4/3. The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau's (WCB) Industry Analysis and Technology Division (FCC) released a report [26 pages in PDF] titled "High-Speed Services for Internet Access: Status as of June 30, 2005".

The FCC continues to use a minimalist definition of high speed service, "200 kbps in at least one direction". Although, it now also provides data on service with 200 kbps in both directions.

The report states that high speed lines connecting homes and businesses to the internet increased by 13% during the first half of 2005, from 37.9 Million to 42.9 Million lines in service. For year ending June 30, 2005, the number of high speed lines increased by 32%.

The report states that 55.8% of the high speed lines as of June 30, 2005 were cable modem, 37.7% were asymmetric DSL, 2.1% were symmetric DSL or traditional wireline, 2.0% were fiber to the end user premises, and 2.3% used other technologies.

The report also estimates that "high-speed DSL connections were available to 76% of the households to whom ILECs could provide local telephone service, and that high-speed cable modem service was available to 91% of the households to whom cable system operators could provide cable TV service."

See also, FCC release [3 pages in PDF].

4/3. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Wireline Competition Bureau's (WCB) Industry Analysis and Technology Division released a report [24 pages in PDF] titled "Local Telephone Competition: Status as of June 30, 2005".

The report states that competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) "reported 34.1 million (or 19.1%) of the approximately 178.2 million nationwide end-user switched access lines in service at the end of June 2005, compared to 32.9 million (or 18.5%) of the 177.9 million lines reported for December 2004."

The report also states that "CLECs reported providing about 27% of their end-user switched access lines over their own local loop facilities, about 56% by using unbundled network elements (UNEs) that they leased from other carriers, and about 17% through resale arrangements with unaffiliated carriers."

The report also states that "About 4.6 million end-user switched access lines were provided by CLECs over coaxial cable connections. These lines represent about 50% of the 9.1 million end-user switched access lines that CLECs reported providing over their own local loop facilities, about 13% of all end-user switched access lines that CLECs reported, about 27% of CLEC lines to residential end users, about 3% of total end-user switched access lines, and about 4% of total residential switched access lines."

It also states that "Mobile telephony service providers reported 191.3 million subscribers, compared to 181.1 million six months earlier."

See also, FCC release [3 pages in PDF].

3/30. Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Rep. William Delahunt (D-MA), Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC), and Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL) introduced HR 5055, a bill to amend Chapter 13 of Title 17, which is codified at 17 U.S.C. § 1301, et seq.

This is another in a series of long running efforts to provide copyright like protection for designs. Although, this bill would only create short term protection for fashion designs, including clothing, hand bags, and eyeglass frames.

Following the Supreme Court's opinion in Bonita Boats, Inc. v. Thunder Craft Boats, Inc., 489 U.S. 141 (1989), the Congress provided protection for vessel hull designs, and certain other designs. That legislation was included in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which was enacted in 1998, and is now Public Law No. 105-304. It is codified as Chapter 13 of Title 17.

Chapter 13 was also amended by S 1948 (106th Congress), the huge "Intellectual Property and Communications Omnibus Reform Act of 1999", which was incorporated into HR 3194 (106th Congress), the huge omnibus  FY 2000 consolidated appropriations bill, which became Public Law No. 106-113.

HR 5055 was referred to the House Judiciary Committee. The sponsors are members of the HJC.

4/3. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet announced, with short notice, that it will meet at 5:00 PM on Tuesday, April 4, to begin its mark up of HR __ [PDF], a committee print of a bill that may be titled the "Communications Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement Act of 2006", or COPE Act. This session is for opening statements. The Subcommittee will continue its mark up at 10:00 AM on Wednesday, April 5. See, notice. See also, story titled "Summary of COPE Act" and story titled "House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet Holds Hearing on COPE Act" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,341, April 3, 2006.

4/4. The House Judiciary Committee's (HJC) Task Force on Telecom and Antitrust announced that it will will hold a hearing titled "Network Neutrality: Competition, Innovation and Nondiscriminatory Access" on Friday, April 7, at 10:00 AM.

3/30. Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE) and Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA) introduced HR 5072 [3.2 MB], the "Universal Service Reform Act of 2006". See also, Rep. Boucher's overview [PDF] and section by section summary [PDF]. The two released a discussion draft [31 pages in PDF] of this bill back in November of 2005. The just introduced bill revises that draft. See, story titled "Reps. Terry and Boucher Propose New Internet Taxes" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,257, November 21, 2005

3/30. The Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing titled "Competition and Convergence". See, opening statement of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) and opening statement of Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI). See also, prepared testimony [42 pages in PDF] of Kyle McSlarrow (National Cable and Telecommunications Association), prepared testimony [10 pages in PDF] of Earl Comstock (Comptel), prepared testimony [4 pages in PDF] of Walter McCormick (US Telecom Association), prepared testimony [13 pages in PDF] of Steve Largent (CTIA), prepared testimony [10 pages in PDF] of Jerry Ellig (George Mason University), and prepared testimony [11 pages in PDF] of Mark Cooper (Consumer Federation of America).

4/3. The Supreme Court denied certiorari in Nystrom v. Trex, a patent case. This lets stand the September 14, 2005, opinion [27 pages in PDF] of the U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir). See, Order List [7 pages in PDF] at page 2. This case is Sup. Ct. No. 05-950 and App. Ct. No. 03-1092. See, Supreme Court docket.

3/31. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) issued its opinion [23 pages in PDF] in On Line Demand Machine v. Ingram Industries, reversing the District Court's judgment of patent infringement, and vacating the damages award. This case concerns U.S. Patent No. 5,465,213, titled "System and method of manufacturing a single book copy". This case is On Line Demand Machine Corporation v. Ingram Industries, Inc., Lighting Source, Inc. and Amazon.com, Inc., U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, App. Ct. Nos. 05-1074, 05-1075, 05-1100 , an appeal from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, D.C. No. 4:01cv1668MLM, Judge Ann Medler presiding. Judge Pauline Newman wrote the opinion of the Court of Appeals, in which Judges Mayer and Bryson joined.

3/29. The U.S. Court of Appeals (2ndCir) issued its opinion [50 pages in PDF] in FTC v. Verity, a case involving application of the Federal Trade Commission Act's (FTCA) prohibition of unfair and deceptive trade practices to telephone billing charges for telephone pornography not authorized by phone customers. The defendants operated a porn web site that fraudulently billed users for telephone calls to Madagascar that did not take place. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a complaint in U.S. District Court (SDNY) alleging violation of 15 U.S.C. § 45(a). The FTC prevailed in the District Court. The Court of Appeals vacated the monetary judgment, and a contempt order, but otherwise affirmed the District Court's judgment. The Court of Appeals also wrote that "The incessant demand for pornography, some have said, is an engine of technological development." This case is FTC v. Verity International, Ltd., et al., U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, App. Ct. No. 04-5487-cv, an appeal from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge Lewis Kaplan presiding. Judge John Walker wrote the opinion of the Court of Appeals, in which Judges Feinberg and Straub joined.

3/31. The Senate confirmed Jeffrey Sedgwick to be Director of the Bureau of Justice Statistics. See, Congressional Record, March 31, 2006 at Page S2698.

3/30. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a notice in the Federal Register that describes, and sets the comment deadline (May 31, 2006) for, its its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) regarding changes to the rules of practice relating to ex parte and inter partes reexamination. See, Federal Register, March 30, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 61, at Pages 16072-16086.

3/28. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) and others introduced S 2467, the "United States Trade Enhancement Act of 2006". It relates to the activities of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). It also includes the "International Monetary and Financial Policy Cooperation Act of 2006".

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The House will meet at 12:30 PM for morning hour, and at 2:00 PM for legislative business. The House will consider several non-technology related items under suspension of the rules. Votes will be postponed until 6:30 PM. See, Republican Whip Notice.

The Senate will meet at 9:45 AM. It will consider the nomination of Michael Chagares to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals (3rdCir). It will then resume consideration of S 2454, the "Securing America's Borders Act".

9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission will hold a hearing titled "China's World Trade Organization Compliance: Industrial Subsidies and the Impact on U.S. and World Markets". See, notice in the Federal Register, March 29, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 60, at Pages 15799-15800. Location: Room 2323, Rayburn Building.

CANCELLED. 9:30 AM. The Copyright Office will hold one in a series of hearings on possible exemptions to the prohibition against circumvention of technological measures that control access to copyrighted works. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 23, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 36, at Pages 9302-9303. Location: Mumford Room, LM-649, James Madison Building, Library of Congress, 101 Independence Ave., SE.

10:00 AM. The House Judiciary Committee's (HJC) Subcommittee on the Constitution and Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law will hold a joint oversight hearing titled "Personal Information Acquired by the Government from Information Resellers: Is There Need for Improvement?". The witnesses will include Maureen Cooney (acting Chief Privacy Officer at DHS). The hearing will be webcast by the HJC. See, notice. Press contact: Jeff Lungren or Terry Shawn at 202 225-2492. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold a hearing titled "Sexual Exploitation of Children Over the Internet: What Parents, Kids and Congress Need to Know About Child Predators". See, notice. Press contact: Larry Neal (Barton) at 202 225-5735. The hearing will be webcast by the HCC. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in America Online v. U.S., No. 2005-5138. Location: Courtroom 201, 717 Madison Place, NW.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Honeywell International v. U.S., No. 2005-5145. Location: Courtroom 201, 717 Madison Place, NW.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in LG Electronics v. Bizcom Electronics, No. 2005-1261. Location: Courtroom 203, 717 Madison Place, NW.

11:45 AM - 1:30 PM. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and its Teleconsensus Coalition will host a forum titled "The Telecommunications Economy: Using the Internet as a Model for Telecom Legislation". The speaker will be Bill Woodcock (Packet Clearing House). Press contact: press at uschamber dot com or 202-463-5682. RSVP to teleconsensus at uschamber dot com. Lunch will be served. Location: State Services Organization, Room 333, 444 North Capitol Street, NW.

RESCHEDULED FROM MARCH 29. 12:00 NOON. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Engineering and Technical Practice Committee will host a brown bag lunch. The FCBA notice states that "Staff of the Office of Engineering and Technology to discuss how counsel can more effectively and efficiently represent their clients to the Commission, and how the FCC’s staff can better serve the practitioners' needs. This discussion will include management and staff from the OET front office and from the Laboratory Division." Location: FCC, Room 5-B516, 445 12 St., SW.

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI) will host a lunch titled "How States Have Succeeded With Video Franchise Reform". The speakers will be Robert Cresanti (Department of Commerce), Brandt Hershman (Indiana State Senate), Rick Cimerman (National Cable and Telecommunications Association), Barry Aarons (IPI), and Bartlett Cleland (IPI). Press contact: Sonia Blumstein at soniab at ipi dot org or 703-912-5742. For more information, contact Betty Medlock at bmedlock at ipi dot org or 972-874-5139. See, notice. Location: Charlie Palmer Steak Restaurant on the Hill, 101 Constitution Ave., NW.

POSTPONED. 2:30 PM. The Senate Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Science and Space will hold a hearing titled "National Science Foundation and Science Priorities". Sen. Kay Hutchison (R-TX) will preside. Location: Room 562, Dirksen Building.

5:00 PM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet will meet to begin its mark up of HR __ [PDF], a committee print of a bill that may be titled the "Communications Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement Act of 2006", or COPE Act. This session is for opening statements. See, notice. See also, stories titled "Summary of COPE Act" and "House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet Holds Hearing on COPE Act" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,341, April 3, 2006. Press contact: Larry Neal (Barton) at 202-225-5735 or Terry Lane (Barton) at 202-225-5735. This mark up session will be webcast by the HCC. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

Day two of a two day conference hosted by pulvermedia and Isen.com titled "Internet Freedom Conference". See, conference web site. Press Contact: Bage Anderson at 254 772-5909 or bage at weinkrantz dot com. The scheduled speakers include Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA) and former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt. Location: AFI Silver Theater, Silver Spring, MD.

TIME? The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will hold a hearing regarding its (1) notice of proposed rulemaking, and (2) proposed revenue procedure, pertaining to tax return preparers' use and disclosure of tax return information in an electronic environment. See, IRS notice in the Federal Register that describes and recites proposed changes to its rules implementing 26 U.S.C. § 7216, Federal Register, December 8, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 235, at Pages 72954 - 72964. See also, IRS web site notice [16 pages in PDF] that describes and contains the proposed revenue procedure. And see, story titled "IRS Releases Proposed Rules Regarding Electronic Tax Preparation" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,268, December 8, 2005. Location: __.

Day one of a three day conference hosted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) titled "5th Annual PKI R&D Workshop: Making PKI Easy to Use". See, notice. Location: NIST, Green Auditorium, Bldg. 101, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. It may consider HRes 541, which honors Roy Glauber, John Hall, and Theodor Hansch for being awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2005. The Nobel Foundation stated that they won this prize for "their contributions to the development of laser-based precision spectroscopy, including the optical frequency comb technique". HRes 541 states that their work "has led to improvements in the accuracy of precision instruments such as GPS locators". See, Republican Whip Notice.

8:30 AM - 4:30 PM. The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Privacy Office will host a public workshop titled "Transparency and Accountability: The Use of Personal Information within the Government". See, notice in the Federal Register, March 24, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 57, at Page 14934. Location: Horizon Ballroom, Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

10:00 AM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet will meet to continue its mark up of HR __ [PDF], a committee print of a bill that may be titled the "Communications Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement Act of 2006", or COPE Act. See, notice. See also, stories titled "Summary of COPE Act" and "House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet Holds Hearing on COPE Act" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,341, April 3, 2006. Press contact: Larry Neal (Barton) at 202-225-5735 or Terry Lane (Barton) at 202-225-5735. This mark up session will be webcast by the HCC. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Finance Committee (SFC) will hold a hearing on the nomination of Ralph Basham to be Commissioner of Customs at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). See, notice. Location: Room 215, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The House Science Committee will continue its March 29 mark up HRes 717, a resolution that states that "the Secretary of Commerce is directed to transmit to the House of Representatives, not later than 14 days after the date of the adoption of this resolution, a copy of the final draft report, produced by the professional staff of the Technology Administration, entitled: `Six-Month Assessment of Workforce Globalization In Certain Knowledge-Based Industries´." On March 29, a motion to report the resolution favorably failed on a vote of 19-14. A motion to report unfavorably produced a 17-17 tie. See, story titled "House Science Committee Debates Commerce Department's Outsourcing Study" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,339, March 30, 2006. The meeting will be webcast by the HSC. For more information, contact Sara Gray (Republican staff) at 202-225-6371, or Dan Pearson (Democratic staff) at 202-225-6375. Location: Room 2318, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Silicon Image v. Genesis Microchip, No. 2005-1538. Location: Courtroom 201, 717 Madison Place, NW.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Phillips Electronics v. Contec, No. 2005-1351. Location: Courtroom 203, 717 Madison Place, NW.

10:30 AM. The House Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing titled "Implementation of the United States-Oman Free Trade Agreement". See, notice. Press contact: 202-225-1721. Location: Room 1100, Longworth Building.

2:00 PM. The House Judiciary Committee's (HJC) Subcommittee on Crime will hold a hearing on HR 4777, the "Internet Gambling Prohibition Act". See, notice. This hearing will be webcast by the HJC. Press contact: Jeff Lungren or Terry Shawn at 202-225-2492. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

2:00 - 4:00 PM. The Department of State's (DOS) International Telecommunication Advisory Committee (ITAC) will meet to prepare for the CITEL PCC.I (Telecommunication) meetings on May 23-26, 2006 in San Domingo, Dominican Republic, and on September 12-15, 2006, in Washington DC. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 29, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 60, at Page 15798. Location: __.

3:00 PM. The House Ways and Means Committee's Subcommittee on Human Resources will hold a hearing titled "Use of Technology to Improve Public Benefit Programs". See, notice. For more information, contact 202-225-1025. Location: Room B-318, Rayburn Building.

TIME CHANGE. 4:00 PM. The House Judiciary Committee's (HJC) Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property will hold a hearing titled "Patent Quality Enhancement in the Information-Based Economy". See, notice. The hearing will be webcast by the HJC. Press contact: Jeff Lungren or Terry Shawn at 202-225-2492. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

Day two of a three day conference hosted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) titled "5th Annual PKI R&D Workshop: Making PKI Easy to Use". See, notice. Location: NIST, Green Auditorium, Bldg. 101, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD.

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

9:00 AM. The House Judiciary Committee (HJC) will hold an oversight hearing on the Department of Justice (DOJ). See, notice. The hearing will be webcast by the HJC. Press contact: Jeff Lungren or Terry Shawn at 202-225-2492. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

9:00 AM. The House Homeland Security Committee's Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing, and Terrorism Risk Assessment will hold a hearing titled "Protection of Privacy in the DHS Intelligence Enterprise". The witnesses will include Maureen Cooney (acting Chief Privacy Officer at DHS). Location: Room 311, Cannon Building.

9:00 - 11:00 AM. The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) will host a panel discussion titled "Data Pricing and Dissemination in a Competitive Securities Market". The speakers will be Peter Wallison (AEI), Jeff Brown (Charles Schwab & Co.), Adena Friedman (NASDAQ), Kevin O'Hara (NYSE), and Jamie Selway (White Cap Trading). See, notice. For more information, contact Daniel Geary at DGeary at aei dot org or Veronique Rodman (reporters) at vrodman at aei dot org. Location: AEI, 12th floor, 1150 17th St., NW.

9:30 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) may hold an executive business meeting. See, notice. The SJC frequently cancels or postpones hearings without notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

9:30 AM. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children will hold a news conference titled "Outlawing Global Child Pornography". For more information, contact Tina Schwartz at 703-837-6251. Location: First Amendment Lounge, National Press Club, 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor.

10:00 AM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold a hearing titled "Sexual Exploitation of Children Over the Internet: What Parents, Kids and Congress Need to Know About Child Predators". The witnesses will include John Clark (Deputy Assistant Secretary of the DHS's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)) and James Plitt (Supervisory Special Agent for ICE's Cyber Crimes Center). See, notice. Press contact: Larry Neal (Barton) at 202 225-5735. The hearing will be webcast by the HCC. Location: Room 2322, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The House Education and Workforce Committee will hold a hearing titled "Building America’s Competitiveness: Examining What is Needed to Compete in a Global Economy". The witnesses will be Elaine Chao (Secretary of Labor) and Margaret Spelling (Secretary of Education). See, notice. Location: Room 2175, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. House Armed Services Committee's (HASC) Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces will hold a hearing on the FY 2007 National Defense Authorization budget request for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities. Location: Room 2212, Rayburn Building.

1:00 PM. The House Armed Services Committee's (HASC) Subcommittee on Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities will hold a hearing on information technology issues and defense transformation. The witnesses will be John Grimes (Assistant Secretary of Defense, Networks and Information Integration), Lt. Gen. Charlie Croom (USAF, Director of the Defense Information Systems Agency), Lt. Gen. Steven Boutelle (CIO of the Department of the Army), Dave Wennergren (CIO of the Department of the Navy), Brig. Gen. George Allen (CIO of the Marine Corps), Lt. Gen. Michael Peterson (CEO of the Air Force), Paul Brinkley (Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Business Transformation), and Thomas Modly (Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Financial Management). Location: Room 2212, Rayburn Building.

2:00 PM. The Senate Judiciary Committee's (SJC) Subcommittee on Intellectual Property will hold a hearing titled "Orphan Works: Proposals for a Legislative Solution". See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

2:00 PM. The House Ways and Means Committee's Subcommittee on Health will hold a hearing titled "Health Care Information Technology". See, notice. For more information, contact 202-225-3943. Location: Room 1100, Longworth Building.

5:00 - 6:30 PM. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Chamber Foundation, and the Department of Commerce will host an event titled "Anti-Counterfeiting and Piracy 2006". The speakers will include Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez. See, notice and registration page. Location: Room 385, Russell Building, Capitol Hill.

Day three of a three day conference hosted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) titled "5th Annual PKI R&D Workshop: Making PKI Easy to Use". See, notice. Location: NIST, Green Auditorium, Bldg. 101, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD.

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

9:00 AM - 4:00 PM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Consumer Advisory Committee will meet. See, FCC notice [PDF] and notice in the Federal Register, March 23, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 56, at Page 14693. Location: FCC, 445 12th Street, S.W., Room TW-C305.

10:00 AM. The House Judiciary Committee's (HJC) Task Force on Telecom and Antitrust will hold a hearing titled "Network Neutrality: Competition, Innovation and Nondiscriminatory Access". The witnesses may include Walter McCormick (U.S. Telecommunications Association), Earl Comstock (CompTel), Paul Misener (Amazon), Lawrence Lessig (Stanford law school). Press contact: Jeff Lungren or Terry Shawn at 202-225-2492. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in M-Star Semiconductor v. ITC, No. 2005-1129. Location: Courtroom 203, 717 Madison Place, NW.

Deadline to submit applications to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for participation in the FCC's 2006 Attorney Honors Program. The is an employment recruitment program directed at "graduating law school students and recent law school graduates". See, FCC release [PDF].

The House will not meet on Monday, April 10, through Friday, April 21. See, Majority Whip's calendar.

The Senate will not meet on Monday, April 10, through Friday, April 21. See, 2006 Senate calendar.

5:30 - 7:00 PM. The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) will host a panel discussion on the book titled Who Controls the Internet? Illusions of a Borderless World [Amazon] by Jack Goldsmith (Harvard Law School) and Timothy Wu (Columbia Law School). The speakers will be Goldsmith, Wu, Alan Davidson (Google), David Gross (Department of State), and Sebastian Mallaby (Washington Post). See, notice. Press contact: Veronique Rodman at 202-862-4870 or VRodman at aei dot org. Location: AEI, 12th floor, 1150 17th St., NW.

10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The Department of State's (DOS) International Telecommunication Advisory Committee (ITAC) will meet to prepare for the CITEL PCC.II (Radiocommunication including Broadcasting) meetings on June 20-23, 2006, in Lima, Peru, and on October 17-20, 2006, in San Salvador, El Salvador. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 29, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 60, at Page 15798. Location: __.

2:00 - 4:00 PM. The Department of State's (DOS) International Telecommunication Advisory Committee (ITAC) will meet to prepare for the CITEL PCC.I (Telecommunication) meetings on May 23-26, 2006 in San Domingo, Dominican Republic, and on September 12-15, 2006, in Washington DC. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 29, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 60, at Page 15798. Location: __.