12/2. The House passed S 2847 [LOC | WW], the "Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act" or "CALM Act", by voice vote. The House debated the bill on November 30, 2010, but postponed its vote until December 2, 2010.

The Senate passed this bill on September 29, 2010. See, story titled "Senate Passes Bill to Regulate Volume of TV Commercials" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,137, October 1, 2010. The bill is now ready for the President's signature.

This bill requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to adopt a rule regulating the audio loudness of commercials of TV broadcasters, cable operators, and any other multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD).

Moreover, the FCC is required to incorporate by reference the standards set by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC).

The bill provides that the FCC shall write a rule within one year "that is limited to incorporating by reference and making mandatory (subject to any waivers the Commission may grant) the `Recommended Practice: Techniques for Establishing and Maintaining Audio Loudness for Digital Television' (A/85), and any successor thereto, approved by the Advanced Television Systems Committee, only insofar as such recommended practice concerns the transmission of commercial advertisements by a television broadcast station, cable operator, or other multichannel video programming distributor." (Parentheses in original.)

The House previously passed a different version of the CALM Act, HR 1084 [LOC | WW], on December 15, 2009. See, story titled "House Passes CALM Act" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,025, December 18, 2009. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet held a hearing on June 11, 2009, and marked up HR 1084 on October 8, 2009. See, story titled "House Communications Subcommittee Approves Bill to Limit Loud Ads" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,000, October 9, 2009.

Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), sponsor HR 1084, stated in the House on November 30, 2010, that "With the passage of this legislation, we will end the practice of consumers being subjected to advertisements that are ridiculously loud, and we can protect people from needlessly loud noise spikes that can actually harm their hearing." See, Congressional Record, November 30, 2010, at Page H7720.

Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE) stated in the House that "this bill has been amended in the Senate to codify that standard that has been developed by the experts. The industry will move to solve the purported concerns by simply moving to comply with that consensus standard. Furthermore, the act would create a kind of ``safe harbor´´ by deeming an operator that installs, utilizes and maintains the appropriate equipment and software in compliance with the act."

11/30. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report [50 pages in PDF] titled "Information Security: Federal Agencies Have Taken Steps to Secure Wireless Networks, but Further Actions Can Mitigate Risk".

It states that "Federal agencies are making significant use of wireless networks and devices, including WLANs, laptop computers, and smartphones", and that "Agencies have taken several steps to address the security of their wireless networks and devices, including development of security policies, centralized management, training, and monitoring".

However, it finds that "these steps have not been fully and comprehensively applied across the government. Gaps exist in policies, network management was not always centralized, and numerous weaknesses existed in configurations of laptops and smartphones."

"Particular issues are the risk of dual-connected laptops and risks related to mobile devices being taken on international travel. In addition, many agencies had insufficient policies and practices for monitoring or conducting assessments of wireless technologies."

It concludes that "Until OMB, DHS, NIST, and individual agencies take steps to fully implement leading security practices, federal wireless networks will remain at increased vulnerability to attack, and information on these networks is subject to unauthorized access, use, disclosure, or modification."

12/2. Federal Reserve Board (FRB) Governor Elizabeth Duke gave a speech in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in which she stated that the evolution in the consumer credit and payments landscape will be shaped by technological innovation.

Duke (at left) said that "Innovative product and system design in the payment card marketplace continues to produce new electronic payment products. For example, a growing number of consumers are using prepaid cards."

She also noted that "the idea behind prepaid cards is not limited to being in card form; their function also may show up in the form of codes, stickers, cell phones, and chips embedded in any number of other devices, with payments transferring across the debit card interchange system or automated clearinghouse systems".

In addition, she said that mobile payments "show potential for broad adoption in the United States", but currently "do not represent a meaningful percentage of overall consumer payments".

12/1. The Department of Commerce (DOC) announced in a release that "U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk will co-chair the 21st session of the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) with Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan on December 14-15 in Washington, D.C."

The Business Software Alliance (BSA) issued a release regarding addressing software piracy and related issues in JCCT talks. It states that representatives of the BSA met on December 1, 2010, with Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and officials from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR), Department of the Treasury, Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Office of the US Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator.

The BSA stated that it "called for boosting US software sales and exports to China by 50 percent in two years; ensuring critical legal tools are in place to curb piracy; establishing a system for independently verifying that legalization commitments are being met; and suspending discriminatory ``indigenous innovation´´ polices that require foreign firms to transfer intellectual property to Chinese companies as the price of market entry."

The DOC added in its release that "During the December JCCT meeting, American and Chinese officials will review progress made by over a dozen working groups covering a wide range of trade issues such as intellectual property rights, telecommunications, ..."

Locke stated in this release that "The JCCT provides an important opportunity for us to address key trade issues such as intellectual property rights, government procurement and innovation policies with the goal of supporting our global competitiveness, increasing U.S. exports and creating jobs in the United States".

12/2. Google issued a vaguely worded statement regarding its compliance with the DMCA notice and take down requirements codified at 17 U.S.C. § 512. It stated that it will "improve" its processes. It did not state how. It did make the vague statement that for "copyright owners who use the tools responsibly, we'll reduce our average response time to 24 hours or less".

Google also stated that "we will be working with rightsholders to identify, and, when appropriate, expel violators from the AdSense program". See also, Google's web page titled "Digital Millennium Copyright Act -- Google AdSense".

Bob Pisano, head of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), stated in a release that "We are encouraged by Google's recognition of the responsibility of all participants in the online world to help combat online content theft. These are important first steps toward helping protect the rights of content owners and the more than 2.4 million American jobs that depend on a healthy motion picture and television industry. We look forward to Google’s implementation of its announced reforms."

He added that "We also look forward to working with Google to address other important issues, including Google’s listings and rankings of notorious pirate sites as places to go to get movies that are still only in the cinema and other illegal content. Just yesterday, Google announced that it was changing its algorithm so that unscrupulous merchants will not appear high up on search lists. Similar methods can and should be used to address online content theft as well."

11/29. The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced in a release that "Seizure orders have been executed against 82 domain names of commercial websites engaged in the illegal sale and distribution of counterfeit goods and copyrighted works".

The DOJ stated that this operation, conducted by the DOJ and the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), is titled "Operation In Our Sites v. 2.0".

The DOJ explained that this operation involved federal law enforcement agents making undercover purchases from online retailers suspected of selling counterfeit goods. It stated that "In many instances, the goods were shipped directly into the United States from suppliers in other countries using international express mail. If the goods were confirmed as counterfeit or otherwise illegal, seizure orders for the domain names of the websites that sold the goods were obtained from U.S. magistrate judges."

The DOJ added that "Individuals attempting to access the websites will now find a banner notifying them that the domain name of that website has been seized by federal authorities."

Attorney General Eric Holder (at right) stated that "With today's seizures, we are disrupting the sale of thousands of counterfeit items. We are cutting off funds to those looking to profit from the sale of illegal goods and exploit the ingenuity of others." See, transcript of his speech.

There is a bill pending in the Senate that would expand the DOJ's ability to seize domain names, and take related actions. See, S 3804 [LOC | WW | PDF], the "Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act", or "COICA".

The Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), a critic of the COICA, stated in a release on December 2, 2010, that the "COICA just won't be effective at stopping piracy and counterfeiting because evading DNS blocking will be trivially easy." It added that it will be "easy for frustrated file-sharers to switch".

See also, stories titled "Senators Introduce Bill to Enable DOJ to Shut Down Web Sites Dedicated to Infringement", "Bill Summary: Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act", and "Commentary: Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,132, September 21, 2010; stories titled "Tech Groups Oppose Domain Name Seizure Bill" and "CDT Argues that Domain Name Seizure Bill Implicates Freedom of Speech" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,135, September 29, 2010; and story titled "Senate Judiciary Committee Approves Domain Name Seizure Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,158, November 17, 2010.

Bob Pisano, head of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), stated in a release that "The federal government today engaged in a broad crackdown on dozens of the most notorious websites that illegally sell and distribute counterfeit goods and copyrighted works, including stolen digital content and movie and television boxed sets. These ``worst of the worst´´ rogue websites, which cloak themselves in respectability yet traffic in counterfeit and stolen goods, victimize not only the buyers of these products, but the more than 2.4 million hardworking Americans whose livelihoods depend on a healthy motion picture and television industry."

Mitch Bainwol, Chairman and CEO, Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), stated in a release that "No anti-piracy initiative is a silver bullet, but targeted government enforcement against the worst of the worst rogue sites sends a strong message that illegally trafficking in creative works carries real consequences and won't be tolerated. This also makes clear that a priority of this Administration is protecting American jobs and property rights."

Bainwol also said that "This initiative demonstrates that federal prosecutors can deploy the government's legal tools with careful and calibrated discretion.  Just as in the physical world, prosecutors and courts know how to assess evidence and distinguish between legitimate businesses and those that flout the law."

The Copyright Alliance stated in a release that "Today's action is a welcome example of law enforcement's ongoing and essential work to keep the Internet safe and lawful for consumers, creators and businesses. There is simply no defense for web operators that seek to corrupt the online world through digital theft. It is unfortunate, even as creators and entrepreneurs work to establish legitimate online business and meet consumer desires for creative works on a myriad of exciting new formats, that critics of federal copyright enforcement online continue to defend the indefensible."

12/2. President Obama announced his intent to appoint David Chavern to be member of the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy & Negotiations. See, White House news office release. Chavern works for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

12/1. President Obama nominated Judge Bernice Donald to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit. See, White House news office release and release. She is a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. Former President Clinton appointed her to her current position.

12/1. President Obama nominated Michael Urbanski to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia. See, White House news office release and release. See also, release of Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA). Urbanski has been a magistrate judge since 2004. Before that, he worked for the law firm of Woods Rogers. President Obama and former President Bush have rarely appointed Judges with backgrounds in technology related areas of law. However, Urbanski previously handled cases involving antitrust law and intellectual property law.

12/1. President Obama nominated Arenda Allen to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. See, White House news office release and release. She is a federal public defender.

12/1. President Obama nominated several other persons to be U.S. District Court Judges: Claire Cecchi (NJ), Mark Hornak (WDPenn), Robert Mariani (MDPenn), John Ross (EDMo), and Esther Salas (NJ). See, White House news office release and release.

12/3. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) published a notice in the Federal Register that announces, describes, recites, and sets the comment deadline for, its proposed rule changes regarding requiring tax return preparers to file individual income tax  returns using magnetic media. The comment deadline is January 3, 2011. Also, the notice announces that the IRS will hold a hearing at 10:00 AM on January 7, 2011, in the auditorium of the IRS building at 1111 Constitution Ave., NW. See, Federal Register, December 3, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 232, at Pages 75439-75444.

12/1. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report [75 pages in PDF] titled "Information Technology: Veterans Affairs Can Further Improve Its Development Process for Its New Education Benefits System".

11/30. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report [74 pages in PDF] titled "Telecommunications: Improved Management Can Enhance FCC Decision Making for the Universal Service Fund Low-Income Program".

11/30. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report [29 pages in PDF] titled "Information Security: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Needs to Mitigate Control Weaknesses".

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There will be no votes in the House. The House will also be in session next week.

The Senate will meet at 9:30 AM for morning business.

Supreme Court conference day (discussion of argued cases, and decision on cert petitions). Closed.

POSTPONED. 10:00 AM. The House Judiciary Committee's (HJC) Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties will hold a hearing titled "Civil Liberties and National Security". See, notice. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

5:00 PM. Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) regarding its draft of SP 800-78 -3 [20 pages in PDF] titled "Cryptographic Algorithms and Key Sizes for PIV".

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Copyright Office (CO) in response to its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) regarding "whether a cable operator may receive refunds in situations where it has failed to pay for the carriage of distant signals on a system-wide basis under the Copyright Act, before it was amended to allow a cable system to calculate its royalty fees on a community-by-community basis." See, original notice in the Federal Register, October 4, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 191, at Pages 61116-61118, and correction notice in the Federal Register, October 12, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 196, at Page 62488. See also, story titled "Copyright Office Issues NPRM Regarding Refunds Under the Cable Statutory License" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,140, October 11, 2010.

The Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) will host an event titled "PTO Day: 21st Annual Conference on U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Law and Practice". See, notice. Location: The Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center.

8:30 AM - 12:30 PM. The Brookings Institution (BI) will host an event titled "Internet Policymaking in its Third Decade". Location: BI, 1775 Massachusetts Ave., NW.

12:15 - 1:45 PM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will hold a meeting in its open rulemaking proceeding titled "In the Matter of Universal Service Reform: Mobility Fund". The FCC adopted and released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [58 pages in PDF] on October 14, 2010. It is FCC 10-182 in WT Docket No. 10-208. See, story titled "FCC Adopts NPRM Regarding Universal Service Subsidies for 3G and Next Generation Wireless" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,142, October 19, 2010. The deadline to submit initial comments is December 16, 2010. The deadline to submit reply comments is January 18, 2010. The meeting is titled "What is the Proposed USF Mobility Fund and How Will It Work?". Margaret Wiener (Chief of the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau's Auctions & Spectrum Access Division) and Amy Bender (Deputy Division Chief of the FCC's Wireline Competition Bureau's Telecommunications Access Policy Division) will preside. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) states that this is an FCBA event. The FCBA bars reporters from some of its events. Location: Wiley Rein, 1776 K St., NW.

1:30 - 4:30 PM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will host an event titled "scoping meeting". This is a hearing in its proceeding regarding its Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) of its Antenna Structure Registration (ASR) program. See, November 12, 2010, Public Notice (PN). This PN is DA 10-2178 in WT Docket No. 08-61 and WT Docket No. 03-187. See also, notice in the Federal Register, November 17, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 221, at Pages 70166-70168. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room, 445 12th St., SW.

2:00 PM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Office of Strategic Plans and Policy Analysis will host presentation by Joel Waldfogel (University of Minnesota) titled "Pop Internationalism: Has a Half Century of World Music Trade Displaced Local Culture?". To request permission to attend, contact Jonathan Levy at 202-418-2030 or jlevy at fcc dot gov. Free. See, notice. Location: FCC, 445 12th St., SW.

5:00 PM. Extended deadline to submit comments to the National Telecommunications and Information Adminitration's (NTIA) Internet Policy Task Force (IPTF) regarding government policies that restrict global information flows on the internet. See, original notice in the Federal Register, September 29, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 188, at Pages 60068-60073, and story titled "NTIA Seeks Comments on Governments' Restrictions of Free Flow of Information on the Internet" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,137, October 1, 2010. See also, extension notice in the Federal Register, November 18, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 222, at Page 70714.

Deadline to submit comments to the Department of Commerce's (DOC) Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) regarding small and medium enterprises' (SMEs) understanding of and compliance with export controls maintained pursuant to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR). See, notice in the Federal Register, October 6, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 193, at Pages 61706-61707.

8:30 AM - 3:00 PM. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Board of Overseers will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, September 17, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 180, at Page 56994. Location: NIST, Administration Building, Lecture Room B, Gaithersburg, MD.

9:00 - 11:00 AM. The Internet Innovation Alliance (IIA) will host an event titled "A View from Wall Street: Implications of Washington Telecom Policy on Jobs, Investment and Economic Recovery". The speakers will be Michael Powell (Providence Equity Partners), Rebecca Arbogast (Stifel Nicolaus), Craig Moffett (Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.), James Ratcliffe (Barclays Capital), and Jeff Silva (Medley Global Advisors). Breakfast will be served. See, notice and registration page. Location: 8th floor, Newseum, 555 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

9:00 AM - 6:00 PM. The American Antitrust Institute (AAI) will host an event titled "4th Annual Future of Private Antitrust Enforcement". At 12:45 PM Jonathan Leibowitz (FTC Chairman) will give a lunch speech. The price to attend is $100. CLE credits. For more information, contact Sarah Frey at 410-897-7028. See, notice and agenda [PDF]. Location: National Press Club, Ballroom, 529 14th St., NW.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in OPTi, Inc. v. Apple, Inc., App. Ct. No. 2010-1129, an appeal from the U.S. District Court (EDTex) in a patent case regarding computer memory cache technology. Location: Courtroom 402, 717 Madison Place, NW.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in McKesson Information Solutions v. Epic Systems Corp., App. Ct. No. 2010-1291, an appeal from the U.S. District Court (NDGa) in a patent case regarding internet based doctor patient communications software. Location: Courtroom 402, 717 Madison Place, NW.

12:00 - 1:00 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a panel discussion titled "The IP Enforcement Agenda: Why the Focus on Enforcement, and What Does It Mean for IP Practitioners?". The speakers will be John Bergmayer (Public Knowledge), David Green (NBC Universal), Chun Wright (attorney), and Mitchell Stoltz (Constantine Cannon). The price to attend ranges from $15 to $25. For more information, contact 202-626-3463. See, notice. Reporters are barred from most DC Bar events. Location: DC Bar Conference Center, B-1 Level, 1250 H St., NW.

The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Auction 89, regarding 218-219 MHz and Phase II 220 MHz Services licenses, is scheduled to commence.

8:30 AM - 5:15 PM. Day one of a two day meeting of the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Advisory Committee for Cyberinfrastructure. See, notice in the Federal Register, November 26, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 227, at Page 72843. Location: Room 1235, NSF, 4201 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA.

9:00 AM. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) Bureau of Industry and Security's (BIS) Regulations and Procedures Technical Advisory Committee (RPTAC) will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, November 22, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 224, at Page 71075. Location: Room 3884, Hoover Building, 14th Street between Constitution and Pennsylvania Avenues, NW.

9:00 AM - 12:45 PM. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship will meet by teleconference. The call in number is 888-942-9574; the passcode is 6315042. See, notice in the Federal Register, November 24, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 226, at Page 71670.

9:00 AM. The Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee (ETAAC) will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, November 22, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 224, at Page 71188. Location: IRS, Room 2116, 1111 Constitution Ave., NW.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold an executive business meeting. The agenda includes consideration of numerous judicial nominees: Robert Chatigny (USCA/2ndCir), Max Cogburn (USDC/WDNC), Marco Hernandez (USDC/DOre), Michael Simon (USDC/DOre), and Steve Jones (USDC/NDGa). The SJC rarely follows its published agendas. The SJC will webcast this event. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Michael S. Sutton Ltd. v. Nokia Corp., App. Ct. No. 2010-1218, an appeal from the U.S. District Court (EDTex) in a patent case regarding technology for sending 8 bit byte messages over radio paging networks that have been configured to send 7 bit byte messages. Location: Courtroom 201, 717 Madison Place, NW.

1:00 - 4:15 PM. The New America Foundation (NAF) will host an event titled "International Broadcasting and Public Media: Mission and Innovation in the Digital Environment". See, notice and registration page. Location: NAF, Suite 400, 1899 L St., NW.

2:00 - 5:00 PM. The Senate Banking Committee's (SBC) Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment and the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee's (SHSGAC) Subcommittee on Investigations will hold a joint hearing titled "Examining the Efficiency, Stability, and Integrity of the U.S. Capital Markets". This hearing will address the use of computers to engage in high frequency trading, and the flash crash of May 6, 2010. The witnesses will include Manjo Narang (CEO of Tradeworx), Thomas Peterffy (CEO of Interactive Brokers), Mary Schapiro (Chairman of the SEC), Gary Gensler (Chairman of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission), and others. See, SBC notice, SHSGAC notice, and CFTC notice. Location: Room 538, Dirksen Building.

Day one of a two day event sponsored by the SANS Institute titled "What Works in Incident Detection & Log Management Summit 2010". See, notice. Location: Dupont Hotel, 1500 New Hampshire Ave., NW.

8:30 - 11:45 PM. Day two of a two day meeting of the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Advisory Committee for Cyberinfrastructure. See, notice in the Federal Register, November 26, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 227, at Page 72843. Location: Room 1235, NSF, 4201 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Alexsam, Inc. v. Interactive Communications International, Inc., App. Ct. No. 2010-1267, an appeal from the U.S. District Court (EDTex) in a case regarding enforcement of a settlement agreement regarding patent licensing. Location: Courtroom 201, 717 Madison Place, NW.

2:40 PM. The Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) Bureau of Economics will host a presentation titled "Diversity, Social Goods Provision, and the Firm". See, paper [PDF] with the same title. The speaker will be Wallace Mullin (GWU). For more information, contact Loren Smith at lsmith2 at ftc dot gov or Tammy John at tjohn at ftc dot gov. Location: Room 8089, 1800 M St., NW.

3:00 - 5:00 PM. The New America Foundation (NAF) will host an event titled "Network Nation: How Business, Technology, and Government Shaped American Telecommunications". The speakers will include Richard John (Columbia University journalism school), author of the book [Amazon] titled "Network Nation: Inventing American Telecommunications". See, notice and registration page. Location: NAF, Suite 400, 1899 L St., NW.

6:00 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) will host an event titled "24th Annual FCC Chairman’s Dinner". The speaker will be FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. A reception begins at 6:00 PM. Dinner begins at 7:30 PM. Prices vary. Location: Washington Hilton, 1919 Connecticut Ave., NW.

Day two of a two day event sponsored by the SANS Institute titled "What Works in Incident Detection & Log Management Summit 2010". See, notice. Location: Dupont Hotel, 1500 New Hampshire Ave., NW.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its October 25, 2010, Public Notice (PN) regarding its closed captioning rules. This PN is DA 10-2050 in CG Docket 05-231, ET Docket No. 99-254. See, notice in the Federal Register, November 17, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 221, at Pages 70168-70169.

Supreme Court conference day (discussion of argued cases, and decision on cert petitions). Closed.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Juniper Network Services, Inc. v. SSL Services, Inc., App. Ct. No. 2010-1107, an appeal from the U.S. District Court (NDCal) in a patent case involving the issue of personal jurisdiction. Location: Courtroom 201, 717 Madison Place, NW.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Alcohol Monitoring Systems, Inc. v. Actsoft, Inc., App. Ct. No. 2010-1250, an appeal from the U.S. District Court (DColo) in a patent case involving the issue of personal jurisdiction. Location: Courtroom 402, 717 Madison Place, NW.

10:00 AM. Deadline to submit pubic comments to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR) regarding its Special 301 out of cycle review of the Philippines and Thailand. These reviews pertain to identifying countries that deny adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) or deny fair and equitable market access to U.S. persons who rely on intellectual property protection. See, notice in the Federal Register, November 12, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 218, at Pages 69519-69520.

5:00 PM. Extended deadline to submit comments to the Department of Commerce's (DOC) Internet Policy Task Force regarding the relationship between the availability and protection of online copyrighted works and innovation in the internet economy. See, original notice in the Federal Register, October 5, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 192, at Pages 61419-61424, and extension notice in the Federal Register, November 26, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 227, at Pages 72790. See also, story titled "Commerce Department Extends Comment Deadline for Online Copyright NOI" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,164, November 24, 2010.

Day one of an eight event sponsored by the SANS Institute titled "SANS Cyber Defense Initiative 2010". See, event web site. On December 10-14, there will be a five day series of courses titled "Law of Data Security and Investigations". The five one day courses will be "Fundamentals of IT Security Law and Policy", "E-Records, E-Discovery and Business Law", "Contracting for Data Security", "The Law of IT Compliance: How to Conduct Investigations", and "Applying Law to Emerging Dangers: Cyber Defense". CLE credits. Location: Marriott Wardman Park, 2660 Woodley Road, NW.