4/14. The Supreme Court released its amendments [6 pages in PDF] to the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure (FRAP). These changes add a new Rule 32.1, pertaining to citation of opinions designated as "unpublished".

The new Rule 32.1 provides that "A court may not prohibit or restrict the citation of federal judicial opinions, orders, judgments, or other written dispositions that have been: (i) designated as ``unpublished,´´ ``not for publication,´´ ``non-precedential,´´ ``not precedent,´´ or the like; and (ii) issued on or after January 1, 2007."

Many "unpublished" opinions are published. Some appellate circuits have adopted rules that provide that their opinions that have been designated as unpublished, non-precedential, or not precedent, cannot be cited as precedent in that circuit.

Notably, while the Supreme Court has decided to overturn these appellate court rules, the change will not have retroactive effect.

28 U.S.C. § 2072 provides, in part, that "The Supreme Court shall have the power to prescribe general rules of practice and procedure and rules of evidence for cases in the United States district courts (including proceedings before magistrate judges thereof) and courts of appeals." See also, 28 U.S.C. § 331.

Chief Justice John Robert sent these, and other, amendments to the Congress by letter dated April 12, 2006. The amendments take effect unless the Congress acts to the contrary.

4/14. The Supreme Court released its amendments to various rules to allow courts to permit or require papers to be filed, signed, or verified by electronic means. The amendments to the rules of civil procedure also address discovery and subpoenas in the context of "electronically stored information".

See, amendments [73 pages in PDF] to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP), amendments [6 pages in PDF] to the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure (FRAP), and amendments [7 pages in PDF] to the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure.

The amendment to Rule 5, FRCP, provides, in part, that "... A court may by local rule permit or require papers to be filed, signed, or verified by electronic means that are consistent with technical standards, if any, that the Judicial Conference of the United States establishes. A local rule may require filing by electronic means only if reasonable exceptions are allowed. A paper filed by electronic means in compliance with a local rule constitutes a written paper for the purpose of applying these rules. The clerk shall not refuse to accept for filing any paper presented for that purpose solely because it is not presented in proper form as required by these rules or any local rules or practices."

The amendment to Rule 25, FRAP, provides that "A court of appeals may by local rule permit or require papers to be filed, signed, or verified by electronic means that are consistent with technical standards, if any, that the Judicial Conference of the United States establishes. A local rule may require filing by electronic means only if reasonable exceptions are allowed. A paper filed by electronic means in compliance with a local rule constitutes a written paper for the purpose of applying these rules."

The amendment to Rule 5005, FRBP, provides that "A court may by local rule permit or require documents to be filed, signed, or verified by electronic means that are consistent with technical standards, if any, that the Judicial Conference of the United States establishes. A local rule may require filing by electronic means only if reasonable exceptions are allowed. A document filed by electronic means in compliance with a local rule constitutes a written paper for the purpose of applying these rules, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure made applicable by these rules, and § 107 of the Code."

The amendments to the FRCP also contain numerous changes to the pre-trial discovery rules (26 through 37), including changes pertaining to electronic discovery.

For example, the amendments add references to "electronically stored information" to Rule 34 (regarding production of documents), Rule 33 (interrogatories), and Rule 26 (general provisions).

There is also a new Rule 37(f), which provides that "Absent exceptional circumstances, a court may not impose sanctions under these rules on a party for failing to provide electronically stored information lost as a result of the routine, good-faith operation of an electronic information system."

The amendments also address subpoenas (Rule 45) for "electronically stored information", and production of "electronically stored information".

4/17. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published in its web site the Stipulated Final Judgment and Order for Permanent Injunction [11 pages in PDF] in FTC v. Matthew Olson and Jennifer Leroy. The Court signed this judgment on March 27, 2006.

On December 20, 2005, the FTC filed a civil complaint [9 pages in PDF] in U.S. District Court (WDWash) against Olson and Leroy alleging violation of the FTC Act and Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003 (CAN-SPAM Act), which is codified at 15 U.S.C. § 7706(a).

Olson and LeRoy admitted to no violation of law, and the judgment contains no finding of wrongdoing. However, the defendants stipulated to entry of an injunction that bars them from violating the CAN SPAM Act. The judgment also requires them to engage in certain monitoring, record keeping, and reporting.

The FTC also issued a release that states that the defendants are "spam merchants who hijacked consumers' computers and turned them into spamming machines".

4/18. President Bush announced his intent to nominate Rob Portman (at right) to be the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Portman, who is currently the U.S. Trade Representative, would replace Josh Bolten. Bush just named Bolten to be his new Chief of Staff. Bush also announced his intent to name Susan Schwab to be the new USTR. See, White House release.

4/17. Brian Huseman was named Chief of Staff of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). He is currently an Attorney Advisor to FTC Chairman Deborah Majoras. He has worked at the FTC since 2001. Before that, he worked in the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Criminal Division. He will replace Maryanne Kane, who will retire at the end of April. See, FTC release.

4/17. President Bush announced his intent to nominate Paul Denett to be Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy at the Office of Management and Budget. Denett is currently Vice President of Contracting Programs at ESI International. See, White House release.

4/17. The Supreme Court denied certiorari in Izumi Products v. Koninklijke Philips Electronics, a patent case involving electric rotary razors. See, Order List [18 pages in PDF] at page 3. See also, Supreme Court docket. This lets stand to July 7, 2005, divided opinion [PDF] of the U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir). Kathleen Sullivan (Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges) represented Izumi. John Dimatteo (Willkie Farr & Gallagher) represented Koninklijke. This case is Izumi Products Company v. Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V., Philips Electronics North America Corp., and Philips Domestic Appliances and Personal Care B.V., Sup. Ct. No. 05-961, a petition for writ of certiorari to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, App. Ct. Nos. 04-1418 and 04-1423. Judge Lourie wrote the opinion of the Court of Appeals, in which Judge Newman joined. Judge Linn wrote a dissenting opinion.

4/17. Roger Ferguson, Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board (FRB), gave a speech in Atlanta, Georgia, titled "Thoughts on Financial Stability and Central Banking". He made the point, as have other FRB officials, that information technology has reduced the volatility of GDP growth. That is, information technology enables businesses to better manage inventories, which enables them catch incipient inventory overhangs before they become a problem.

4/17. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report [77 pages in PDF] titled "Information Sharing: The Federal Government Needs to Establish Policies and Processes for Sharing Terrorism-Related and Sensitive but Unclassified Information". The report states that "More than 4 years after September 11, the nation still lacks the government-wide policies and processes that Congress called for to provide a framework for guiding and integrating the myriad of ongoing efforts to improve the sharing of terrorism-related information critical to protecting our homeland." It also states that "a large amount of terrorism information is already stored electronically in systems, but there remains an unknown quantity of relevant information not captured and stored electronically. However, many users are not connected to these systems; the information about terrorists, their plans, and their activities is fragmentary."

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

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

9:00 AM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) advisory committee named "Independent Panel Reviewing the Impact of Hurricane Katrina on Communications Networks" will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 3, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 63, at Pages 16578-16579. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room, Room TW-C305, 445 12th St., SW.

12:30 - 2:00 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a panel discussion titled "Managing and Protecting Digital Data: Part II -- Getting Paid for Content: Legal Questions in Digital Rights Management (DRM) for Online Distribution". The speakers will include Fritz Attaway (Motion Picture Association of America), David Sohn (Center for Democracy & Technology), and Jack Goodman (Wilmer Hale). The price to attend ranges from $10-$30. For more information, call 202-626-3463. See, notice. Location: D.C. Bar Conference Center, 1250 H Street NW, B-1 Level.

6:00 - 8:00 PM. The DC Bar Association's Computer and Telecommunications Law Section will host a reception titled "Meet FCC Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate". The price to attend ranges from $10-$15. For more information, call 202-626-3463. See, notice. Location: The Westin Embassy Row Hotel, 2100 Massachusetts Ave., NW.

EXTENDED TO APRIL 25. Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to the request contained in the Twelfth Annual Report on the status of competition in the market for the delivery of video programming for comments on the best methodologies and data for measuring the 70-percent thresholds and, if the thresholds have been met, what action might be warranted to achieve the statutory goals. See, notice of extension [PDF].

10:00 - 11:00 AM. The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) will host an event at which it will release a paper titled "Intellectual Property for the Technological Age". The author is Richard Epstein (University of Chicago). Epstein, Jerry Jasinowski (NAM) and Michael Ryan (George Washington University Law School) will speak. Coffee and donuts will be served. RSVP to Laura Narvaiz lnarvaiz at nam dot org or Bill Canis at bcanis at nam dot org. Location: NAM, 1331 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Suite 600 (Enter on F Street between 13th and 14th Streets, NW).

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The DC Bar Association's Intellectual Property Law Section will host a panel discussion titled "Can I Use It?: Fair Use (Part I) -- ``Traditional´´ Notions of Fair Use of Copyrighted Works". The speakers will include Christine Farley (Washington College of Law) and Arnie Lutzker (Lutzker, Lutzker & Settlemeyer). A second event, on June 14, will address fair use in the context of digital works, computer code, and the anti-circumvention provisions of the DMCA. The price to attend ranges from $20-$40. For more information, call 202-626-3463. See, notice. Location: D.C. Bar Conference Center, 1250 H Street NW, B-1 Level.

12:15 - 1:45 PM. The New America Foundation (NAF) will host a program titled "Terror on the Internet: the New Arena, the New Challenges". The speakers will be Gabriel Weimann (Haifa University) and Peter Bergen (NAF). Weimann is the author of "Terror on the Internet: the New Challenges, the New Arena" [Amazon]. See, notice. Location: NAF, 7th Floor, 1630 Connecticut Ave., NW.

1:30 - 3:30 PM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Advisory Committee for the 2007 World Radiocommunication Conference's (WRC-07 Advisory Committee) Informal Working Group 2: Satellite Services and HAPS will hold a meeting. See, notice [PDF]. Location: Leventhal Senter & Lerman, 7th Floor Conference Room, 2000 K St., NW.

3:15 - 5:00 PM. The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) will host a panel discussion titled "Combatting the Diseases of Poverty: Aid Versus Innovation". The speakers will be Barun Mitra (Liberty Institute), Julian Morris (International Policy Network), Roger Bate (AEI), Nicholas Eberstadt (AEI), Maureen Lewis (Center for Global Development), and Vance Serchuk (AEI). See, notice. Location: AEI, 12th Floor, 1150 11th St., NW.

6:00 - 7:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) will host an event titled "What's Next: Mid-Career Planning, Networking, and Marketing Seminar and Reception". The speaker will be Kathleen Sparrough (Davis and Chapman). See, registration form [PDF]. The price to attend ranges from $10 to $40. Registrations and cancellations are due by 5:00 PM on April 14. Location: Hogan & Hartson, 555 13th Street, NW, 13th Floor West.

Day one of a two day meeting of the Department of Labor's (DOL) Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) Business Research Advisory Council (BRAC). The BLS's vaguely worded agenda in its notice in the Federal Register states that the BRAC's Committee on Productivity and Foreign Labor Statistics will meet at 10:00 AM on April 19 to address "new service industries", "international labor comparisons", and "compensation comparisons", including for China and India. See, Federal Register, March 29, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 60, at Pages 15768-15769. Location: Conference Center of the Postal Square Building, 2 Massachusetts Ave., NE.

9:30 AM. The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) will hold a hearing on the probable economic effects of the proposed U.S.-Republic of Korea Free Trade Agreement. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 28, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 39, at Pages 10066-10067. The USITC states that if it receives no applications to appear, it will cancel the hearing. For more information, call the USITC at 202 205-2000. Location: USITC, 500 E Street, SW.

10:00 AM. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) Advisory Committee on Smaller Public Companies will hold a public meeting. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 10, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 68, at Page 18122. Location: SEC, Multi-Purpose Room L006, 100 F Street, NE.

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Young Lawyers Committee and Diversity Committee will host a brown bag lunch. The topic will be "The Role of Mentoring". The speakers will be Parul Desai (Media Access Project), David Don (Comcast), Linda Oliver (Hogan & Hartson), Peter Shields (Wiley Rein & Fielding), and Riley Temple (Halprin Temple). Questions to the panelists may be submitted in advance to Chris Fedeli at 202-828-9874 or cfedeli at crblaw dot com or Cathy Hilke at 202-719-7418 or chilke at wrf dot com. RSVP to Christy Hammond at 202-719-7365 or chammond at wrf dot com. Location: Wiley Rein & Fielding, Conference Center, 1776 K St., NW.

1:30 - 3:30 PM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Advisory Committee for the 2007 World Radiocommunication Conference's (WRC-07 Advisory Committee) Informal Working Group 1: Terrestrial and Space Science Services will hold a meeting. See, notice [PDF]. Location: Lockheed Martin Corporation, 1550 Crystal Drive, Suite 300, Arlington, VA.

Day one of a two day closed meeting of the Defense Science Board 2006 Summer Study on Information Management for Net-Centric Operations. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 11, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 69, Page 18292. Location: 3601 Wilson Boulevard, 3rd Floor, Arlington, VA.

10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Advisory Committee for the 2007 World Radiocommunication Conference's (WRC-07 Advisory Committee) Informal Working Group 5: Regulatory Issues will hold a meeting. See, notice. Location: Boeing, 1200 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA.

10:30 AM - 12:00 PM. The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) will host a panel discussion titled "CFIUS Reform: National Security and International Investment". Thomas Donnelly (AEI), Clark Ervin (Aspen Institute), Kristin Forbes (MIT's Sloan School of Management), David Marchick (Covington & Burling), and Phillip Swagel (AWI). See, notice. Press contact: Veronique Rodman at 202-862-4871 or vrodman at aei dot org. Location: 12th floor, 1150 17th St., NW.

12:00 NOON - 2:00 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a panel discussion titled "E-Discovery 2006: New Cases and New Rules". The speakers will include John Facciola (U.S. Magistrate Judge), Jonathan Redgrave (Redgrave Daley Ragan & Wagner), Christopher Jensen (Hudson Legal), Amy Bowser (Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw), Donna Ely (Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight), Douglas Davison (Wilmer Hale). The price to attend ranges from $5-$10. For more information, call 202-626-3463. See, notice. Location: D.C. Bar Conference Center, 1250 H Street NW, B-1 Level.

12:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) will host an event titled "Wireless Luncheon with the 8th Floor Legal Advisors". The price to attend is $15. Registrations and cancellations are due by 5:00 PM on April 18. See, registration form [PDF]. Location: Sidley Austin, 1501 K St., NW.

Day two of a two day closed meeting of the Defense Science Board 2006 Summer Study on Information Management for Net-Centric Operations. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 11, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 69, Page 18292. Location: 3601 Wilson Boulevard, 3rd Floor, Arlington, VA.

Deadline to submit to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) written requests to testify at the USTR's May 3 hearing on the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between the U.S. and Malaysia. The USTR seeks testimony on "electronic commerce issues", "trade-related intellectual property rights issues", "barriers to trade in services", and other topics. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 22, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 55, at Pages 14558-14559.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) [52 pages in PDF] regarding the assessment and collection of regulatory fees for fiscal year 2006. This NPRM is FCC 06-38 in MD Docket No. 06-68. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 6, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 66, at Pages 17410-17433.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to AT&T's April 7 petition for a limited waiver of section 61.42(g) of the FCC's rules so that it may exclude True IP to PSTN (TIPToP) service from any price cap basket in the upcoming 2006 annual access tariff filing. See, FCC notice [PDF].

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding Verizon's petitions seeking relief from certain dominant carrier regulations for in-region, interexchange services that would otherwise apply to Verizon's provision of those services in the former Bell Atlantic region after March 19, 2006, when the requirements of section 272 of the Act sunset with respect to the final three Verizon states. See, FCC notice [PDF]. This is WC Docket No. 06-56.

3:00 - 7:00 PM. The National Science Foundation's (NSF) Advisory Committee for Computer and Information Science and Engineering will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 10, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 68, at Page 18118. Location: 4201 Wilson Blvd., Room 1235, Arlington, VA.

The House will return from its "Spring District Work Period". See, Majority Whip's calendar.

The Senate will return from its spring recess. See, 2006 Senate calendar.

7:30 AM - 3:30 PM. The National Science Foundation's (NSF) Advisory Committee for Computer and Information Science and Engineering will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 10, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 47, at Page 12403, and notice in the Federal Register, April 10, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 68, at Page 18118. Location: 4201 Wilson Blvd., Room 1235, Arlington, VA.

Deadline to submit comments to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's (USPTO) regarding its interim rule revising the rules of practice relating to the filing date requirements for ex parte and inter partes reexamination proceedings. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 23, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 36, at Pages 9260-9262.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its second further notice of proposed rulemaking (2ndFNPRM) regarding the obligation of television licensees to provide educational programming for children and the requirement that television licensees protect children from excessive and inappropriate commercial messages. See, text [14 pages in PDF] of this 2ndFNPRM. The FCC adopted this item at its meeting of March 17, 2006. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 27, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 58, at Pages 15145-15147; and story titled "FCC Adopts Further NPRM Re Children's Programming Obligations" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,332, March 20, 2006. This item is FCC 06-33 in MM Docket No. 00-167.

5:00 PM. Deadline to submit applications to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Electron and Optical Physics Division for financial assistance for FY 2006 by the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology (CNST) Financial Assistance Program. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 31, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 62, at Pages 16285-16288.

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 PM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) may hold a hearing on judicial nominations. The SJC frequently cancels or postpones hearings without notice. See, notice. The SJC frequently cancels or postpones hearings without notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

Extended deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to the request contained in the Twelfth Annual Report on the status of competition in the market for the delivery of video programming for comments on the best methodologies and data for measuring the 70-percent thresholds and, if the thresholds have been met, what action might be warranted to achieve the statutory goals. See, notice of extension [PDF].