Bush and House Democrats Continue Standoff
Over Surveillance and Telco Immunity |
2/14. President Bush spoke and answered questions at the White House regarding his
standoff with House Democrats over legislation to reform the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance
Act (FISA). See,
transcript.
This Saturday, is the extended sunset for S 1927
[LOC |
WW], the
"Protect America Act", the temporary act passed last August.
Also, the House is about to go on its Presidents' Day recess, while the President is about
to go on a trip abroad.
The Senate passed a bill on Tuesday that Bush supports, S 2248
[LOC |
WW], the
"Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 Amendments Act of 2007". And now,
he wants the House to pass the Senate bill.
The :House passed a much different bill on November 15, 2007, that Bush
vehemently opposes, HR 3773
[LOC |
WW],
the "Responsible Electronic Surveillance That is Overseen, Reviewed, and
Effective Act of 2007" or "RESTORE Act".
Bush said that "This Saturday at midnight, legislation authorizing intelligence
professionals to quickly and effectively monitor terrorist communications will expire. If
Congress does not act by that time, our ability to find out who the terrorists are talking
to, what they are saying, and what they are planning will be compromised. It would be a
mistake if the Congress were to allow this to happen."
He added that "The Senate bill will provide fair and just liability
protection for companies that assisted in the efforts to protect America after
the attacks of September the 11th. Without this protection, without this
liability shield, we may not be able to secure the private sector's cooperation
with our intelligence efforts."
"The House should not leave Washington without passing the Senate bill." Bush
said that "there really is no excuse for letting this critical legislation
expire".
He also discussed immunity, which is in the Senate's bill. He said that "people are
wondering why companies need liability protection. Well, if you cooperate with the government
and then get sued for billions of dollars because of the cooperation, you're less likely to
cooperate. And obviously we're going to need people working with us to find out what the
enemy is saying and thinking and plotting and planning."
Also, White House news office issued a
release and
another release
on February 14.
Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), the House Majority
Leader, stated in a
release
that "Every Member of Congress knows that our highest duty is to protect
America. The President's comments earlier today implying that any one of us
is less focused on the security of our nation were wrong, divisive and harmful."
Rep. Hoyer (at right) said that
"The House passed a bill to modernize FISA three months ago. Yet the President insists
that a bill passed just this week by the Senate should be rubberstamped, instead of being
considered with the deliberation such an important issue deserves."
He continued that "President Bush is making the absolutely untenable claim that our
national security will be jeopardized unless Congress immediately acts on the Senate
bill".
He also asserted that even "if the PAA expires, the President and our intelligence
community have all the tools they need to protect our nation."
On February 13, the House voted on a bill to extend the PAA for three more weeks.
President Bush opposed that bill, and threatened to veto it. It failed on a roll call vote
in which all of the Republicans who voted, and 34 Democrats, opposed it.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the
Speaker of the House, stated after the vote that "The President and House
Republicans refused to support the extension and therefore will bear the
responsibility should any adverse national consequences result." See,
release.
Also, Rep. John Conyers (D-MI),
the Chairman of the
House Judiciary Committee (HJC) and sponsor of the RESTORE ACT, shifted
blame for delay back from the House to the Bush administration. He said during
House debate on February 13 that "We have also been waiting on access to
classified documents regarding what telecom companies may have done in recent
years to assist the government with surveillance on U.S. citizens outside the
bounds of the law at the time."
He said that "Judiciary Committee members -- only some, not all -- just began
getting effective access to the classified documents on January 29, after we had
been asking for over one year. And the review process is unavoidably somewhat
cumbersome and inefficient. Even today, as I stated in my letter to the White
House, we still do not have access to numerous critical legal documents." See,
transcript.
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Inouye and Dingell Propose
Interagency DTV Task Force |
2/12. Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI) and
Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) sent a
letter [PDF] to
President Bush urging him "to establish immediately a federal inter-agency
taskforce to oversee the transition to digital television".
They wrote that "The burden of the DTV transition will fall predominantly on
the poor, elderly, and minorities. In 2005, the Government Accountability Office
(GAO) found that 21 million homes -- nearly one in five of all
television-equipped households -- rely on free, over-the-air broadcasts for
television service. Of these households, almost half have annual incomes of less
than $30,000, one-third is headed by an individual over age 50, and one-third is
headed by a native Spanish speaker. Clearly, those expected to be most affected
by the transition will also be the most difficult to reach."
Sen. Inouye, the Chairman of the Senate Commerce
Committee (SCC), and Rep. Dingell, the Chairman of the
House Commerce Committee (HCC), offered this
recommendation. "Different federal agencies have relationships with specific categories
of constituents, which can be optimized to help publicize the transition. For example, the
Department of Veterans Affairs could reach out to veterans, the Social Security Administration
could inform senior citizens, the Bureau of Indian Affairs could educate Native American
communities, the Federal Trade Commission could adapt consumer alert programs, and the
Department of Housing and Urban Development could notify low-income families across the
country."
The SCC postponed its hearing titled "One Year to the DTV Transition: Consumers,
Broadcasters, and Converter Boxes", which has been scheduled for February 14. See,
notice.
The HCC's Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet held a hearing on
February 13 titled "Status of the DTV Transition: 370 Days and Counting". The
witnesses were be Kevin Martin (FCC
Chairman), Meredith Baker (acting head of the NTIA),
Kyle McSlarrow (head of the National Cable &
Telecommunications Association), David Rehr (head of the
National Association of Broadcasters), Ron Bruno (head of
the Community Broadcasters Association), Mark Jackson (President of Echostar), Tom Romeo
(IBM), Laurence Harris (Radio Shack), and
Chris Murray (Consumers Union).
Martin wrote in his
prepared testimony [19 pages in PDF] that "too many Americans remain confused about
what they need to do to prepare for" the DTV transition. He said too that the FCC
"is devoting significant resources to facilitate a smooth transition".
Baker wrote in her
prepared testimony [5 pages in PDF] about the progress of the NTIA's
converter box coupon program and other NTIA activities.
The NAB's Rehr used this opportunity to again
express broadcasters' opposition to unlicensed use of TV white space. He wrote in his
prepared testimony [PDF] that "Some Silicon Valley companies want to allow
millions of portable, unlicensed transmitting devices to operate on television
frequencies without a license." This, he warned, could cause interference. He
also discussed NAB efforts to inform consumers about the DTV transition.
McSlarrow, in his
prepared testimony [6 pages in PDF], reiterated the cable industry's "firm and
long-held view about the constitutional infirmities of a government-mandated regime that
requires cable operators to carry all must carry broadcast stations in both digital and
analog formats", and its concern's with the FCC's September order. See also, story
titled "Cable Programming Networks Challenge FCC's September Viewability Order"
in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,716, February 12, 2008. McSlarrow also discussed the NCTA's
participation in efforts to inform consumers about the DTV transition.
See also, HCC
web page with hyperlinks to the prepared testimony of all witnesses.
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EPIC Pursues FTC for Records Related to
Majoras's Alleged Conflict of Interest |
2/12. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)
filed with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) an
administrative appeal
[17 pages in PDF] of the FTC's denial by inaction of its requests for records under the Freedom
of Information Act (FOIA) regarding what it asserts is a conflict of interest
for FTC Chairman Deborah
Majoras.
The EPIC seeks records related to
the law firm of Jones Day's representation of
DoubleClick, and whether this warranted recusal by Majoras (at right) in the Google
DoubleClick merger proceeding.
Persons seeking records from government agencies must exhaust their administrative
remedies before bringing a civil action in the U.S. District Court for violation of the FOIA,
which is codified at
5
U.S.C. § 552.
The EPIC, which opposed the Google DoubleClick merger on privacy grounds, submitted a
filing [PDF] to the
FTC on December 12, 2007, requesting the recusal of Majoras from the
review of the proposed merger. The EPIC argued that recusal is necessary because Majoras
previously worked for the law firm of Jones Day, her husband
John Majoras still does, and Jones Day
represents DoubleClick. See, story titled "EPIC Seeks Recusal of Majoras in Google
Doubleclick Merger Review" in
TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,688, December 13, 2007.
The EPIC also submitted a FOIA
request
[PDF] for records on December 14, 2007, and a second request on December 17, related to its
recusal request. Both requests are also attached to the administrative appeal.
The EPIC requested, among other things, "all
communications, policy memoranda, reports, legal assessments and other documents
regarding the participation of the law firm Jones Day, any employee or agent of
the law firm Jones Day, or any spouse of an employee of the law firm Jones Day
regarding the Federal Trade Commission’s investigation, review, consideration,
or assessment of the proposed Google-Doubleclick merger."
The EPIC also sought FTC records pertaining to Jones Day and FTC consumer privacy
complaints and FTC enforcement of consumer privacy law.
On December 20, the FTC announced that it will not seek to block the proposed merger of
Google and DoubleClick, or impose any conditions upon the merger. Chairman Majoras
participated in that determination. See, story titled "FTC Will Not Block Google
DoubleClick Merger" in TLJ
Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,691, December 19, 2007.
The EPIC wrote in its appeal that "The urgency to inform the
public regarding an apparent conflict of interest in the FTC’s review of a
multi-billion dollar merger is manifest. In addition, the public has
demonstrated substantial interest regarding the subject of EPIC’s FOIA Requests.
A Google search performed on February 1, 2008 returns 20,600 results for the
search ``google doubleclick ftc conflict of interest.´´"
The EPIC added that it "appears that the Commission may soon face a similar decision
if it is given merger review authority over the pending Microsoft acquisition of
Yahoo."
The FOIA establishes time limits within which agencies must comply with FOIA requests.
The FTC has not provided responsive agency records within the time limitations. It has
violated the FOIA by failure to respond.
Violation of statutory obligations imposed by the FOIA is routine practice at most federal
agencies. Moreover, federal courts routinely decline to enforce the FOIA,
notwithstanding the plain language of the statute, and its creation of a private
right of action for FOIA requestors. Nevertheless, the
EPIC frequently submits FOIA requests, and then litigates non-compliance.
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People and Appointments |
2/14. Louis Foreman (CEO of Enventys), Scott Kieff (law
professor at Washington University and research fellow at
Stanford’s Hoover Institution), and Damon Matteo (VP and Chief Intellectual
Property Officer of the Palo Alto Research Center) were named to the
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's (USPTO)
Patent Public Advisory Committee (PPAC). See, USPTO
release.
2/14. James Johnson (Sutherland Asbill & Brennan), Elizabeth Pearce
(Director of the Intellectual Property Group at American International Group,
Inc.), and Jeffrey Storie (Decker Jones McMackin McClane Hall & Bates)
were named to the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office's (USPTO) Trademark Public Advisory Committee (TPAC). See, USPTO
release.
2/14. President Bush nominated William Lawrence to be a Judge of the
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. See, White House
release.
2/12. President Bush withdrew his nomination of Warren Bell to be a Member of
the Board of Directors of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. See, White House
release.
2/12. Mark Hurd, Ch/CEO of Hewlett-Packard, was
appointed to the News Corporation's Board of Directors, effective immediately. Rod
Paige resigned from the News Corporation's Board of Directors. See,
release.
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More News |
2/13. The U.S. Court of Appeals (6thCir)
issued its opinion
[6 pages in PDF] in Quick Communications v. Michigan Bell, an interconnection
case involving
47
U.S.C. § 252. The Court of Appeals affirmed the summary judgment of the District Court
for Michigan Bell (that is, AT&T). The District Court previously upheld an order of the
Michigan Public Services Commission that directed
Quick and AT&T to amend their interconnection agreement to conform with the MPSC's most
recently approved service rates. This case is Quick Communications v. Michigan Bell
Telephone Company, et al., U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, App. Ct. No.
06-2103, an appeal from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan at
Detroit, D.C. No. 05-72396, Judge Marianne Battani presiding. Judge Boyce Martin wrote the
opinion of the Court of Appeals, in which Judges Clay and Guy joined.
2/13. President Bush signed HR 5140
[LOC |
WW], the
"Recovery Rebates and Economic Stimulus for the American People Act". This act
provides individual tax rebates. President Bush said at a White House signing ceremony
that it is "an economic growth package". See,
transcript.
2/12. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
announced that it will hold a hearing on February 26, 2008, at 10:00 AM, in Boston,
Massachusetts, titled "Broadband Network Management Practices". See,
notice. This
hearing also pertains to FCC Docket Numbers 07-52 and 08-7. This event will take place at the
Ames Courtroom at Harvard Law School, 1515
Massachusetts Ave., Boston, Massachusetts.
2/12. The National Intellectual Property Law Enforcement Coordination Council released a
report [101 pages in PDF] titled "Annual Report to the President and Congress on
Coordination of Intellectual Property Enforcement and Protection". It states that
the Bush administration is committed to stopping counterfeiting and piracy of intellectual
property.
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Washington Tech Calendar
New items are highlighted in red. |
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Friday, February 15 |
The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. No votes are
expected in the House. See, Rep. Hoyer's
schedule for week of February 11.
The Senate will meet at 10:00 AM in pro forma
session only.
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.
10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The
House Intelligence Committee will
hold a closed hearing titled "Cyber Initiative". See,
notice.
Location: Room H-405, Capitol Building.
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.
CANCELLED. 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.
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Saturday, February 16 |
Expiration of the temporary amendments to the Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) enacted by S 1927
[LOC |
WW],
the "Protect America Act", as amended by HR 5104
[LOC |
WW].
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Monday, February 18 |
Washington's Birthday. See, Office of Personnel Management's (OPM)
list of 2008 federal holidays.
The House will begin its President's Day Recess. See, Rep. Hoyer's
2008
calendar [4.25 MB PDF].
Day two of a four day event hosted by the
National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) titled
"Winter Committee Meetings". See,
notice and
registration form [PDF]. Location: Renaissance Washington Hotel.
Deadline to submit comments to the Department of Justice's (DOJ)
Antitrust Division regarding the Complaint, proposed
Final Judgment, Hold Separate Stipulation and Order, and Competitive Impact Statement in
U.S. v. Commscope, Inc. and Andrew Corporation, U.S. District Court (DC), D.C.
No. 07-02200. See,
notice in the Federal Register: December 20, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 244, at
Pages 72376-72388.
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Tuesday, February 19 |
The House will not meet. See, Rep. Hoyer's
2008
calendar [4.25 MB PDF].
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. The National Institute
of Standards and Technology (NIST) will hold a public meeting regarding the conformity
assessment scheme proposed for the evaluation of Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6)
products to be purchased by federal agencies. See,
notice in the Federal Register, February 7, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 26, at
Pages 7259-7260. Location: NIST, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD.
10:30 AM - 12:00 NOON. The American
Enterprise Institute (AEI) will host a panel discussion titled "U.S.-South
Korean Relations: A New Era of Cooperation?". The speakers will be Michael Auslin
(AEI), Bruce Bechtol (Marine Corps Command and Staff College), Marcus Noland (Peterson
Institute for International Economics), Charles Pritchard (Korea Economic Institute), and
Nicholas Eberstadt (AEI). See,
notice. Location: AEI, 12th floor, 1150 17th St., NW.
12:00 NOON. The Federal Communications
Bar Association (FCBA) will host a panel discussion titled "DTV
Transition". The speakers will be Meredith Baker (acting head of the
NTIA), Kyle
McSlarrow (head of the NCTA), David Rehr (head of the
NAB), Andrew Schwartzman (head of the
Media Access Project), Gary Shapiro (head of the
Consumer Electronics Association), and Diane Cornell.
Lunch will be served. The price to attend ranges from $35-$70. See,
online registration page. Registrations are due by 12:00 NOON on February
13. Location: Mayflower Hotel, 1127 Connecticut Ave., NW.
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.
2:00 - 4:00 PM. The Department of State's (DOS)
International
Telecommunication Advisory Committee (ITAC) will hold one of a series of meetings to
discuss the U.S. positions for the March and April 2008 meeting of the ITU-T Study Group 3
and related issues of the international telecommunication regulations. See,
notice in the Federal Register, February 4, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 23, at Page
6547. Location?
6:30 - 8:30 PM. The Federal Communications
Bar Association's (FCBA) Young Lawyers Committee will host an event titled
"Happy Hour". For more information, contact Danielle Benoit at dbenoit at wcsr
dot com or 202-857-4537, Davina Sashkin at sashkin at fhhlaw dot com or 703-812-0458, or
Tarah Grant at tsgrant at hhlaw dot com. Location: Le Bar in the Sofitel Hotel, 806 15th
St., NW.
Day three of a four day event hosted by the
National Association of Regulatory Utility
Commissioners (NARUC) titled "Winter Committee Meetings". See,
notice and
registration
form [PDF]. Location: Renaissance Washington Hotel.
Deadline to submit reply comments to the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in
response to its notice of proposed rulemaking regarding the establishment of a
Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS). This NPRM, which was adopted and
released on December 14, 2007, is FCC 07-214 in PSHSB Docket No. 07-287. See,
notice in the Federal Register, January 3, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 2, at Pages
545-607. The relevant FCC proceeding is numbered CG Docket No. 03-123.
Deadline to submit reply comments to the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding Hawk
Relay's petition for clarification regarding the Deaf Blind Relay Service (DBRS). See,
notice in the Federal Register, January 4, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 3, at Pages
863-864. The relevant FCC proceeding is numbered CG Docket No. 03-123.
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Wednesday, February 20 |
The House will not meet. See, Rep. Hoyer's
2008
calendar [4.25 MB PDF].
11:30 AM - 1:30 PM. The Heritage
Foundation will host an event titled "Technology Leadership, Economic Power
and National Security: Dual-Use Export Controls to China". Mario Mancuso (head of
the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and
Security), Peter Leitner (former trade advisor at Department of State), John Tkacik
(Heritage), Edmund Rice (President, Coalition of Employment Through Exports), Mark
Groombridge (BIS), and Walter Lohman (Heritage). See,
notice.
Location: Heritage, 214 Massachusetts Ave., NE.
12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The Federal
Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Intellectual Property Committee will host
a brown bag lunch titled "Cable and Satellite Content Protection
Technologies". The speakers will be Seth Greenstein (Constantine Cannon), Paul Glist
(Davis Wright Tremaine), and John Card (Echostar). See,
notice and registration page. Location: Dow Lohnes, 1200 New
Hampshire Ave., NW.
12:15 - 1:30 PM. The Federal
Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Young Lawyers Committee will host a brown bag
lunch titled "Pro Bono and Community Service Activities for Young Lawyers". RSVP
to Mark Brennan at mwbrennan at hhlaw dot com. For more information, contact Mark Brennan,
Chris Fedeli at chrisfedeli at dwt dot com or Tarah Grant at tsgrant at hhlaw dot com.
Location: Hogan & Hartson, 555 13th St., NW.
Day four of a four day event hosted by the
National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) titled
"Winter Committee Meetings". See,
notice and
registration form [PDF]. Location: Renaissance Washington Hotel.
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Thursday, February 21 |
The House will not meet. See, Rep. Hoyer's
2008
calendar [4.25 MB PDF].
10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary
Committee (SJC) will hold a hearing on the nomination of Catherina Haynes to
be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals (5thCir).
Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.
12:00 NOON - 2:00 PM. The Federal
Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Transactional Practice Committee
will host a brown bag lunch titled "Negotiating Carrier-Carrier and
Carrier-Enterprise Agreements". The speakers will be Andrew Brown (Levine
Blaszak) and Eric Branfman (Bingham McCutchen). See,
notice and registration page. Location: Arnold & Porter, 555 12th
St., NW.
2:00 - 4:00 PM. The Department of State's (DOS) International
Telecommunication Advisory Committee (ITAC) will meet to discuss the U.S. positions for
the April 2008 meeting of the Organization of American States Inter-American Telecommunication
Commission Permanent Consultative Committee I (Telecommunication) (OAS/CITEL/PCC.I). See,
notice in the Federal Register, February 4, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 23, at Page
6547. Location?
4:00 - 6:00 PM. The American Enterprise
Institute (AEI) and the Federalist Society will host a panel discussion titled
"Federal Preemption and the Supreme Court". The speakers will be Michael
Greve (AEI), Catherine Sharkey (New York University School of Law), Daniel Troy (Sidley
Austin), and Theodore Frank (AEI). See,
notice. Location:
AEI, 11th floor, 1150 17th St., NW.
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Friday, February 22 |
The House will not meet. See, Rep. Hoyer's
2008
calendar [4.25 MB PDF].
9:00 - 11:00 AM. The
American Enterprise Institute (AEI) will host a panel
discussion titled "Strengthening Freedom in Asia: A Twenty-First Century Agenda
for the U.S.-Taiwan Partnership". The speakers will be Dan Blumenthal (AEI), Randall
Schriver (Armitage International), Claude Barfield (AEI), Rupert Hammond-Chambers
(U.S.-Taiwan Business Council), Michael Mitchell (Orion Strategies), Mark Stokes, and
Danielle Pletka (AEI). Location: AEI, 11th floor, 1150 17th St., NW.
9:30 AM. The Federal Communications
Commission's (FCC) North American Numbering
Council (NANC) will meet. See,
notice in the Federal Register, February 6, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 25, at Page
6968. Location: FCC, Suite 5-C162, 445 12th St. SW.
5:00 PM. Deadline to submit applications for planning and construction
grants for public telecommunications facilities to the
National Telecommunications and Information
Administration (NTIA). The NTIA will distribute $16.8 Million in grants
under its Public Telecommunications
Facilities Program (PTFP) in FY 2008. See,
notice in the Federal Register, January 10, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 7, at Pages
1864-1865.
Deadline to submit comments to the
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding its
staff document [7 pages in PDF]
titled "Online Behavioral Advertising: Moving the Discussion Forward to Possible
Self-Regulatory Principles". See, story titled "FTC Proposes and Seeks Comments on
Voluntary Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No.
1,691, December 19, 2007.
Deadline to submit initial comments to the
Copyright Office (CO) regarding its proposed rules
changes regarding the recordation of notices of termination and related matters. The
CO stated that these proposed changes "would communicate the Office's practices as to
notices of termination that are untimely filed; clarify the fact that a notice of termination
is not legally sufficient simply because it has been recorded; update the legibility
requirements for all recorded documents, including notices of termination; make minor
explanatory edits to the fee schedule for multiple titles within a document (adding notices
of termination as an example); and create a new mailing address to which notices of
termination should be sent." See,
notice in the Federal Register, January 23, 2008, Vol. 73, No.15, at Pages
3898-3900.
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