8/17. The General Accounting Office (GAO) released a report [91 pages in PDF] titled "Homeland Security: Efforts Under Way to Develop Enterprise Architecture, but Much Work Remains".

The report states that an enterprise architecture is "a blueprint that defines, both in logical terms (including interrelated business processes and business rules, integrated functions, applications, systems, users, work locations, and information needs and flows) and in technical terms (including hardware, software, data, communications, and security), how an organization's information technology systems operate today, how they are to operate in the future, and a road map for the transition." (Parentheses in original.)

The report finds that the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) "initial enterprise architecture provides a partial basis upon which to build future versions. However, it is missing most of the content necessary to be considered a well-defined architecture. Moreover, the content in this version was not systematically derived from a DHS or a national corporate business strategy; rather, it was more the result of an amalgamation of the existing architectures that several of DHS's predecessor agencies already had, along with their respective portfolios of system investment projects."

The report adds that the "DHS does not yet have the architectural content that it needs to effectively guide and constrain its business transformation efforts and the hundreds of millions of dollars it is investing in supporting systems. Without such content, DHS runs the risk that its investments will not be well integrated, will be duplicative, will be unnecessarily costly to maintain and interface, and will not effectively optimize mission performance."

8/17. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) issued its opinion [MSWord] in Power Mosfet Technologies v. Siemens, a patent infringement case involving semiconductor power devices. The Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court's judgment of non-infringement.

Power Mosfet Technologies (PMT) is the owner of U.S. Patent No. 5,216,275 titled "Semiconductor Power Devices with Alternating Conductivity Type High-Voltage Breakdown Regions."

In 2000, PMT filed a complaint in U.S. District Court (EDTex) against Infineon Technologies, International Rectifier, and STMicroelectronics (ST) alleging patent infringement.

The District Court entered judgment that the patent was not infringed by defendants, and denied PMT's motion for a new trial. PMT appealed. In addition, Infineon and ST conditionally cross appealed the District Court's judgment that the patent was not anticipated by U.S. Patent No. 4,754,310, and ST conditionally cross appealed the District Court's judgment that the patent was not anticipated by U.S. Patent No. 3,171,068.

This case is Power Mosfet Technologies, LLC., et al. v. Siemens AG, et al., U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Nos. 03-1083, 03-1469, 03-1470, and 03-1471, appeals from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, at Marshall, Judge David Folsom presiding. Judge Gajarsa wrote the opinion of the Court, in which Judges Michel and Prost joined.

8/17. Rachel Cohen was named Director of Public Policy and External Affairs at Comcast Corporation. She previously worked on the election campaigns of John Street (Philadelphia Mayor) and Joe Torsella (a Congressional candidate). She has also worked for the law firms of Buchanan Ingersoll and Mesirov Gelman. See, Comcast release.

8/18. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) published a notice in the Federal Register stating that it requests nominations for its Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board (ISPAB). See, Federal Register, August 18, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 159, at Page 51235.

8/18. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a public notice [23 pages in PDF] that requests comments on behalf of the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service regarding the high-cost universal support mechanisms for rural carriers and the appropriate rural mechanism to succeed the five-year plan adopted in the Rural Task Force Order. This public notice is FCC 04J-2 in Docket No. 96-45. The FCC released its Rural Task Force Order on June 28, 2004. It is FCC 04-125 in Docket No. 96-45. Comments are due by October 15, 2004. Reply comments are due by December 14, 2004.

8/18. The Department of Justice's (DOJ) Antitrust Division published a notice in the Federal Register regarding amendment of the final judgment in US v. SBC and BellSouth, the action brought in 2000 regarding the then proposed joint venture between SBC and BellSouth to form Cingular Wireless. The final judgment required the divestiture of licenses and assets in certain markets, and preventing the reacquisition of divested assets. AT&T Wireless acquired some of these divested assets. Earlier this year, Cingular announced an agreement to acquire AT&T Wireless. The DOJ filed a memorandum with the U.S. District Court (DC) stating that competitive conditions have changed, and that therefore the final judgment's prohibition on reacquiring assets is no longer necessary. The relevant licenses are in Los Angeles, California and Indianapolis, Indiana. Comments are due within 30 days. See, Federal Register, August 18, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 159, at Pages 51327 - 51328. This case is U.S. v. SBC Communications, Inc. and BellSouth Corporation, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, D.C. No. 1:00CV02073.

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The House and Senate are in recess through September 6.

TIME CHANGE. 9:30 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing titled "The 9-11 Commission and Recommendations for the Future of Federal Law Enforcement and Border Security". The witnesses will be Lee Hamilton (9-11 Commission), Slade Gordon (9-11 Commission), Asa Hutchinson (the Under Secretary for Border and Transportation Security at the Department of Homeland Security), and Maureen Baginski (FBI). See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The DC Bar Association's International Law Section and Antitrust and Consumer Law Section will host a panel discussion titled "The Reach Of U.S. Antitrust Law After Empagran". The subject will be the U.S. Supreme Court's June 14, 2004 opinion [23 pages in PDF] in F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., v. Empagran, S.A. The speakers will be Steven Mintz (Department of Justice, Antitrust Division), Peter Orszag (Brookings Institution), Elaine Metlin (Dickstein Shapiro), and Jonathan Franklin (Hogan & Hartson). See, notice. Prices vary from $10-$15. For more information, call 202 626-3463. Location: Fried Frank, 1001 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

1:30 PM. The National Rural Electric Cooperative Alliance (NRECA) will hold a press conference to present its High-Tech Rural Broadband Alliance Award. For more information, contact Renee Butler at 703 907-5704. Location: Zenger Room, National Press Club, 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor.

6:00 - 9:15 PM. The DC Bar Association's Telecommunications Law Section will host a continuing legal education (CLE) program titled "New FCC Media Ownership Rules Made Simple". The speakers will be Tom Davidson (Akin Gump) and Gregory Masters (Wiley Rein & Fielding). Prices vary. See, notice. For more information, contact 202-626-3488. Location: D.C. Bar Conference Center, B-1 Level, 1250 H Street, NW.

10:00 AM. The House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law and Subcommittee on the Constitution will hold a joint hearing titled "Privacy and Civil Liberties in the Hands of the Government Post-September 11, 2001: Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission and the U.S. Department of Defense Technology and Privacy Advisory Committee". The witnesses will include Nuala Kelly, Chief Privacy Officer of the Department of Homeland Security. The hearing will be webcast. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing titled "The 9/11 Commission Report: Identifying and Preventing Terrorist Financing". See, report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (9-11 Commission). Press contact: Peggy Peterson at 202 226-0471. Location: Room 2128, Rayburn Building.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) regarding the reporting requirements for U.S. providers of international telecommunications services. This NPRM is FCC 04-70 in IB Docket No. 04-112. See, notice in the Federal Register, May 25, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 101, at Pages 29676 - 29681.

10:30 AM - 12:15 PM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will hold an event titled "Discussion on the Debt Collection Improvement Act Rules and Rules Governing Applications or Other Request for Benefits by Debtors". See, notice [PDF]. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room, 445 12th Street, SW.

12:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Online Communications Practice Committee will host a brown bag lunch. The topic will be Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Department of Agriculture (USDA) policies related to deployment of wireless broadband services in rural areas. The speakers will be Peter Corea (Special Counsel, FCC's WTB's Broadband Division) and Chris Moore (USDA). For more info contact Ann Bobeck at abobeck@nab.org. RSVP to Evelyn Opany at evelyn.opany@piperrudnick.com Location: Piper Rudnick, 1200 19th St., NW, 7th Floor.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Inquiry (NOI) [30 pages in PDF] regarding its annual report to the Congress on the status of competition in the market for the delivery of video programming. See also, story titled "FCC Adopts NOI For Annual Report to Congress on Video Programming" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 916, June 11, 2004. This NOI is FCC 04-136 in MB Docket No. 04-227. See also, notice in the Federal Register, July 1, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 126, at Pages 39930 - 39933.

Deadline to submit comments and notices of intention to participate to the Copyright Office regarding ascertainment of controversy for the 2002 cable royalty funds. The CO published a notice in the Federal Register that "directs all claimants to royalty fees collected for calendar year 2002 under the cable statutory license to submit comments as to whether a Phase I or Phase II controversy exists as to the distribution of those fees and announces the deadline for the filing of Notices of Intention to Participate in a royalty distribution proceeding concerning those royalty fees." See, Federal Register, July 26, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 142, at Pages 44548 - 44549.

6:00 - 9:15 PM. The DC Bar Association's Intellectual Property Law Section and Computer and Telecommunications Law Section will host a continuing legal education (CLE) program titled "Software Patent Primer: Acquisition, Exploitation, Enforcement and Defense". The speakers will be Richard Litman (Litman Law Firm), Stephen Parker (Rothwell Figg, Ernst & Manbeck), David Temeles (Temeles & Temeles), and Martin Zoltick (Rothwell Figg). Prices vary. See, notice. For more information, contact 202-626-3488. Location: D.C. Bar Conference Center, B-1 Level, 1250 H Street, NW.

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