4/22. The House amended and passed HR 1580 [LOC | WW], the "Electronic Device Recycling Research and Development Act", without a roll call vote.

This bill pertains to "computers, computer monitors, televisions, laptops, printers, wireless devices, copiers, fax machines, stereos, video gaming systems, and the components of such devices", and other devices.

It authorizes the appropriation of $60 Million over three years to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to give in grant funding "to conduct research to create innovative and practical approaches to manage the environmental impacts of electronic devices and, through the conduct of this research, to contribute to the professional development of scientists, engineers, and technicians in the fields of electronic device manufacturing, design, refurbishing, and recycling".

It also authorizes the appropriation of another $15 Million over three years to the EPA to give as grants to universities "to develop curricula that incorporates the principles of environmental design into the development of electronic devices".

It also authorizes the appropriation of $9 Million over three years for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to "establish an initiative to develop a comprehensive physical property database for environmentally friendly alternative materials for use in electronic devices".

The bill also provides for the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to write a report, including recommendations.

The bill does not give any rulemaking or other regulatory authority to any agency.

This bill is sponsored by Rep. Bart Gordon (D-TN), the Chairman of the House Science Committee. The Senate has not passed it.

4/23. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a release that contains a tentative agenda for the FCC's event titled "open meeting", scheduled for Wednesday, May 13, 2009, at 10:00 AM.

The FCC is scheduled to adopt a Report and Order (R&O) on discontinuance requirements for interconnected voice over internet protocol (VOIP) providers.

The FCC is scheduled to adopt a R&O on the local number portability porting interval for wireline-to-wireline and intermodal port requests.

The FCC is scheduled to adopt a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Order on the assessment and collection of regulatory fees for Fiscal Year 2009.

FCC staff are scheduled to present a report on the status of government efforts to plan consumers', broadcasters', and device manufacturers' transition to digital television.

The FCC does not always hold its meetings at the announced time or date. The FCC does not always take up all of the items on its agenda.

4/22. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a staff report [54 pages in PDF] titled "Beyond Voice: Mapping the Mobile Marketplace".

This report is based in part of the FTC's two day forum on this topic on May 6 and 7, 2008. The report makes several recommendations.

First, it states, "as to cost disclosures for mobile services, most complaints to state regulatory utilities commissioners involve inadequate disclosures ... Accordingly, the FTC staff will continue to monitor cost disclosures and bring law enforcement actions as appropriate. The FTC staff will also work with industry on improving its self-regulatory enforcement."

Second, the report states that "the FTC and its law enforcement partners should continue to monitor the impact on consumers of unwanted mobile text messages, malware, and spyware, and take law enforcement action as needed."

It continues that "wireless carriers block hundreds of millions of unsolicited text messages every month. The cost to the carriers is substantial, but the cost to consumers of receiving voluminous amounts of unwanted text messages would be far greater."

It adds that "spyware and malware have not yet emerged as a significant problem on mobile devices", but that this could change. "Therefore, FTC staff encourages stakeholders to continue developing strategies that prevent or minimize the spread of spam, spyware, and malware on consumers' mobile devices."

Third, the report states that "the increasing use of smartphones to access the mobile web presents unique privacy challenges, especially regarding children. Accordingly, the FTC will expedite the regulatory review of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule to determine whether the rule should in any way be modified to address changes in the mobile marketplace. This review, originally set for 2015, instead will commence in 2010".

4/27. Ron Kirk, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), gave a speech in Washington DC titled "Trade and the Economic Agenda: Serving America's Families and the Global Recovery" on April 23, 2009.

He said that "we're working to open new markets for American goods and services". He did not articulate clear plans for how to accomplish this.

He said that "we will use all the tools in USTR's toolbox to go after those trade barriers", including "formal consultations in the WTO" and "litigation in the WTO".

Moreover, he asserted that we are "rejecting protectionism".

He also said that "President Obama and I are committed to a successful conclusion of Doha". He added that "In the coming weeks, we will say more about how we think Doha can finally move forward".

He also said that "we are continuing our dialogue on issues related to the Korea free trade agreement".

Kirk met with Chen Deming, Commerce Minister of the People's Republic of China, on April 27, 2009.

Kirk stated in a release about this meeting that "both the United States and China have a tremendous stake in maintaining a vibrant, open international trading system to revive and sustain growth".

He continued that "With the size and importance of our bilateral trade flows, we also have a shared interest in ensuring that our bilateral trade relationship is fair, sustainable and mutually beneficial. I look forward to working with Minister Chen to put the Doha Round on a path to success. We will continue to work energetically to meet our global responsibilities, and we look to China to do the same, and also to work hard with us to resolve the many challenging issues in our bilateral trade relationship."

4/27. Erik Sirri, who was the Director of the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) Division of Trading and Markets, left the SEC on April 24, 2009. On April 27, 2009, James Brigagliano and Daniel Gallagher were named co-acting Directors of the Division. See, SEC release.

4/22. Sharis Pozen was named Chief of Staff and Counsel at the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Antitrust Division. She was previously a partner in the Washington DC office of the law firm of Hogan & Hartson, as was Christine Varney, the recently confirmed Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Divsion. Previously, Pozen worked at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as an Attorney Advisor to then Commissioner Varney. See, DOJ release.

4/22. Carl Shapiro was named Deputy Assistant Attorney General (DAAG) for Economic Analysis at the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Antitrust Division. See, DOJ release. He is an economist on leave from UC Berkeley. He was also DAAG from August 1995 to June 1996. He is the co-author, with Joseph Farrell, of the 2008 paper [PDF] titled "Antitrust Evaluation of Horizontal Mergers: An Economic Alternative to Market Definition". He is also the author of the 2006 paper [PDF] titled "Injunctions, Hold-Up, and Patent Royalties". He is likely to take more interventionist positions in merger reviews than did his predecessors in the Bush administration. See, his paper [PDF], co-authored with Jonathan Baker, titled "Detecting and Reversing the Decline in Horizontal Merger Enforcement". The same is likely the case for single firm conduct. See, for example, his 2009 paper [PDF] titled "Microsoft: A Remedial Failure".

4/22. Philip Weiser was named Deputy Assistant Attorney General (DAAG) for International, Policy and Appellate Matters at the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Antitrust Division, effective in July. He is currently a professor at the University of Colorado in its law school, and in its Interdisciplinary Telecommunications Program. From September 1996 to August 1998, he was a Senior Counsel to Joel Klein, the AAG who oversaw the commencement of the landmark antitrust action against Microsoft. See, DOJ release.

4/22. William Cavanaugh was named Deputy Assistant Attorney General (DAAG) for Civil Matters at the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Antitrust Division, effective in May. He has worked at the law firm of Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler since 1985. See, DOJ release.

4/22. Gene Kimmelman was named Chief Counsel for Competition Policy and Intergovernmental Relations at the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Antitrust Division. Since 1995, he worked for the Consumers Union. Before that, he was Chief Counsel and Staff Director for the Senate Judiciary Committee's (SJC) Antitrust Subcommittee. And before that, he worked for the Consumer Federation of America (CFA). See, DOJ release.

4/22. Molly Boast was named Deputy Assistant Attorney General (DAAG) for Civil Matters at the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Antitrust Division, effective in May. She has been a partner at the law firm of Debevoise & Plimpton since 2001. She was previously the Senior Deputy Director and Director of the Bureau of Competition at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) late in the administration of former President Clinton. She focuses on the pharmaceutical industry. See, DOJ release.

4/22. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Michael Copps announced the membership of the FCC's Advisory Committee on Diversity for Communications in the Digital Age. See, FCC release.

4/27. The Department of Justice's (DOJ) Antitrust Division announced in a release that it has charged, and entered into a plea agreement with, another defendant in its series of cases regarding price fixing in the sale of Thin Film Transistor-Liquid Crystal Display (TFT-LCD) panels. This defendant is Bock Kwon, an executive of LG Display Co. The newly appointed Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division, Christine Varney, stated in this release that "The participants in the LCD conspiracy committed a serious fraud upon American consumers by fixing the prices of a product that is in almost every American home". See also, stories titled "DOJ Obtains TFT-LCD Price Fixing Indictment" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,890, February 3, 2009, and "DOJ Brings and Settles Criminal Price Fixing Actions Against LCD Makers" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,855, November 11, 2008.

4/27. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a notice [PDF], to be published in the Federal Register, that amends and finalizes the "interim final" rules governing FTC adjudicatory proceedings that it published in a 34 page notice in the Federal Register in January. The FTC received no comments in response to the January notice. See, Federal Register, January 13, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 8, at Pages 1803-1836. See also, story titled "FTC Writes Rules to Bolster Power of Antitrust Regulators" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,882, January 13, 2009.

4/27. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report [83 pages in PDF] titled "Telecommunications: Long-Term Strategic Vision Would Help Ensure Targeting of E-rate Funds to Highest-Priority Uses".

4/24. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) published a notice in the Federal Register that announces and sets the effective date (April 24, 2009) of its Final Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) regarding the environmental impact of the Public Safety Interoperable Communications (PSIC) Grant Program. See, Federal Register, April 24, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 78, at Page 18692.

4/24. The Department of State's (DOS) Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs' (BECA) Office of English Language Programs published a notice in the Federal Register that announces, describes, and sets deadlines for its E-Teacher Scholarship Program and Professional Development Workshop. The DOS will give $750,000 in grants to universities to teach English via the internet to persons in other countries. Applications are due by June 8, 2009. See, Federal Register, April 24, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 78, at Pages 18786-18792.

4/23. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published a notice in the Federal Register that announces, describes, recites, and sets the effective date (April 23, 2009) for, changes to its Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval System (EDGAR) Filer Manual. See, Federal Register, April 23, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 77, at Pages 18465-18467.

4/22. The U.S. District Court (DC) issued a Second Modified Final Judgment in U.S. v. Microsoft, D.C. No. 98-1232 (CKK), the governments' antitrust action commenced in 1998.

4/21. The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced in a release that Henry Lee Holloway entered a plea of guilty in U.S. District Court (MDGa) to "conspiracy to commit bribery involving a multimillion dollar telecommunications contract" for providing telecommunications services at U.S. Armed Forces installations in Korea.

4/20. The Department of Justice's (DOJ) Antitrust Division published a notice in the Federal Register that lists additions to the membership of the DVD Copy Control Association (DVD CCA). See, Federal Register, April 20, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 74, at Page 17985.

4/20. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced in a release that it and the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA) "agreed to partner in establishing a Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot program" that will begin on April 27, 2009, and last for two years. The USPTO added that these agreements are "cooperative initiatives that streamline the patent system and promote expeditious, inexpensive and high-quality patent protection throughout the world".

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The House will meet at 12:30 PM for morning hour, and at 2:00 PM for legislative business. It will consider several non-technology related items under suspension of the rules. Votes will be postponed until 6:30 PM. See, Rep. Hoyer's schedule for the week of April 27.

8:00 AM - 4:00 PM. Day one of a two day conference hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Association of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and other entities titled "U.S. and EU Approaches to Protecting IP". See, notice. For more information, contact Natalie Ethridge at 202-463-5884. Location: U.S. Chamber, 1615 H St., NW.

6:00 - 9:15 PM. The DC Bar Association will host the third part of a three part series titled "Preserving Intellectual Property Rights in Goverment Contracts". The speakers will be David Bloch (Winston & Strawn), Richard Gray (Department of Defense), John Lucas (Department of Energy), and James McEwen (Stein McEwen). The price to attend ranges from $89 to $129 per part, or $169 to $299 for the series. See, notice. This event qualifies for continuing legal education credits. The DC Bar Association has a history of excluding persons from its events. For more information, call 202-626-3488. Location: D.C. Bar Conference Center, B-1 Level, 1250 H St., NW.

The House will meet at 10:30 AM for morning hour, and at 12:00 NOON for legislative business. It will consider several non-technology related items. See, Rep. Hoyer's schedule for the week of April 27.

Day one of a two day convention hosted by the American Cable Association titled "16th Annual American Cable Association Summit". Location: Gaylord National Hotel.

8:00 AM - 4:00 PM. Day two of a two day conference hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Association of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and other entities titled "U.S. and EU Approaches to Protecting IP". See, notice. For more information, contact Natalie Ethridge at 202-463-5884. Location: U.S. Chamber, 1615 H St., NW.

10:00 AM. The House Appropriations Committee's (HAC) Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science will hold a hearing on the FY 2010 appropriation for the Department of Commerce (DOC). The HAC will webcast this event. Location: Room 2359, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Banking Committee (SBC) will meet to consider several pending nominations, including David Cohen to be the Department of the Treasury's Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing. See, notice. Location: Room 538, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (SHSGAC) will hold a hearing titled "Cyber Security: Developing a National Strategy". The witnesses will be Stewart Baker, James Lewis (Center for Strategic and International Studies), Alan Paller (SANS Institute), and Tom Kellermann (Core Security Technologies). See, notice. Location: Room 342, Dirksen Building.

10:15 AM. The House Judiciary Committee (HJC) will meet to mark up numerous bills. HR 1676 [LOC | WW], the "PACT Act", which would affect internet sales of tobacco products, is third on the list. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

11:00 AM. The Cato Institute will host a closed event titled "Restoring the Pro-Trade Consensus". The speakers will be Tim Reif (General Counsel, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative), Anne Kim (Third Way), and Dan Ikenson (Cato). See, notice. Lunch will follow the program. Location: Cato, 1000 Massachusetts Ave., NW.

2:00 - 3:30 PM. The Department of Justice's (DOJ) Antitrust Division will host a seminar conducted by Bob Adams and Dean Amel (Federal Reserve Board) on their paper [33 pages in PDF] titled "The Effects of Past Entry, Market Consolidation, and Expansion by Incumbents on the Probability of Entry". To request permission to attend, contact Patrick Greenlee at 202-307-3745 or atr dot eag at usdoj dot gov. Location: Bicentennial Building, 600 E St., NW.

2:30 PM. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (SHSGAC) will hold a hearing titled "Government 2.0: Advancing America into the 21st Century and a Digital Future". The witnesses will be Vivek Kundra (Administrator, Office of Electronic Government and Information Technology), David Powner (Government Accountability Office), Karen Evans, and Philip Bond (TechAmerica). See, notice. Location: Room 342, Dirksen Building.

3:00 PM. The House Judiciary Committee's (HJC) Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy will hold a hearing titled "Bye Bye Bargains? Retail Price Fixing, the Leegin Decision, and Its Impact on Consumer Prices". See, notice. See also, Supreme Court's June 28, 2007 opinion [55 pages in PDF] in Leegin Creative Leather Products v. PSKS, and story titled "SCUS Holds That All Vertical Price Restraints Are Subject to Rule of Reason" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,603, June 28, 2007. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

Effective date of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) increases in fees charged to licensees and permittees to reflect the change in the Consumer Price Index. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 13, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 69, at Pages 16794-16795.

Deadline to submit oppositions to the numerous petitions for reconsideration (PFRs) of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) white space order. This is the Second Report and Order Memorandum Opinion and Order [130 pages in PDF] in its proceeding titled "In the Matter of Unlicensed Operation in the TV Broadcast Bands" and numbered ET Docket No. 04-186), and its proceeding titled "Additional Spectrum for Unlicensed Devices below 900 MHz and in the 3 GHz Band", and numbered ET Docket No. 02-380. This order is FCC 08-260. The FCC adopted it on November 4, 2008, and released the text on November 14, 2008. See for example, PFR [144 pages in PDF] of the NCTA, PFR [10 pages in PDF] of Dell and Microsoft, PFR [46 pages in PDF] of Motorola, PFR [10 pages in PDF] of Sprint Nextel, Comptel, and the RTG, PFR [PDF] of Dish and Directv, PFR [PDF] of the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association, PFR [PDF] of the Wi-Fi Alliance, and PFR [28 pages in PDF] of the New America Foundation, Public Knowledge, Open Source Wireless Coalition, and others. See, story titled "FCC Adopts White Space Order" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,852, November 4, 2009. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 13, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 69, at Page 16870.

EXTENDED FROM APRIL 21. 5:00 PM. Extended deadline to submit initial comments to the Copyright Office (CO) and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in response to their notice of inquiry (NOI) regarding facilitating access to copyrighted works for blind or disabled people. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 26, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 57, at Pages 13268-13270, notice in the Federal Register, April 17, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 73, at Page 17884, and notice of extension in the Federal Register, Federal Register, April 27, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 79, at Page 19108.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. It will consider several non-technology related items. See, Rep. Hoyer's schedule for the week of April 27.

10:00 AM. The House Appropriations Committee's (HAC) Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science will hold a hearing on the FY 2010 appropriation for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Location: Room B-308, Rayburn Building.

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a panel discussion titled "Jacobsen v. Katzer and Open Source: Little Trains, Big Consequences". The speakers will be Victoria Hall and Barbara Berschler. See, notice. See also, opinion [16 pages in PDF] of the U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) in Jacobsen v. Katzer and story titled "Federal Circuit Addresses Open Source Copyright Licenses" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,813, August 14, 2008. The DC Bar has as history of excluding persons from its events. The price to attend ranges from $20 to $40. Location: DC Bar Conference Center, B-1 Level, 1250 H St., NW.

1:30 PM. The House Appropriations Committee's (HAC) Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch will hold a hearing on the FY 2010 appropriation for the Library of Congress. Location: Room B-308, Rayburn Building.

2:00 PM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold a hearing on the nominations of Andre Davis (to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit), David Hamilton (U.S.C.A., 7th Circuit), and Thomas Perez (Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division). The SJC will webcast this event. Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-MD) will preside. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

Day two of a two day convention hosted by the American Cable Association titled "16th Annual American Cable Association Summit". Location: Gaylord National Hotel.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. It will consider several non-technology related items. See, Rep. Hoyer's schedule for the week of April 27.

World Intellectual Property Day.

9:00 - 10:30 AM. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host an event titled "Progress and Innovation: Can We Restore Faith in the Future?". The speaker will be novelist David Brin. See, Amazon web page listing his books. See, notice. Breakfast will be served. Location: ITIF, Suite 200, 1250 Eye St., NW.

9:30 AM - 1:00 PM. The Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI) will host an event titled "The Role of Intellectual Property in the Global Recovery". There will be three panels, titled "The Role of IP in a Struggling Economy", "Insider Forum: IP and the Future of Innovation", and "Does Growing Protectionism Limit Access to Innovation?". The speakers will include Michael Gallagher (Entertainment Software Association) and Mark Esper (U.S. Chamber of Commerce). Lunch will be served. RSVP to Erin Humiston at 972-874-5139 or erin at ipi dot org. Location: 5th floor, Reserve Officers Association (ROA), 1 Constitution Ave., NE.

10:00 AM. The House Judiciary Committee (HJC) will hold a hearing on HR 1260 [LOC | WW], the "Patent Reform Act of 2009". See, notice. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (SHSGAC) will hold a hearing on the nomination of Ivan Fong to be General Counsel of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). See, notice. Location: Room 342, Dirksen Building.

1:00 PM. The House Armed Services Committee's (HASC) Strategic Forces Subcommittee will hold a hearing on "space system acquisitions and the industrial base". Location: Room 2212, Rayburn Building.

2:00 PM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold a hearing titled "Comprehensive Immigration Reform in 2009, Can We Do It and How?". The SJC will webcast this event. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) will preside. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

2:30 PM. The Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) Bureau of Economics (BOE) will host a seminar conducted by Amalia Miller (University of Virginia) on her paper titled "Electronic Discovery and Electronic Medical Records: Does the Threat of Litigation Affect Firm Decisions to Adopt Technology?". Location: FTC Conference Center, 601 New Jersey Ave., NW.

8:30 AM - 4:30 PM. The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission will hold a hearing titled "China's Propaganda and Influence Operations, Its Intelligence Activities that Target the United States, and the Resulting Impacts on U.S. National Security". See, notice in the Federal Register, April 13, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 69, at Pages 16916. Location: Room 485, Russell Building, Capitol Hill.

Rep. Hoyer's schedule for the week of April 27 states that "no votes are expected in the House".

8:30 AM 5:00 PM. The National Science Foundation's (NSF) Advisory Committee for Computer and Information Science and Engineering will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 31, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 60, at Page 14594. Location: NSF, 4201 Wilson Blvd., Room 1235, Arlington, VA.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in University of Pittsburgh v. Hendrick, App. Ct. No. 2008-1468, an appeal from the U.S. District Court (CDCal), which granted a judgment correcting inventorship of U.S. Patent No. 6,777,231. Location: Courtroom 203, 717 Madison Place, NW.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Healthport v. Tanita, App. Ct. No. 2008-1456, an appeal from the U.S. District Court (DOre) in a patent infringement case involving technology for measuring body fat. Location: Courtroom 402, 717 Madison Place, NW.

EXTENDED TO MAY 12. Deadline to submit reply comments to the Copyright Office (CO) and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in response to their notice of inquiry (NOI) regarding facilitating access to copyrighted works for blind or disabled people. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 26, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 57, at Pages 13268-13270, and notice in the Federal Register, April 17, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 73, at Page 17884. See, notice of extension in the Federal Register, Federal Register, April 27, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 79, at Page 19108.