Samantha Jordan (Barton) at 202 225-5735 or Paul Flusche (Stearns) at 202 225-5744. Location: Room 2132, Rayburn Building.

12:00 NOON -1:30 PM. The Progress and Freedom Foundation (PFF) will host a lunch. John Chen, Ch/CEO of Sybase, will speak on economic growth and competitiveness, outsourcing, and the future of innovative wireless technologies. Blair Levin of Legg Mason will also speak. See, notice. Location: J.W. Marriott Hotel, Salon G, 1331 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

12:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Mass Media Committee will host a brown bag lunch. The topic will be "Current Matters at the Audio Division". The speakers will be Peter Doyle (Chief of the FCC's Media Bureau's Audio Division), Nina Shafran, James Bradshaw, Lisa Scanlan, and Michael Wagner. For more information, contact John Logan at jlogan@dlalaw.com. No RSVP requested. Location: Dow Lohnes & Albertson, 1200 New Hampshire Ave., NW, 8th Floor.

1:30 - 3:30 PM. The WRC-07 Advisory Committee's Informal Working Group 2: Satellite Service and HAPS will meet. Location: Leventhal Senter & Lerman.

1:30 - 3:30 PM. The WRC-07 Advisory Committee's Informal Working Group 4: Broadcasting and Amateur Issues will meet. Location: Shaw Pittman.

TIME CHANGE. 2:00 PM. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on S 2013, the "Satellite Home Viewer Extension Act of 2004", a bill to amend 17 U.S.C. § 119. The witnesses will be David Carson (Copyright Office), Charles Ergen (EchoStar), Bruce Reese (Bonneville International Corporation), Eddy Hartenstein (DirecTV), Fritz Attaway (Motion Picture Association of America), John King (Vermont Public Television). See, notice. Press contact: Margarita Tapia (Hatch) at 202 224-5225 or David Carle (Leahy) at 202 224-4242. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

2:00 PM. The House Financial Services Committee's Subcommittee on Capital Markets will meet to mark up HR 3574, the "Stock Option Accounting Reform Act". Location: Room 2128, Rayburn Building.

2:00 PM. The House Government Reform Committee's Subcommittee on Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations and the Census will hold a hearing titled "The Science of Voting Machine Technology: Accuracy, Reliability, and Security". For more information, contact Juliana French at 202 225-6751. Location: Room 2247, Rayburn Building.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. The agenda includes consideration of several non-technology related bills. See, Republican Whip notice.

8:45 AM - 1:45 PM. The AEI-Brookings Joint Center will host an event titled "Regulating Wireless: How Much and By Whom?" At 9:10 AM there will be a panel discussion titled "Should the States Regulate Wireless Services?". The Speakers will be Anne Boyle (Nebraska Public Service Commission), Boyden Gray (Wilmer Cutler & Pickering), and Peter Passell (Milken Institute). At 10:40 AM there will be a panel discussion titled "How Should the FCC Resolve Competing Claims to Spectrum?" The speakers will be Gerald Faulhaber (University of Pennsylvania), Tom Hazlett (Manhattan Institute), Bryan Tramont (FCC), and Scott Walsten (AEI-Brookings). At 12:15 PM FCC Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy will give a luncheon address. See, notice and registration page. Location: AEI, 12th Floor, 1150 17th Street, NW.

9:30 AM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will hold a meeting. See, agenda [PDF]. The event will be webcast. Location: FCC, 445 12th Street, SW, Room TW-C05 (Commission Meeting Room).

9:30 AM. The House Commerce Committee will meet to mark up the "Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act". Press contact: Larry Neal or Jon Tripp at 202 225-5735. See, notice. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

9:30 AM - 12:00 NOON. The Department of State's International Telecommunication Advisory Committee (ITAC) will meet to prepare for CITEL Steering Group Meetings. See, notice in the Federal Register, May 7, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 89, at Page 25654. Location: undisclosed.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold an executive business meeting. See, notice. Press contact: Margarita Tapia (Hatch) at 202 224-5225 or David Carle (Leahy) at 202 224-4242. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution will meet to mark up several items, including HRes 568, a resolution that states that U.S. courts should not use foreign opinions to interpret U.S. law. The meeting will be webcast. Press contact: Jeff Lungren or Terry Shawn at 202 225-2492. Location: Room 2141 Rayburn Building.

TIME CHANGE. 10:30 AM - 12:00 NOON. The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) will host an event titled "Competition Laws in Conflict: Antitrust Jurisdiction in the Global Economy". The speakers will be Timothy Muris (Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission), Richard Epstein (University of Chicago), and Michael Greve (AEI). See, notice and registration page. Location: AEI, 12th floor, 1150 17th St., NW.

10:30 AM - 12:30 PM. The House Science Committee will hold a hearing on HR 4218, the "High-Performance Computing Revitalization Act of 2004". The hearing will be webcast by the Committee. Location: Room 2318, Rayburn Building.

12:00 NOON - 2:00 PM. The DC Bar Association's Corporation Law Section and Emerging Business Committee will host a brown bag lunch. The topic will be "Technology Contracts -- How To Make Sure The Contract Reflects The Deal". The speakers will be Behnam Dayanim and Mark Poerio of the law firm of Paul Hastings. Prices vary. See, notice. Location: D.C. Bar Conference Center, B-1 Level, 1250 H Street, NW.

12:00 NOON. The Heritage Foundation will host a panel discussion titled "Broadband by 2007: A Look at the President's Internet Initiative". The speakers will be John Kneuer (National Telecommunications and Information Administration), Harold Furchtgott-Roth (former FCC Commissioner), David McIntosh (law firm of Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw), Peter Pitsch (Director of Communications Policy at Intel), James Gattuso (Heritage). Refreshments will be served. See, notice. RSVP to 202 675-1761. Location: Heritage, 214 Massachusetts Ave., NE.

12:00 NOON. The Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee will host a panel discussion titled "Wi-Fi Versus Sci-Fi: Realities, Barriers, Boundaries". Lunch will be served. RSVP to rsvp@netcaucus.org or 202 638-4370. Location: Room HC-5, Capitol Building.

12:15 - 1:30 PM. The DC Bar Association's International Law Section and the Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) International Telecommunications Committee will host a brown bag lunch titled "International Trade Issues In Telecommunications Services". The speakers will be Jonathan McHale (Office of the U.S. Trade Representative), Kenneth Schagrin (Office of the USTR), Claire Blue (International Bureau, Federal Communications Commission), Laura Sherman, Troy Tanner (Swidler Berlin), and Lisa Choi (FCC International Bureau). Prices vary. See, notice. For more information, contact 202 626-3488. Location: D.C. Bar Conference Center, B-1 Level, 1250 H Street, NW.

2:00 PM. The House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law will hold a hearing on HR 3220, the "Business Activity Tax Simplification Act of 2003", sponsored by Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA), and others. See, story titled "Reps. Goodlatte and Boucher Introduce Bill to Limit Business Activity Taxes" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 753, October 6, 2003. The hearing will be webcast by the Committee. Press contact: Jeff Lungren or Terry Shawn at 202 225-2492. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

9:00 - 10:30 AM. The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) will host a lecture by Michael Mandel of Business Week magazine, regarding how technology advances drive economic growth. Mandel will discuss his new book, titled "Rational Exuberance: Silencing the Enemies of Growth and Why the Future is Better Than You Think". Robert Atkinson, Director of the PPI's Technology and New Economy Project, will moderate. Breakfast will be served. RSVP to 202 547-0001 or PPIEvents@dlcppi.org. Location: PPI, 600 Pennsylvania Ave., SE, Suite 400.

Day one of a three day conference hosted by American University titled "Critical Infrastructure Information" See, notice. American University, Ward Circle, intersection of Massachusetts and Nebraska Avenues, NW.

Day two of a three day conference hosted by American University titled "Critical Infrastructure Information". See, notice. American University, Ward Circle, intersection of Massachusetts and Nebraska Avenues, NW.

Extended deadline to submit applications to the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Privacy Office to be considered for membership on the Data Integrity, Privacy, and Interoperability Advisory Committee. See, notice in the Federal Register, May 3, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 85, at Page 24178.

Day two of a three day conference hosted by American University titled "Critical Infrastructure Information". See, notice. American University, Ward Circle, intersection of Massachusetts and Nebraska Avenues, NW.

The Supreme Court will return from the recess that it began on May 3.

9:30 AM. The U.S. Court Appeals (DCCir) will hear oral argument in PanAmSat v. FCC, No. 03-1133. Judges Edwards, Sentelle and Rogers will preside. Location: Prettyman Courthouse, 333 Constitution Ave.

12:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Online Committee will host a brown bag lunch. The speaker will be Hillary Brill, legislative assistant to Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA). RSVP to Evelyn Opany at 202 689-7163. Location: Piper Rudnick, 1200 19th Street, NW, Suite 700.

Day one of a three day conference of the American Cable Association. See, notice. Location: Wyndham Hotel.

Deadline to submit comments to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) regarding the complaint that the USTR submitted to the World Trade Organization (WTO) regarding the PR China's value added tax on integrated circuits. See, story titled "US Complains to WTO About PR China's Tax Preference for Domestic Producers of Integrated Circuits" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 859, March 19, 2004. See also, notice in the Federal Register (April 21, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 77, at Pages 21593 - 21594) requesting comments.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) regarding unwanted mobile service commercial messages and the CAN-SPAM Act. This is CG Docket No. 04-53. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 31, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 62, at Pages 16873 - 16886.

8:30 AM - 3:00 PM. George Mason University (GMU) will host a symposium titled "Information Technology for Homeland Security". See, agenda and registration pages. Location: GMU, Fairfax Campus, Dewberry Hall in the Johnson Center.

9:30 AM. The U.S. Court Appeals (DCCir) will hear oral argument in Vista Communications v. FCC, Nos. 01-1168 and 03-1281. Judges Edwards, Sentelle and Henderson will preside. Location: Prettyman Courthouse, 333 Constitution Ave.

9:30 AM. The North American Numbering Council (NANC) will meet. See, notice in Federal Register, April 12, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 70, at Pages 19183 - 19184. Location: Federal Communications Commission (FCC), 445 12th Street, SW, Room TW-C305.

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Common Carrier Practice Committee will host a brown bag lunch. The topic will be "Meet Wireline Competition Bureau Chief Bill Maher". The FCBA states that this will be an opportunity "to hear directly from the Bureau Chief about all the major issues facing the Bureau -- unbundled network element negotiations and the future of the Triennial Review, the VOIP proceedings, intercarrier compensation reform, universal service reform, and other matters". For more information, contact Matt Brill, Jonathan Banks, or David Sieradzki, Co-Chairs of the FCBA's Common Carrier Practice Committee. RSVP to Cecelia Burnett at 202 637-8312. Location: Hogan & Hartson, 555 13th St., NW, Lower Level.

1:30 - 3:00 PM. (or 2:00 - 4:00 PM?) The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) World RadioCommunication 2007 (WRC-07) Advisory Committee's Informal Working Group on Terrestrial and Space Science Services will meet. See, FCC notice [PDF]. Location: FCC, 445 12th Street, SW, South Conference Room, 6th Floor, Room 6-B516.

9:00 AM - 4:00 PM. Day one of a two day closed meeting of the President's National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC) to discuss "cyber-related vulnerabilities of the internet". See, notice in the Federal Register, April 16, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 74, at Pages 20635 - 20636. Location: undisclosed.

Day one of a two day conference hosted by the CompTel/Ascent titled "Advancing the Business of VOIP". See, notice. Location: Renaissance Mayflower Hotel.

Day two of a three day conference of the American Cable Association. See, notice. Location: Wyndham Hotel.