6/5. The House Republican leadership has scheduled consideration of HR 5252, the "Communications Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement Act of 2006" (COPE Act), by the full House for later this week. See, Republican Whip Notice.

In addition, the House Rules Committee will meet at 3:30 PM on Wednesday, June 7, to adopt a rule for consideration of the COPE Act.

On Monday, June 5, Rep. John Dingell (D-MI), the ranking Democrat on the House Commerce Committee (HCC), and Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), the ranking Democrat on the HCC's Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, sent a letter [2 pages in PDF] to members of the House in which they rebut arguments advanced by proponents of the COPE Act.

This bill would, among other things, establish a national cable franchise, provide that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is authorized to enforce its August 2005 policy statement [3 pages in PDF] regarding network neutrality through case by case adjudicatory proceedings, extend the E-911 regulatory regime, and other legacy regulatory regimes, to voice over internet protocol (VOIP) service, and provide that state and local entities may provide any telecommunications, information or cable service.

See also, story titled "Commerce Committee Democrats Write Statement on COPE Act" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,364, May 5, 2006; story titled "Amendment by Amendment Summary of Full Committee Mark Up of COPE Act" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,360, April 28, 2006; and stories titled "House Subcommittee Approves COPE Act", "House Subcommittee Rejects Network Neutrality Amendment", and "Amendment by Amendment Summary of Subcommittee Mark Up of COPE Act" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,344, April 6, 2006.

6/5. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) newest Commissioner, Robert McDowell, named Dana Shaffer, Angela Giancarlo, and Cristina Pauzé to be his acting Legal Advisors. See, FCC release [PDF].

McDowell (at left) was confirmed by the Senate on May 26, and took the oath of office on June 1.

Shaffer will be his acting advisor on wireline issues. She was previously an interim legal advisor for Commissioner Deborah Tate. Before that she was a Deputy Bureau Chief in the FCC's Wireline Competition Bureau. She has also been President of the Southeastern Competitive Carriers Association and President of the Tennessee Telecommunications Association.

Giancarlo will be his acting advisor on wireless issues. She was previously Associate Chief for Spectrum Policy in the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau's Public Safety and Critical Infrastructure Division. Before that, she worked for the law firm of Hogan & Hartson.

Pauzé will be his acting advisor on media issues. She was previously an Associate Bureau Chief in the FCC's Media Bureau. Before that she worked for the Washington DC office of the law firm of Morrison & Foerster, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), and Teleglobe USA.

6/5. The Supreme Court denied certiorari in Tokyo Kikai Seisakusho, Ltd. v. Goss International Corp., a case involving trade protectionism in the U.S. in the market for newspaper printing presses. See, Order List [10 pages in PDF] at page 2.

Tokyo Kikai Seisakusho (TKS), a Japanese corporation, and Goss International, a Delaware corporation, are competitors that both sell large printing presses to newspaper publishers. TKS sold presses at lower prices than Goss. TKS's customers have included the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post.

Goss filed a complaint in U.S. District Court (NDIowa) against TKS and other foreign companies alleging violation of the Antidumping Act of 1916, which is codified at 15 U.S.C. § 72. Following a jury trial, the District Court entered judgment for Goss.

The U.S. Court of Appeals (8thCir) issued its opinion [32 pages in PDF] on January 23, 2006, affirming the District Court. And, the Supreme Court has now denied TKS's petition for writ of certiorari. This lets stand the judgment of the Court of Appeals.

This case is App. Ct. No. 04-2604, and Supreme Court No. 05-1358. See also, Supreme Court docket.

6/5. The Supreme Court denied certiorari in Cingular Wireless v. Mendoza, a case involving the enforceability of arbitration clauses in consumer contracts. Cingular sought review of a ruling of an appellate court in California that held that for a contractual arbitration clause to be enforceable, class relief must be available, as must injunctive relief on behalf of the general public.

Had the Supreme Court granted certiorari, it could have ruled on whether the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), which is codified at Title 9, Chapter 1, §§ 1-16, preempts state laws and rulings affecting arbitration provisions in consumer contracts.

Amazon.com, which uses arbitration clauses in a variety of online contracts, filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in which it argued that if California's ruling is not overturned, this will end the use of consumer arbitration in California.

The U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition for writ of certiorari to the California Court of Appeal (1/5), which issued the opinion at issue on October 3, 2005. The Court of Appeal followed the California Supreme Court opinion in Discover Bank v. Superior Court, 113 P.3d 1100 (Cal. 2005). See also, the Court of Appeal's opinion [MS Word] in Parrish v. Cingular Wireless of May 18, 2005.

The Cingular case involves arbitration clauses in wireless telephone service agreements. However, several amicus briefs submitted to the Supreme Court reveal that the California ruling also impacts a wide range of other consumer contracts.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce submitted an amicus brief [27 pages in PDF] arguing the interests of businesses generally. The American Bankers Association and the Pacific Legal Foundation also submitted amicus briefs.

Amazon.com, RealNetworks, and Directv filed a joint amicus brief in which they too urged the Supreme Court to grant Cingular's petition for writ of certiorari.

This brief explains that "Amazon.com relies on arbitration clauses in a variety of online contracts that govern its relationships with both businesses and consumers. Examples include the Amazon.com Marketplace Participation Agreement, which governs the activities of more than one million active sellers on the Amazon.com website; the Amazon.com Associates Program Operating Agreement, which governs Amazon.com’s relationship with hundreds of thousands of third-party websites that feature hyperlinks to Amazon.com in return for a share of revenue generated from purchases made using those hyperlinks; and Amazon.com’s website Conditions of Use, which generally applies to the online shopping activities of more than 50 million active customer accounts at Amazon.com."

This brief adds that "RealNetworks relies on arbitration clauses in its End-User License Agreements for both software products and subscription services."

These three amici argued that arbitration is "faster, simpler and less expensive than litigation", and that this is reflected in lower prices for consumers.

Amazon, RealNetworks and Directv argued that "By conditioning the enforceabilty of arbitration agreements on a defendant’s amenability to class proceedings, Parrish (and the California decisions on which it relies) effectively destroys the utility of arbitration and rewrites tens of millions of arbitration contracts without consent of the contracting parties." (Parentheses in original.)

They added that "If Parrish and the California precedent on which it relies are not reviewed and reversed by the Court, Amici curiae will have little option but to reconsider their reliance on arbitration as an alternative to litigation."

The U.S. Chamber wrote in its brief that "superimposing a class-action requirement onto contractual agreements to arbitrate individually will effectively eliminate the virtues of arbitration, while multiplying the stakes exponentially. The risk to businesses of litigating a class action in the arbitral forum is simply too high, while the benefits of doing so are non-existent. Hence, if allowed to stand, the California Supreme Court’s class-arbitration requirement may result in the wholesale abandonment of arbitration in a huge swath of consumer-business transactions, driving up costs, and hence prices, accordingly."

This case is Cingular Wireless v. Astrid Mendoza, et al., Sup. Ct. No. 05-1119, a petition for writ of certiorari to the Court of Appeal of the State of California, First Appellate District, Division Five. The Court of Appeals number is A105518. See also, U.S. Supreme Court docket.

On March 27, 2006, the Institute for Legal Reform published a ranking [PDF] of state judicial systems based on a telephone survey of 1,456 attorneys at large companies. This study was conducted by The Harris Poll for the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform. California ranked 44th. See, full report [113 pages in PDF] titled "2006 U.S. Chamber of Commerce State Liability Systems Ranking Study", U.S. Chamber release, and story titled "U.S. Chamber of Commerce Study Ranks State Court Systems" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,338, March 29, 2006.

6/5. The Supreme Court denied a petition for writ of certiorari in Technology Licensing Corp. v. U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, a case regarding the right to a jury trial in patent cases. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) issued its divided opinion [22 pages in PDF] on September 12, 2005, denying a petition for writ of mandamus from the U.S. District Court (NDCal), which had denied a request for a jury trial. This case is Sup. Ct. No. 05-1248  See, Order List [10 pages in PDF] at page 2, and docket.

6/5. The U.S. Court of Appeals (2ndCir) issued its opinion [33 pages in PDF] in Kirch v. Liberty Media, affirming in part, and vacating in part, the District Court's judgment dismissal of all of Leo Kirch's complaint, for failure to state a claim.

5/26. The U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir) issued its opinion [16 pages in PDF] in AT&T v. FCC, a petition for review of a final order of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding ratemaking treatment of post-retirement benefits other than pensions, including health and life insurance for retirees. The Court of Appeals denied AT&T's petition. This case is App. Ct. No. 05-1171.

5/23. The U.S. Court of Appeals (11thCir) issued its opinion [44 pages in PDF] in CBS v. Echostar, a case regarding the compulsory statutory license for direct satellite broadcasters, and the retransmission of copyrighted distant network programming to households already able to receive network over the air broadcasts via rooftop antennas. This opinion affirms in part, and reverses in part, the judgment of the District Court. This case is CBS Broadcasting, Inc., et al. v. Echostar Communications Corp., et al., U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, App. Ct. No. 03-13671, an appeal from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, D.C. No. 98-02651-CV-WPD. David Rehr, P/CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) stated in a release that "NAB is pleased with the unanimous 11th Circuit Court decision. This opinion affirms the importance of localism in television, and vindicates an eight year effort by TV broadcasters to stop EchoStar's blatant and massive abuse of copyright law."

6/2. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) concluded, and announced results of, its Auction No. 65, regarding air-ground spectrum licenses in the 800 MHz band. This spectrum can be used for, among other things, providing passengers broadband internet access services. See, FCC release.

6/2. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released an Order on Reconsideration of the Second Report and Order [28 pages in PDF] in its proceeding titled "In the Matter of Implementation of the Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act and Modernization of the Commission’s Competitive Bidding Rules and Procedures". This order addresses petitions for reconsideration of the FCC's April 2006 order regarding the FCC's designated entities rules and the upcoming Auction No. 66. This item is FCC 06-78 in WT Docket No. 05-211. Auction No. 66, which is scheduled to begin on August 9, 2006, will provide spectrum for advanced wireless services (AWS). Commissioner Michael Copps wrote in a statement [PDF] that "some of our prior auctions were tainted" by "unjust enrichment or fraud" in the designated entity program. See also, FCC release [PDF].

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The House will return from its Memorial Day District Work Period. It will meet at 2:00 PM for legislative business. It will consider, under suspension of the rules, HR 5126, the "Truth in Caller ID Act of 2006", and S 193, the "Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2005". Votes will be postponed until 6:30 PM. See, Republican Whip Notice.

The Senate will meet at 9:45 AM. It will begin consideration of the nomination of Renee Marie Bumb to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. It will then resume consideration of the motion to proceed to SJRes1, the marriage protection amendment.

9:30 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) may hold a hearing titled "Examining DOJ’s Investigation of Journalists Who Publish Classified Information: Lessons from the Jack Anderson Case". The SJC frequently cancels or postpones hearings without notice. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Motionless Keyboard v. Microsoft. This case is App. Ct. No. 2005-1574. Location: Courtroom 201, 717 Madison Place, NW.

CANCELLED. 12:00 NOON - 2:00 PM. The Progress and Freedom Foundation (PFF) will host a lunch. The featured speaker will be Brian Roberts, Ch/CEO of Comcast Corporation. The other speakers will be Aryeh Bourkoff (UBS Investment Research), Blair Levin (Legg Mason), and Craig Moffett (Sanford Bernstein & Co.) See, notice. Location: South American Room, Capitol Hilton, 1001 16th Street, NW.

12:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Mass Media Practice Committee will host a brown bag lunch. The topic will be low power television issues, including the LPTV digital transition. The speakers will be Hossein Hashemzadeh and Shaun Maher of the FCC's Media Bureau's Video Division. The dial in number is 1-866-443-4185, and the participant code #31665. For more information, contact Erin Dozier at edozier at sheppardmullin dot com. Location: Sheppard Mullin, 11th Floor, 1300 I Street, NW.

1:00 - 3:00 PM. The Department of State's (DOS) International Telecommunication Advisory Committee will meet to prepare for ITU Radiocommunication Sector's Special Committee on Regulatory/Procedural Matters that will take place on December 4-8, 2006, in Geneva, Switzerland. See, notice in the Federal Register, May 4, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 86, at Pages 26397-26398. Location: Boeing Company, 1200 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA.

TIME CHANGE. 2:30 PM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) may hold an executive business meeting. The SJC frequently cancels or postpones meetings without notice. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

6:00 - 9:15 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a continuing legal education (CLE) seminar titled "How to Conduct Business in the Current Chinese Legal Environment: Myths and Facts". The seminar will address, among other topics, "technology transfer issues, including the Chinese government policy on intellectual property, licensing of intellectual property, structuring of technology transfers and some of the legal and practical measures to help protect licensed intellectual property". The speakers will include Paul Manca (Hogan & Hartson), Grace Fremlin (Foley & Lardner), and Steve Robinson (Hogan & Hartson). The price to attend ranges from $70-$125. For more information, call 202 626-3488. See, notice. Location: D.C. Bar Conference Center, 1250 H Street NW, B-1 Level.

Day two of a four day event titled "Colloquium for Information Systems Security Education". See, notice. At 10:00 AM, Andy Purdy, acting Director for the National Cyber Security Division, will speak. Location: UMUC Inn and Conference Center, 3501 University Boulevard East, Adelphi, MD.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) regarding creation of broadband channels in the 700 MHz public safety band. The FCC adopted this NPRM on March 17, 2006. See, story titled "FCC Adopts NPRM Re Public Safety Communications in the 700 MHz Band" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,332, March 20, 2006. The FCC released the text [30 pages in PDF] of this NPRM on March 21, 2006. This NPRM is FCC 06-34 in WT Docket No. 96-86. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 7, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 67, at Pages 17786-17790.

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

8:30 AM - 5:00 PM. Day one of a two day hearing held by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission titled "China's Enforcement of IPR and the Danger of the Movement of Counterfeited and Pirated Goods into U.S.". See, agenda. Location: Room 385, Russell Building.

8:30 AM - 3:00 PM. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Board of Overseers will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, May 3, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 85, at Page 26052. Location: NIST, Administration Building, Lecture Room A, Gaithersburg, MD.

9:30 AM - 5:30 PM. The Antitrust Modernization Commission will meet to deliberate regarding its report and/or recommendations to the Congress. See, notice in the Federal Register, 24, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 100, Page 29915. Location: Federal Trade Commission, Conference Center, 601 New Jersey Ave., NW.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Intel v. Commonwealth Scientific, App. Ct. No. 2006-1032, and Microsoft v. Commonwealth Scientific, App. Ct. No. 2006-1040. Location: Courtroom 201, 717 Madison Place, NW.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Microsoft v. Amado. This case is App. Ct. No. 2005-1531. Location: Courtroom 203, 717 Madison Place, NW.

11:00 AM - 2:00 PM. The New America Foundation (NAF) will host an event titled "Beyond Censorship: Technologies and Policies to Give Parents Control Over Children’s Media Content". The scheduled speakers include Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), FCC Commissioner Michael Copps, and FCC Commissioner Deborah Tate. See, notice. Location: Kaiser Family Foundation, 1330 G Street, NW.

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The DC Bar Association's Intellectual Property Law Section will host a panel discussion titled "Structuring Your License Agreements So You Get Paid And What To Do If You Think You Are Not Receiving The Royalties You Bargained For". The speakers will include Michael Dansky and Barry Sussman (both of the Huron Consulting Group). 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.

CANCELLED. 12:30 - 2:00 PM. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce will host a lunch. The speaker will be Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft. See, notice and registration page. Prices vary. For more information, contact Natalie Masri at 202 463-5500 or ncfevents at uschamber dot com.notice. The Chamber also states that "Credentialed members of the media are invited to attend." Register by e-mailing press at uschamber dot com. For more information, call 202 463-5682. Ballmer will not take questions from reporters during the program. Location: Chamber, 1615 H St., NW.

POSTPONED TO JUNE 14. 2:00 PM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection will hold a hearing titled "Violent and Explicit Video Games: Informing Parents and Protecting Children". See, notice. The hearing will be webcast by the HCC. Location: Room 2322, Rayburn Building.

2:00 PM. The House Small Business Committee will hold a hearing titled "Contracting the Internet: Does ICANN create a barrier to small business?". See, notice. For more information, contact Dan Horowitz at 202 225-5821 . Location: Room 2360, Rayburn Building.

TIME CHANGE. 2:30 - 4:30 PM. The House Science Committee HSC) will meet to mark up several bills, including HR 5356, the "Early Career Research Act of 2006", HR 5357, the "Research for Competitiveness Act of 2006", and HR 5358, the "Science and Mathematics Education for Competitiveness Act of 2006". The hearing will be webcast by the HSC. Location: Room 2318, Rayburn Building.

3:30 PM. The House Rules Committee will meet to adopt a rule for consideration of HR 5252, the "Communications Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement Act of 2006" (COPE Act). Location: Room H-313, Capitol Building.

TIME? The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Transactional Practice Committee will host a continuing legal education (CLE) seminar. Location?

Day three of a four day event titled "Colloquium for Information Systems Security Education". See, notice. Location: UMUC Inn and Conference Center, 3501 University Boulevard East, Adelphi, MD.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. The Republican Whip Notice states that the House will take up HR 5252, the "Communications Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement Act of 2006" (COPE Act), on June 7, 8 or 9.

8:30 AM - 5:00 PM. Day two of a two day hearing held by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission titled "China's Enforcement of IPR and the Danger of the Movement of Counterfeited and Pirated Goods into U.S.". See, agenda. Location: Room 385, Russell Building.

8:30 AM - 5:00 PM. Day one of a two 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, May 31, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 104, at Pages 30876-30877. Location: Doubletree Hotel and Executive Meeting Center, 1750 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD.

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

MOVED TO JUNE 15. 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 Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing on several pending nominations, including those of Donald Kohn (to be Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board) and Kathleen Casey to be a member of the Securities and Exchange Commission). See, notice. Location: Room 538, Dirsksen Building.

POSTPONED. 10:00 AM. The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) will meet to mark up S 2686 [135 pages in PDF], the "Communications, Consumer's Choice, and Broadband Deployment Act of 2006". Press contact: Aaron Saunders (Stevens) at 202-224-3991 or Andy Davis (Inouye) at 202-224-4546. The meeting will be webcast by the SCC. Location: Room 216, Hart Building.

Day four of a four day event titled "Colloquium for Information Systems Security Education". See, notice. Location: UMUC Inn and Conference Center, 3501 University Boulevard East, Adelphi, MD.

The House will meet at 9:00 AM for legislative business. The Republican Whip Notice states that the House will take up HR 5252, the "Communications Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement Act of 2006" (COPE Act), on June 7, 8 or 9.

8:30 AM - 5:00 PM. Day two of a two 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, May 31, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 104, at Pages 30876-30877. Location: Doubletree Hotel and Executive Meeting Center, 1750 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD.

10:00 AM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold a hearing titled "Cyber Security Challenges at the Department of Energy". See, notice. The hearing will be webcast by the HCC. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

12:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Wireless Telecommunications Practice Committee will host a lunch titled "Wireless Emergency Alert Service". The price to attend is $15.00. See, registration form [PDF]. Location: Sidley Austin, 6th Floor, 1501 K St., NW.

10:00 AM. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will hold a roundtable meeting on the use of interactive data and Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL). See, SEC release and story titled "SEC to Hold Series of Roundtable Meetings on XBRL" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,328, March 13, 2006. Location: SEC, 100 F St., NE.

6:00 - 8:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Professional Responsibility Committee will host a continuing legal education (CLE) seminar titled "Client Creation, Conflicts and Confidentiality in the Administrative Process". See, registration form [PDF]. Prices vary. The deadline to register is 5:00 PM on June 8. Location: Wiley Rein & Fielding, 1776 K Street, NW.

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) regarding its draft [122 pages in PDF] of its Federal Information Processing Standard titled "Digital Signature Standard (DSS)". This is FIPS Pub 186-3. See also, notice in the Federal Register, March 13, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 48, at Pages 12678-12679.

Deadline to submit comments to the Department of Defense's (DOD) Defense Acquisition Regulations System (DARS) in response to its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) regarding amending the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) with respect to the exemption from the Buy American Act for the acquisition of commercial information technology. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 12, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 70, at Pages 18694-18695.

Deadline to submit applications to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Rural Utilities Service (RUS) for Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) Program grants. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 11, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 69, at Pages 18271-18276.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Copyright Office regarding its proposal to amend its rules governing the submission of royalty fees to the Copyright Office to require such payments to be made by electronic funds transfer. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 27, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 81, at Pages 24829-24831.

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) regarding Draft Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 186-3 [122 pages in PDF], titled "Digital Signature Standard (DSS)".

8:45 AM - 5:00 PM. Day one of a two day meeting of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology. See, notice in the Federal Register: May 24, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 100, at Page 29919. Location: Employees Lounge, Administration Building, NIST, Gaithersburg, MD.

10:00 AM. The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) will hold the third of three hearings on S 2686, the "Communications, Consumer's Choice, and Broadband Deployment Act of 2006". See, notice. Press contact: Aaron Saunders (Stevens) at 202-224-3991 or Andy Davis (Inouye) at 202-224-4546. The hearing will be webcast by the SCC. Location: Room 106, Dirksen Building.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) regarding mandatory thousands-block number pooling. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 15, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 50, at Pages 13323-13328. This NPRM is FCC 06-14 in CC Docket No. 99-200.