12/2. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Michael Copps gave another speech [8 pages in PDF] in which he railed against media, big companies, gatekeepers, Wall Street and investors. In addition, for the first time, he proposed that the FCC impose a "Public Value Test" (PVT) on broadcasters. The BBC employs a PVT in a different context.

It was another of his apocalyptic narratives on the futures of journalism and democracy. This speech consisted of a long and wide ranging collection of disorganized observations, accusations and proposals.

Copps (at left) said that "Our traditional media -- newspapers, radio, television -- have long since fallen victim to the excesses of a new Gilded Age. Media started earlier than most businesses down a suicidal road of hyper-speculation, creativity-stifling consolidation, and Wall Street pandering that gutted journalism's ranks and resources, cutting deep into the bone. What happened in media was prologue to the collapse of so many other industries and financial institutions."

Journalism is now in "its hour of grave peril".

The FCC, said Copps, "blessed it all, encouraged the consolidation mania, and went beyond even that to eviscerate just about every public interest responsibility that generations of reformers had fought for and won in radio and TV."

Copps said that he now seeks "altered private sector aspirations and dramatically different public policy". He asserted that the FCC can mandate a "renewed commitment to serious news and journalism".

He proposed that the FCC conduct a "Public Value Test" (PVT) of broadcasters when they renew their FCC licenses.

There is no "Public Value Test" in the Communications Act. However, the term has meaning in the United Kingdom (UK) in the context of the government provided programming of the BBC.

The BBC web site states that PVT "is a key component of the BBC's system of governance". It states that the BBC "is required to apply the PVT before a decision is taken to make any significant change to the BBC's UK Public Services. This can include introducing a new service or discontinuing an existing service." See, BBC web page titled "Public Value Test".

In the UK, the PVT applies to the government owned media. In contrast, Copps proposes that a PVT be applied to privately owned media.

In the UK, the PVT applies in making programming and service decisions. In contrast, Copps proposes that the PVT be applied in the FCC's license renewal decisions.

He wants the FCC, for example, to test broadcasters' commitment to "women and other diversity groups", including their ownership interests, and their portrayal in programming. He also said that "human and financial resources going into news would be one way to benchmark".

He also proposed that the FCC "determine the extent of its current authority to compel release of what interests are paying for this flood of anonymous political advertising".

However, the Congress has already legislated in this area, and committed to another federal commission -- the Federal Election Commission (FEC) -- rulemaking and enforcement authority with respect to disclosure of political contributions and expenditures.

He also advocated increasing government subsidies of "public broadcasting -- the jewel of our media landscape". He added that the proposal to impose a "spectrum fee" on broadcasters to subsidize "public news and media ... has its temptations", but would require Congressional legislation, which he said was unlikely.

He suggested that the FCC should require that broadcast licensees "take the public pulse". That is, the FCC should require broadcasters to meet "with their viewers and listeners to see if the programs being offered reflected the diverse interests and needs of the community".

He again advocated FCC promulgation of rules that regulate broadband internet access service (BIAS) providers.

He said that "So-called ``managed services´´ and ``paid priority´´ cannot be allowed to supplant the quality of the public Internet service available to us all. ``Reasonable network management´´ practices must never be allowed to cloak competitive one-up-manship."

He said that the rules must include "non-discrimination", and must apply to both wireless and wireline broadband. Finally, he again advocated reclassification of broadband as a Title II service.

Also, he said that the FCC "should be developing contingency plans to curtail network and spectrum monopolies and duopolies", and then switched to another subject. He did not explain how the FCC might do this, such as by asserting a quasi-Sherman Act authority.

11/30. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted and released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [46 pages in PDF] pertaining to its TV band rules. This proceeding is titled "In the Matter of Innovation in the Broadcast Television Bands: Allocations, Channel Sharing and Improvements to VHF".

This NPRM states that it proposes "preliminary steps to enable the repurposing of a portion of the UHF and VHF frequency bands that are currently used by the broadcast television service, which in later actions we expect to make available for flexible use by fixed and mobile wireless communications services, including mobile broadband."

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski wrote in his prepared statement that "The spectrum crunch threatens to create millions of dissatisfied consumers, who -- if we don't tackle this challenge -- will be forced to choose between poor service and higher prices."

He said that the FCC's two goals are to "pursue policies to drive the most efficient and flexible use of spectrum" and "to bring market forces to bands of spectrum where markets currently aren’t given the opportunity to work. This item advances both goals. It starts what I hope will become a landmark rulemaking to bring efficiency to the use of our TV broadcast spectrum, and lays essential groundwork for market-based policies in the form of voluntary incentive auctions, which I strongly hope Congress authorizes in the near future."

FCC Commissioner Meredith Baker also stated her hope that the Congress would give the FCC authority to conduct incentive auctions.

On July 29, 2010. Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA) and Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) introduced HR 5947 [LOC | WW], the "Voluntary Incentive Auctions Act of 2010". See also, story titled "Rep. Boucher and Rep. Stearns Introduce Voluntary Incentive Auctions Act" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,114, July 29, 2010. However, neither the House Commerce Committee (HCC), nor the full House, have taken any action on this bill.

On July 19, 2010, Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) introduced S 3610 [LOC | WW], the "Spectrum Measurement and Policy Reform Act". See also, story titled "Sen. Snowe Introduces Bill to Reform Spectrum Management" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,109, July 21, 2010. Subsection 6(b)(2) of that bill addresses incentive auctions. Neither the Senate Commerce Committee (SCC), nor the full Senate, have taken any action on that bill.

FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell wrote in his statement that "Although the Notice directs much of its attention to the concept of voluntary “channel sharing” among broadcasters, I have not reached any conclusion as to whether that approach is the best possible option for getting the most out of the TV band. I would like commenters to tell us more about the feasibility of alternatives that may be used in lieu of, or in conjunction with, channel sharing."

He added that "I've been a longtime proponent of encouraging broadcasters to lease some of their spectrum for wireless broadband purposes, and now is the time to dig into this concept seriously."

Baker wrote in her statement that "In the future, there needs to be a fulsome discussion on additional innovative proposals to address sharing of broadband and broadcast in the TV bands, including the possibility of a broadcast transition from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4, the adoption of a more cellularized broadcast system, or a transition from ATSC to OFDM technologies."

She also argued that the FCC should "ask additional questions about the future applicability of public interest obligations on broadcast licensees. If the TV bands are to shift towards a more flexible spectrum model, it is only right to ask whether those use restrictions should also be revisited."

FCC Commissioner Michael Copps wrote in his statement that "I think of this item as contingency planning for the better allocation of spectrum, and that applies to the concept of channel sharing."

Gordon Smith, P/CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), stated in a release that the "NAB has no quarrel with incentive auctions that are truly voluntary. Going forward, we believe policymakers have an obligation to maintain digital TV services currently provided by broadcasters and to allow free TV viewers to benefit from DTV video innovations."

However, he added that the "NAB will oppose government-mandated signal strength degradations or limitations, and new spectrum taxes that threaten the future of free and local broadcasting."

Steve Largent, head of the CTIA, stated in a release that "We applaud the FCC for opening a proceeding to explore options for freeing up valuable spectrum in the broadcast TV bands for mobile broadband services. Today's action is another important step to ensuring that we can meet America’s growing demand for mobile Internet access at anytime and anywhere."

This NPRM is FCC 10-196 in ET Docket No. 10-235. Initial comments will be due within 45 days of publication of a notice in the Federal Register. Reply comments will be due within 75 days of such publication. As of the December 3, 2010, issue of the Federal Register, this notice had not yet been published.

11/30. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted and released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [88 pages in PDF] that proposes revising the FCC's Experimental Radio Service rules to promote research, and a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) [31 pages in PDF] to examine how dynamic access radios and techniques can provide more intensive and efficient use of spectrum. See also, FCC release.

FCC Commissioner Meredith Baker wrote in her statement that "our efforts to find additional spectrum ... constitute only half the battle to meet the dramatically exploding needs of this country’s wireless consumers. We must also promote greater innovation to help use the spectrum we have today -- and the spectrum we will allocate tomorrow -- as efficiently as possible."

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski wrote in his statement that with these two items "we take steps to improve and expand our experimental licensing program. We are proposing, for example, to ease testing restrictions on universities, research organizations, and other institutions that are developing new services and devices that utilize spectrum. We also propose Innovation Zone licenses, and a new program to speed development of new health related devices that use spectrum -- an increasingly exciting area for investment and innovation and for improving health care and reducing costs."

This NPRM is FCC 10-197 in ET Docket Nos. 10-236 and 06-105. Initial comments will be due within 30 days of publication of a notice in the Federal Register. Reply comments will be due within 60 days of such publication. As of the December 3, 2010, issue of the Federal Register, this notice had not yet been published.

This NOI is FCC 10-198 in ET Docket No. 10-237. Initial comments will be due within 60 days of publication of a notice in the Federal Register. Reply comments will be due within 90 days of such publication. As of the December 3, 2010, issue of the Federal Register, this notice had not yet been published.

Harold Feld of the Public Knowledge (PK) stated in a release that these items "will facilitate imaginative, new and innovative approaches to making more efficient use of spectrum, which will lead to increased benefits to consumers. We applaud the Commission for looking to all stakeholders and encouraging a cooperative, collaborative and creative approach to meeting our future wireless needs."

12/1. Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) introduced S 3995 [LOC | WW], the "Federal Wi-Net Act". This bill would require the General Services Administration (GSA) to install Wi-Fi hotspots and wireless neutral host systems in federal buildings. It was referred to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

Sen. Snowe (at right) addressed this bill in the context of the "looming radio spectrum crisis". See, Congressional Record, December 1, 2010, at Page S8350. Sen. Snowe is also a senior member of the Senate Commerce Committee (SCC), which has jurisdiction over most spectrum related issues.

"While the foundation for wireless services has been voice communication, more subscribers are utilizing it for broadband." She also cited statistics on growing wireless usage, and then said that "To meet this growing demand, a multi-faceted solution is required that includes fostering technological advancement and more robust spectrum management. Such technologies as femtocells and Wi-Fi hotspots will help alleviate growing wireless demand by offloading that traffic onto wireline broadband networks."

She continued that "most smartphones sold today have Wi-Fi capabilities to take advantage of the growing ubiquity of wireless networks. According to a November 2008 report from AdMob, 42 percent of all iPhone traffic was transported over Wi-Fi networks rather than AT&T's cellular network. So installing more mini-base stations, such as femtocells, and Wi-Fi hotspots will improve indoor coverage and wireless network capacity."

The bills provides that the GSA "shall ... install Wi-Fi hotspots in all publicly accessible Federal buildings constructed after the date of enactment of this Act", and "retrofit all Federal buildings constructed prior to the date of enactment ... not later than December 31, 2013".

However, the bill only provides $15 Million for this task.

It also requires the GSA to "allow for the installation of wireless neutral host systems by any eligible carriers upon request in all publicly accessible Federal buildings".

The bill also provides for granting easements and rights of way to "install, construct, and maintain wireless transmitters and backhaul transmission". And, the GSA shall charge fees for this "based on fair market prices". All fees collected shall be used "for the construction and maintenance of Wi-Fi hotspots and wireless neutral host systems."

There is a copy of the bill in Sen. Warner's web site.

Sen. Warner added that "I see a great opportunity to leverage federal buildings in order to improve wireless broadband coverage at a very reasonable cost. By starting with the nearly 9,000 federal buildings owned or operated by the General Services Administration, we will be able to provide appreciable improvement in wireless coverage for consumers while also reducing some of the pressure on existing wireless broadband networks".

12/3. Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA) was selected to be Chairman of the House Administration Committee for the 112th Congress. See, Rep. John Boehner's (R-OH) release and Rep. Lungren's release.

12/3. President Obama announced his intent to nominate Kelvin Droegemeier to be a member of the National Science Board. See, White House news office release.

12/2. The House approved HRes 1737, which censures Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY), by a vote of 333-79. See, Roll Call No. 607.

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The Senate will meet at 8:15 AM. It will resume consideration of HR 4853 [LOC | WW], a bill to extend certain provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. The House passed this bill on December 2 by a vote of 234-188. See, Roll Call No. 604.

The House will not meet.

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.

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 6:00 PM.

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.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. The schedule for the week includes consideration of S 3789 [LOC | WW], the "Social Security Number Protection Act of 2010".

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.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. The schedule for the week includes consideration of S 3789 [LOC | WW], the "Social Security Number Protection Act of 2010".

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.

RESCHEDULED FROM DECEMBER 3. 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.

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.

The House will not meet.

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.

8:30 AM. Day one of a two day partially closed meeting of the Department of Commerce's (DOC) Bureau of Industry and Security's (BIS) Emerging Technology and Research Advisory Committee. See, notice in the Federal Register, November 26, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 227, at Pages 72792-72793. Location: Room 3884, DOC, Hoover Building, 14th Street between Pennsylvania and Constitution Avenues, NW.

9:30 AM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Communications Security, Reliability, and
Interoperability Council (CSRIC) will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, November 30, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 229, at Pages 74050-74051. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room (Room TW-C305), 445 12th St., SW.

11:00 AM - 2:00 PM. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Telecommunications and Information Administration's (NTIA) Spectrum Management Advisory Committee will meet by teleconference. The call in number is 1-888-769-8761; the passcode is 2684385. See, notice in the Federal Register, November 26, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 227, at Page 72792.

Deadline to submit comments to the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Antitrust Division regarding the proposed final judgment in USA v. American Express, et al., D.C. No. CV-10-4496. The DOJ initiated an action against American Express, MasterCard and Visa alleging violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act, which is codified at 15 U.S.C. § 1, in connection with their alleged anticompetitive conduct at the point of sale. The settlement, which covers only MasterCard and Visa, requires public notice and comment, and approval by the District Court. The DOJ's notice in the Federal Register states that comments are due within 60 days of publication of its notice in the Federal Register. However, it does not fix an actual date. See, Federal Register, October 13, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 197, at Pages 62858-62874. See also, story titled "DOJ and States Bring Antitrust Action Against Credit Card Companies" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,139, October 5, 2010.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [25 pages in PDF] regarding commercial radio operator licenses for maritime and aviation radio stations who perform certain functions performed within the commercial radio operators service. The FCC adopted this item on August 31, 2010, and released the text on September 8, 2010. It is FCC 10-154 in WT Docket No. 10-177. See, notice in the Federal Register, October 29, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 209, at Pages 66709-66715.