6/18. The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) released a statement, and the House Commerce Committee released a substantially identical statement, in which they announced that "the committees of jurisdiction over communications" will "hold a series of staff-led stakeholder sessions regarding communications policy".

These releases state that "The first set of staff-led stakeholder sessions will address broadband regulation and FCC authority, with a focus on protecting consumers and promoting broadband investment. The first session will be held on June 25, 2010."

These releases do not set a time or location. Nor do they state whether these meetings are open to the public.

These releases add that "After these sessions are concluded, additional stakeholder meetings will be convened to address spectrum policy and broadband deployment and adoption."

On June 17, 2010, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) [64 pages in PDF] that proposes to reclassify broadband internet access services as Title II services. See, stories titled "FCC Adopts Broadband Reclassification NOI", "Reaction to FCC Reclassification NOI", and "Congress, the FCC, and Broadband Regulation" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,098, June 18, 2010.

Also on June 17, Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) and Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL), the ranking Republicans on the HCC and its Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet (SCTI), sent a letter to Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA), the Chairmen of the HCC and its SCTI, asking for a hearing on "the legal validity and policy consequences" on the FCC's proposed reclassification of broadband internet access services.

No such hearing has been announced.

Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) stated in a release that he applauds the FCC's NOI, and that "We will work in Congress to assist and supplement that process with a focus on those goals."

The Free Press's Aparna Sridhar stated in a release on June 18 that "The FCC can and should act while Congress initiates these discussions." She added that "we are skeptical that any meaningful legislation can be adopted in the near term". Hence, the FCC should "move full speed ahead in its efforts to reclassify broadband".

The Center for Democracy and Technology's (CDT) Leslie Harris stated that the FCC's NOI is a "better alternative". However, the CDT's David Sohn stated in the same release that "It is also crucial for the FCC to recognize limits to its authority". But, he concluded that FCC Chairman Genachowski's proposal "can offer a sound path forward from both a policy and a legal perspective".

In contrast, Wayne Crews of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, stated in a release that "It is the duty of Congress now to rein in the FCC's inability to acknowledge when it needs to step aside and recognize it is not an elected lawmaker."

Crews also stated that "Net neutrality is the perverse policy that infrastructure companies should not control content, but that content companies, in conjunction with the FCC, should control infrastructure."

6/17. Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), the ranking Republican on the House Commerce Committee (HCC), stated at a hearing of the HCC's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations regarding the British Petroleum (BP) oil spill that the Obama administration in engaging in a "shakedown" of BP.

This hearing and Rep. Barton's statement have nothing to do with information or communications technology (ICT). However, the House Republican leadership, which is in a position to deprive Rep. Barton of his position as ranking member, was displeased with this statement. The HCC has jurisdiction over both energy and ICT.

Rep. Ralph Hall (R-TX) is next in seniority, followed by Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), who is a former Chairman of Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, and Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL), who is currently the ranking Republican on the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet.

Rep. Barton (at left) said this. "We have a system in America, built up, based on the British tradition, over two hundred years, of due process and fairness, where people that do bad things, in this case a corporation that is responsible for a bad accident. We want to hold them responsible, do what we can to make the liable parties pay for the damages. I am speaking now totally for myself. I am not speaking for the Republican Party. I am not speaking for anybody in the House of Representatives but myself. But I am ashamed of what happened in the White House yesterday. It think that it is a tragedy of the first proportion, that a private corporation, can be subjected to what I would characterize as a shakedown, in this case a twenty billion dollar shakedown, with the Attorney General of the United States, who is legitimately conducting a criminal investigation, and has every right to do so to protect the interests of the American people, participating in what amounts to a twenty billion dollar slush fund, that is unprecedented in our nation's history, that has got no legal standing, and which sets I think a terrible precedent for the future. If I called you into my office, and I had the Subcommittee Chairman, Mr. Stupak, with me, who was legitimately conducting an oversight investigation on your company, and said if you put so many millions of dollars in a project in my congressional district, I could go to jail, and should go to jail." (TLJ transcription from video.)

Some British newspapers have offered harsher words than Rep. Barton. For example, The Express wrote in a story that the June 17 hearing "took on the style of a Stalinist show trial".

Rep. Barton later issued a statement, in which he wrote, "I apologize for using the term `shakedown´ with regard to yesterday's actions at the White House in my opening statement this morning, and I retract my apology to BP."

Josh Silver, head of the Free Press, stated in a release on June 17 that "This morning Mr. Barton apologized to BP because the oil giant was asked to set up a fund to pay for the spill in the Gulf of Mexico. This afternoon, he writes a letter on behalf of Comcast, AT&T and Verizon, demanding that the Federal Communications Commission stand down from their oversight of the nation's communications networks."

Silver added that "The problem we're facing isn't a government takeover of the Internet; it's a corporate takeover of Congress by armies of industry lobbyists that corruptly influence policymaking."

The Free Press' policy objectives are aligned with those of Google. Rep. Barton opposes new regulation of broadband internet access service providers, such as Comcast, AT&T and Verizon. This places him on the opposite side of this policy debate from Google and the Free Press. Rep. Barton's efforts to protect consumers' privacy interests from Google places him on the opposite side of another policy debate from Google.

Rep. Barton has also differentiated himself from many other Republicans on the HCC by his support for legislation to create a fair use exemption to the anti-circumvention provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

6/18. On June 17, 2010, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) [64 pages in PDF] that proposes to reclassify broadband internet access services as Title II services.

See, stories titled "FCC Adopts Broadband Reclassification NOI", "Reaction to FCC Reclassification NOI", and "Congress, the FCC, and Broadband Regulation" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,098, June 18, 2010.

This is one of the most consequential actions to be taken by the FCC in the tenure of Chairman Julius Genachowski. It also involves a long history and a complex set of legal and policy issues.

Nevertheless, the FCC also announced that it will conduct this proceeding pursuant to one of its fastest timetables. The NOI states that initial comments are due by July 15, 2010, and that reply comments are due by August 12. Moreover, the FCC has scheduled an unusually large number of comment deadlines in other proceedings in the same time period.

This fast tracking and stacking lends the appearance that Chairman Genachowski may be rushing this proceeding to a final order before the November election, and that the FCC may be limiting interested parties' ability to participate effectively in these proceedings.

Fast Tracking. The FCC is an agency that usually takes many years to adopt an order that disposes of a significant matter. Consider, for example, its process for reallocating spectrum for broadband wireless. There is no partisan divide in either the FCC or the Congress that more spectrum must be allocated, and that the reallocation process takes time. Yet the FCC is preceding at a slow pace.

For example, with respect to the broadcast white spaces, the FCC has a long running, but unfinished proceeding. The FCC issued an Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in 2004. The only thing upon which Commissioners and members of Congress can agree is the importance of completing this proceeding. See, stories titled "Sen. Kerry and Sen. Snowe Write FCC Regarding White Spaces" and "Baker Addresses White Spaces" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,095, June 16, 2010.

In the present proceeding, the FCC would not have adopted the just released NOI but for the the April 7, 2010, opinion of the U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir) in Comcast v. FCC. Chairman Genachowski and the two other Democratic Commissioners moved very quickly in announcing their desire to reclassify broadband on May 6. Then, the FCC wrote a lengthy NOI in just over a month.

Over the years, the FCC has usually taken substantially more time to develop a NOI or NPRM. Then, when it adopts a major NOI or NPRM, it usually does not release the text of the document for weeks or months. That document, in turn does not set comment deadlines. That comes with the publication of a notice in the Federal Register, which may not occur for months. This leaves interested parties with yet more time to research and write comments.

Consider, for example, universal service. Genachowski, Copps and Clyburn all cited universal service as a reason for reclassification of broadband services. A key universal service program is the e-rate subsidy program for schools and libraries. The FCC adopted a NPRM [43 pages in PDF] last year, on December 1, 2009. It released the text the next day. But, it did not publish its notice in the Federal Register setting comment deadlines until last week, on June 9, 2010. Initial comments are due on July 9, just six days before the initial comments deadline in the broadband reclassification proceeding. (See, Federal Register, June 9, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 110, at Pages 32692-32699.)

Hence, parties interested in submitting comments in that e-rate proceeding effectively will have had more than seven months between the release of the NPRM and the initial comment deadline to prepare comments. In contrast, for the vastly more complex broadband reclassification proceeding, parties are allowed less than one month.

Also, compare the present proceeding to the proceeding initiated on October 22, 2009, by adoption and release of a NPRM [107 pages in PDF] that proposes to regulate the network management practices of broadband internet access service providers. That document set an initial comments deadline of January 12, 2010, and a reply comments deadline of March 5, 2010. The FCC set a deadline almost three months out for initial comments, versus the four weeks deadline in the present proceeding. The FCC set a reply deadline an additional seven and one half weeks out, versus the four weeks in the present proceeding.

Also, compare the present proceeding to the original proceeding on the classification of cable broadband. The classification question had arisen in numerous proceedings in the late 1990s, including Section 706 inquiries and antitrust merger reviews. The FCC adopted and released a NOI in its proceeding titled "Inquiry Concerning High-Speed Access to the Internet Over Cable and Other Facilities" on September 28, 2000. That NOI is FCC 00-355 in GN Docket 00-185. Initial comments were due over two months later, and reply comments in January. The FCC then received ex parte filings and other communications for over one year. The FCC adopted its Declaratory Ruling [75 pages in PDF] at its March 14, 2002 meeting. It is FCC 02-77 in Docket No. 00-185 and Docket No. 02-52. See also, story title "FCC Declares Cable Internet Access an Interstate Information Service" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 389, March 15, 2002.

In sum, compared to how the FCC usually proceeds, it is moving very quickly in this broadband reclassification proceeding.

Stacking. The FCC has already stacked the month of July with a large number of initial comment deadlines. Many companies and groups have an interest in filing comments in several or many of these proceedings. Some companies and groups interested in FCC policy making were already hard pressed to meet those comment deadlines before the FCC adopted the broadband reclassification NOI.

First, there are a number of reply comment deadlines in the next two weeks, such as in the FCC's robocalls proceeding, the CableCARD proceeding, its proceeding on competitive bidding procedures for Auction 89, and its TLPR devices proceeding.

Comments are also due later this month in response to the FCC's NOI [12 pages in PDF] regarding the survivability of broadband communications networks (see, notice in the Federal Register, May 11, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 90, at Pages 26180-26183) and in response to the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology's (OET) Public Notice (DA 10-1035 in ET Docket No. 10-123) regarding use of the 1675-1710 MHz band by non-federal entities, and its potential utility for broadband.

But, it is in July that commenters are faced with a multitude of deadlines.

July 1 is the deadline to submit comments in response to the Public Notice (PN) regarding measurement of mobile broadband network performance and coverage. (This PN is DA 10-988 in CG Docket No. 09-158, CG Docket No. 98-170, and WC Docket No. 04-36. See, notice in the Federal Register, June 11, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 112, at Pages 33303-33305.)

July 9 is the deadline to submit comments in response to the NPRM regarding expanding the range of products and services covered by the FCC's e-rate subsidy program. (The FCC adopted this NPRM on December 1, 2009, and released the text [43 pages in PDF] on December 2, 2010. It is FCC 09-105 in CC Docket No. 02-6. See, notice in the Federal Register: June 9, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 110, at Pages 32692-32699. See also, story titled "FCC Expands and Seeks Comments on List of Items Eligible for E-Rate Subsidies" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,019, December 2, 2009.) July 9 is also the deadline to submit comments in response to the NPRM regarding the FCC's e-rate tax and subsidy program. (The FCC adopted and released this NPRM on May 20, 2010. It is FCC 10-83 in CC Docket No. 02-6 and GN Docket No. 09-51. See, notice in the Federal Register, June 9, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 110, at Pages 32699-32719. See also, story titled "FCC Adopts Another E-Rate NPRM" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,087, May 26, 2010.)

Then, no fewer that five comment deadlines fall on July 12. First, there is the Second Further NPRM [94 pages in PDF] regarding extending automatic roaming obligations to certain mobile data services, including mobile broadband internet access services that are provided without interconnection to the public switched telephone network (PSTN). (The FCC adopted and released this item on April 21, 2010. It is FCC 10-59 in WT Docket No. 05-265. See also, notice in the Federal Register, April 28, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 81, Pages 22263-22276.). Second, there is the NPRM regarding unlicensed personal communications services devices in the 1920-1930 MHz band. (The FCC adopted this NPRM on May 4, 2010, and released the text [19 pages in PDF] on May 6, 2010. It is FCC 10-77 in ET Docket No. 10-97. See, notice in the Federal Register, June 11, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 112, at Pages 33220-33226.) Third, there is the NOI regarding regulation of ownership of media companies. (The FCC adopted and released this item on May 25, 2010. It is FCC 10-92 in MB Docket No. 09-182. See, notice in the Federal Register, June 11, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 112, at Pages 33227-33237. See also, story titled "FCC Adopts Broadcast Ownership NOI" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,087, May 26, 2010.) Fourth, there is the NOI and NPRM [222 pages in PDF] regarding high cost universal service subsidies and broadband. The FCC adopted and released this item on April 21, 2010. It is FCC 10-58 in WC Docket No. 10-90, GN Docket No. 09-51, and WC Docket No. 05-337. See, notice in the Federal Register, May 13, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 92, at Pages 26906-26916.) Fifth, there is the NOI [24 pages in PDF] regarding whether the FCC should establish a voluntary program under which participating communications service providers would be certified by the FCC or a third party for their adherence to a set of cyber security objectives and/or practices. (The FCC adopted and released this NOI on April 21, 2010. This NOI is FCC 10-63 in PS Docket No. 10-93. See, notice in the Federal Register, May 11, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 90, at Pages 26171-26180.)

The next day, July 13, is the deadline for the NOI [30 pages in PDF] regarding Section 629 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which is codified at 47 U.S.C. § 549(a), and enabling electronics manufacturers to offer smart video devices at retail that can be used with the services of any MVPD and without the need to coordinate or negotiate with MVPDs. (The FCC adopted and released this item on April 21, 2010. It is FCC 10-60 in MB Docket No. 10-91, CS Docket No. 97-80, and PP Docket No. 00-67. See, notice in the Federal Register, May 14, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 93, at Pages 27264-27271.)

Also in the same week, on July 15, comments are due for the broadband reclassification NOI, as well as for the NPRM regarding amateur radio use of the allocation at 5 MHz. (The FCC adopted this NPRM on May 4, 2010, and released the text on May 7, 2010. It is FCC 10-76 in ET Docket No. 10-98. See, notice in the Federal Register, June 15, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 114, at Pages 33748-33752.)

Finally, on July 20, comments are due for the NPRM regarding revising its Part 17 rules regarding the construction, marking, and lighting of antenna structures. (The FCC adopted this NPRM on April 12, 2010, and released the text [54 pages in PDF] on April 20, 2010. It is FCC 10-53 in WT Docket No. 10-88. See, notice in the Federal Register, May 21, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 98, at Pages 28517-28540.

Then, reply comments in the above referenced proceedings are due later in July and in early August.

Moreover, this same time period includes comment deadlines for significant proceedings at other agencies, such as the Department of Energy's (DOE) proceeding on the communications requirements of utilities, including, but not limited to the requirements of the Smart Grid (see, notice in the Federal Register, June 14, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 113, at Pages 33611-33612), the U.S. International Trade Commission's (USITC) proceeding titled "China: Intellectual Property Infringement, Indigenous Innovation Policies, and Frameworks for Measuring the Effects on the U.S. Economy" (see, notice in the Federal Register, May 10, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 89, at Pages 25883-25884), the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's (USPTO) proposal to shift to a three track patent examination system (see, notice in the Federal Register, June 4, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 107, at Pages 31763-31768, and story titled "USPTO Proposes Three Track Patent Examination System" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,092, June 4, 2010), and the USPTO's proposed changes to restriction practice in patent applications (see, notice in the Federal Register, June 14, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 113, at Pages 33584-33587).

November Election. Political polls and political commentators are predicting Democratic losses and Republican gains in both the House and Senate in November. Currently, Republicans overwhelmingly oppose FCC efforts to impose network neutrality mandates, open internet rules, and Title II regulation of broadband providers. A significant minority of Democrats hold similar views.

Thus, a shift in the partisan balance in the Congress would strengthen the opposition to Genachowski's reclassification proposal.

Genachowski may already be acting like he is dealing with a lame duck Congress, and trying to institute his reclassification scheme before the next Congress can block him, for example, via an appropriations rider.

6/17. President Obama nominated James Boasberg to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. See, White House news office release and release.

He has been a Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia since 2002. He previous worked as a prosecutor in the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.

Before that, he worked for Keker & Van Nest, a San Francisco law firm with a large intellectual property practice, and Kellogg Huber, a Washington DC law firm with a telecommunications practice.

He wrote two articles for law journals while a law clerk. He is the author of the article titled "Seditious Libel v Incitement to Mutiny: Britain Teaches Hand and Holmes a Lesson", published in the Oxford Journal of Legal Studies in 1990. He is also the author of the article titled "With Malice Toward None: A New Look at Defamatory Republication and Neutral Reportage", published in the Hastings Communications & Entertainment Law Journal.

6/17. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) held an executive business meeting at which approved the nomination of John McConnell to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island. After a lengthy debate, the SJC approved the nomination by a vote of 13-6. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), the ranking Republican on the SJC, said that McConnell and his wife have contributed almost $700,000 to political candidates. He added the McConnell has engaged in the "unseemly", but "not illegal", practice of representing state attorneys general in huge tort cases on a contingency fee basis. "I am worried about this nominee", said Sen. Sessions. Sen. Jon Cornyn (R-TX) said that giving contributions to politicians who outsource litigation on a contingency fee basis is "pay for play", and "raises appearances of impropriety". Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), whose election campaign has received money from McConnell, voted yes by proxy. See, Federal Election Commission (FEC) individual contributor database. Also, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce opposes this nomination. It stated in a release that "these members voiced concerns that we share about Mr. McConnell's questionable `results-oriented´ judicial philosophy, his deeply held biases against America's job creators, his outsized political contributions and related concerns about ``pay-to-play´´ activities, and his future conflict of interest related to annual multi-million-dollar payments from his work with plaintiffs' law firms." It added that if there is a vote in the full Senate, it will include it in its "legislative scorecard".

6/17. President Obama nominated Amy Jackson to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. See, White House news office release and release. She works for the law firm of Trout Cacheris.

6/17. President Obama nominated Sue Myerscough to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois. See, White House news office release and release. She has been a Judge of the Illinois Appellate Court since 1998.

The House will meet at 11:00 AM in pro forma session only. See, Rep. Hoyer's schedule for week on June 21.

The Senate will meet at 2:00 PM. The Senate will consider the nominations of Mark Goldsmith (to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan), Marc Treadwell (USDC/MDGa), and Josephine Tucker (USDC/CDCal).

9:30 - 11:00 AM. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host a panel discussion titled "Where does the US Really Stand in Broadband and Why?". The speakers will be Robert Atkinson (ITIF), Sacha Meinrath (New America Foundation), George Ford (Phoenix Center) and Matthew Wood (Media Access Project). See, notice. Location: ITIF, Room 610, 1101 K St., NW.

11:00 AM - 1:30 AM. The Heritage Foundation will host a pair of panel discussions titled "Perspectives on U.S. International Broadcasting". See, notice. Location: Heritage, 214 Massachusetts Ave., NE.

11:15 AM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will host a news teleconference regarding "wireless use when traveling internationally". The speakers will be Mindel De La Torre (Chief of the International Bureau) and Joel Gurin (Chief of the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau). The call in number is 866-624-3038. The participant code is 5809270

12:15 - 1:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) will host a brown bag lunch titled "The Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act of 2010". The speakers will be Seth Davidson (Fleischman & Harding), Mike Nilsson (Wiltshire & Grannis), and Linda Kinney (Echostar). Location: Dow Lohnes, 1200 New Hampshire Ave., NW.

Effective date of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Order adopting rules for the FCC's Emergency Response Interoperability Center (ERIC). This Order is FCC 10-67 in GN Docket No. 09-51 and PS Docket No. 06-229. See, notice in the Federal Register, May 20, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 97, at Pages 28206-28207.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding robocalls, and revisions to FCC rules under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) that would harmonize those rules with the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) recently amended Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR). This FCC adopted this NPRM on January 20, 2010, and released the text [37 pages in PDF] on January 22, 2010. It is FCC 10-18 in CG Docket No. 02-278. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 22, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 54, at Pages 13471-13482. See also, story titled "FCC Adopts NPRM Regarding Limiting Some Robocalls" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,037, January 20, 2010.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking [45 pages in PDF] regarding universal service low income subsidy programs in Puerto Rico. The FCC adopted and released this item on April 16, 2010. It is FCC 10-57 in WC Docket No. 05-337, CC Docket No. 96-45, and WC Docket No. 03-109. See, notice in the Federal Register, May 7, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 88, at Pages 25156-25159.

Deadline to submit comments to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) regarding Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC). See, notice in the Federal Register, June 9, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 110, at Page 32748. See also, NTIA's June 7, 2010, report [10 pages in PDF] titled "Final Report on DNSSEC Deployment Testing and Evaluation in the Root Zone".

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 week of June 21.

10:00 AM - 1:00 PM. The Department of Health and Human Services' (DHHS) Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology's Privacy & Security Tiger Team will meet by teleconference. See, notice in the Federal Register, June 16, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 115, at Page 34141.

12:00 NOON - 2:00 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a panel discussion titled "U.S. Court of International Trade Developments and Practice Tips". The speakers will be Tina Kimble (Clerk of the U.S. Court of International Trade), Geoffrey Goodale (Foley & Lardner), and Brenda Jacobs (Sidley Austin). The price to attend ranges from $10 to $25. Reporters are barred from attending. See, notice. For more information, call 202-626-3463. Location: Sidley Austin, 1501 K St., NW.

2:30 PM. The Senate Commerce Committee's (SCC) Subcommittee on Competitiveness, Innovation and Export Promotion will hold a hearing titled "Innovation in America: Opportunities and Obstacles". The witnesses will be Aneesh Chopra (EOP's Office of Science and Technology Policy), Andrew Weiss (P/CEO of CoAxia), Robert Atkinson (Information Technology and Innovation Foundation), Stephen Ubl (Advanced Medical Technology Association), Rhys Williams (New World Angels). See, notice. Location: Room 253, Russell Building.

Day one of a two day conference titled "Critical Infrastructure Security Summit". At 8:15 AM, Sean McGurk (Program Director of the DHS's National Protection and Programs Directorate's Office of Cybersecurity and Communications Control Systems Security Program will give a keynote speech. At 1:45 PM, Bradford Willke (DHS Cyber Security Advisor) will speak on cyber resiliancy. At 3:45 PM, James Gilsinn (NIST Electronic Engineer) will speak on upgrading legacy control systems. See, conference web site, and June 22 agenda. Location: Hilton Alexandria Old Town, 1767 King Street, Alexandria, VA.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its May 21, 2010, Public Notice (PN) regarding Puerto Rico Telephone Company's (PRTC) petition for reconsideration of the FCC's decision declining to establish a new universal service high cost support mechanism for non-rural insular carriers. See, notice in the Federal Register, May 28, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 103, at Pages 30024-30025.

Deadline to submit post hearing briefs and statements to the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) in its proceeding titled "China: Intellectual Property Infringement, Indigenous Innovation Policies, and Frameworks for Measuring the Effects on the U.S. Economy". See, notice in the Federal Register, May 10, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 89, at Pages 25883-25884.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. The schedule for the week includes consideration of HR 3993 [LOC | WW], the "Calling Card Consumer Protection Act", under suspension of the rules, and HR 5175 [LOC | WW], the "Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections Act" or "DISCLOSE Act", pursuant to a rule. See, Rep. Hoyer's schedule for week of June 21.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold a hearing titled "Oversight of the Office of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator". The witnesses will be Victoria Espinel (Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator), Barry Meyer (Ch/CEO at Warner Bros. Entertainment), Paul Almeida (AFL-CIO), David Hirschmann (U.S. Chamber of Commerce), and Caroline Bienstock (Carlin America). The SJC will webcast this event. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Finance Committee (SFC) will hold a hearing titled "The U.S. -- China Trade Relationship: Finding a New Path Forward". The witnesses will be Gary Locke (Secretary of Commerce) and Ron Kirk (U.S. Trade Representative). See, notice. Location: Room 215, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The U.S. District Court (DC) will hold a status conference in US v. Microsoft, D.C. No. 98-1232 (CKK), and New York, et al. v. Microsoft, D.C. No. 98-1233 (CKK). Location: Courtroom 28A.

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The American Bar Association's (ABA) Section of Antitrust Law will host an on site and teleconferenced panel discussion titled "Apple, Google and More: Recent Issues in Identifying and Addressing Problems Involving Interlocking Directorates". The speakers will be Yvonne Quinn (Sullivan & Cromwell), Andrew Finch (Paul Weiss), Pat Robinson (Federal Reserve Board), and Darren Tucker (Attorney Advisor to FTC Commissioner Thomas Rosch). See, notice. Location: Wilson Sonsini, 5th floor, 1700 K St., NW.

1:00 - 2:30 PM. The American Bar Association's (ABA) Forum on the Entertainment and Sports Industries will host a seminar titled "Network to Blog -- Old vs. New Media: What You Need to Know in Sports Deals". The speakers will be Douglas Hand (Hand Baldachin & Amburgey) and Maidie Oliveau (Arent Fox). See, notice. Prices vary. This event qualifies for continuing legal education (CLE) credits. The ABA will teleconference and webcast this event.

Day two of a two day conference titled "Critical Infrastructure Security Summit". At 10:15 AM, Annabelle Lee (NIST) will give a speech titled "Cyber Security Strategies For The Smart Grid". At 11:00 AM, James Gilsinn (NIST) and Russell Brown (FBI Cyber Division) will address "Achieving A Strong Security Posture & Maintaining Full-Scale Operability". At 3:00 PM, Donald Codling (FBI Cyber Division) will participate in a panel titled "Adapting Existing Public Key Infrastructure And Enablement Solutions To The Emerging Smart Grid Enterprise". See, conference web site, and June 23 agenda. Location: Hilton Alexandria Old Town, 1767 King Street, Alexandria, VA.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. See, Rep. Hoyer's schedule for week of June 21.

8:30 AM - 5:00 PM. The American Antitrust Institute (AAI) will host a one day conference titled "Public and Private: Are the Boundaries in Transition?". Christine Varney, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Antitrust Division will give a speech at 9:00 AM. There will be a panel discussion on telecommunications at 11:00 AM. See, schedule. The price to attend ranges from $120 to $500. Location: National Press Club.

10:00 AM. The House Judiciary Committee's (HJC) Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties will hold a hearing titled "ECPA Reform and the Revolution in Location Based Technologies and Services". See, notice. Location: Room 2237, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) will hold a hearing titled "Universal Service: Transforming the High-Cost Fund for the Broadband Era". See, notice. The SCC will webcast this event. Location: Room 253, Russell Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold an executive business meeting. The SJC will webcast this event. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

11:00 AM. The House Judiciary Committee's (HJC) Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law will hold a hearing titled "Civil Division of the United States Department of Justice". See, notice. Location: Room 2237, Rayburn Building.

12:00 NOON - 1:00 PM. The American Bar Association's (ABA) Section of Antitrust Law will host an on site and teleconferenced panel discussion titled "Google/AdMob: Lessons from the FTC Investigation". The speakers will be Randall Long (FTC), Logan Breed (Hogan Lovells, counsel for AdMob), Leah Brannon (Cleary Gottlieb, counsel for Google), and Ken Glazer (K&L Gates). See, notice. Location: K&L Gates, 1601 K St., NW.

1:00 - 2:30 PM. The American Bar Association's (ABA) Forum on the Entertainment and Sports Industries will host a seminar titled "The Complex World of Licensing Songs and Composing Scores for the Television, Film and Videogame". The speakers will be Jeff Brabec (Chrysalis Music Group) and Todd Brabec. See, notice. Prices vary. This event qualifies for continuing legal education (CLE) credits. The ABA will teleconference and webcast this event.

2:30 PM. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (SHSGAC) will hold a business meeting. The agenda includes consideration of S 3480 [LOC | WW], the "Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act of 2010", and the nomination of John Pistole to be head of the DHS's Transportation Security Administration (TSA). See, notice [PDF]. Location: Room 342, Dirksen Building.

6:00 - 8:00 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Young Lawyers Committee will host an event titled "Happy Hour". For more information, contact Ben Arden at barden at williamsmullen dot com or Mark Brennan at mark dot brennan at hoganlovells dot com. Location: Brasserie Beck, 1101 K St., NW.

Rep. Hoyer's schedule for week of June 21 states that the House will meet at 9:00 AM.

9:00 - 10:00 AM. The Department of Health and Human Services' (DHHS) Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology's Enrollment Workgroup will meet  by teleconference. See, notice in the Federal Register, June 16, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 115, at Page 34141.

12:15 - 1:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Young Lawyers Committee will host a brown bag lunch titled "Bridging the Gap: Broadband 101 -- An Introduction to Broadband Regulation and Policy". The speaker will be Dan Brenner (Hogan Lovells). For more information, contact Micah Caldwell at mcaldwell at fh-law dot com or Mark Brennan at mark dot brennan at hoganlovells dot com. Location: __.

3:00 PM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will host an event titled "Broadcast Engineering Forum". See, notice. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room, 445 12th St., SW.

Deadline to submit comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in advance of their joint meeting titled "Enabling the Convergence of Communications and Medical Systems: Ways to Update Regulatory and Information Processes", to be held on July 26 and 27, 2010. See, FCC Public Notice (DA 10-1071 in ET Docket No. 10-120).

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Inquiry (NOI) [12 pages in PDF] regarding the survivability in broadband communications networks and ways to reduce network vulnerability to failures in network equipment or severe overload conditions, such as would occur in natural disasters and pandemics. The FCC adopted and released this item on April 21, 2010. It is FCC 10-62 in PS Docket No. 10-92. See, notice in the Federal Register, May 11, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 90, at Pages 26180-26183.

10:00 AM - 4:00 PM. The Department of Health and Human Services' (DHHS) Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology's Enrollment Workgroup will meet  by teleconference. See, notice in the Federal Register, June 16, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 115, at Page 34141.

CANCELLED. 2:00 - 4:00 PM. The Department of Health and Human Services' (DHHS) Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology's Privacy & Security Policy Workgroup will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, June 16, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 115, at Page 34141.

6:30 - 8:30 PM. The New America Foundation (NAF) will host an event titled "How Copyright Threatens Democracy". The speaker will be Cory Doctorow. See, notice and registration page. Location: NAF, Suite 400, 1899 L St., NW.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding amending Part 87 of the FCC's rules to allow use of the frequency 1090 MHz by aeronautical mobility mobile stations for airport surface detection equipment (ASDE-X), also known as vehicle squitters. The FCC adopted this item on March 11, 2010, and released the text [19 pages in PDF] on March 16, 2010. It is FCC 10-37 in WT Docket Nos. 09-42 and 10-61. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 28, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 81, at Pages 22352-22356.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding amending the FCC's amateur radio service rules to facilitate the use of spread spectrum communications technologies. The FCC adopted this item on March 11, 2010, and released the text [16 pages in PDF] on March 16, 2010. It is FCC 10-38 in WT Docket No. 10-62. See, notice in the Federal Register, May 14, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 93, at Pages 27272-27273.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its 4th Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [30 pages in PDF] regarding its CableCARD regime. The FCC adopted and released this item on April 21, 2010. It is FCC 10-61 in CS Docket No. 97-80 and PP Docket No. 00-67. See, notice in the Federal Register, May 14, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 93, at Pages 27256-27264.

Deadline to submit comments to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) in response to its Public Notice (DA 10-1035 in ET Docket No. 10-123) regarding use of the 1675-1710 MHz band by non-federal entities, and its potential utility for broadband.

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) regarding its draft SP 800-126 Rev. 1 [71 pages in PDF] titled "The Technical Specification for the Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP): SCAP Version 1.1".

6/18. Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), the House Majority Leader, announced in a release that "The House will complete its business for the July work period by Friday, July 30. There will now be no votes in the House the week of August 2. The revised schedule allows ample time to both continue our work to create jobs, promote fiscal responsibility, and investigate the BP oil spill, as well as have Members in their Districts hearing directly from their constituents. Beginning next week, the House will also vote earlier on the first day of each week. Votes will now begin at 6:00 p.m., rather than 6:30 p.m."

6/16. Apple issued a release regarding sales of iPhone 4. "Yesterday Apple and its carrier partners took pre-orders for more than 600,000 of Apple’s new iPhone 4. It was the largest number of pre-orders Apple has ever taken in a single day and was far higher than we anticipated, resulting in many order and approval system malfunctions. Many customers were turned away or abandoned the process in frustration. We apologize to everyone who encountered difficulties, and hope that they will try again or visit an Apple or carrier store once the iPhone 4 is in stock."

6/16. The National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) released its draft SP 800-131 [27 pages in PDF] titled "Recommendation for the Transitioning of Cryptographic Algorithms and Key Lengths". The deadline to submit comments is July 17, 2010.

6/16. The National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) released its draft SP 800-130 [88 pages in PDF] titled "A Framework for Designing Cryptographic Key Management Systems". The deadline to submit comments is August 17, 2010.

Tech Law Journal publishes a free access web site and a subscription e-mail alert. The basic rate for a subscription to the TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert is $250 per year for a single recipient. There are discounts for subscribers with multiple recipients.

Free one month trial subscriptions are available. Also, free subscriptions are available for journalists, federal elected officials, and employees of the Congress, courts, and executive branch. The TLJ web site is free access. However, copies of the TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert are not published in the web site until two months after writing.

For information about subscriptions, see subscription information page.

Tech Law Journal now accepts credit card payments. See, TLJ credit card payments page.

TLJ is published by David Carney
Contact: 202-364-8882.
carney at techlawjournal dot com
P.O. Box 4851, Washington DC, 20008.

Privacy Policy
Notices & Disclaimers
Copyright 1998-2010 David Carney. All rights reserved.