7/27. The House approved HR 3045, the "Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act", by a vote of 217-215. The vote broke down largely along party lines, with Republicans voting 202-27, and Democrats voting 15-187. See, Roll Call No. 443.

Like the vote on the Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority Act of 2001, this vote was close. Also, like the 2001 vote, the Republican leadership kept open the voting long beyond the expiration of 15 minutes, to persuade more members to vote for the measure. The vote continued for over an hour, until midnight, to enable proponents to collect a majority in favor. See also, story titled "House Passes Trade Promotion Authority Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 323, December 7, 2001.

Opponents of the bill argued various protectionist theories regarding loss of jobs, impact on unions, and environmentalism.

This trade agreement also has many little debated technology related provisions. See especially, Chapter 13 [18 pages in PDF], titled "Telecommunications", Chapter 14 [3 pages in PDF], titled "Electronic Commerce", and Chapter 15 [33 pages in PDF] titled "Intellectual Property Rights".

Democratic technophiles, such as Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA), Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Rep. Bart Gordon (D-TN), Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA), and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), all voted the party line.

Robert Portman, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), stated in a release that "Tonight is an historic night for American leadership on free and fair trade. House passage of CAFTA-DR will create jobs and economic growth here at home and promote democracy, prosperity and hope in the Central American region. This win sends a powerful signal to the region and the world that the United States will continue to lead in opening markets and leveling the playing field."

The Senate has already passed its CAFTA bill. The bill now goes to the President, who will sign it.

President Bush released a statement immediately after the vote. "I am proud that the House of Representatives has acted to advance America's economic and national security interests by passing the CAFTA-DR agreement. CAFTA helps ensure that free trade is fair trade. By lowering trade barriers to American goods in Central American markets to a level now enjoyed by their goods in the U.S., this agreement will level the playing field and help American workers, farmers, and small businesses. The agreement is more than a trade bill; it is a commitment of freedom-loving nations to advance peace and prosperity throughout the Western hemisphere. We have a moral obligation and a vital national security interest in helping the democracies of Central America and the Dominican Republic succeed, and CAFTA furthers that goal. I look forward to signing this important legislation into law."

7/26. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a document [PDF] in its proceedings titled "In the Matter of IP-Enabled Services" and numbered WC Docket No. 04-36, and "E911 Requirements for IP-Enabled Service Providers" and WC Docket No. 05-196.

This document amends and expands upon the requirements imposed upon the providers of interconnected VOIP services with respect to mandatory notice to their customers, mandatory acquisition of responses from customers, mandatory reporting to the FCC, and mandatory cancellation of service.

It amends the order portion of the FCC's First Report and Order and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking [90 pages in PDF], numbered FCC 05-116, adopted on May 19, 2005, and released on June 3, 2005.

The FCC titled its July 26 document "Public Notice". This document describes its contents as "guidance".

This document states that the FCC "has determined that it will not initiate enforcement action, until August 30, 2005, against any provider of interconnected VoIP service regarding the requirement that it obtain affirmative acknowledgement by every existing subscriber on the condition that the provider file a detailed report with the Commission by August 10, 2005, containing the information described below. During this brief extension, interconnected VoIP providers will have the ability to continue obtaining affirmative acknowledgements from the entirety of their customer base. Further, we expect that if an interconnected VoIP provider has not received subscriber acknowledgements from 100% of its existing subscribers by August 29, 2005, then the interconnected VoIP provider will disconnect, no later than August 30, 2005, all subscribers from whom it has not received such acknowledgements.

This document also propounds interrogatories regarding this matter, to be answered, in writing, by interconnected VOIP service providers, by August 10, 2005.

For further information on the original order, see, story titled "FCC Releases VOIP E911 Order" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,148, June 6, 2005. See also, stories titled "FCC Adopts Order Expanding E911 Regulation to Include Some VOIP Service Providers", "Summary of the FCC's 911 VOIP Order", "Opponents of FCC 911 VOIP Order State that the FCC Exceeded Its Statutory Authority", and "More Reaction to the FCC's 911 VOIP Order", in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,139, May 20, 2005.

7/27. Paul Margie (at right), who is currently Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Michael Copps' Spectrum and International Legal Advisor, will leave the FCC to take the position of Senior Director for Technology Partnerships at the United Nations Foundation. John Giusti, who is Assistant Bureau Chief of the FCC's International Bureau, will temporarily work for Commissioner Copps.

7/27. President Bush nominated Sandra Frances Ashworth, Jan Cellucci, and Diane Rivers to be members of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science for the remainder of five year terms expiring July 19, 2009. See, White House release and release.

7/25. Eric Stark was named Associate Administrator for the Office of Policy Analysis and Development at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). He previously worked for AT&T. See, NTIA release.

7/22. The Senate confirmed David Sampson to be Deputy Secretary of Commerce. He was previously P/CEO of the Arlington Chamber of Commerce. The suburb of Arlington lies between Dallas and Ft. Worth in the state of Texas. It is home to the Texas Rangers baseball team, which President Bush once managed. Arlington is represented by Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), the Chairman of the House Commerce Committee.

7/22. The Senate confirmed John Sullivan to be General Counsel of the Department of Commerce (DOC). He was previously Deputy General Counsel of the Department of Defense. Before that, he was an attorney in the Washington DC office of the law firm of Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw. He replaces Ted Kassinger.

7/22. The Senate confirmed William Alan Jeffrey to be Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). He was Senior Director for Homeland and National Security and Assistant Director for Space and Aeronautics in the President's Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). That is, he worked for John Marburger. Previously, he was Deputy Director of the Department of Defense's (DOD) Defense Advanced Research Projects Office Agency's (DARPA) Advanced Technology Office (ATO). The ATO works on many communications and information technology related projects, including Next Generation Communications (XG).

7/22. The Senate confirmed Kathie Olsen (at right) to be Deputy Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF). She was Associate Director of Science in the President's Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). She was previously Chief Scientist at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

7/22. The Senate confirmed Edmund Hawley to be Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security, for the Transportation Security Administration. He replaces David Stone.

7/26. Carl Biersack joined the Washington DC office of the law and lobbying firm of Balch & Bingham as Director of Government Affairs. He works on technology and telecommunications related issues. He previously worked for the lobbying and consulting firm of Barbour Griffith & Rogers. Before that, he worked for ten years for Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS), a member of the Senate Commerce Committee.

7/26. Judith Mühlberg was named SVP Corporate Communications for Sprint and Nextel Communications. See, release.

7/27. Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) introduced S __ [72 pages in PDF], the "Broadband Consumer Choice Act of 2005". This bill contains numerous significant changes to telecommunications and technology law. There will be a more detailed story on this bill in the next issue of the TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert.

7/27. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) released a memorandum [27 pages in PDF] regarding the Department of Defense's (DOD) military recruitment database. The EPIC writes that "The database will be managed by a private direct marketing firm and will include such information as grade point average, ethnicity, and social security number. The proposal raises significant questions about the Department's compliance with the Privacy Act."

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

The Senate will meet at 9:30 AM for morning business. It will then resume consideration of S 397, the gun liability bill.

9:00 AM. Day two of a two day meeting of the Bureau of Industry and Security's (BIS) Information Systems Technical Advisory Committee. The agenda includes "Department of Energy's uses of High Performance Computers", "Ethernet Technology Trends" and "Nanotechnology Update". Part of the meeting will be close to the public. See, notice in the Federal Register, July 11, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 131, at Pages 39720 - 39721. Location: Room 3884, Department of Commerce, 14th Street between Constitution and Pennsylvania Avenues, NW.

9:30 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) may hold an executive business meeting. The SJC frequently cancels meetings without notice. The agenda includes S __, the "Personal Data Privacy and Security Act of 2005", S 751, the "Notification of Risk to Personal Data Act", and S 1326, the "Notification of Risk to Personal Data Act". See, notice. The SJC rarely follows its published agenda. 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.

9:30 AM. The Senate Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing on numerous pending nominations for the Department of Defense, including that of John Grimes to be Assistant Secretary for Networks and Information Integration. Location: Room 106, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) will meet to mark up S 1408, the "Identity Theft Protection Act". See, notice. Press contact: Melanie Alvord (Stevens) (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 House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection will hold a hearing titled "Data Security: The Discussion Draft of Data Protection Legislation". The hearing will be webcast by the HCC. See, notice. Press contact: Larry Neal at 202 225-5735. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM - 3:00 PM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Technological Advisory Council will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 25, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 57, at Page 15316. See also, notice in the Federal Register, July 6, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 128, at Pages 38928. Location: FCC, 445 12th Street, SW, Commission Meeting Room (TW-C305).

10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The Department of State's (DOS) International Telecommunication Advisory Committee (ITAC) will meet to prepare for the Americas Regional Preparatory Meeting for the World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC-06) in Lima, Peru, from August 9-11, 2005. See, notice in the Federal Register, June 22, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 119, Page 36224. Location: DOS, Room 2533A.

10:30 AM -12:30 PM. The Internet Governance Project and others will host a panel discussion titled "Regime Change on the Internet? Internet Governance After WGIG". See, notice. See also, the United Nation's (UN) Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG). Location: Syracuse University's Paul Greenberg House, 2301 Calvert Street, NW.

2:00 - 5:15 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a continuing legal education (CLE) seminar titled "How to Do Legal Research on the Internet: Find It Fast and Free". The speakers will be Carole Levitt and Mark Rosch of Internet for Lawyers. The price to attend ranges from $80-$135. For more information, call 202-626-3488. See, notice. Location: D.C. Bar Conference Center, 1250 H Street NW, B-1 Level.

2:00 - 4:00 PM. The Department of tate's (DOS) International Telecommunication Advisory Committee's (ITAC) U.S. Study Group A will meet to prepare positions for the next meeting of ITU-T's Study Group 3 (tariff and accounting principles for international telecommunication services), which will be on September 12-16, 2005, in Geneva, Switzerland. To participate by teleconference, contact minardje at state dot gov. See, notice in the Federal Register, July 8, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 130, at Pages 39544 - 39545. Location: AT&T, Suite 210, 1133 21st Street, NW.

2:30 PM. The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing titled "Issues Related to MGM v. Grokster". The witnesses will be Adam Eisgrau (P2P United), Gregory Kerber (Ch/CEO, Wurld Media), Mark Heesen (President, National Venture Capital Association), Dave Baker (VP Law & Public Policy, Earthlink), Mitch Bainwol (Ch/CEO, Recording Industry Association of America), and Fritz Attaway (EVP, Motion Picture Association of America).See, notice. Press contact: Melanie Alvord (Stevens) (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.

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

10:00 AM. The Senate Banking Committee will meet to consider several bills, and many pending nominations, including those of Rep. Christopher Cox (R-CA), Roel Campos, and Annette Nazareth to be Commissioners of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Location: Room 538, Dirksen Building.

12:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Young Lawyers Committee will host a brown bag lunch titled "Defying Classification: Can the Information Services/Telecommunications Services Regulatory Dichotomy Survive in an IP World?". The speakers will be Jonathan Askin (General Counsel of Pulver.com), David Hickey (Legislative Counsel to Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL), Alexandra Wilson (Cox Enterprises), Jack Zinman (SBC Communications), and Drew Caplan (Nextel). No RSVP requested. For more information, contact Phil Marchesiello at pmarchesiello at akingump dot com or 202 887-4348 or Natalie Roisman natalie at roisman at fcc dot gov. Location: Akin Gump, 1333 New Hampshire Ave., NW, 10th Floor.

The House will not meet on Monday, August 1 through Monday, September 5. See, House calendar.

The Senate will not meet on Monday, August 1 through Monday, September 5. See, Senate calendar.

EXTENDED TO OCTOBER 1. Deadline for the National Cable & Telecommunications Association's (NCTA) and Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) to file their first round of status reports with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding progress in talks regarding the feasibility of a downloadable security solution for integrating navigation and security functionalities in cable set top boxes. See, FCC's Second Report and Order [37 pages in PDF] adopted and released on March 18, 2005. This order is FCC 05-76 in CS Docket No. 97-80. See also, FCC release [PDF] summarizing this order, and story titled "FCC Again Delays Deadline for Integrating Navigation and Security Functionalities in Cable Set Top Boxes" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,099, March 21, 2005. See, notice of extensions (DA 05-1930) [2 pages in PDF].

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) regarding the exchange of customer account information between local exchange carriers (LECs). This FNPRM is FCC 05-29 in CG Docket No. 02-386. See, notice in the Federal Register, June 1, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 104, at Pages 31406 - 31409.

10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The Department of State's (DOS) International Telecommunication Advisory Committee (ITAC) will meet to prepare for the ITU-D's meetings of Study Group 1 and Study Group 2, which will take place in September, Geneva, on September 6-9 and 12-15, 2005. See, notice in the Federal Register, July 8, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 130, at Pages 39544 - 39545. Location: Room 2533A, State Department.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Microstrategy v. Business Objects, No. 04-1572. This is a patent infringement case involving relational databases. Location: U.S. Court of Appeals, LaFayette Square, 717 Madison Place, Courtroom 402.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will hold Auction 61, the auction of of ten Automated Maritime Telecommunications System (AMTS) licenses. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 11, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 28, at Pages 7270 - 7274; notice in the Federal Register, May 23, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 98, at Pages 29497 - 29510; and, notice in the Federal Register, June 1, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 104, at Pages 31468 - 31469.

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

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Ultratech, Inc. v. Tamarack Scientific Co., No. 05-1107. The is an appeal from the U.S. District Court (NDCal) in a patent infringement case involving technology for making semiconductors. The District Court case is No. C 03-3235 CRB (JL). Location: U.S. Court of Appeals, LaFayette Square, 717 Madison Place, Courtroom 402.

10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The Department of State's (DOS) International Telecommunication Advisory Committee (ITAC) will meet to prepare for the Americas Regional Preparatory Meeting for the World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC-06) in Lima, Peru, from August 9-11, 2005. See, notice in the Federal Register, June 22, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 119, Page 36224. Location: DOS, Room 2533A.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding a petition for a declaratory ruling that certain provisions of the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act (CLRA), as applied to interstate telephone calls, are not preempted by the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). See, notice in the Federal Register, June 15, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 114, at Pages 34725 - 34726. This proceeding is CG Docket No. 02-278.