4/14. The House passed HR 3506 [LOC | WW], a bill to eliminate certain GLB Act privacy notices, without a roll call vote, without objection. The House first amended the title of the bill.

Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-MN) introduced this bill on July 31, 2009. He stated in the House that "This bill will help reduce the burden and confusion of privacy notice requirements by providing exemption from sending an annual privacy notice for those institutions that do not share nonpublic customer information with unaffiliated third parties or those that do not change their privacy policies at all." See, Congressional Record, April 14, 2010, at Page H2513.

He continued that "Under current law, banks and other financial institutions are required to send out an annual privacy notification to their customers informing them that nothing has changed, and they still do not share privacy information. This is often quite very confusing to customers."

He also stated that "this legislation only applies to those institutions that do not share personal financial information with third parties and do not change their privacy policies. This means that the privacy policy that banks must provide to consumers when they open an account remains completely unaffected."

Rep. Dennis Moore (D-KS) stated in the House that this bill "will help minimize confusion consumers have about their privacy rights regarding two conflicting provisions of two prior laws. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act specifically prohibits subject companies from sharing personal information with third parties. Yet the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act still requires these firms to provide annual privacy notices that allow consumers to opt out of having their information shared with third parties. Since this practice is already prohibited by law, these annual notices only confuse the consumers that receive them."

The 106th Congress passed the Financial Modernization Act of 1999, now Public Law No. 106-102, which is better known as the Gramm Leach Bliley Act, or GLB. The main purpose of the GLB Act was to enable financial institutions, such as banks and insurance companies, to associate. Since this process provided financial institutions with increased access to the personal financial information of customers, the Congress also included provisions intended to protect financial privacy.

Section 503 of the GLB Act, titled "Disclosure of institution privacy policy", requires numerous and voluminous disclosures to customers. It is codified at 15 U.S.C. § 6803.

This bill was referred to the House Financial Services Committee (HFSC). It held no hearing or markup on this bill. However, the substance of this bill was part of a larger HFSC bill that the House, but not the Senate, passed in the 110th Congress.

4/14. The House passed HR 1258 [LOC | WW], the "Truth in Caller ID Act of 2010", without a roll call vote, without objection. The House first amended the title of the bill.

Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) and Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) introduced this bill on March 3, 2009. Rep. Engel stated in the House that there is a need for "an immediate change in our laws to help prevent identity theft, to crack down on fraudulent phone calls, and to protect legitimate uses of caller ID technology". See, Congressional Record, April 14, 2010, at Page H2522.

Rep. Engel (at right) continued that people are able to perpetrate the credit card fraud and identity theft "by using caller ID spoofing. This disturbing fact about spoofing is not just that it's legal but how easy it is to carry out. Criminals use a tool called a ``spoof card´´ to change their outgoing caller ID and even to disguise their voices. Now, if you see a caller ID and you see it has a phone number, most people think that it's ironclad that that's the actual phone number that's calling them when in truth it's not. This technology even allows people to disguise their voice in order to trick banks into giving them access to their victims' accounts. So a man can do that and have his voice change into a woman's voice and vice versa. So it's absolutely deceptive, absolutely scary, and dangerous; and this tool is available to anyone with access to a Web browser. So it's just ridiculous. The technology has gotten so far ahead of us, we need to have these kinds of laws to simply catch up."

This bill would not require "truth" in all caller ID information. Callers would remain free to block caller ID information. Callers would remain free to transmit false caller ID information, provided it is not with intent to defraud or deceive. And, law enforcement and intelligence agencies would remain free to do whatever they choose with caller ID information.

This bill would amend 47 U.S.C. § 227 to provide that "It shall be unlawful for any person within the United States, in connection with any real time voice communications service, regardless of the technology or network utilized, to cause any caller ID service to transmit misleading or inaccurate caller ID information, with the intent to defraud or deceive".

Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) stated that caller ID spoofing is being used in political campaigns. He said that it is used "to call different homes in robo phone banking that calls and go around the congressional district as a fake and wake people up at 2 or 3 in the morning and people think this is coming from someone who it is not, and this has happened on both sides of the aisle."

Rep. Stearns asserted, "So this would prevent that."

Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA) stated that "Spoofing threatens a number of existing business applications, including credit card verification and automatic call routing, because these systems rely on the telephone number as identified by the caller ID system as one piece of verification and authentication information."

He also elaborated on the meaning of "intent to defraud or deceive". He said that "By prohibiting the use of caller ID spoofing only where the intent is to defraud or deceive, this measure will address nefarious uses of the technology while continuing to allow those legitimate uses. In the domestic violence shelter situation, there is no intent to cause harm, which is an element of the crime of deception. Therefore, using caller ID spoofing to protect the location of a victim of domestic violence is not deceptive, and would be allowed under the provisions of the bill now under consideration."

The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet (SCTI) marked up the bill on October 8, 2009. See, story titled "House Communications Subcommittee Approves Truth in Caller ID Act" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,000, October 9, 2009.

The HCC marked it up on March 10, 2010. See, amendment in the nature of a substitute [4 pages in PDF], and story titled "House Commerce Committee Approves Truth in Caller ID Act" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,059, March 19, 2010.

The companion bill in the Senate is S 30 [LOC | WW], also titled the "Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009". The Senate passed it on February 23, 2010. However, the two bills are different.

4/14. The House passed HR 3125 [LOC | WW], the "Radio Spectrum Inventory Act", by a vote of 394-18. See, Roll Call No. 201.

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA) and others introduced this bill on July 8, 2009. Rep. Boucher is the Chairman of the House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet (SCTI).

Rep. Boucher (at left) stated in the House that "Wireless communications services are rapidly growing. Each year, millions of users graduate from basic cellular telephone services to Smart telephones that employ a broad range of data services. Those services require far greater bandwidth than traditional cellular telephones; and the data services that are offered through Smartphones are becoming ever more sophisticated, often employing full-motion video as part of the range of applications that can be made available through the Smartphones." See, Congressional Record, April 14, 2010, at Page H2526.

He continued that "Even the launch later this year of the fourth generation of the wireless services by the major cellular service providers using the spectrum that was previously occupied by the television broadcasters for their analog television transmissions will only provide a brief respite with regard to these ever-rising demands for additional spectrum, and so we clearly are compelled to act."

He explained that this bill would require the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) "to undertake a comprehensive survey of the Nation's spectrum and report to us on current spectrum utilization, and include recommendations of which, if any, of the least utilized blocks of spectrum could be reallocated for commercial use or subjected to spectrum sharing with commercial users."

Rep. Boucher added that "It will produce a timely blueprint for our future decisions about which spectrum should be reallocated for auctions to commercial service providers."

Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL), the ranking Republican on the HCC's SCTI, added that "Congress ultimately will decide whether reallocation should occur. For Congress to make such an informed judgment, we need a solid set of facts before we do it."

More exactly, this bill would require the NTIA and FCC to "create an inventory of each radio spectrum band of frequencies listed in the United States Table of Frequency Allocations, from 225 megahertz to, at a minimum, 3.7 gigahertz, and to 10 gigahertz unless the NTIA and the Commission determine that the burden of expanding the inventory outweighs the benefit".

Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA) is the Chairman of the Congressional Electronic Warfare Working Group and a former electronics warfare officer in the U.S. Air Force. He stated that "While I understand the importance of the potential economic value of the spectrum inventory, it is vital that this bill take into account the criticality of the electromagnetic spectrum to military training and operations and the importance of the U.S. military controlling the spectrum in conflict."

He added, "I will support this bill today, but we must be very vigilant as the inventory is taken. If mistakes are made, serious negative consequences will ensue, consequences that could harm the warfighter and his ability to use the spectrum in training and war."

See also, story titled "Representatives Introduce Spectrum Inventory Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,968, July 9, 2009. The HCC's Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet (SCTI) held a hearing on December 15, 2009. The SCTI and amended and approved this bill on January 21, 2010. The HCC amended and approved this bill on March 10, 2010. See, stories titled "House Commerce Committee Approves Radio Spectrum Inventory Act" and "Senate Commerce Committee Reports Radio Spectrum Inventory Act" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,059, March 19, 2010.

The related bill in the Senate is S 649 [LOC | WW], also titled the "Radio Spectrum Inventory Act". See, story titled "Senate Commerce Committee Reports Radio Spectrum Inventory Act" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,059, March 19, 2010.

4/14. Ed Black, head of the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) sent a letter [PDF] to President Obama urging him to appoint Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) to fill the Supreme Court seat to be vacated by Justice John Paul Stevens.

His basic argument is that the Supreme Court should have a member who understands technology related legal issues, and she is such a person.

Rep. Lofgren (at right) has represented a Silicon Valley district in the House of Representatives since first being elected in 1994. She is a member of the House Judiciary Committee (HJC).

Black wrote that "As we are living in an information economy where everything is becoming digital, we would advocate picking someone with a deep understanding of technology issues."

He also wrote that Rep. Lofgren "understands where the law and technology intersect and has applied current law and sought to make new law when necessary to ensure technology is a force for good in society by expanding equal access to opportunities through open Internet access. She has also acted as a watchdog when the government or others infringed on the privacy of Internet users -- or broke the law when collecting information on Americans. Lofgren has been a solid voice promoting fair, balanced competition that boosts innovation and our economy. Lofgren's sharp mind, deep understanding of tech issues and common sense approach to resolving issues would be an asset to the High Court."

Black only offered one name. However, there are other House Democrats who also have a wide understanding of new technologies and technology related areas of law, such as Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA), Chairman of the House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet. He is also a member of the HJC.

Also, whether Rep. Lofgren would want to serve on the Supreme Court is another question.

4/15. HR 4954 [LOC | WW], a bill regarding false patent markings, had been on the House schedule for the week of April 12, 2010. A spokesman for Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), who introduced the bill on March 25, told TLJ that it was taken off the calendar to address one concern, and that it will likely be considered soon by the full House. See also, story titled "Representatives Introduce Bill to Amend Patent Act Regarding Remedies for False Markings" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,067, March 30, 2010.

4/14. Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) introduced HR 5026 [LOC | WW], a bill to amend the Federal Power Act regarding the cyber security and other vulnerabilities of the bulk power system and electric infrastructure. The bill was referred to the House Commerce Committee (HCC). Rep. Markey and Rep. Upton are the Chairman and ranking Republican on the HCC's Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment.

4/14. On April 13, 2010, Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL) introduced HR 4997 [LOC | WW], a bill to authorize appropriations for Fiscal Years 2011 through 2015 for the National Science Foundation (NSF). The bill was referred to the House Science Committee (HSC). On April 14, the HSC's Subcommittee on Research and Science Education amended and approved this bill. See, HSC release, with hyperlinks to amendments.

4/12. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report [41 pags in PDF] titled "Intellectual Property: Observations on Efforts to Quantify the Economic Effects of Counterfeit and Pirated Goods".

This report, written for the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, was required by the "Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property (PRO-IP) Act of 2008". This was S 3325 [LOC | WW] in the 110th Congress. It is now Public Law No. 110-403.

The PRO-IP Act was enacted at the urging of representatives of U.S. copyright based industries. The House and Senate Judiciary Committees, which drafted and revised the PRO-IP Act, are stacked with members who advocate the interests of the copyright based industries.

Yet, this report is not a promotional piece for the copyright industries.

Lack of Reliable Data on Consequences of Piracy. For example, while groups that advocate intellectual property rights and enforcement have published many studies that estimate and quantify loses resulting IP infringements, this report offers no estimates.

Instead, it concludes that "estimating the economic impact of IP infringements is extremely difficult, and assumptions must be used due to the absence of data". It explains that "Counterfeiting and piracy are illicit activities, which makes data on them inherently difficult to obtain."

The report continues that "Commerce and FBI officials told us they rely on industry statistics on counterfeit and pirated goods and do not conduct any original data gathering to assess the economic impact of counterfeit and pirated goods on the U.S. economy or domestic industries. However, according to experts and government officials, industry associations do not always disclose their proprietary data sources and methods, making it difficult to verify their estimates."

The report also states that "Because of the lack of data on illicit trade, methods for calculating estimates of economic losses must involve certain assumptions, and the resulting economic loss estimates are highly sensitive to the assumptions used."

For example, the Business Software Alliance (BSA) "publishes piracy estimates based on a set of annual surveys it conducts in different countries. Based on its survey results, the industry association estimated the U.S. piracy rate at 20 percent for business software, carrying a loss of $9 billion in 2008. This study defined piracy as the difference between total installed software and legitimate software sold, and its scope involved only packaged physical software. While this study has an enviable data set on industries and consumers located around the world from its country surveys, it uses assumptions that have raised concerns among experts we interviewed, including the assumption of a one-to-one rate of substitution and questions on how the results from the surveyed countries are extrapolated to nonsurveyed countries." (Footnote omitted.)

Benefits of Piracy. The report also states that there are benefits from piracy.

This report notes that some consumers "experience some positive effects from counterfeits and piracy", that is, "from lower prices of counterfeit and pirated goods". Also, "industry" can benefit from "Increased sales of legitimate goods based on consumer ``sampling´´ of pirated goods".

The report elaborates. "Some consumers may knowingly purchase a counterfeit or pirated product because it is less expensive than the genuine good or because the genuine good is unavailable, and they may experience positive effects from such purchases. For example, consumers in the United States and other countries purchase counterfeit copies of high-priced luxury-branded fashion goods at low prices, although the products’ packaging and sales venues make it apparent they are not genuine. Consumers may purchase movies that have yet to be released in theaters and are unavailable in legitimate form. Lower-priced counterfeit goods may exert competitive pressure to lower prices for legitimate goods, which may benefit consumers. However, according to the OECD, the longer-term impact for consumers of falling prices for legitimate goods is unclear, as these changes may affect the speed of innovation."

The report states that "There are also certain instances when IP rights holders in some industries might experience potentially positive effects from the knowing consumption of pirated or counterfeit goods. For example, consumers may use pirated goods to ``sample´´ music, movies, software, or electronic games before purchasing legitimate copies, which may lead to increased sales of legitimate goods."

In addition, the report states, "industries with products that are characterized by large ``switching costs,´´ may also benefit from piracy due to lock-in effects. For example, some experts we spoke with and literature we reviewed discussed how consumers after being introduced to the pirated version might get locked into new legitimate software because of large switching costs, such as a steep learning curve, reluctance to switch to new products, and search costs incurred by consumers to identify a new product to use."

It next states that "Some authors have argued that companies that experience revenue losses in one line of business -- such as movies -- may also increase revenues in related or complementary businesses due to increased brand awareness. For instance, companies may experience increased revenues due to the sales of merchandise that are based on movie characters whose popularity is enhanced by sales of pirated movies."

Also, "some industries may experience an increase in demand for their products because of piracy in other industries. This expert identified Internet infrastructure manufacturers (e.g., companies that make routers) as possible beneficiaries of digital piracy, because of the bandwidth demands related to the transfer of pirated digital content." (Parentheses in original.)

Other Findings. The report also contains findings that are more in line with the advocacy of the copyright industries.

For example, "The U.S. economy as a whole may grow at a slower pace than it otherwise would because of counterfeiting and piracy's effect on U.S. industries, government, and consumers."

It also states that "IP owners or producers of legitimate goods who lose revenue because of competition from counterfeiters pay less in taxes", and the government spends money on IP enforcement.

It also states that "Researchers have found anecdotal evidence that organized criminal and terrorist organizations are involved in counterfeiting and piracy."

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. See, Rep. Hoyer's schedule for the week of April 12, and schedule for April 15.

The Senate will meet at 9:30 AM. It will resume consideration of HR 4851 [LOC | WW], the "Continuing Extension Act of 2010", a bill to provide numerous short extensions to expiring statutes.

8:15 AM - 12:00 NOON. Day two of a two day meeting of the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Engineering Advisory Committee. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 24, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 56, at Page 14205. Location: NSF, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1235, Arlington, VA.

POSTPONED.10:00 AM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Telecommunications, Technology and the Internet will hold a hearing titled "The National Broadband Plan: Competitive Availability Of Navigation Devices". See, notice. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

11:00 AM. 10:00 AM. The House Judiciary Committee's (HJC) Subcommittee on the Commercial and Administrative Law will hold a hearing titled "State Taxation -- The Impact of Congressional Legislation on State and Local Government Revenues". This hearing will address technology related tax issues, such as state sales taxation of out of state internet retailers, business activity taxes, use taxes, the Supreme Court's 1992 opinion in Quill v. North Dakota, 504 U.S. 298, the proposed multi-state tax cartel, and a bill soon to be introduced by Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-MA). See, HR 3396 [LOC | WW] (110th Congress), titled the "Sales Tax Fairness and Simplification Act". See, HJC notice. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold an executive business meeting. The agenda again includes consideration of S 3111 [LOC | WW], the "Faster FOIA Act of 2010", a bill to create a powerless commission that would write a toothless report on why federal officials do not comply with the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which is codified at 5 U.S.C. § 552. The agenda also includes consideration judicial nominees: Sharon Coleman (to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois), Gary Feinerman (USDC/NDIll), and William Martinez (USDC/DColo). The SJC rarely follows its published agendas. The SJC will webcast this event. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Appropriations Committee (SAC) will hold a hearing on the FY 2011 budget for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The witness will be FBI Director John Mueller. Location: Room 192, Dirksen Building.

11:00 AM. The House Appropriations Committee's (HAC) Subcommittee on Homeland Security will hold a hearing titled "DHS Cyber Security Programs -- What progress has been made and what still needs to be improved?". The witnesses will be Rand Beers (DHS Undersecretary for National Protection and Programs Directorate) and Greg Schaffer (DHS Assistant Secretary for Cyber Security and Communications). Location: Room H-140, Capitol Building.

2:30 PM. The Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) Bureau of Economics (BOE) will host a seminar presented by Annamaria Lusardi (Dartmouth University Department of Economics). She focuses on consumers' financial education and literacy. Location: FTC, Conference Center, 601 New Jersey Ave., NW.

6:00 - 9:15 PM. The DC Bar Association will host an event titled "Relationship Between Intellectual Property and Government Contracts". This is the first of a two part series. The second is on April 22. The speakers will be David Bloch (Winston & Strawn), Richard Gray (DOD Office of General Counsel), John Lucas (Department of Energy), and James McEwen (Stein McEwen). 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.

Day three of a three day event hosted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) titled "9th Symposium on Identity and Trust on the Internet". See, notice. The price to attend is $180. Location: NIST, Administration Building, Green Auditorium, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD.

11:59 PM. Deadline to submit comments to the Executive Office of the President's (EOP) Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) regarding President Obama's documents titled "Strategy for American Innovation" and release titled "Grand Challenges of the 21st Century". See, notice in the Federal Register: February 3, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 22, at Pages 5634-5636.

The House may meet at 9:00 AM for legislative business. See, Rep. Hoyer's schedule for the week of April 12.

10:00 AM. The House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) will hold a hearing on HR 2266 [LOC | WW] and HR 2267 [LOC | WW], bills to legalize, regulate, and tax certain internet gambling businesses. See, notice. Location: Room 2128, Rayburn Building.

RESCHEDULED FROM MARCH 24. 10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold a hearing on the embattled nomination of Goodwin Liu to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals (9thCir). This hearing will also cover the nominations of Kimberly Mueller to be Judge of the U.S. District Court (EDCal), Richard Gergel (USDC/DSCar), Michelle Childs (USDC/DSCar), and Catherine Eagles (USDC/MDNC). Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) will preside. See, notice. The SJC will webcast this event. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM - 1:00 PM. The Department of Health and Human Services' (DHHS) Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology's (ONCHIT) HIT Policy Committee's Strategic Plan Workgroup will meet by webcast and teleconference. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 17, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 51, at Pages 12752-12753.

12:00 NOON - 2:00 PM. The Progress & Freedom Foundation (PFF) will host a panel discussion titled "Super-Sizing the FTC & What It Means for the Internet, Media & Advertising". The speakers will be Maureen Ohlhausen (Wilkinson Barker & Knauer), Jim Davidson (Polsinelli Shughart), Stu Inglis (Venable), Jack Calfee (AEI), and Berin Szoka (PFF). Lunch will be served. This event is free and open to the public. See, notice. Location: Room SVC 208/209, Capitol Building.

12:00 NOON - 2:15 PM. The Free State Foundation (FSF) will host an event titled "Future of Media Inquiry: What Is The FCC Is Doing -- And Why?". The speakers will include Steve Waldman (FCC), Deborah Tate, Donna Gregg, and James Taranto (Wall Street Journal). Lunch will be served. This event is free and open to the public. Register with Susan Reichbart at sreichbart at freestatefoundation dot org. Location: National Press Club, 13th Floor, 529 14th St. NW.

12:15 - 1:30 PM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will host an event titled "Public Safety Provisions in the National Broadband Plan". Jamie Barnett, Chief of the FCC's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, will preside. Other FCC officials will also be present. The FCBA asserts that this is an FCBA event. Location: Holland & Knight, 2099 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

Day one of a three day event hosted by the American Cable Association (ACA) titled "ACA's 17th Annual Summit". See, notice. Location: Gaylord National Resort, 201 Waterfront Street, National Harbor, MD.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Order and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding expanding the FCC's e-rate tax and subsidy program to cover non-educational uses. This NPRM is FCC 10-33 in CC Docket No. 02-6. The FCC adopted it on February 18, 2010, and released the text [26 pages in PDF] on February 19, 2010. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 5, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 43, at Page 10199-10203, and story titled "FCC Expands E-Rate Program to Cover Non-Educational Services" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,047, February 18, 2010.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in its proceeding titled "In the Matter of Jurisdictional Separations and Referral to the Federal-State Joint Board". The FCC adopted this item on March 26, 2010, and released the text [22 pages in PDF] on March 29, 2010. This NPRM is FCC 10-47 in CC Docket No. 80-286. Jurisdictional separations is the process by which incumbent local exchange carriers (ILEC) apportion regulated costs between the intrastate and interstate jurisdictions. There is an order in effect, which the FCC keeps extending, that freezes category relationships and jurisdictional cost allocation factors, pending some hypothetical future comprehensive reform. This NPRM proposes to once again extend the freeze, which is currently set to expire on June 30, 2010, until June 30, 2011. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 5, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 64, at Pages 17109-17111.

8:30 AM - 5:00 PM. Day one of a three day closed meeting of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Homeland Security Science and Technology Advisory Committee. See, notice in the Federal Register: April 12, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 69, at Page 18516. Location: National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center, 110 Thomas Johnson Drive, Suite 400, Frederick, MD.

9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. The Department of Health and Human Services' (DHHS) Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology's (ONCHIT) HIT Policy Committee's Meaningful Use Workgroup will holding a meeting by webcast and teleconference on "Patient Engagement". See, notice in the Federal Register, March 17, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 51, at Pages 12752-12753.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold a hearing titled "Oversight of the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division". The witness will be Thomas Perez, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Civil Rights Division. The SJC will webcast this event. Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-MD) will preside. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

2:00 - 3:30 PM. The Department of Justice's (DOJ) Antitrust Division will host a seminar presented by Heski Bar-Isaac (NYU) titled "Search, Design and Market Structure". See, paper [32 pages in PDF] with the same title. It pertains to competition in the internet search market. For more information, contact Patrick Greenlee at 202-307-3745 or atr dot eag at usdoj dot gov. Location: DOJ, Liberty Square Building, 450 5th St., NW.

5:00 - 7:00 PM. The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) will host a technology showcase titled "CES on the Hill". There will be a preview for reporters at 4:30 PM. Location: Caucus Room, Russell Building, Capitol Hill.

6:00 - 8:00 PM. The DC Bar Association will host an event titled "Intellectual Property Law Section 2010 Annual Spring Reception". The speakers will include Marybeth Peters (Register of Copyrights) and Judge Richard Linn (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit). See, notice. The price to attend ranges from $40 to $60. The DC Bar has a history of barring reporters from attending its events. Location: Dolley Madison House, 1520 H St., NW.

Day two of a three day event hosted by the American Cable Association (ACA) titled "ACA's 17th Annual Summit". See, notice. Location: Gaylord National Resort, 201 Waterfront Street, National Harbor, MD.

9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Day two of a three day closed meeting of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Homeland Security Science and Technology Advisory Committee. See, notice in the Federal Register: April 12, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 69, at Page 18516. Location: National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center, 110 Thomas Johnson Drive, Suite 400, Frederick, MD.

9:00 AM - 5:30 PM. The Internet Caucus will host an event titled "State of the Mobile Net". See, notice. Location: Hyatt Regency, 400 New Jersey Ave., NW.

TIME? The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will host an event titled "Open Meeting". See, tentative agenda [PDF] and story titled "FCC Releases Tentative Agenda for April 21 Meeting" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,069, April 1, 2010. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold a hearing titled "Combating Cyber Crime and Identity Theft in the Digital Age". The witnesses will be Lanny Breuer (Assistant Attorney General in charge of the DOJ's Criminal Division), Ari Schwartz (Center for Democracy and Technology), Vincent Weafer (Symantec), and Orin Kerr (George Washington University law school). See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The House Science Committee's (HSC) Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation will meet to consider a yet to to be introduced bill regarding National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) programs. The HSC will webcast this event. Location: Room 2318, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM - 4:00 PM. The Department of Health and Human Services' (DHHS) Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology's (ONCHIT) HIT Policy Committee will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 31, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 61, at Page 16126. Location: Omni Shoreham Hotel, 2500 Calvert St., NW.

12:00 NOON - 2:00 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) will host a lunch titled "5th Annual Mentoring Luncheon". See, registration form [PDF]. The price to attend is $25. For more information, contact Edgar Class at 202-719-7504 or eclass at wileyrein dot com or Micah Caldwell at 202-939-7901 or mcaldwell at fh-law dot com. Location: Wiley Rein, 1776 K St., NW.

Day three of a three day event hosted by the American Cable Association (ACA) titled "ACA's 17th Annual Summit". See, notice. Location: Gaylord National Resort, 201 Waterfront Street, National Harbor, MD.

Day one of a three day event hosted by the American Bar Association's (ABA) Section of Antitrust Law titled "58th Antitrust Law Spring Meeting". See, conference web site. Location: JW Marriott Hotel and National Press Club.

6:30 - 9:30 PM. The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) will host an event titled "Digital Patriots Dinner". The CEA will give awards to Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA) and Vint Cerf (Google). Location: Andrew Mellon Auditorium, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Public Notice regarding the buildout requirements for the 2.3 GHz Wireless Communications Services (WCS) band. The FCC adopted this item on March 26, 2010, and released the text [8 pages in PDF] on March 29, 2010. It is FCC 10-46 in WTB Docket No. 07-293. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 6, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 65, at Pages 17349-17352.

9:30 AM - 1:00 PM. Day three of a three day closed meeting of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Homeland Security Science and Technology Advisory Committee. See, notice in the Federal Register: April 12, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 69, at Page 18516. Location: National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center, 110 Thomas Johnson Drive, Suite 400, Frederick, MD.

Day two of a three day event hosted by the American Bar Association's (ABA) Section of Antitrust Law titled "58th Antitrust Law Spring Meeting". See, conference web site. Location: JW Marriott Hotel and National Press Club.

6:00 - 9:15 PM. The DC Bar Association will host an event titled "Practical Strategies for the Preservation of IP Rights in Government Contracts and Remedies for Government Misuse of IP". This is the second of a two part series. The first was on April 15. The speakers will be David Bloch (Winston & Strawn), Richard Gray (DOD Office of General Counsel), John Lucas (Department of Energy), and James McEwen (Stein McEwen). 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.

5:00 PM. Deadline to submit to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Public Telecommunications Facilities Program (PTFP) applications for digital power increase projects. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 19, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 53, at Pages 13259-13261.

5:30 - 7:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Young Lawyers Committee will host an event titled "Happy Hour". For more information, contact Matt Gerst at mgerst at ctia dot org or Micah Caldwell mcaldwell at fh-law dot com. Location: Churchkey, 1337 14th St., NW.

Deadline to submit comments to the Library of Congress's (LOC) Copyright Royalty Judges (CRJ) regarding its proposed regulations governing the rates and terms for the digital performances of sound recordings by broadcasters and noncommercial educational webcasters and for the making of ephemeral recordings necessary for the facilitation of such transmissions for the period commencing January 1, 2011, and ending on December 31, 2015. This proceeding is Docket No. 2009-1, also known as CRB Webcasting III. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 1, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 62, at Pages 16377-16387.

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