9/7. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) issued another opinion [22 pages in PDF] in Crater v. Lucent, a long running patent and trade secrets case. Crater asserts patent infringement, breach of contract, and misappropriation of trade secrets by Lucent. Lucent, and the intervening United States, defend, not on the merits, but rather on the basis that the proceeding cannot go forth without violating the state secrets privilege.

Crater is the holder of U.S. Patent No. 5,286,129, which pertains to an underwater coupling device for fiber optic cable. Crater asserts that it provided technical data, drawings, and other information about its coupler to Lucent under an agreement to use it for research purposes, not to reveal the information to third parties, and not to produce the coupler without a license from Crater. Crater asserts that Lucent proceeded to both disclose the information, and to produce the coupler without license, for the U.S.

Crater filed its complaint in 1998 in U.S. District Court (EDMo) against Lucent and AT&T alleging patent infringement (a federal claim) and breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets (state law claims). Federal jurisdiction was based on the patent claim; there was not diversity of citizenship.

Defendants moved to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and for failure to state a claim, on the grounds that since their use of the invention was pursuant to contracts with the federal government (U.S. Navy), 18 U.S.C. § 1498(a) provides that the only action available to the plaintiff is against the government in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. The District Court agreed, and dismissed the action.

§ 1498(a) provides in part that "Whenever an invention described in and covered by a patent of the United States is used or manufactured by or for the United States without license of the owner thereof or lawful right to use or manufacture the same, the owner's remedy shall be by action against the United States in the United States Court of Federal Claims ..."

In addition, the federal government intervened in the District Court. It asserted the state secrets privilege to prevent Crater from obtaining information in pretrial discovery, and from introducing evidence.

In a previous opinion, issued on June 6, 2001, the Appeals Court affirmed the District Court's finding that § 1498 bars the patent infringement action, but reversed the holding as to lack of jurisdiction. The Appeals Court held that there was jurisdiction over the patent claim, and hence, supplemental jurisdiction over the state law claims. It remanded to the District Court. See also, story titled "Crater v. Lucent" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 203, June 7, 2001. That appeal was No. 00-1125. That opinion is reported at 255 F.3d 1361.

On remand, the District Court determined that the government's proper assertion of the state secrets privilege made it impossible for Crater to engage in discovery or to make out a prima facie case of misappropriation of trade secrets or breach of contract, and also made it impossible for Lucent to defend against Crater's claims. On this basis, the District Court dismissed the action. Crater then brought the present appeal.

The Court of Appeals, in a divided opinion, reversed, and remanded. It held that "the government has properly invoked the state secrets privilege and that a valid state secret exists in this case".

It wrote that "further proceedings are required because we do not believe the record in the case -- as it relates to Crater’s two state law claims -- is sufficiently developed to enable a determination as to the effect of the government’s assertion of the privilege on those claims, in terms of Crater’s ability to assert the claims and Lucent’s ability to defend against them. If Crater establishes that it has one or more trade secrets in connection with the Crater coupler, the district court will know precisely what the secrets are. The government can then provide an affidavit or declaration -- or otherwise address -- how the precise questions involved, such as whether a particular trade secret was incorporated in a government device, would impermissibly implicate the state secrets privilege. Armed with that knowledge and with the knowledge of the state secret that must be protected, the court will be able to assess whether any misappropriation of trade secrets claim can go forward."

The majority opinion adds that "the question of whether the state secrets privilege would be implicated by the production of particular documents is not ripe for resolution, and our discussion should not be read as resolving that question."

Judge Newman concurred in the reversal, but dissented as to the instructions as to how the District Court should proceed. She wrote that the Crater should get its discovery and trial, but that the District Court should conduct a closed and in camera proceeding.

She wrote that the majority's opinion places "is a serious cloud on Crater's ability to describe the ``trade secrets´´ that Crater provided to Lucent with the Crater Coupler, for the government has asserted that all information related to the Crater Coupler is a state secret."

She continued that "Crater should have the opportunity to establish that it had trade secrets and that they were disclosed by Lucent to the government without authorization. However, the claim of military/state secrecy appears to extend to the information that Crater provided to Lucent in connection with this project, for if that information was indeed used by Lucent, as Crater asserts and Lucent does not deny, it is covered by the secrecy order. Thus we appear to have devised a remedy impossible of performance."

This case is Crater Corporation v. Lucent Technologies Inc. and AT&T Company, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, App. Ct. 04-1349, an appeal from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, D.C. No. 98CV0913, Judge Weber presiding. Judge Schall wrote the opinion of the Court, in which Judge Dyk joined. Judge Pauline Newman concurred in part and dissented in part.

The appeal brief of the U.S. lists several names, including Peter Keisler, the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the DOJ's Civil Division. Keisler previously was a partner in the law firm of Sidley & Austin, where he represented AT&T, which is a defendant in this case.

9/8. The National Cable Telecommunications Association (NCTA) continued its efforts to defeat broadcast industry proposals regarding cable multicast must carry requirements. On September 7, the NCTA sent a paper [17 pages in PDF] to members of Congress titled "The Economic Impact of Multicast Must Carry" prepared by Kane Reese Associates. It asserts that the cost to the cable industry could be over $100 Billion. On September 8, the NCTA sent a legal opinion [31 pages in PDF] prepared for the NCTA by the law firm of Cooper & Kirk that asserts that multicast must carry would violate the first amendment and the takings clause of the Constitution, and that the federal government might have to compensate the cable industry for this taking.

The NCTA's economic analysis states that "Broadcasters have argued that in order to facilitate the transition to digital television, Congress should require cable systems to carry, in addition to a broadcaster’s primary digital signal, multiple digital streams -- called multicasting -- which could include three, four, five, even six channels for each local station. Cable systems, however, do not have unlimited capacity. Most cable systems already have used their recently expanded capacity to offer a vast array of new enhanced services (e.g., faster High-Speed Data service, cable telephony, Video on Demand, and high definition television)." (Parentheses in original.)

This paper continues that "given current capacity constraints and, more significantly, the value of cable's broadband bandwidth, the economic burden to add mandatory multicast programming will be substantial."

The NCTA paper estimates that "under even the most conservative valuation approach (``the leased access approach´´), the cost to cable operators to implement a mandatory multicast regime would be in the $4.2 - $5.6 billion range. Under an ``opportunity cost approach´´ -- which we believe is a very reasonable methodology to use in this instance -- the cost of a multicast regime to cable operators exceeds $115.6 billion." (Parentheses in original.)

The NCTA's legal opinion then asserts that the taxpayer might have to compensate the cable industry. It states that "The broadcasters have now asked Congress to expand the forced carriage requirement to encompass broadcasters’ multicast programming. ... such an enactment not only would raise grave First Amendment concerns ... but would also impose a taking of cable operators’ property that would expose the federal Treasury to liability for billions of dollars in just compensation ..."

NCTA P/CEO Kyle McSlarrow wrote in a letter to members of Congress that "there is no reason to reward broadcasters with multicast must carry rights simply for returning spectrum that they were never meant to keep any longer than necessary to facilitate the digital transition. And there is no reason to do so when such a taking of property could expose taxpayers to enormous claims against the Treasury."

9/2. The Department of Justice's (DOJ) Antitrust Division announced that it filed a complaint in U.S. District Court (DC) against NSM Music Group Ltd. and Ecast Inc. alleging violation of federal antitrust law in connection with their agreement under which NSM agreed not to enter the U.S. market with a digital jukebox to compete with Ecast. The DOJ simultaneously announced that it has reached a settlement with NSM and Ecast under which the two companies will terminate their non-compete agreement. The settlement requires approval by the Court.

The DOJ stated in a release that "NSM, already a manufacturer of CD jukeboxes, planned to begin offering a digital jukebox powered by its own platform in the United States in late 2002. At that time, digital jukebox purchasers had only two choices of digital jukebox products, one of which used Ecast's platform. A digital jukebox platform consists of a library of songs that have been licensed from U.S. copyright holders and the software necessary to access and play the songs. When installed in jukeboxes, a platform allows consumers to play any song in the music library. NSM abandoned its plans to enter the U.S. market with its own platform once it reached an agreement with Ecast that it would only manufacture digital jukeboxes incorporating Ecast's platform. NSM's release of a third competing digital jukebox platform likely would have stimulated competition and resulted in better products at lower prices ..."

See also, DOJ hyperlinks to pleadings in the related case of U.S. v. Jurgen Jost and John Tracy, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, D.C. No. No. 04 C 1854, which pertained to obtaining evidence from Jost and Tracy, former employees of NSM.

9/7. Donald Nicolaisen, Chief Accountant of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), will leave the SEC in October 2005. See, SEC release.

9/7. Chris Guttman-McCabe was named VP Regulatory Affairs at the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA). He will be the CTIA's chief liaison to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). He has worked for the CTIA since 2001. Before that, he worked for the law firm of Wiley Rein & Fielding. See, CTIA release.

9/6. President Bush formally nominated 23 persons for positions that require Senate confirmation. He had previously announced, during the August recess, that he would make these nominations. These nominations include James Andrew (to be Administrator of the Rural Utilities Service), Thomas Barnett (to be an Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division), Santanu Baruah (to be Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development), Emilio Gonzalez (to be Director of the Department of Homeland Security's Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services), Clay Lowery (to be a Deputy Under Secretary of the Treasury), and Donald Winter (to be Secretary of the Navy). See, White House release.

9/6. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) gave awards, titled "Excellence in Economic Analysis", to seven current and former FCC economists, William Sharkey, James Eisner, Craig Stroup, Mark Uretsky, Catherine Hsu, Andrew Wise, and Keith Brown. See, FCC release. The FCC did not identify the work that merited the awards. William Sharkey is a coauthor of an FCC paper [PDF] titled "Dynamic Pricing and Investment from Static Proxy Models", and another FCC paper [PDF] titled "Horizontal Concentration in the Cable Television Industry: An Experimental Analysis". Andrew Wise is a coauthor of the FCC paper titled "Competition between Cable Television and Direct Broadcast Satellite -- It's More Complicated than You Think". Keith Brown is a coauthor of an FCC paper [22 pages in PDF] titled "Radio Market Structure and Music Diversity", and another FCC paper [21 pages in PDF] titled "Consolidation and Advertising Prices in Local Radio Markets".

9/6. The government of the Dominican Republic approved the Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR). El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and the United States have already done so. See, USTR release.

9/7. The General Accounting Office (GAO) released a report [67 pages in PDF] titled "Information Technology: Management Improvements Needed on Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Infrastructure Modernization Program". It states that the "2004 Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act provided $40 million for Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) program to modernize its information technology (IT) infrastructure. The goals of the program -- which ICE refers to as ``Atlas´´ -- are to, among other things, improve information sharing, strengthen information security, and improve workforce productivity." The report finds that the DHS has "satisfied each of the applicable legislative conditions specified in the act". However, it continues that "The Atlas program does not have a current life-cycle cost estimate nor a current cost-benefit analysis showing return on investment. It also does not have a complete set of performance measures. Further, the program does not have an up-to-date security plan that includes Atlas, and officials have yet to develop a privacy impact assessment for the program."

9/7. The General Accounting Office (GAO) released a report [74 pages in PDF] titled "Globalization: Numerous Federal Activities Complement U.S. Business’s Global Corporate Social Responsibility Efforts".

Tech Law Journal publishes a free access web site and subscription e-mail alert. The basic rate for a subscription to the TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert is $250 per year. However, there are discounts for subscribers with multiple recipients. Free one month trial subscriptions are available. Also, free subscriptions are available for journalists, federal elected officials, and employees of the Congress, courts, and executive branch. The TLJ web site is free access. However, copies of the TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert are not published in the web site until one month after writing. See, subscription information page.

Contact: 202-364-8882.
P.O. Box 4851, Washington DC, 20008.

Privacy Policy
Notices & Disclaimers
Copyright 1998 - 2005 David Carney, dba Tech Law Journal. All rights reserved.

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

8:00 AM - 4:30 PM. Day one of a two day public workshop hosted by the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Privacy Office titled "Privacy and Technology: Government Use of Commercial Data for Homeland Security". See, notice in the Federal Register, August 5, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 150, at Pages 45408 - 45409. Location: auditorium at the DHS offices at the GSA Regional Headquarters Building, 7th and D Streets, SW.

POSTPONED. 9:30 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee may continue its hearings on the nomination of Judge John Roberts to be Chief Justice of the United States. See, notice. Location: Room 216, Hart Building.

9:30 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) has scheduled an executive business meeting. The agenda includes consideration of the nomination of Kenneth Wainstein to be the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. The agenda also includes consideration of numerous bills, including S __, the "Personal Data Privacy and Security Act of 2005", sponsored by Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), and Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI), S 751, the "Notification of Risk to Personal Data Act", sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), and S 1326, the "Notification of Risk to Personal Data Act", sponsored by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL). The SJC rarely follows its published agenda. 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. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

POSTPONED TO SEPTEMBER 15. 10:00 AM. The House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims will hold a partially closed hearing titled "Sources and Methods of Foreign Nationals Engaged in Economic and Military Espionage". Press contact: Jeff Lungren or Terry Shawn at 202 225-2492. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

10:30 AM - 12:00 NOON. The Department of State's (DOS) International Telecommunication Advisory Committee (ITAC) will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, August 15, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 156, Page 47875. Location: boardroom, National Academy of Sciences, 2100 C St., NW.

TIME CHANGE. 1:00 PM (or 15 minutes after the conclusion of the Medicaid hearing). The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials will hold a hearing titled "Electronic Waste: An Examination of Current Activity, Implications for Environmental Stewardship, and the Proper Federal Role". The hearing will be webcast by the HCC. See, notice. Press contact: Terry Lane (Barton) at 202 225-5735 or Brad Mascho (Gillmor) at 202 225-6405. Location: Room 2322, Rayburn Building.

1:00 PM. The House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property will hold a hearing titled "Review of U.S. Patent and Trademark Office operations, including analysis of Government Accountability Office, Inspector General, and National Academy of Public Administration Reports". Press contact: Jeff Lungren or Terry Shawn at 202 225-2492. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

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

TIME CHANGE. 2:00 PM. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a hearing on several pending nominations, including those of Robert Mosbacher (to be President of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation), Robert Holland (to be U.S. Executive Director of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development), and Jan Boyer (to be U.S. Alternate Executive Director of the Inter-American Development Bank). See, notice. Location: Room 419, Dirksen Building.

Deadline for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to submit a report to the Congress on competition in the multichannel video programming distribution market. This is MB Docket No. 05-28.

2:00 - 4:00 PM. The Department of States' (DOS) International Telecommunication Advisory Committee (ITAC) will meet to prepare for ITU-T Advisory Group. See, notice in the Federal Register, July 13, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 133, at Page 40414. Location: undisclosed. The DOS states that "Access to these meetings may be arranged by contacting Julian Minard at minardje at state dot gov.

Deadline to submit comments to the Interim Chief Copyright Royalty Judge, on behalf of the Copyright Royalty Board, regarding the existence of controversies to to the distribution of the 2001, 2002 and 2003 satellite royalty funds. See, notice in the Federal Register, August 9, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 152, at Page 46193 - 46194.

8:30 AM - 12:30 PM. Day two of a two day public workshop hosted by the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Privacy Office titled "Privacy and Technology: Government Use of Commercial Data for Homeland Security". See, notice in the Federal Register, August 5, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 150, at Pages 45408 - 45409. Location: auditorium at the DHS offices at the GSA Regional Headquarters Building, 7th and D Streets, SW.

POSTPONED. 9:30 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee may continue its hearings on the nomination of Judge John Roberts to be Chief Justice of the United States. See, notice. Location: Room 216, Hart Building.

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

Extended deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its notice of second further proposed rulemaking regarding horizontal and vertical cable ownership limits. The FCC adopted this Second Further NPRM on May 13, 2005, and released it on May 17, 2005. This item is FCC 05-96 in MM Docket No. 92-264. See, original notice in the Federal Register, June 8, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 109, at Pages 33679 - 33687. See also, notice of extension of deadlines, in the Federal Register, July 6, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 128, at Pages 38848 - 38849.

Day one of a three day conference hosted by the Future of Music Coalition (FMC) titled "Future of Music Policy Summit". See, conference web site. The agenda lists, at 4:00 PM, a "Special Interview with FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein". At 4:30 PM there will be a panel discussion titled "Music Policy 101". The speakers will include Johanna Shelton, Democratic Counsel to the House Commerce Committee. Location: Lisner Auditorium, George Washington University, 730 21st St., NW.

9:00 - 10:15 AM. The Chamber of Commerce and the Business Software Alliance (BSA) will host an event titled "Intellectual Property Business Forum". The speakers will include Carlos Gutierrez, the Secretary of Commerce. See, notice. The price to attend range from free to $95. Location: 1615 H St., NW.

12:00 NOON. The Senate Judiciary Committee will begin its hearing on the nomination of Judge John Roberts to be Chief Justice of the United States. Location: Room 325, Russell Building.

12:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Young Lawyers Committee will host a brown bag lunch titled "Cable and Broadband Rules for an Evolving Landscape: IPTV, Municipal Competition, and Local Video Regulation". No RSVP requested. For more information, contact Chris Fedeli at cfedeli at crblaw dot com or 202-828-9874 or Jason Friedrich at jason dot friedrich at dbr dot com or 202-354-1340. Location: Cole Raywid & Braverman, 1919 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, second floor.

Day two of a three day conference hosted by the Future of Music Coalition (FMC) titled "Future of Music Policy Summit". See, conference web site. At 9:15 AM there will be a panel titled "State of the Union". The speakers will be Marybeth Peters (Register of Copyrights), Mitch Bainwol (Ch/CEO of the RIAA), Shawn Fanning (Snocap), Jim Griffin (Cherry Lane Digital), Joe Henry (songwriter and producer), Andrew Moss (Microsoft), and Gary Shapiro (P/CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association). At 12:45 PM, there will be a panel titled "License to Cover: Section 115". The speakers will include David Jones (Counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Intellectual Property). Location: Lisner Auditorium, 730 21st St., NW, George Washington University, and other sites at or near GWU.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) portion of its order and NPRM regarding the extension of 911/E911 regulation to interconnected voice over internet protocol (VOIP) service providers. The FCC adopted, but did not release, this order and NPRM on May 19, 2005. The FCC released the text [90 pages in PDF] of this order and NPRM on June 3, 2005. See, story titled "FCC Releases VOIP E911 Order" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,148, June 6, 2005, and story titled "FCC Sets Deadlines for Comments on VOIP NPRM" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,167, July 5, 2005. See, FCC notice (DA 05-1905) [3 pages in PDF].

EXTENDED TO SEPTEMBER 22. Deadline to submit reply comments to the Copyright Office regarding its first report to the Congress required by the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act of 2004. See, original notice in the Federal Register, July 7, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 129, at Pages 39343 - 39345. See also, notice extending deadlines in the Federal Register, August 15, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 156, at Page 47857.

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division regarding its draft [52 pages in PDF] Special Publication 800-18, Revision 1, titled "Guide for Developing Security Plans for Federal Information Systems".

8:30 AM - 5:00 PM. Day one of a three day meeting of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board (ISPAB). See, notice in the Federal Register, August 23, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 162, at Page 49257. Location: Doubletree Hotel and Executive Meeting Center, 1750 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD.

8:30 AM - 5:00 PM. The National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology will meet. Some of the meeting will be closed to the public. See, notice in the Federal Register, August 23, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 162, at Pages 49256-49257. Location: Employees Lounge, Administration Building, NIST, Gaithersburg, MD.

9:00 AM. The Bureau of Industry and Security's (BIS) Regulations and Procedures Technical Advisory Committee will hold a meeting, part of which will be closed to the public. The agenda includes "Update on Encryption controls" and "Update on proposed rule on deemed export related regulatory requirements". See, notice in the Federal Register, September 6, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 171, at Pages 52982 - 52983. Location: Department of Commerce, Room 3884, 14th Street between Constitution and Pennsylvania
Avenues, NW.

9:30 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee will continue its hearing on the nomination of Judge John Roberts to be Chief Justice of the United States. Location: Room 216, Hart Building.

9:30 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir) will hear oral argument in ICO Global Communications v. FCC, No. 04-1248. Judges Randolph, Rogers and Williams will preside. Location: Prettyman Courthouse, 333 Constitution Ave., NW.

10:00 AM. The Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing on "the financial services industry's responsibilities and role in preventing identity theft and protecting sensitive financial information". See, notice. Location: Room 538, Dirksen Building.

6:00 - 9:15 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a continuing legal education (CLE) seminar titled "How to Litigate a Copyright Infringement Case". The speaker will be Kenneth Kaufman (Skadden Arps). The price to attend ranges from $80-$125. For more information, call 202-626-3488. See, notice. Location: D.C. Bar Conference Center, 1250 H Street NW, B-1 Level.

Day three of a three day conference hosted by the Future of Music Coalition (FMC) titled "Future of Music Policy Summit". At 9:15 AM, there will be a panel titled "IP in a Post Grokster World". The speakers will be Chris Amenita (ASCAP Enterprises Group), Preeta Bansal (Skadden Arps), Mia Garlick (Creative Commons), Cary Sherman (President of the RIAA), Siva Vaidhyanathan (NYU), Don Verrilli (Jenner & Block), and Fred von Lohmann (EFF). At 12:00 NOON, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) is scheduled to speak. At 12:45 PM, there will be a panel titled "Ethics of Innovation". It will address "how do attorneys counsel clients who have a business model or technology that could be used to infringe copyrights?" The speakers will be Jim Burger (Dow Lohnes), Jonathan Band (attorney), Chris Castle (Snocap), and Marty Lafferty (Distributed Computing Industry Association). See, conference web site. Location: Lisner Auditorium, 730 21st St., NW, George Washington University, and other sites at or near GWU.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Third Further Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM), adopted on December 20, 2004, regarding whether to defer or eliminate the requirement in the rules that certain applications for equipment authorization received on or after January 1, 2005, specify 6.24 kHz capability. This item is FCC 04-292 in WT Docket No. 99-87 and RM-9332; See, notice in the Federal Register, June 15, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 114, at Pages 34726 - 34729.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Public Notice [PDF] requesting comments on Continental Airlines' Petition for a Declaratory Ruling regarding the state Massachusetts' attempt to regulate Wi-Fi hotspots. Continental has installed a Wi-Fi hotspot for internet access and telecommunications at its frequent flyer lounge at Boston Logan Airport (Logan). An issue is whether the demands of the Massachusetts Port Authority for removal of the antenna are prohibited under the FCC's Over the Air Reception Devices (OTARD) rules. This public notice is DA 05-2213 in ET Docket No. 05-247.

8:30 AM - 5:00 PM. Day two of a three day meeting of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board (ISPAB). See, notice in the Federal Register, August 23, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 162, at Page 49257. Location: Doubletree Hotel and Executive Meeting Center, 1750 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD.

9:30 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee will continue its hearing on the nomination of Judge John Roberts to be Chief Justice of the United States. Location: Room 216, Hart Building.

? 9:30 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing titled "Able Danger and Intelligence Information Sharing". This involves data mining. 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 U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir) will hear oral argument in SBC Internet Service v. Recording Industry Association of America, No. 04-5325. This is an appeal from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia regarding DMCA subpoenas provided for by 17 U.S.C. § 512(h). See, SBC's brief [PDF]. Judges Sentelle, Randolph and Williams will preside. Location: Prettyman Courthouse, 333 Constitution Ave., NW.

11:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Advisory Committee for the 2007 World Radiocommunication Conference will meet. See, FCC notice [PDF] and notice in the Federal Register, August 10, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 153, at Pages 46524. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room (TW-C305), 445 12th Street, SW.

TIME? The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) will hold a public hearing on the People's Republic of China's compliance with its World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments to assist it in preparing an annual report to the Congress. See, notice in the Federal Register, August 3, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 148, at Pages 44714 - 44715. Location: Room 1, 1724 F Street, NW.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will hold its Low Power Television Auction, Auction No. 81. See, Public Notice [PDF] numbered DA 05-1624, and dated June 9, 2005.

Extended deadline to submit comments to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in response to its green paper describing and evaluating four options to reform restriction practice. See, notice of extension in the Federal Register, August 5, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 150, at Page 45370.

8:30 AM - 12:00 NOON. Day three of a three day meeting of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board (ISPAB). See, notice in the Federal Register, August 23, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 162, at Page 49257. Location: Doubletree Hotel and Executive Meeting Center, 1750 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD.

9:00 AM - 3:00 PM. The Chamber of Commerce will host an event titled "No More Excuses: Business and Health Information Technology". The speakers will include for Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-GA) and Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI). See, notice. The price to attend range from free to $145. Location: undisclosed.

9:00 AM. The National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Judges Panel of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award will meet. This meeting is closed to the public. See, notice in the August 23, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 162, at Pages 49257 - 49258. Location: NIST, Administration Building, Lecture Room D, Gaithersburg, MD.

9:30 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee will continue its hearing on the nomination of Judge John Roberts to be Chief Justice of the United States. Location: Room 216, Hart Building.

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 House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security, and Claims will hold a partially closed hearing titled "Sources and Methods of Foreign Nationals Engaged in Economic and Military Espionage". Press contact: Jeff Lungren or Terry Shawn at 202 225-2492. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a brown bag lunch titled "50 Hot Technology Tips And Web Sites: What Lawyers Should Know". The price to attend ranges from $15-$25. For more information, call 202-626-3463. See, notice. Location: D.C. Bar Conference Center, 1250 H Street NW, B-1 Level.