6/17. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) prepared a report [PDF] to the Congress titled "Subject Line Labeling As a Weapon Against Spam: A CAN-SPAM Act Report to Congress". It finds that mandating subject line labels would not be an effective way to fight spam.

The report recommends that the Congress not enact legislation requiring subject line labeling for three reasons: "(1) would not be an effective tool for ISPs to block and filter spam because it would not enhance ISPs’ current anti-spam techniques; (2) has technological and practical implementation problems; and (3) would not strengthen anti-spam law enforcement."

The report states that only law abiding marketers would follow such a requirement, while the problem with spam is unlawful marketers who would not follow the law. The report further suggests that more a more effective method for dealing with spam and spammers is authenticated e-mail.

FTC Commissioner Jonathan Liebowitz wrote in a dissenting statement that a "labeling requirement could be a modest tool to empower consumers to filter and sort commercial emails -- to read them later, evaluate them individually, or delete them in bulk if they choose". Commissioner Pamela Harbour wrote in a separate statement that she agreed with Liebowitz, but nevertheless titled her statement "concurring".

The FTC was required to conduct a study and write this report by the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003, which is also known as the CAN-SPAM Act. See also, FTC release.

6/17. The Progress and Freedom Foundation's (PFF) Digital Age Communications Act (DACA) project released a paper [46 pages in PDF] on reforming laws affecting telecommunications and information technology.

The paper is titled "A Proposal for a New Regulatory Framework". It recommends a fundamentally different mission for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). It states that "regulation in the digital age should be based, almost exclusively, on competition law principles drawn from antitrust law and economics. Regulation should respond to instances of abuse of market power, which are more than transitory in nature, and regulation should address such instances of abuse as they occur. The regulator would act principally through adjudication, responding as antitrust authorities do, to correct abuses as they occur, largely eliminating the elaborate web of rules and regulations that has grown up under the existing statute." Although, the DACA proposal would perpetuate certain other functions, including limited rule making authority, licensing authority, and limited license transfer review authority.

The paper proposes to reduce the FCC to something more like the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) Competition Bureau and the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Antitrust Division, but with sectoral, rather than general, authority. Its sector would be "electronic communications networks and electronic communications services".

However, this would not create a third antitrust authority, because the FCC is already exercising a form of sectoral antitrust merger review authority, albeit, without statutory authority.

The paper also includes proposed language for a bill. The key section provides that "Unfair methods of competition in or affecting electronic communications networks and electronic communications services, and unfair or deceptive practices in or affecting electronic communications networks and electronic communications services, are hereby declared unlawful."

The draft bill further proposes that "unfair methods of competition" includes "practices that present a threat of abuse of significant and non-transitory market power as determined by the Commission consistent with the application of jurisprudential principles grounded in market-oriented competition analysis such as those commonly employed by the Federal Trade Commission and the United States Department of Justice in enforcing the Federal Trade Commission Act and the antitrust laws of the United States".

Also, the draft language provides that "unfair methods of competition" includes "with respect to interconnection, practices that pose a substantial and nontransitory risk to consumer welfare by materially and substantially impeding the interconnection of public communications facilities and services in circumstances in which the Commission determines that marketplace competition is not sufficient adequately to protect consumer welfare, providing that in making any such determination the Commission must consider whether requiring interconnection will affect adversely investment in facilities and innovation in services."

The paper explains that "The new regulatory framework permits the Federal Communications Commission to order the interconnection of communications networks, in situations in which markets are not adequately providing interconnection and in which the denial of interconnection would substantially harm consumer welfare."

The paper elaborates that "although communications markets are increasingly becoming competitive, in some important access markets competition is likely to be among a relatively small number of access providers. This, coupled with the network effects that inhere in communications markets, means that the strategic denial of interconnection may be a rational competitive strategy -- and that private benefits from the denial of interconnection may not align with total social welfare."

The draft bill also provides that the FCC would retain some rule making authority. It would be authorized to "prescribe rules which define with specificity acts or practices which are unfair methods of competition or unfair or deceptive acts or practices". However, the draft bill also includes several checks and limitations on FCC rulemaking authority. All rules would sunset after five years.

Also, any rules would have to be based upon "a showing of clear and convincing evidence presented in the rulemaking proceeding, that marketplace competition is not sufficient adequately to protect consumer welfare and that such act or practice causes or is likely to cause substantial injury to consumers and is not avoidable by consumers themselves and not outweighed by countervailing benefits to consumers or to competition".

The draft language does not perpetuate the current Communications Act's frequent use of the undefined term "public interest". Rather, the underlying purpose would become to promote "consumer welfare", as understood by the economic analysis of free market economists.

The draft language also would give the FCC "authority to hear complaints from any party injured by an act of unfair competition and to award damages for any violation found".

The FCC would continue to issue licenses, and have authority with respect to license transfers. However, the draft language would restrict FCC authority, for example, by setting a hard deadline of 90 days for FCC determinations, restricting the FCC's ability to impose conditions on license transfers, and limiting the FCC criteria to compliance with the statute and rules.

The draft bill also defines the scope of the FCC's sectoral authority. It provides that an "electronic communications network” means "transmission systems and, where applicable, switching or routing equipment and other facilities which permit the conveyance of signals by wire, by radio, by optical or by other electromagnetic means, over satellite, cable, or other facilities, whether fixed or mobile, to the extent that they are used for the purpose of transmitting signals, irrespective of the type of information conveyed."

It further provides that an "electronic communications service” means "a service normally provided for remuneration which consists wholly or mainly in the conveyance of signals on electronic communications networks."

Early this year, the PFF formed its project titled the "Digital Age Communications Act", or DACA. Its purpose is to review, issue reports on, and make legislative recommendations regarding, the legislative and regulatory framework affecting the communications and information technology sectors. The DACA project has five working groups. The just released report, by the Regulatory Framework Working Group, is the DACA's first report.

See also the PFF's DACA web site. And see, story titled "PFF Announces Digital Age Communications Act Project" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,068, February 2, 2005.

Also, on Tuesday, June 21, the PFF will host an event that will address this report. The event is titled "Digital Age Communications Act Regulatory Framework Working Group: Public Release and Discussion of a Working Group Draft Document".

The speakers will included Sen. John Ensign (R-NV), FCC Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy, Raymond Gifford (PFF), Randolph May (PFF), and James Speta (Northwestern University law school). See, PFF notice.  The event will be held from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill, 400 New Jersey Ave., NW.

6/15. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner Cynthia Glassman gave a speech titled "SEC in Transition: What We've Done and What's Ahead". Among other things, she bashed the SEC's recently adopted Regulation NMS. She said that "Instead of relying on competition, technology and innovation to drive execution quality, Reg NMS gives that job to the government."

The SEC's vote on Reg NMS [PDF] was 3-2. Glassman and Commissioner Paul Atkins wrote a dissent [44 pages in PDF] in which they made the same point, but in greater detail.

Glassman (at right) said on June 15 that "We have been dealing with market structure issues for years. From the beginning, the problem that generated the most comment was the inefficiency caused by the Intermarket Trading System (``ITS´´) trade-through rule in the listed market. The rule was designed to prevent a market from trading through a better price in another market. With the development of electronic markets, the rule produced inefficiencies by slowing the electronic markets to the speed of the manual markets if a manual market was displaying the best price. Under the ITS rule, a manual market has 30 seconds to decide whether to execute an order. If the specialist decided not to execute an order, and prices moved during the interim, the order likely couldn't be executed anywhere else."

She added that "Instead of coming up with a solution to this discrete problem, however, the end result of our lengthy review of market structure was the imposition of even more complex trade-through restrictions on both the listed market and the Nasdaq market. This occurred notwithstanding the lack of compelling empirical evidence that trade-throughs were a significant problem or that intermarket price protection was the solution."

6/17. A group of interest groups, including Public Knowledge (PK) and the American Library Association (ALA), wrote a letter to Representatives and Senators opposing legislation to give the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) authority to promulgate broadcast flag rules.

A broadcast flag is digital code embedded in a digital broadcasting stream. It signals digital television (DTV) reception equipment to limit redistribution. For it to be effective, DTV equipment must give effect to a broadcast flag. Hence, the FCC wrote rules that contains technology mandates for equipment manufacturers.

The FCC did adopt broadcast flag rules. However, on May 6, 2005, the U.S.Court of Appeals (DCCir) issued its opinion [34 pages in PDF] in American Library Association v. FCC, overturning the FCC's broadcast flag rules. It held that the FCC lacked statutory authority. See, story titled "DC Circuit Reverses FCC's Broadcast Flag Rules" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,131, May 9, 2005.

The groups wrote that "The broadcast flag scheme will hurt consumers. The flag will also hinder educational use of copyrighted content, and will stifle the design, operation, and further development of innovative consumer electronics."

They asserted that the broadcast flag "would give the FCC unprecedented power to determine the design of consumer electronics and computer technology".

They added that "the flag scheme will prevent a teacher from transmitting a DTV clip over the Internet to students as part of a distance learning program."

And furthermore, the groups argued in this letter that "The flag scheme would prevent a member of Congress from emailing a DTV clip of his district appearance on local television to his DC office."

The signers of the letter include representatives of many of the groups that in numerous copyright related issues support a weakening of intellectual property rights and remedies. These signers include Public Knowledge (PK), American Library Association (ALA), American Association of Law Libraries (AALL), Association of Research Libraries (ARL), Medical Library Association (MLA), Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), the Open Source and Industry Alliance (OSLA), Educause, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).

The FCC adopted its broadcast flag notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) on August 8, 2002. The FCC released the text [12 pages in PDF] of this NPRM on August 9, 2002. See, story titled "FCC Issues NPRM on Broadcast Flag" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 489, August 12, 2002. The FCC adopted and released, on November 4, 2003, its rules mandating the broadcast flag in its Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking [72 pages in PDF]. See, story titled "FCC Releases Broadcast Flag Rule", also published in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 772, November 5, 2003, and story titled "More Reaction to the FCC Broadcast Flag Item" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 773, November 6, 2003.

The FCC, with prodding from members of Congress, and content industry representatives, promulgated its broadcast flag rules as a part of a larger effort by the federal government to plan a transition in the market from analog to digital television (DTV). Unlike analog broadcasts, digital copies of movies and other programming provide would be infringers with perfect copies that can be saved, stored, and retransmitted over the internet. This gives content owners a disincentive to make their works available in digital format. To the extent that content owners do not provide digital content to broadcasters, TV viewers have less incentive to purchase DTV equipment. In order to remove this disincentive for content owners the FCC promulgated broadcast flag rules.

The FCC has statutory authority to license and regulate the use of electromagnetic spectrum, including devices that transmit and receive radio frequency signals. It does not have statutory authority to protect copyrights, or to regulate consumer electronic equipment for the purpose of protecting copyrights. And, the Court of Appeals held that "There is no statutory foundation for the broadcast flag rules".

6/17. Scott Parsons, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Critical Infrastructure at the Department of the Treasury, gave a speech in Los Angeles, California, on identity theft and e-commerce. He stated that one "risk of identity theft is the potential ``chilling effect´´ on e-commerce. Surveys suggest that some consumers are wary of buying online because they fear identity theft. When fraud discourages Americans from taking advantage of one of the greatest innovations of our age, we all suffer. Online banking, for example, not only enables efficiency and cost-savings for financial institutions, these electronic transactions increase the consumers' power of choice and enhance competition in the industry. An erosion of trust can threaten the effectiveness of our financial system."

6/17. Robert Portman, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), and Peter Mandelson, the EU Commissioner for Trade, held a meeting, and then held a news conference, in which they discussed intellectual property. See, transcript. Portman stated that "The intellectual property issue is one that has gained more and more interest in the US Congress as you probably noticed as it relates to China. But it’s not just about China. It's about a good global effort to be sure that patents and trademarks and copyright are protected that the innovators, entrepreneurs and artists have their work protected. It's about private property and what you will see I think on Monday is a strong statement by the European Union and the United States on that regard." The annual U.S.-EU Summit will take place in Washington DC on Monday, June 20, and Tuesday, June 21. See, White House release.

6/17. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released its Draft Special Publication 800-79 [49 pages in PDF], titled "Guidelines for the Certification and Accreditation of PIV Card Issuing Organizations". (PIV is Personal Identify Verification.) Comments are due by Sunday, July 10, 2005.

6/17. The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced that its "system for accepting paper applications is not working due to technical difficulties. We anticipate that the system will be fully functional by June 21, 2005. In the meantime, exporters should submit applications via our electronic licensing system, SNAP."

6/15. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) published in its web site a page titled "The FCC's Payola Rules". FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein wrote in a release [PDF] the "We are enlisting everyone who watches and listens to the media in the effort to catch violations of our payola rules. Like a Neighborhood Watch program, putting viewers on alert will help us enforce the law and deter future abuses. It serves as another reminder that there is an unequivocal, legal obligation -- up and down the chain of production and distribution -- to disclose all forms of payola."

6/15. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a report [26 pages in PDF] titled "FCC Report to Congress as Required by the ORBIT Act: Sixth Report". The 106th Congress enacted the Open-Market Reorganization for the Betterment of International Telecommunications Act (ORBIT Act). It is Public Law No. 106-180. It is codified at 47 U.S.C. § 646. The present report is FCC 05-127.

6/14. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released its Special Publication 800-52 [33 pages in PDF], titled "Guidelines for the Selection and Use of Transport Layer Security (TLS) Implementations". This publication is a guideline for implementing TLS in the federal government to protect sensitive information. It includes recommendations on the selection of cipher suites.

6/13. A grand jury of the U.S. District Court (DC) returned an eleven count criminal indictment of Bruce A. Schiffer on June 9, 2005, in connection with his alleged operation of an internet connected computer file server for the purpose of enabling others to either upload or download files that consist of child pormography. Schiffer was arraigned in U.S. District Court on June 13. See also, Department of Justice (DOJ) release.

The House will meet at 12:30 PM for morning hour, and at 2:00 PM for legislative business. It will consider HR 2863, the "Department of Defense Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2006". Votes will be postponed until 6:30 PM. See, Republican Whip Notice.

The Senate will meet at 2:00 PM. It will resume consideration of HR 6, the energy bill.

The Supreme Court will return from recess. It is possible that it will issue opinions in MGM v. Grokster (regarding copyright and P2P systems), and NCTA v. Brand X (regarding regulation of broadband internet services).

The annual U.S.-EU Summit will take place. See, White House release. Location: Washington DC.

8:30 AM. Day one of a two day conference hosted by the American Antitrust Institute (AAI). The event on Monday is titled "Complexity, Networks and the Modernization of Antitrust". This is a free event, open only to invitees. To request an invitaion, contact bfoer at antitrustinstitute dot org. See, conference brochure [huge PDF file]. For more information, contact Sarah Frey at 202 408-7442. Location: National Press Club, 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor.

10:00 AM. Terence Jeffrey (Human Events), Herman Schwartz (American University Law School) and Mark Tushnet (Georgetown University Law School) will participate in a panel discussion regarding Supreme Court developments. Location: West Room, National Press Club, 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor.

CANCELLED. 12:30 PM. Rep. Mel Watt (D-NC), a member of the House Judiciary Committee, will give a luncheon address. Location: Ballroom, National Press Club, 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) [15 pages in PDF] regarding implementation of the satellite broadcast carriage requirements in the noncontiguous states, as required by Section 210 of the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act of 2004 (SHVERA). The FCC adopted this NPRM at its April 29, 2005 meeting. This NPRM is FCC 05-92 in MB Docket No. 05-181. See, notice in the Federal Register, May 20, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 97, at Pages 29252-29253.

8:30 AM. Day two of a two day conference hosted by the American Antitrust Institute (AAI). The event on Tuesday is titled "Thinking Creatively About Antitrust Remedies". At 9:45 AM, former Judge Thomas Jackson will give a speech titled "Microsoft: The Remedy Phase". At 10:40 AM, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Commissioner Jonathan Liebowitz will give a speech titled "Evolving Remedies: Building on the Muris and Pitofsky Years". At 12:30 PM, FTC Commissioner Thomas Leary will give a speech titled "The Bipartisan Legacy". See, conference brochure [huge PDF file]. The price to attend is $400. For more information, contact Sarah Frey at 202 408-7442. Location: National Press Club, 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor.

The House will meet at 9:00 AM for morning hour, and at 10:00 AM for legislative business. It will consider HR 2475, the "Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006". See, Republican Whip Notice.

9:30 AM. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) will host a news conference titled "Science Under Siege". For more information, contact Emily Whitfield at 212 549-2566. Location: First Amendment Lounge, National Press Club, 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor.

10:00 AM. The House Judiciary Committee's (HJC) Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property will hold an oversight hearing titled "Copyright Office Views on Music Licensing Reform". The hearing will be webcast by the HJC. Press contact: Jeff Lungren or Terry Shawn at 202 225-2492. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM - 2:00 PM. The Progress and Freedom Foundation (PFF) will host an event titled "Digital Age Communications Act Regulatory Framework Working Group: Public Release and Discussion of a Working Group Draft Document". The speakers will be Sen. John Ensign (R-NV), FCC Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy, Raymond Gifford (PFF), Randolph May (PFF), and James Speta (Northwestern University law school). See, PFF notice. See also, story titled "PFF Announces Digital Age Communications Act Project" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,068, February 2, 2005. For more information, contact Brooke Emmerick at 202 289-8928 or bemmerick at pff dot org. Location: Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill, 400 New Jersey Ave., NW.

12:15 PM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will hold a meeting titled "Current Status of FCC Proceedings Involving VOIP and other IP Enabled Services". The speaker will be Thomas Navin, Chief of the FCC's Wireline Competition Bureau. The FCC's proceedings are titled "In the Matter of IP-Enabled Services" (WC Docket No. 04-36), and "E911 Requirements for IP-Enabled Service Providers" (WC Docket No. 05-196). For more information, contact Catherine Bohigian at catherine.bohigian@fcc.gov or Frank Lloyd at flloyd@mintz.com. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) states that this is a meeting of its Cable Practice Committee, and requests an RSVP to Wendy Parish at wendy@fcba.org. Location: Mintz Levin, 701 Pennsylvania Ave., NW , 9th Floor.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. See, Republican Whip Notice.

POSTPONED. 10:00 AM. The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing on telecom mergers. See, notice. Press contact: Melanie Alvord (Stevens) at 202 224-8456 or Melanie_Alvord at commerce dot senate dot gov, or Andy Davis (Inouye) at 202 224-4546 or Andy_Davis at commerce dot senate dot gov. Location: Room 253, Russell Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will hold a business meeting. The agenda includes consideration of the nomination of Linda Coombs to be Controller, Office of Federal Financial Management, at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The Committee will webcast [Real] the hearing. Location: Room 562, Dirksen Building.

11:00 AM. The House Homeland Security Committee's Subcommittee on Economic Security, Infrastructure Protection, and Cybersecurity will hold a hearing titled "Ensuring the Security of America's Borders through the Use of Biometric Passports and Other Identity Documents". Acting Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Dezenski will testify. Location: undisclosed.

12:00 NOON - 2:30 PM. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce's National Chamber Foundation (NCF) will host a luncheon titled "The Effect of Municipal Broadband Networks on Competition". The speakers will include David Hirschmann (NCF), Jim Kovacs (US Chamber), Dianah Neff (City of Philadelphia), Jim Speta (Northwestern University), and Jim Baller (Baller Herbst Law Group). The price to attend ranges from free to $115. See, notice and agenda [PDF]. Location: US Chamber, 1615 H Street, NW.

2:15 PM. The House International Relations Committee's Subcommittee on on Europe and Emerging Threats will hold a hearing titled "The EU Constitution and U.S.-EU Relations: The Recent Referenda in France and the Netherlands and the U.S.-EU Summit". See, notice. Location: Room 2172, Rayburn Building.

RESCHEDULED FROM MAY 11. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) will host a continuing legal education (CLE) seminar on voice over internet protocol (VOIP). See, registration form [PDF]. Location: Skadden Arps, 700 14th Street, NW.

EXTENDED TO JULY 20. Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) regarding its intercarrier compensation system. This FNPRM is FCC 05-33 in CC Docket No. 01-92. The FCC adopted this FNPRM at its meeting of February 10, 2005, and released it on March 3, 2005. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 24, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 56, at Pages 15030 - 15044. See also, story titled "FCC Adopts FNPRM in Intercarrier Compensation Proceeding" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,076, February 14, 2005.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Public Notice [10 pages in PDF] regarding video news releases (VNRs). This notice is FCC 05-84 in MB Docket No. 05-171.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. See, Republican Whip Notice.

TENTATIVE. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) may hold an executive business meeting. The SJC frequently cancels meetings without notice. Press contact: Blain Rethmeier (Specter) at 202 224-5225, David Carle (Leahy) at 202 224-4242 or Tracy Schmaler (Leahy) at 202 224-2154. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a business meeting. Press contact: Melanie Alvord (Stevens) at 202 224-8456 or Melanie_Alvord at commerce dot senate dot gov, or Andy Davis (Inouye) at 202 224-4546 or Andy_Davis at commerce dot senate dot gov. Location: Room 253, Russell Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing regarding U.S. China economic relations. Location: Room 215, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM - 5:00 PM. The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC) will meet. Most of the meeting is closed to the public. See, notice in the Federal Register, June 8, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 109, at Page 33519. Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff will speak at 10:00 AM. The open portion of the meeting, from 10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON, will be held at the Park Hyatt, 24th and M Streets, NW. The DHS states that "FINAL ACCESS is at 9:45 AM.

12:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Mass Media Practice Committee will host a brown bag lunch. Location: National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), 1771 N St., NW, Conference Rooms A & B.

2:00 - 4:00 PM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) WRC-07 Advisory Committee's Informal Working Group 3 (IMT-2000 and 2.5 GHz Sharing Issues) will meet. See, notice [PDF]. Location: FCC, 7th Floor South Conference Room (7-B516), 445 12th Street, SW.

The House will may meet at 9:00 AM for legislative business. See, Republican Whip Notice.

10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The Progress and Freedom Foundation (PFF) will host a program on media ownership. Adam Thierer (PFF) will discuss his book titled Media Myths: Making Sense of the Debate over Media Ownership [Amazon]. Susan Ness (former Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission) will comment. Press contact: Patrick Ross at 202 289-8928 or pross at pff dot org. See, notice and registration page. Location: National Press Club, 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor.

10:00 AM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will hold a pre-auction seminar for its Low Power Television Auction, Auction No. 81. The deadline to register is June 21. See, Public Notice [PDF] numbered DA 05-1624, and dated June 9, 2005. Location: FCC, 445 12th Street, SW.

12:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) will host an event titled "Wireless Luncheon". The price to attend is $15. See, registration form [PDF]. Location: Sidley Austin, 1501 K Street, Room 6-A.

8:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Day one of a two day workshop hosted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) regarding the Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 201 implementation. Registration is required. See, notice in the Federal Register, June 9, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 110, at Pages 33734. Location: undisclosed.

1:00 - 5:00 PM. The Antitrust Modernization Commission will hold a hearing on indirect purchaser litigation. See, notice in the Federal Register, June 27, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 109, at Pages 33447 - 33448. Location: Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Room 432.

Extended deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in its proceeding titled "In the matter of Amendment of the Commission’s Rules to Facilitate the Use of Cellular Telephones and other Wireless Devices Aboard Airborne Aircraft". The FCC adopted this NPRM on December 15, 2004. See, story titled "FCC Announces NPRM on Cellphones in Airplanes" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,039, December 16, 2004. See also, story titled "FCC Adopts Order and NPRM Regarding Air Ground Service in the 800 MHz Band" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,040, December 17, 2004. The FCC released the text [28 pages PDF scan] of this NPRM on February 15, 2005. This NPRM is FCC 04-187 in WT Docket No. 04-435. See, order [2 pages in PDF] (DA 05-1015) dated April 5, 2005 extending deadlines.

Extended deadline to submit comments to the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) in response to its notice in the Federal Register pertaining to deemed exports. The BIS seeks comments regarding the report [64 pages in PDF] written by the Department of Commerce's (DOC) Office of Inspector General (OIG) titled "Deemed Export Controls May Not Stop the Transfer of Sensitive Technology to Foreign Nationals in the U.S.". See, Federal Register, March 28, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 58, at Pages 15607 - 15609. See also, notice in the Federal Register, May 27, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 102, at Pages 30655 - 30656.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) in response to its Public Notice [PDF] regarding the United Telecom Council (UTC) request to be the Access Broadband over Power Line (Access BPL) database manager. This is DA 05-1637, dated June 9, 2005, in ET Docket No. 04-37.

The 800 MHz band reconfiguration will begin, in the National Public Safety Planning Advisory Committee (NPSPAC) regions assigned to Wave 1. See, public notice [5 pages in PDF] of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. The FCC adopted a report and order on July 8, 2004 that addressed the problem of interference to 800 MHz public safety communications systems from Commercial Mobile Radio Services (CMRS) providers operating systems on channels in close proximity. See, story titled "FCC Adopts Report and Order Regarding Interference in the 800 MHz Band" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 936, July 13, 2004. This public notice is DA 05-1546 in WT Docket No. 02-55.

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