2/7. President Bush gave a speech at the White House in which he urged the Senate to confirm pending nominees to the federal judiciary and executive branch. See also, White House news office release.

"As President", said Bush, "I have a constitutional responsibility to nominate qualified men and women for public office. That's my responsibility, I take it very seriously. I have nominated skilled and faithful public servants to lead federal agencies and sit on the federal bench. The Constitution also gives senators an important responsibility. They must provide advice and consent by voting up or down on these nominees. Unfortunately, the Senate is not fulfilling its duty."

He said that the Senate has delayed confirmation of 28 judges. "Many of my nominees would fill urgent vacancies on courts that are understaffed and overworked. I've sent the Senate three nominees to relieve such a situation on the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals."

These three, Robert Conrad, Steve Matthews and Rod Rosenstein appeared with Bush at the White House event.

Other delayed Court of Appeals nominees include the following:

• Peter Keisler to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir). He was until recently Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Civil Division.
• William Smith to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals (1stCir).
• Shalom Stone to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals (3rdCir).
• Gene Pratter to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals (3rdCir).
• Catharina Haynes to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals (5thCir). The SJC is scheduled to hold a hearing on her nomination on Thursday, February 21, 2008.
• Raymond Kethledge to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals (6thCir).
• Stephen Murphy to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals (6thCir).

There are numerous pending nominees for various U.S. District Courts. Some of the key nominees for technology related cases are as follows:

• James Rogan to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court (CDCal). He is a former member of the House of Representatives, and a former head of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
• David Novak to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court (EDVa).
• Mark Davis to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court (EDVa).
• Rebecca Gregory to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court (EDTex), which is currently a district of choice for many plaintiffs in patent infringement actions.

Bush also said that "the Senate has not voted on seven nominations for senior leadership positions" at the Department of Justice (DOJ), including Judge Mark Filip to be the Deputy Attorney General.

Other delayed nominees for DOJ positions include the following:

• Steven Bradbury to Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC). The House Judiciary Committee's (HJC) Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties is scheduled to hold an oversight hearing on the OLC on February 14, 2008.
• Kevin O'Connor to be Associate Attorney General. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) is scheduled to hold a hearing on this nomination on February 14, 2008.
• Gregory Katsas to be Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Civil Division. The SJC is scheduled to hold a hearing on this nomination on February 14, 2008.
• Grace Becker to be Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Civil Rights Division.

Bradbury's prospects for confirmation may be affected by his prior legal advice to former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and President Bush regarding the National Security Agency's (NSA) extrajudicial electronic surveillance of communications where one party is inside the U.S. and one party is outside. See also, stories titled "Bush Nominates Bradbury for OLC" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,297, January 26, 2006, and "Bush Responds to USA Today Story Regarding NSA Database of Phone Calls" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,369, May 12, 2006.

The Senate is also delaying confirmation of several persons who have been nominated for trade and commerce positions. These include the following:

• Deanna Okun to be a Deputy U.S. Trade Representative.
• Boyden Gray to be Representative of the U.S. to the European Union.
• John Sullivan to be Deputy Secretary of Commerce. The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) is scheduled to hold a hearing on this nomination on February 14, 2008.

Bush complained that because of Senate delay, "The three-member Council of Economic Advisers is down to one person".

Bush also said that the "Senate is delaying confirmation of three highly qualified nominees for the Fed's Board of Governors. I nominated these individuals nearly nine months ago." These three persons are Elizabeth Duke, Larry Klane, and Randall Kroszner.

Complaints about confirmation delays have long been made during both Republican and Democratic administrations, and during both periods of Republican and Democratic control of the Senate. Moreover, failure to either confirm or reject judicial nominees tends to increase during President election years.

That is, federal judgeships, unlike executive branch positions, are lifetime appointments that do not end with the term of the President. Many organized interests seek appointment of judges who they expect will render opinions favorable to their policy goals. Constituency groups of Democratic Senators are pressuring them to take no action on Bush's judicial appointments, so that these nominations will lapse, and the next President, who these groups hope will be a Democrat, can appoint other persons in their places. Moreover, the Senators of the party of the President play a leading role in the selection of District Court Judges.

Also, it should be noted that not all of the delayed nominees are Republicans being held up by Democrats. For example, one unconfirmed nominee is Jonathan Adelstein. The nomination of Deborah Tate is also pending. Both are renominations.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC), which considers both judicial and DOJ nominees, responded to President Bush in a statement on February 7, 2008.

He said that "It is disappointing, but not surprising, that the administration is returning to their tired partisan playbook of trying to pick a political fight over judicial nominations."

Sen. Leahy continued that "They seem to have short memories indeed as they whip up complaints about the pace that the Senate is confirming nominations. If President Clinton’s judicial nominees had received the fair treatment we have given to President Bush’s nominees in the last seven years, judicial vacancies at the end of his administration would not have been at record high levels. In fact, at the end of President Clinton’s administration, there were 80 judicial vacancies, 26 for circuit courts ..."

Sen. Leahy added that he is not delaying. Rather, "the President has not shown the commitment to send qualified, consensus nominees to the Senate for consideration".

He concluded, "I have shown the commitment to continue to consider judicial nominations in this election year. If the President would change course and work with home-state Senators to send qualified, consensus nominations to the Senate for consideration, we could make even more progress."

President Bush's speech may have had some immediate effects. Several Congressional committees announced hearings on several executive branch nominees.

2/7. The House Judiciary Committee (HJC) held a hearing titled "Oversight Hearing of the Department of Justice". Attorney General Michael Mukasey was the witness. He praised the Senate FISA reform bill (S 2248), and urged rejection of the House bill (HR 3773). He also advocated immunity for "telecommunications companies" and "electronic communication service providers". See, prepared testimony [PDF].

He addressed, among other topics, legislation to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), including S 1927 [LOC | WW], the "Protect America Act", S 2248 [LOC | WW], the "Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 Amendments Act of 2007", and HR 3773 [LOC | WW], the "Responsible Electronic Surveillance That is Overseen, Reviewed, and Effective Act of 2007" or "RESTORE Act".

The PAA was enacted into law in August of 2007. It is now Public Law No. 110-55. See also, story titled "Summary of Protect America Act" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,638, September 11, 2007. The original PAA had a six month sunset, which provided for expiration on February 1, 2008. In January of 2008 the Congress passed, and President Bush signed, HR 5104 [LOC | WW], a bill to extend the expiration date of the PAA for 15 days.

Mukasey wrote that the PAA "will soon sunset, but threats to our national security will not expire with it. I urge Congress to pass long-term legislation to update the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to ensure that this statute addresses present and emerging threats to our national security."

He said that the Senate bill, S 2248, "includes tools contained in the Protect America Act that have allowed us to close critical intelligence gaps."

He continued that "sunset provisions create uncertainty in the Intelligence Community and stifle the development of stable partnerships necessary to detect, deter, and disrupt threats to our national security."

Mukasey also discussed immunity for companies that have assisted the government. He said that S 2248 "protects telecommunications companies now under legal assault because they are believed to have responded to the Government’s call for assistance in the aftermath of September 11." He added that this means "retroactive immunity".

He argued that it is also "critical that Congress provide liability protection to electronic communication service providers in enacting a reauthorization bill."

Finally, he criticized HR 3773, the "RESTORE Act". The House approved this bill on November 15, 2007, by a vote of 227-189. See, Roll Call No. 1120. See also, story titled "Reps. Conyers and Reyes Introduce FISA Reform Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,653, October 10, 2007.

Mukasey wrote that HR 3773 "falls far short of providing the Intelligence Community with the tools it needs to collect foreign intelligence effectively from individuals located outside the United States. We cannot support this bill, which does not provide liability protection, would sunset in less than two years, requires prior court approval of acquisitions targeting persons outside the United States except in emergencies, and limits the type of foreign intelligence information that may be collected."

2/4. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released the text [124 pages in PDF] of its Report and Order on Reconsideration in its proceeding regarding regulation of the ownership of media. The FCC adopted this item back on December 18, 2007.

FCC Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein complained in a joint statement [3 pages in PDF] released on February 4, 2008 that "After being told we have to ``hurry up´´ and vote by December 18, the Commission waited over a month and a half before finally issuing this Order."

The two also wrote that "From the day Chairman Martin's newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership proposal was announced last November, we pointed out that it was so vague and chock-full of loopholes that it would permit any broadcast station to merge with any newspaper in virtually any market in the country. The Order being released today does little to close those loopholes -- indeed, it creates two new ones."

See also, story titled "Copps and Adelstein Complain About FCC Media Ownership Agenda Item" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,688, December 13, 2007, and story titled "Martin Releases Media Ownership Proposal" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,675, November 13, 2007.

This item is FCC 07-216 in MB Docket No. 06-121, MB Docket No. 02-277, MM Docket No. 01-235, MM Docket No. 01-317, MM Docket No. 00-244, MB Docket No. 04-228, and MM Docket No. 99-360.

2/6. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) published a notice in the Federal Register that announces, describes, and sets comment deadlines for, its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in its proceeding titled "In the Matter of Petition to Establish Procedural Requirements to Govern Proceedings for Forbearance Under Section 10 of the Communications Act of 1934, as Amended". See, Federal Register, February 6, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 25, at Pages 6888-6895.

Section 10 of the Communications Act, which is codified at 47 U.S.C. § 160(a), provides, in part, that the FCC:

"shall forbear from applying any regulation or any provision of this chapter to a telecommunications carrier or telecommunications service, or class of telecommunications carriers or telecommunications services, in any or some of its or their geographic markets, if the Commission determines that--
   (1) enforcement of such regulation or provision is not necessary to ensure that the charges, practices, classifications, or regulations by, for, or in connection with that telecommunications carrier or telecommunications service are just and reasonable and are not unjustly or unreasonably discriminatory;
   (2) enforcement of such regulation or provision is not necessary for the protection of consumers; and
   (3) forbearance from applying such provision or regulation is consistent with the public interest."

There is also a forbearance provision in 47 U.S.C. § 332 that applies to commercial mobile radio service (CMRS) providers.

The NPRM states that the FCC seeks "comment in general on the need for procedural rules to govern the Commission’s consideration of petitions for forbearance pursuant to section 10 and/or section 332", and with respect to the issues raised and rules proposed by the petitioners, Covad, NuVox, XO, Cavalier, and McLeod, in their September 19, 2007 petition. See, part 1 [PDF] and part 2 [PDF] of petition.

See also, story titled "FCC Announces that Verizon Petition for Forbearance is Deemed Granted" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,334, March 22, 2006, and story titled "Reps. Dingell and Markey Introduce Bill to End Deemed Granting of FCC Forbearance Petitions" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,661, October 24, 2007.

The FCC adopted this NPRM on November 27, 2007, and released the text [25 pages in PDF] on November 30, 2007. This item is FCC 07-202 in WC Docket No. 07-267.

The deadline to submit initial comments is March 7, 2008. The deadline to submit reply comments is March 24, 2008.

2/6. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) published a notice in the Federal Register that announces, describes, and sets comment deadlines for, its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding pole attachments. See, Federal Register, February 6, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 25, at Pages 6879-6888.

The federal Pole Attachments Act, which is codified at 47 U.S.C. § 224, provides that the FCC "shall regulate the rates, terms, and conditions for pole attachments to provide that such rates, terms, and conditions are just and reasonable, and shall adopt procedures necessary and appropriate to hear and resolve complaints concerning such rates, terms, and conditions".

It defines "pole attachment" as "any attachment by a cable television system or provider of telecommunications service to a pole, duct, conduit, or right-of-way owned or controlled by a utility".

The FCC adopted rules after passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. This NPRM revisits the topic. The NPRM states that "we seek comment on a variety of issues relating to our implementation of section 224 including whether our existing rules governing pole attachment rates remain appropriate in light of increasing intermodal competition in the marketplace today; whether section 224 confers rights on incumbent local exchange carriers (LECs) to regulation of the rates they pay for pole attachments; and whether it would be appropriate to adopt specific rules regarding certain nonprice terms and conditions associated with section 224 access rights. With regard to rates, we tentatively conclude that all attachments used for broadband Internet access service should be subject to a single rate, regardless of the platform over which those services are provided, and that that rate, for reasons discussed herein, should be greater than the current cable rate, yet no greater than the telecommunications rate."

The deadline to submit initial comments is March 7, 2008. The deadline to submit reply comments is March 24, 2008.

The FCC adopted this NPRM on October 31, 2007, and released the text [40 pages in PDF] on November 20, 2007. This NPRM is FCC 07-187 in WC Docket No. 07-245.

The House will meet at 10:30 AM. There will be no votes in the House.

The Senate will meet at 9:30 AM. It will resume consideration of S 2248 [LOC | WW], the "Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 Amendments Act of 2007".

POSTPONED. 11:00 AM. The House Judiciary Committee's (HJC) Task Force on Antitrust and Competition Policy will hold a hearing titled "Hearing on the State of Competition on the Internet". See, notice. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. Deadline for all parties except foreign governments to submit comments to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR) to assist it in making Special 301 identifications of countries that deny adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights or deny fair and equitable market access to U.S. persons who rely on intellectual property protection. See, story titled "OUSTR Seeks Special 301 Comments on Countries that Deny Adequate IPR Protection" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,703, January 22, 2008, and notice in the Federal Register, January 16, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 11, at Pages 2958-2959.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Copyright Office (CO) in response to its Notice of Inquiry (NOI) regarding the meaning of the Copyright Act's term "cable system", and issues related to the phantom signal phenomenon. See, notice in the Federal Register, December 12, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 238, at Pages 70529-70540, and story titled "Copyright Office Issues Notice of Inquiry Regarding Cable Systems" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,688, December 13, 2007.

Deadline to submit comments to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) in response to its notice of proposed rulemaking regarding ODNI policies for collecting and maintaining personally identifiable records and processes for administering requests for records under the Privacy Act of 1974, which is codified at 5 U.S.C. § 552a(b). See, notice in the Federal Register, January 2, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 1, at Pages 113-125. These proposed rules allow for the disclosure of information to courts, government agencies, Congress, any Congressional committee or subcommittee, and a consumer reporting agency (in accordance with 31 U.S.C. § 3711(e)). These proposed rules also enumerate numerous exemptions of records systems under the Privacy Act.

Day one of a two day meeting of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Homeland Security Information Network Advisory Committee. See, notice in the Federal Register, January 11, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 8, at Page 2058. Location: Bolger Center, 9600 Newbridge Drive, Potomac, MD.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold a hearing on judicial nominations. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) will preside. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

1:00 - 4:00 PM. The Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board's (ATBCB) Telecommunications and Electronic and Information Technology Advisory Committee (TEITAC) will meet by conference call. See, notice in the Federal Register, January 24, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 16, at Page 4132.

6:00 - 8:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Diversity Committee will host an event titled "FCC Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Rules". This event offers continuing legal education (CLE) credits. The speakers will be Larry Walke (NAB), Lewis Pulley (FCC, Media Bureau, Policy Division), and David Honig (Minority Media and Telecommunications Council). The price to attend ranges from $25 to $135. Location: Wiley Rein, 1776 K St., NW.

9:30 AM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet will hold a hearing on DTV transformation preparedness. The hearing will be webcast by the HCC. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing titled "Examining the State Secrets Privilege: Protecting National Security While Preserving Accountability". The witnesses will be Carl Nichols (Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division), Patricia Wald (former judge), Louis Fisher (Law Library of the Library of Congress), Robert Chesney (Wake Forest University School of Law), and Michael Vatis (Steptoe & Johnson). See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

Day two of a two day meeting of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Homeland Security Information Network Advisory Committee. See, notice in the Federal Register, January 11, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 8, at Page 2058. Location: Bolger Center, 9600 Newbridge Drive, Potomac, MD.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding the Petition for Declaratory Ruling [33 pages in PDF] filed by the Public Knowledge (PK) and other groups on December 11, 2007, pertaining to the regulatory status of text messaging services, including short code based services sent from and received by mobile phones. The PK requests that the FCC declare that these services are governed by the anti-discrimination provisions of Title II of the Communications Act. See, story titled "Verizon Wireless and Net Neutrality Advocates Clash Over Text Messaging" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,647, September 27, 2007. See also, letter from Verizon Wireless to NARAL dated September 27, 2007, and NARAL's web page titled "NARAL Pro-Choice America Wins Fight over Corporate Censorship". See also, story titled "Public Knowledge Asks FCC to Declare that Blocking and Refusing to Carry Text Messages Violates Title II" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,686, December 11, 2007. This proceeding is WT Docket No. 08-7. See, notice in the Federal Register, January 28, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 18, at Pages 4866-4867.

8:00 - 9:30 AM. The Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC) will host a breakfast program titled "New Directions in Federal Procurement -- Changes in the Legal Terrain for 2008". See, notice. The price to attend ranges from $45 to $85. Location: The Ritz Carlton, 1700 Tysons Blvd., McLean, VA.

9:30 AM. The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) will hold a hearing on the nomination of John Sullivan to be Deputy Secretary of Commerce. See, notice. Location: Room 253, Russell Building.

9:30 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir) will hear oral argument in Rambus Inc v. FTC, App. Ct. No. 07-1086. Judges Henderson, Randolph and Williams will preside. See, FTC brief [90 pages in PDF]. See, FTC's August 2, 2006, opinion [120 pages in PDF] in its administrative proceeding titled "In the Matter of Rambus, Inc.". See also, FTC Docket No. 9302 for hyperlinks to pleadings in this proceeding. And see, story titled "FTC Holds That Rambus Unlawfully Monopolized Markets" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,427, August 8, 2006, and story titled "FTC Files Administrative Complaint Against Rambus" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 455, June 20, 2002.

10:00 AM. The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) will hold a hearing titled "One Year to the DTV Transition: Consumers, Broadcasters, and Converter Boxes". See, notice. Location: Room 253, Russell Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) may hold an executive business meeting. The agenda includes consideration of several bills, including S 2449 [LOC | WW], the "Sunshine in Litigation Act of 2007", and S 352 [LOC | WW], the "Sunshine in the Courtroom Act of 2007". The agenda also includes consideration of the nominations of Kevin O'Connor (to be Associate Attorney General) and Gregory Katsas (to be Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Civil Division). The SJC rarely follows its published agendas. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The House Science Committee will hold a hearing titled "Funding for the America COMPETES Act in the FY2009 Administration Budget Request". The witness will be John Marburger, Director of the Executive Office of the President's (EOP) Office of Science and Technology Policy. Location: Room 2318, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The House Judiciary Committee's (HJC) Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties will hold a hearing on the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Office of Legal Counsel (OLC). See, notice. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee's Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and National Archives will hold a hearing titled "Federal IT Security: A Review of H.R. 4791". Location: Room 2154, Rayburn Building.

2:00 PM. The House Judiciary Committee's (HJC) Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law will hold a hearing on HR 3679 [LOC | WW], the "State Video Tax Fairness Act of 2007". See, notice. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

2:00 PM. The House Judiciary Committee's (HJC) Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property will hold a hearing titled "Design Law -- Are Special Provisions Needed to Protect Unique Industries?". See, notice. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its two notice of proposed rulemakings (NPRMs) regarding service rules for the Wireless Communications Service (WCS) and for terrestrial repeaters used in conjunction with the Satellite Digital Audio Radio Service (SDARS). These items are FCC 07-215 in WT Docket No. 07-293 and IB Docket No. 95-91. The FCC adopted these items on December 17, 2007, and released them on December 18, 2007. See, notice in the Federal Register, January 15, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 10, at Pages 2437-2440.

8:30 - 11:45 AM. The Alliance for Public Technology (APT) will host an event titled "2008 Policy Forum & Susan G. Hadden Pioneer Awards". The speakers will include FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein and Robert Atkinson (head of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation). Location: National Press Club, 13th Floor, 529 14th St. NW.

TIME? The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will hold a hearing titled "Preservation of White House E-mails". Location: Room 2154, Rayburn Building.

12:00 NOON - 2:00 PM. The Progress & Freedom Foundation (PFF) will host a panel discussion titled "Countdown to DTV: Making the 2009 Deadline Work". The speakers will be Ken Feree (PFF), Meredith Baker (acting head of the NTIA), Debra Berlyn (AARP), Rick Chesson (legal advisor to FCC Commissioner Michael Copps), and David Donovan (head of the Association for Maximum Service Television). Lunch will be served. See, notice and registration page. Location: Room B-369, Rayburn Building.

12:15 - 1:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Cable Practice, Engineering and Technical Practice, and Mass Media Committees will host a brown bag lunch. The topic will be "Understanding Technical Issues Involved in the DTV Transition". The speakers will include Bill Check (NCTA). See, notice and registration page. This event is free. Location: Wiley Rein, 1776 K St., NW.

Deadline to submit comments to the Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) in response to its Notice of Inquiry (NOI) regarding its mid-term review of the Joint Project Agreement (JPA) between the DOC and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). See, NTIA release and notice in the Federal Register, November 2, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 212, at Pages 62220-62222.

2/5. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced in a Public Notice [5 pages in PDF] (DA 08-295) that it "has designated 10 megahertz of spectrum in the 470-512 MHz band as a Spectrum Sharing Innovation Test-Bed (Test-Bed) and identified procedures for interested parties to conduct technology tests in that band. The Test-Bed is intended to provide a venue for demonstrating techniques to provide for better sharing between Federal Government (federal) and non-federal radio users. The Commission takes this action in conjunction with similar action by the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to designate the 410-420 MHz band and establish procedures for a Test-Bed, as required by the President’s Spectrum Policy Initiative." (Emphasis added.) The FCC's proceeding is ET Docket No. 06-89.

2/5. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) published a notice in the Federal Register that announces that expressions of interest to participate in the Spectrum Sharing Innovation Test-Bed (Test-Bed) is Friday, February 29, 2008. See, Federal Register, February 5, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 24, at Pages 6710-6711.

2/4. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced in a release [PDF] that March 14, 2008, is the deadline for recent law school graduates, graduating law students, and judicial clerks to submit applications for participation in the FCC's 2008 Attorney Honors Program.

1/31. The Department of Justice's (DOJ) Antitrust Division submitted a comment to the Department of the Treasury (DOT) in its proceeding titled "Review of the Regulatory Structure Associated With Financial Institutions". The DOJ wrote that it "believes that certain regulatory policies governing financial futures may have inhibited competition among financial futures exchanges, potentially discouraging innovation and perpetuating high prices for exchange services".

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 1998-2008 David Carney, dba Tech Law Journal. All rights reserved.