11/9. The European Commission (EC) issued a Statement of Objections regarding Oracle's proposed acquisition of Sun Microsystems.

The EC did not publicly release the document. However, Sun made a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on November 9. Sun disclosed that "On November 9, 2009, the European Commission issued a statement of objections relating to the acquisition of Sun by Oracle Corporation. The Statement of Objections sets out the Commission's preliminary assessment regarding, and is limited to, the combination of Sun's open source MySQL database product with Oracle's enterprise database products and its potential negative effects on competition in the market for database products."

The two companies announced their merger plans on April 20, 2009. See, Sun's April 20 release. They entered into their "Agreement and Plan of Merger" on April 19. See, for example, Oracle's SEC Form 8-K, filed on April 21, 2009.

Sun provides enterprise computing systems, software and services. Its products include the Java technology platform, the Solaris operating system, MySQL, StorageTek and the UltraSPARC processor.

MySQL is a relational database management system (RDBMS). It is owned by Sun. However, Sun makes the source code available under the GNU General Public License (GPL). Oracle provides a proprietary RDBMS. Microsoft, Sybase, IBM, Hewlett Packard, CA, SAP also provide one or more RDBMSs. A Wikipedia article on RDBMSs lists 48 proprietary or GPL RDBMS products. Moreover, this is an incomplete listing.

An EC Statement of Objections represents a preliminary view, but not a final conclusion. The EC states that "A Statement of Objections is a formal step in Commission antitrust investigations in which the Commission informs the parties concerned in writing of the objections raised against them. ... Sending a Statement of Objections does not prejudge the final outcome of the procedure."

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), which, unlike the EC, possesses some economic expertise, understanding of information technology markets, and impartiality, approved the merger on August 20, 2009. The DOJ terminated the waiting period under the Hart Scott Rodino Act.

Molly Boast, a Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the DOJ's Antitrust Division, criticized the EU's latest action in a release.

She stated that "After conducting a careful investigation of the proposed transaction between Oracle and Sun, the Department's Antitrust Division concluded that the merger is unlikely to be anticompetitive. This conclusion was based on the particular facts of the transaction and the Division's prior investigations in the relevant industries. The investigation included gathering statements from a variety of industry participants and a review of the parties' internal business documents."

Boast continued that "There are many open-source and proprietary database competitors. The Division concluded, based on the specific facts at issue in the transaction, that consumer harm is unlikely because customers would continue to have choices from a variety of well established and widely accepted database products. The Department also concluded that there is a large community of developers and users of Sun's open source database with significant expertise in maintaining and improving the software, and who could support a derivative version of it."

Oracle responded to the EC's action in blunt and and defiant terms. It wrote in a release that the EC suffers from a "profound misunderstanding" of the market.

"Oracle's acquisition of Sun is essential for competition in the high end server market, for revitalizing Sparc and Solaris and for strengthening the Java development platform. The transaction does not threaten to reduce competition in the slightest, including in the database market. The Commission's Statement of Objections reveals a profound misunderstanding of both database competition and open source dynamics. It is well understood by those knowledgeable about open source software that because MySQL is open source, it cannot be controlled by anyone. That is the whole point of open source."

Oracle continued that "The database market is intensely competitive with at least eight strong players, including IBM, Microsoft, Sybase and three distinct open source vendors. Oracle and MySQL are very different database products. There is no basis in European law for objecting to a merger of two among eight firms selling differentiated products. Mergers like this occur regularly and have not been prohibited by United States or European regulators in decades."

It added that "Sun's customers universally support this merger and do not benefit from the continued uncertainty and delay. Oracle plans to vigorously oppose the Commission's Statement of Objections as the evidence against the Commission’s position is overwhelming. Given the lack of any credible theory or evidence of competitive harm, we are confident we will ultimately obtain unconditional clearance of the transaction."

Most companies are compliant and obsequious when antitrust regulators oppose mergers or single firm conduct. However, Oracle, and its CEO, Larry Ellison, have a history of independence and defiance. In 2004, when the DOJ sued to block Oracle's acquisition of PeopleSoft, based upon its misunderstanding of the relevant product market, Ellison fought back.

Oracle promptly won a judgment from the U.S. District Court (NDCal). It was a humiliating and aura shattering defeat for the DOJ. See, stories titled "Antitrust Division Sues Oracle to Enjoin Its Proposed Acquisition of PeopleSoft" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 846, March 1, 2004, and "DOJ Loses Oracle Case" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 974, September 10, 2004.

Oracle is a Delaware corporation based in Redwood City, California. Sun is a Delaware corporation based in Santa Clara, California. This latest EC action is another in a series of EC interferences in the business and merger activities of US companies that US regulators have concluded is not anti-competitive or otherwise illegal.

The EC has also meddled in matters involving US companies in its recent actions against Microsoft and Intel.

For more on the Intel action, see stories titled "European Commission Initiates Proceeding Against Intel Alleging Anticompetitive Behavior" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,617, July 26, 2007, "EC Fines Intel One Billion Euros" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,937, May 12, 2009, and "EC Releases Intel Decision" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,986, September 22, 2009.

For more on the Microsoft action, see stories titled "European Commission Seeks 497 Million Euros and Code Removal from Microsoft" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 863, March 25, 2004; "European Commission Releases Microsoft Decision" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 883, April 23, 2004; "European Court of First Instance Rejects Key Parts of Microsoft's Appeal" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,639, September 14, 2007; and "EC Demands More Money From Microsoft" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,723, February 26, 2008.

The DOJ and EC held divergent views on single firm conduct prior to the election of President Obama. The EC's actions against Microsoft and Intel both involve allegations regarding single firm conduct. Christine Varney, Obama's appointment to lead the DOJ's Antitrust Division, has signaled a retreat from the Bush DOJ's views on single firm conduct. See, for example, story titled "Varney Reverses DOJ Policy Regarding Single Firm Conduct" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,937, May 12, 2009.

However, the EC's action against Oracle and Sun does not involve single firm conduct. This is a merger review proceeding. Moreover, given the extent of competition in the RDBMS market, and the open source nature of Sun's MySQL, the EC will likely be unable to articulate any credible economic analysis that would support a finding that this merger will harm competition or consumers.

One set of beneficiaries of this EC action may be EC regulators and the attorneys and lobbyists that practice before the EC.

Another set of beneficiaries may be competing RDBMS providers, such as IBM and HP. Prolonged merger reviews, even if ultimately terminated, drain the financial resources of the merging companies, distract key employees from performing their jobs, and create uncertainty for their customers.

And hypothetically, if the EC blocks the merger as is, Oracle may drop the merger, or its acquisition of MySQL, thereby enabling another company, hypothetically IBM, to make an acquisition at a lower price than it would have paid, absent EC interference. This suggests the possibility that the EC may be allowing competition law to be employed for anticompetitive purposes.

A leading US antitrust economist gave a presentation last month in which he observed that "There is no better investment than ... to spend a few million dollars on lawyers ... to make your rival's life truly miserable". See, story titled "Antitrust As a Competitive Weapon" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,011, November 9, 2009.

The EC has not disclosed the activities of lobbyists in its Oracle Sun action.

See also, stories titled "Kroes Asserts that EC Antitrust Enforcement is not Protectionist" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,992, September 29, 2009, and "Kroes Asserts that EC Antitrust Enforcement is Not Socialist" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,740, April 1, 2008. And see, story titled "Kroes Discusses EC's Global Regulation Goals" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,722, February 25, 2008.

For a speculation as to why the EC is taking action against US technology companies, see "Commentary" section of story titled "EC Demands More Money From Microsoft" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,723, February 26, 2008.

10/28. President Obama signed HR 2892 [LOC | WW], the "Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2010". See, White House news office release.

This bill appropriates $338,393,000 to the DHS's Office of the Chief Information Officer for technology investments, salaries, development and acquisition of information technology equipment, software, services, and related activities and expenses.

This bill appropriates funds for the DHS's National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD). It appropriates $899,416,000 for "infrastructure protection and information security programs and activities", but adds that "$161,815,000 may not be obligated for the National Cyber Security Division program and $12,500,000 may not be obligated for the Next Generation Networks program until the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and the House of Representatives receive and approve a plan for expenditure for each of these programs ...".

The bill continues with clauses that direct that certain cyber security funds be spent in specified states and locations.

The bill appropriates $373,762,000 for the United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) program.

The bill appropriates funds for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. It appropriates $137,000,000 for the DHS's E-Verify Program. It adds that "none of the funds made available under this heading may be obligated for development of the `REAL ID hub´ until the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and the House of Representatives receive a plan for expenditure for that program that describes the strategic context of the program, the specific goals and milestones set for the program, and the funds allocated for achieving each of these goals and milestones".

The bill appropriates $50,000,000 for the Interoperable Emergency Communications Grant Program.

The bill provides that "Any company that collects or retains personal information directly from individuals who participated in the Registered Traveler program shall safeguard and dispose of such information in accordance with the requirements in" National Institute for Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-30 (NIST SP 800-30), titled "Risk Management Guide for Information Technology Systems", NIST SP 800-53, Revision 3, titled "Recommended Security Controls for Federal Information Systems and Organizations", and any supplemental standards established the NIST.

11/6. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced in a release that "The unemployment rate rose from 9.8 to 10.2 percent in October".

The BLS's table for "Unemployed persons by industry and class of worker, not seasonally adjusted" reflects that unemployment is lowest among "government workers" (3.5%), and highest in "construction" (18.7%).

Unemployment is 8.2% among "Information" workers, up from 5.0% in October of 2008. This BLS unemployment report does not provide further specificity regarding categories of information workers.

The BLS also collects and reports price index data. In its last report, on October 15, 2009, it announced that the price index for "Information technology, hardware and services" and "Personal computers and peripheral equipment" dropped substantially between September 2008 and September 2009 (4.4% and 14.1% respectively).

The price index for "Telephone services" rose 1.6% over the same time period.

The Federal Reserve Board's (FRB) Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) issued a release on November 4, 2009, in which it stated that "economic activity is likely to remain weak for a time".

11/9. The Senate confirmed Andre Davis to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit by a vote of 72-16. See, Roll Call No. 342, and Congressional Record, November 9, 2009, at Page S11303. All of the votes against confirmation were cast by Republicans.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) stated in a release that "Amid an across-the-board slowdown orchestrated by the Senate's minority party, the Senate has been slow to confirm even consensus judicial nominees reported by the Judiciary Committee. Davis and Seventh Circuit nominee Judge David Hamilton have been pending before the full Senate since June 4."

Sen. Leahy added that "Two additional circuit court nominations have been pending on the Senate's executive calendar for more than a month, despite being reported by the Committee without any dissenting votes.  A total of nine judicial nominations remain pending on the Senate’s executive calendar, including seven which were reported by the Judiciary Committee without objection."

Sen. Leahy also said that "The obstruction and delays in considering President Obama's judicial nominations is especially disappointing given the extensive efforts by President Obama to turn away from the divisive approach taken by the previous administration".

Roles in the Senate have reversed as a result of Democrats obtaining control of the Senate and the Presidency. When former President Bush made judicial appointments, and the Republican party controlled the Senate, Senate Democrats blocked confirmations, including by years long filibusters of nominees who had the support of a majority of the Senate.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), the ranking Republican on the SJC, responded that "during the 110th Congress four highly qualified consensus nominees to that court were presented to the Senate by President Bush and were not confirmed: Judge Robert Conrad, Judge Glen Conrad, Mr. Steve Matthews, and Mr. Rod Rosenstein." See, statement.

Senate Democrats also blocked some of Bush's earlier 4th Circuit nominees. Sen. Sessions stated that "I find it breathtaking that people would suggest that the Republicans, who tried to fill that vacancy for 9 years and had the nominees blocked, were responsible for vacancies ..."

See also, Sen. Session's November 3, 2009, letter to other Senators regarding the nomination of Judge David Hamilton to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit.

Senate Republicans are in the early stages of developing dilatory and obstructionist tactics for judicial nominees. It is possible that over time, and as conservative groups organize to oppose some of Obama's nominees, Senate Republicans' obstructionist efforts will match those of Senate Democrats during the Bush administration.

11/9. The Senate confirmed David Gompert to be Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence. See, Congressional Record, November 9, 2009, at Page S11303.

11/9. The Senate confirmed Charlene Honeywell to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. See, Congressional Record, November 9, 2009, at Page S11303.

11/9. Luis Mejia, Chief Litigation Counsel in the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) Division of Enforcement, will leave the SEC to join the Washington DC office of the law firm of DLA Piper. See, SEC release.

11/9. Kim Allman was named SVP for State Government Affairs at the TechAmerica. She previously worked for the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

11/9. John Bergmayer joined the Public Knowledge (PK) as a staff attorney. He graduated from the University of Colorado Law School earlier this year. He was previously a summer law clerk at the PK.

11/5. The Senate confirmed Patrick Gallagher (at right) to be head of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). See, Department of Commerce release and Congressional Record, November 5, 2009, at Page S11237.

11/5. The Senate confirmed Benjamin Wagner to be the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California for the term of four years. See, Congressional Record, November 5, 2009, at Page S11237.

11/5. The Senate confirmed Carmen Ortiz to be the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts for the term of four years. See, Congressional Record, November 5, 2009, at Page S11237.

11/5. The Senate confirmed Edward Tarver to be the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia for the term of four years. See, Congressional Record, November 5, 2009, at Page S11237.

11/4. President Obama nominated Albert Diaz to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. See, White House news office release and release. He is currently a state trial court judge in North Carolina.

11/4. President Obama nominated James Wynn to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. See, White House news office release and release. He is currently a judge of the North Carolina Court of Appeals, an intermediate state appellate court.

11/4. The Senate confirmed Tara O'Toole to be Under Secretary for Science and Technology at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). See, Congressional Record, November 4, 2009, at Page S11130.

11/9. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report [85 pages in PDF] titled "Information Technology: Agencies Need to Improve the Implementation and Use of Earned Value Techniques to Help Manage Major System Acquisitions".

11/6. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) held a hearing at Gallaudet University titled "Disabilities Access Issues". This relates to the FCC's drafting of a document titled "National Broadband Plan". See, speech by FCC Commissioner Michael Copps, and speech by FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell.

11/5. David Kappos (at right), head of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), gave a speech at the USPTO's 14th Annual Independent Inventors Conference, in which he discussed fees, pendency, first to file, post grant reviews, other aspects of patent reform legislation, and other topics. He stated that "The USPTO is entirely funded by the fees it collects and with the recession has come a significant decline in revenue. We're currently facing a 200 million dollar shortfall which means we've had to freeze hiring -- which means our workforce is actually declining in size. We'll likely have to increase fees to make up for the shortfall."

11/3. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Michael Copps gave a speech [5 pages in PDF] on November 2, and another speech [2 pages in PDF] on November 3, 2009, regarding the FCC's media ownership rules, and regulation of speech generally. He stated, "let's not draw too clear a line between traditional and new media because the media environment evolves over time, traditional media is not about to disappear, and the American people will, for years yet, get the bulk of their news and information from television and newspapers -- directly, of course, but also from the websites of their local papers and TV stations. Focusing only on the potential of new media is not going to repair the problems of the old. Consolidation and an inability thus far to support the infrastructure of in-depth news-gathering and analysis can be as much of a problem on the Internet as in traditional newsrooms." He added, "Let's take extraordinary care that we do not allow the sins visited upon old media to be cast upon the new." He also spoke about localism, consolidation, feminine and minority owners, and FCC licensing.

10/27. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a notice in the Federal Register requesting comments regarding its proposed Patents Ombudsman Pilot Program. The deadline to submit comments is November 27, 2009. See, Federal Register, October 27, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 206, at Page 55212.

10/27. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a lengthy notice in the Federal Register that provides guidance on the statutes, regulations and policies that support the USPTO's Electronic Filing
System -- Web (EFS-Web) project. See, Federal Register, October 27, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 206, at Pages 55200-55211.

10/26. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a notice in the Federal Register that announces, describes, recites, and sets the effective date (December 28, 2009) of, its revisions to its Trademark Rules of Practice "to set forth the requirements for signature of documents filed in the Office, recognition of representatives, and establishing and changing the correspondence address in trademark cases". See, Federal Register, October 26, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 205, at Pages 54898-54912.

The House will not meet.

The Senate will meet at 10:00 AM. It will resume consideration of HR 3082 [LOC | WW], the "Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, 2010".

12:00 NOON - 1:15 PM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will hold a brown bag lunch titled "Meet the 8th Floor Media Advisors". The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) states that this is an FCBA event. Location: National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), 1771 N St., NW.

1:00 - 2:30 PM. The American Bar Association's (ABA) Section of Real Property, Trust & Estate Law will host a seminar by teleconference titled "Passwords and Personalty: Planning and Pitfalls in the Disposition of Tangible and Quasi-Tangible Property". This seminar will address the disposition of digital assets, including computer passwords, e-mail accounts and social networking profiles. Prices vary. See, notice.

1:00 - 2:30 PM. The American Bar Association's (ABA) Section of Antitrust Law will host a seminar by teleconference titled "Privacy & Information Security Update". The speakers will be David Fagan, Yaron Dori, Dan Cooper, Jamillia Ferris, and Erin Egan of the law firm of Covington & Burling. See, notice.

2:00 PM. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will host a webcast speech by Bruce McConnell (Counselor to National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD) Deputy Under Secretary Philip Reitinger) titled "A Perspective on National Strategy for Identity Management and Cyber Security".

2:00 - 3:30 PM. The Department of Justice's (DOJ) Antitrust Division's Economic Analysis Group will host a presentation by Joe Farrell (FTC) titled "Some Welfare Analytics of Aftermarkets" To request permission to attend, contact Patrick Greenlee at 202-307-3745 or atr dot eag at usdoj dot gov. Location: DOJ, Liberty Square Building, 450 5th St., NW.

Veterans' Day. This is a federal holiday. See, Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) web page titled "2009 Federal Holidays".

9:00 AM - 1:00 PM. The Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI) will host an event titled "Unlocking the Future of Communications". The keynote speaker will be Robert McDowell (FCC Commissioner). One panel is titled "A Bundle of Unbundling -- A Global Perspective". The speakers will be Massimiliano Trovto (Istituto Bruno Leoni), Greg Frazier (MPAA), and Scott Cleland (Precursor LLC). The other panel is titled "Insider Discussion: The Future of Communications". The speakers will be Michael McCurry (Arts + Labs) and Carolyn Brandon (Georgetown University School of Business). Lunch will be served. RSVP to Erin Humiston at 972-874-5239 or erin at ipi dot org. Location: Reserve Officer Association Building, 5th floor, 1 Constitution Ave., NE.

TIME CHANGE. 9:30 AM - 2:30 PM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will hold a hearing titled "The Role of Broadband in Improving Public Safety Communications and Emergency Response" to assist it in drafting a document titled "National Broadband Plan". See, agenda. Location: Georgetown University, Leavey Center, 3900 Reservoir Rd, NW.

2:30 PM. The Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) Bureau of Economics will host a presentation by Lawrence White (New York University business school) titled "The Credit Rating Agencies: How Did We Get Here? Where Should We Go?". See, paper [24 pages in PDF] with the same title. Location: FTC, 601 New Jersey Ave., NW.

7:00 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) will host an event titled "20th Annual Charity Auction". It states that "prizes are expected to include vacation packages, electronics products, tickets to various sporting events (including Redskins, Wizards, Capitals, and Nationals games), Verizon Center events, theater tickets, dinners, lunches, spa packages, and gift certificates from area businesses". Location: Hamilton Crowne Plaza Hotel, Sphinx Ballroom at the Almas Temple, 1315 K St., NW.

Day one of a two day event hosted by the American Bar Association's (ABA) Standing Committee on Law and National Security titled "Nineteenth Annual Review of the Field for National Security Law". At 8:30 to 10:00 AM there will be a panel comprised of David Kris (Assistant Attorney General in charge of the DOJ's National Security Division), Robert Litt (Office of the Director of National Intelligence General Counsel), Stephen Preston (CIA GC), Ivan Fong (DHS GC), and Jeh Johnson (DOD GC). At 10:45 AM - 12:30 PM there will be a panel on legislative developments. The speakers will be Suzanne Spaulding (Bingham Consulting Group), Chris Donesa (Republican Chief Counsel of the House Intelligence Committee), Perry Apelbaum (Staff Director and Chief Counsel of the House Committee on the Judiciary), Brandon Milhorn (Republican Staff Director and Chief Counsel of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee), and Rick DeBobes (Staff Director of the Senate Committee on Armed Services). Location: Renaissance Washington DC Hotel, Renaissance Ballroom, 999 9th St., NW.

Day one of a two day conference hosted by the American Bar Association's (ABA) Section of Antitrust Law titled "Fall Forum Agenda". At 9:00 AM, Carl Shapiro, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Economic Analysis in the DOJ's Antitrust Division, will speak. At 9:45 AM there will be a panel titled "DOJ Enforcement Agenda". The speakers will include Phil Weiser (Deputy Assistant Attorney General for International, Policy and Appellate Matters). At 11:15 AM - 12:30 PM, there will be a panel titled "FTC Enforcement Agenda". The speakers will include Joseph Farrell (Director of the FTC's Bureau of Economics), Richard Feinstein (Director of the FTC's Bureau of Competition), and David Vladeck (Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection). At 1:30 PM, William Kovacic (FTC Commissioner) will give a lunch speech titled "The Application of Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act". At 2:30 - 3:45 PM, there will be a panel titled "Shaping Antitrust Policies: The Role of the Courts". The speakers will include Douglas Ginsburg, Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. See, agenda [PDF]. Location: National Press Club, 13th Floor, 529 14th St., NW.

Day one of a three day event hosted by the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies titled "2009 National Lawyers Convention". At 12:00 NOON - 2:00 PM there will be a panel titled "Intellectual Property and Economic Growth". See, conference web site. Location: Mayflower Hotel, 1127 Connecticut Ave., NW.

5:00 PM. Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) regarding its draft SP 800-78-2 [20 pages in PDF] titled "Cryptographic Algorithms and Key Sizes for Personal Identification Verification (PIV)".

Deadline to submit comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Public Notice [4 pages in PDF] regarding numerous topics, including public safety mobile wireless broadband networks, "Next Generation 911", cybersecurity, and and emergency alert and warning systems. The FCC seeks answers to questions to assist it in drafting a document titled "National Broadband Plan", and for other purposes. This item is DA 09-2133 in GN Docket Nos. 09-47, 09-51, and 09-137; PS Docket Nos. 06-229, 07-100, and 07-114; WT Docket No. 06-150; CC Docket No. 94-102; and WC Docket No. 05-196.

12:30 -1:30 PM. Tthe Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Legislative Committee will host a closed brown bag lunch titled "Telecommunications Issues Before Congress". Location: Goodfriend Government Affairs, 5th floor, 1300 19th St., NW.

Day two of a two day event hosted by the American Bar Association's (ABA) Standing Committee on Law and National Security titled "Nineteenth Annual Review of the Field for National Security Law". At 12:30 PM Janet Napolitano will give the keynote address. At 2:30 - 4:15 PM there will be a panel titled "Cyber Security and Cyber Warfare". The speakers will be Spike Bowman (University of Virginia School of Law), Bradford Bleier (Supervisory Special Agent of the FBI's Cyber Division), Philip Reitinger (DHS Deputy Undersecretary of National Protection and Programs Directorate), Chris Painter (acting Senior Director for Cybersecurity at the National Security Council), Kim Taipale (Center for Advanced Studies in Science and Technology Policy. Location: Renaissance Washington DC Hotel, Renaissance Ballroom, 999 9th St., NW.

Day two of a two day conference hosted by the American Bar Association's (ABA) Section of Antitrust Law titled "Fall Forum Agenda". At 8:30 - 10:00 AM, there will be a panel on antitrust enforcement by states. At 10:00 - 11:15 AM, there will be a panel titled "Major Developments Abroad: Recent Developments in EC Enforcement, Early Returns on Chinese Enforcement and Developments in Canada". At 11:30 AM - 12:45 PM, there will be a panel titled "The Role of Sector Specific Regulators In Merger Review". The speakers will include James Bird, head antitrust merger reviews at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). See, agenda [PDF]. Location: National Press Club, 13th Floor, 529 14th St., NW.

Day two of a three day event hosted by the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies titled "2009 National Lawyers Convention". At 3:15 - 4:45 PM there will be a panel titled "The Fairness Doctrine". See, conference web site. Location: Mayflower Hotel, 1127 Connecticut Ave., NW.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Public Notice [PDF] that requests comments regarding "the sufficiency of current spectrum allocations in spectrum bands, including but not limited to the prime spectrum bands below 3.7 GHz". This is to aid the FCC in drafting its "National Broadband Plan". This item is DA 09-2100 in GN Docket Nos. 09-47, 09-51, and 09-137.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Copyright Office and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ((USPTO) in response to the Notice of Inquiry (NOI) regarding the draft treaty [PDF] proposed to the World Intellectual Property Organization's (WIPO) Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) by Brazil, Ecuador, and Paraguay. See, notice in the Federal Register, October 13, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 196, at Pages 52507-52509, and story titled "Copyright Office and USPTO Issue NOI Regarding Treaty Based Exemption to Anti-Circumvention Provisions" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,003, October 15, 2009.

Day three of a three day event hosted by the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies titled "2009 National Lawyers Convention". At 10:45 AM - 12:15 PM there will be a panel titled "Broadband Policy -- One Year In". At 2:30 - 4:15 PM there will be a panel titled "Control of the Bureaucracy". See, conference web site. Location: Mayflower Hotel, 1127 Connecticut Ave., NW.

7:00 AM - 8:30 PM. The Executive Office of the President's (EOP) Office of Science and Technology Policy's (OSTP) National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO) will hold an event titled "Nanotechnology Primer Public Pre-meeting". See, notice in the Federal Register, October 30, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 209, at Pages 56246. Location: Holiday Inn Rosslyn Key Bridge, 1900 N. Fort Myer Drive, Arlington, VA.

6:00 - 8:00 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) will host a reception for Jonathan Blake, Judith Harris, and Henry Rivera. Register by contacting Desiree Logan at dlogan at reedsmith dot com. Location: Reed Smith, East Tower, Penthouse, 1301 K St., NW.

Deadline to submit comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Public Notice [4 pages in PDF] regarding the proposed creation of a "broadband clearinghouse". The FCC has received comments making such a proposal. See for example, comment [PDF] of the Public Knowledge at page 40. The FCC This item is DA 09-2167 in GN Docket Nos. 09-47, 09-51, and 09-137.

Deadline to submit comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding the report [232 pages in PDF] issued by the Harvard University Law School titled "Next Generation Connectivity: A review of broadband Internet transitions and policy from around the world". See, FCC Public Notice. The FCC requests comments to assist it in drafting a document titled "National Broadband Plan". This Public Notice is DA 09-2217 in GN Docket Nos. 09-47, 09-51, and 09-137.

8:30 AM - 5:00 PM. Day one of a two day meeting of the Executive Office of the President's (EOP) Office of Science and Technology Policy's (OSTP) National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO). See, notice in the Federal Register, October 30, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 209, at Pages 56245-56246. Location: Holiday Inn Rosslyn Key Bridge, 1900 N. Fort Myer Drive, Arlington, VA.

9:30 AM - 4:30 PM. The Heritage Foundation will host a one day conference titled "Measuring Innovation and Change During Turbulent Economic Times". This event will address how innovation can become a standard component of U.S. national accounting system, and how incorporating innovation metrics will aid the development of a unified picture of the sources of growth and economic disruption. See, notice. Location: Heritage, 214 Massachusetts Ave., NE.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee's (SJC) Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security will hold a hearing titled "Cybersecurity: Preventing Terrorist Attacks and Protecting Privacy in Cyberspace". The witnesses will be James Baker (Associate Deputy Attorney General), Philip Reitinger (Director of the DHS's National Cyber Security Center), Richard Schaeffer (Director of the NSA's Information Assurance Directorate), Steven Chabinsky (Deputy Assistant Director of the FBI's Cyber Division), Gregory Nojeim (Center for Democracy and Technology), Larry Clinton (Internet Security Alliance), and Larry Wortzel (Vice Chairman of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission). The SJC will webcast this hearing. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

10:00 - 11:30 AM. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host a panel discussion titled "Explaining International Mobile Payments Leadership". The speakers will be Rob Atkinson (ITIF), Stephen Ezell (ITIF), Pragnesh Shah (Network Solutions), David Jeppsen (NTT DOCOMO USA), and Mark McCarthy. See, notice. Location: ITIF, 1101 K St., NW.

2:30 PM. The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) will hold a hearing titled "Aggressive Sales Tactics on the Internet and Their Impact on American Consumers". See, notice. Location: Room 253, Russell Building.

5:00 PM. Deadline to submit petitions to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR) for competitive need limitation (CNL) waivers and Section 503(c)(1)(E) determinations regarding products not produced in the U.S. on January 1, 1995. See, notice in the Federal Register, May 28, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 101, Page 25605-25607.

6:00 - 8:15 PM. The DC Bar Association will host an event titled "Export Controls and Economic Sanctions 2009: Recent Developments and Current Issues". The speakers will be Carol Kalinoski and Thomas Scott. The price to attend ranges from $89 to $129. Most DC Bar events are not open to the public. This event qualifies for continuing legal education (CLE) credits. See, notice. For more information, call 202-626-3488. Location: DC Bar Conference Center, 1101 K St., NW.

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