12/2. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a document [122 pages in PDF] titled "Protecting Consumer Privacy in an Era of Rapid Change: A Proposed Framework for Businesses and Policymakers". It proposes, among other things, an online do not track regime.

FTC Chairman Jonathan Leibowitz, a Democratic appointee, praised the document in his statement.

In contrast, FTC Commission Thomas Rosch, a Republican appointee, wrote that "the Report is flawed. ... In short, to the extent that privacy notices have been buried, incomplete, or otherwise ineffective -- and they have been -- the answer is to enhance efforts to enforce the ``notice´´ model, not to replace it with a new framework."

FTC Commissioner William Kovacic, the other Republican appointee, wrote that "I regard some of staff's recommendations -- notably, the proposal for a Do-Not-Track system -- to be premature."

This document proposes a new legal regime. And, it requests comments by January 31, 2011. However, the FTC does not propose any rules, and this is not a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) within the meaning to the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act (which established the procedure to be followed by the FTC in promulgating rules implementing Section 5 of the FTC Act) or the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).

The FTC has no specific statutory mandate to write online privacy rules. The FTC's enforcement activities with respect to online privacy and security to date rest upon Section 5 of the FTC Act, which is codified at 15 U.S.C. § 45. It generally prohibits "unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce".

This proposal states that the FTC's "goal in the privacy arena has remained constant: to protect consumers' personal information and ensure that they have the confidence to take advantage of the many benefits of the ever-changing marketplace. In recent years, the FTC has sought to advance this objective using two primary models: the ``notice-and-choice model,´´ which encourages companies to develop privacy notices describing their information collection and use practices to consumers, so that consumers can make informed choices, and the ``harm-based model,´´ which focuses on protecting consumers from specific harms -- physical security, economic injury, and unwanted intrusions into their daily lives."

It adds that "the notice-and-choice model, as implemented, has led to long, incomprehensible privacy policies that consumers typically do not read, let alone understand. Likewise, the harm-based model has been criticized for failing to recognize a wider range of privacy-related concerns, including reputational harm or the fear of being monitored."

This document proposes, and requests comments on, "a new framework for addressing the commercial use of consumer data" that would apply to both "online and offline commercial entities that collect, maintain, share, or otherwise use consumer data that can be reasonably linked to a specific consumer, computer or device".

Most significantly, this document proposes a "Do Not Track" regime. It states that this would "involve the placement of a persistent setting, similar to a cookie, on the consumer's browser signaling the consumer's choices about being tracked and receiving targeted ads".

The FTC also proposes a consumer access to data mandate. It advocates "providing consumers with reasonable access to the data that companies maintain about them, particularly for companies that do not interact with consumers directly, such as data brokers."

Leibowitz, who worked for a large industry group before his appointment to the FTC, stated that his industry critics on this issue are "highly-paid professional naysayers".

12/2. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection held a hearing titled "Do-Not-Track Legislation: Is Now The Right Time?".

Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL), the Chairman of the Subcommittee, stated that with a do not track mechanism, "consumers could advise would-be trackers unambiguously and persistently that they do not wish to be followed by digital snoopers and spies across web sites and their various fixed and mobile computing devices". See, opening statement.

Rep. Rush is the sponsor of HR 5777 [LOC | WW], the "Building Effective Strategies To Promote Responsibility Accountability Choice Transparency Innovation Consumer Expectations and Safeguards Act" or "BEST PRACTICES Act". For more on this and other bills, see story titled "Pending Privacy Bills" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,143, October 20, 2010.

See also, prepared testimony of Daniel Weitzner (National Telecommunications and Information Administration), prepared testimony of David Vladeck (Federal Trade Commission), prepared testimony of Susan Grant (Consumer Federation of America), prepared testimony of Joe Pasqua (Symantec), prepared testimony of Joan Gillman (Time Warner Cable), prepared testimony of Eben Moglen (Columbia University), and prepared testimony of Daniel Castro (Information Technology and Innovation Foundation).

The Subcommittee did not hear testimony from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), or other groups involved in online marketing.

The NTIA's Weitzner wrote that "browser developers provided their users with the means to block and manage cookies in a variety of ways."

He also wrote that "members of the online advertising industry developed common principles about the collection and use of tracking information, and the industry is rolling out a system to help consumers manage their tracking preferences online. To the extent that these tools provide effective protection for individual choices, government properly avoids regulations that would otherwise restrict the flow of information".

He also stated that in light of browsers' cookie blocking function, "greater consumer education about tools already available might be all that is needed. But many users want more nuanced choices. That is, users might be happy to have certain Web sites collect and store some information about browsing habits when it serves the users' interests, but they might want to avoid other tracking or profiling that they consider intrusive or simply of no benefit to them."

He concluded that "the best approach to achieving the important goals motivating the Do-Not-Track concept is through a voluntary, multi-stakeholder process, backed up, in the end, by FTC enforcement of the privacy commitments made to consumers through such a system."

David Vladek, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, wrote that the FTC supports a legal regime under which "consumers would be able to choose whether to allow the collection and use of data regarding their online searching and browsing activities". He added that this must be an "enforceable requirement". Also, "Such a universal mechanism could be accomplished through legislation or potentially through robust, enforceable self-regulation."

He elaborated that, unlike the do not call regime for phone calls, the do not track regimes would not involved a registry. Rather, there should be a "browser-based mechanism through which consumers could make persistent choices".

He also wrote that the FTC urges the Congress "to consider whether a uniform and comprehensive choice mechanism should include an option that enables consumers to control the types of advertising they want to receive and the types of data they are willing to have collected about them, in addition to providing the option to opt out completely."

He acknowledged that "each of the major browser vendors offers a mechanism to limit online tracking", but asserted that "consumers are largely unaware of their ability to limit or block online tracking through their browsers

He also argued that "industry efforts to implement choice on a widespread basis have fallen short".

And finally, he wrote that if Congress does choose to enact legislation, the FTC wants rulemaking authority under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA).

The Congress has given the FTC APA rulemaking authority on a statute by statute basis. However, its Section 5 rule making process is found in Section 18 of the FTC Act, which is codified at 15 U.S.C. § 57a. Section 18 affords procedural fairness to affected parties, while the APA allows for less open and transparent, and more political and arbitrary, rulemakings. FCC rulemakings, for example, are bound only by the APA.

Grant (CFA) advocated do not track legislation.

Pasqua (Symantec) wrote that "while online privacy and security together are a critical foundation to trust on the Internet, the creation of a Do-Not-Track registry would be unlikely to advance these goals"

Castro (ITIF) wrote that a do not track "mandate would impose unnecessary costs that would ultimately be borne by consumers, result in more intrusive and less relevant advertising for consumers, and, if widely adopted, significantly harm the current funding mechanism for the Internet ecosystem, resulting in less free content and fewer free services online. In short, a Do Not Track requirement would do more harm than good and for that reason ITIF urges the federal government to not go forward with this approach."

12/1. Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO), Rep. Tom Price (R-GA), Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD), and Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) introduced HR 6471 [LOC | WW], the "EMP Weapons Accountability Assessment Act", a bill to require the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to submit a report on the foreign development of electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weapons.

An EMP weapon is a nuclear bomb, detonated at high altitude, and at a great distance from the intended targets, for the purpose of generating a huge electromagnetic pulse that would disrupt or damage unshielded computer systems and other electronics. Such a detonation, to achieve disruption in the US, would not have to take place in the US, or have any degree of accuracy.

The bill provides that the "Director of National Intelligence shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report ... on the research, development, testing, and deployment programs of foreign countries relating to -- (A) electromagnetic pulse weapons; (B) delivery systems for EMP weapons; and (C) platforms for carrying EMP weapons delivery systems".

The bill would not require the DNI to study the possible consequences of such an attack upon the US.

The bill was referred to the House Intelligence Committee (HIC). None of the bill's original sponsors are current members.

The bill defines an "electromagnetic pulse weapon" as "an explosive weapon that generates electromagnetic fields that have a high likelihood of damaging electrical power systems, electronics, information systems, and other infrastructure that depends on such systems".

The House Armed Services Committee (HASC) held a hearing on July 10, 2008, on EMP attacks. William Graham, Chair of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack, wrote in his prepared testimony that "A high-altitude electromagnetic pulse results from the detonation of a nuclear warhead at altitudes in the range of about 40 to 400 kilometers above the Earth's surface. The immediate effects of EMP are disruption of, and damage to, electronic systems and electrical infrastructure. EMP is not reported in the scientific literature to have direct physiological effects on people."

11/30. The Supreme Court issued its opinion [12 pages in PDF] in County of Los Angeles v. Humphries, a case regarding the consequences of state electronic databases that contain false and damaging. In this opinion, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the County of Los Angeles on one narrow issue. However, this opinion leaves untouched the Court of Appeals' holding that the state statute violated the due process rights of Craig and Wendy Humphries.

California maintained an electronic database, which the Court of Appeals wrote has a "high error rate", "perhaps as high as fifty percent". A state statute also required certain government agencies (including the County of Los Angeles) and private sector entities to use and rely upon this database. The state provided no recourse to individuals wrongfully listed in this database. They were allowed no opportunity to have their information corrected.

The Humphries filed a complaint in U.S. District Court (CDCal) against the County of Los Angeles, and various county and state officials, alleging, among other things, violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983, asserting violation of the due process clause of the 14th Amendment. They sought declaratory and injunctive relief, and damages.

Section 1983 provides a federal cause of action against states for violation of Constitutional rights. It provides, in part, that "Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress ...".

The District Court granted summary judgment to the defendants. The Court of Appeals reversed.

The Court of Appeals held in its January 15, 2009 opinion [53 pages in PDF] that when the government creates and maintains an electronic database with individually identifiable information, and also mandates that various government and private sector parties access and rely upon information in this database in issuing licenses, permitting employment, or allowing the exercise of certain rights, then the individuals listed in that database have a due process right to challenge information in that database. See also, story titled "9th Circuit Holds Government Database With No Redress Process Violates Due Process" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,895, February 9, 2009.

The just released Supreme Court opinion does not reverse the holding that the state statute is unconstitutional. Rather, the Supreme Court addressed the narrow issue of the liability of the County of Los Angeles under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 to pay attorneys fees to the plaintiffs. The Court of Appeals order it to pay $60,000. The Supreme Court reversed and remanded.

However, it is the prospect of financial liability that incents states respect the Constitutional rights of individuals.

This case is County of Los Angeles, et al. v. Craig and Wendy Humphries, Supreme Court of the U.S., Sup. Ct. No. 09–350, a petition for writ of certiorari to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, App. Ct. No. 05-56467. The Court of Appeals heard an appeal from the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, D.C. No. CV-03-00697-JVS, Judge James Selna presiding. Judge Jay Bybee wrote the opinion of the Court of Appeals, in which Judges Milan Smith and Richard Mills (USDC/CDIL) joined.

See also story titled "Courts of Appeals Address Reliance Upon Government Databases" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,926, April 14, 2009.

12/3. The U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir) issued its opinion in Kristin Brooks Hope Center v. FCC, holding that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) acted arbitrarily and capriciously when it reassigned the petitioners toll free hotline numbers to another entity. The Court of Appeals vacated and remanded. This case is Kristin Brooks Hope Center v. FCC and USA, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, App. Ct. No. 09-1310, an petition for review of a final order of the FCC. Judge Williams wrote the opinion of the Court of Appeals, in which Judges Henderson and Randolph joined.

12/3. The Republican Business Council (RBC) wrote in a letter to House Republicans that it endorses Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) to be the Chairman of the House Commerce Committee (HCC) in the 112th Congress. The RBC is based in Rep. Stearns' district.

11/30. Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), who also wants to be Chairman of the House Commerce Committee (HCC), issued a release touting his ties to the Tea Party.

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Notices & Disclaimers
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The House will not meet.

The Senate will meet at 2:00 PM.

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 - 12:00 NOON. Georgetown University will host an event titled "The Rise of Wireless as a Change Agent in the Economic Ecosystem: Learnings, Yearnings & Potential Earnings". At 9:00 AM there will be a panel titled "Economic, Policy and Business Issues in the Wireless Industry". The speakers will be Paul de Sa (Chief of the FCC's Office of Strategic Planning & Policy Analysis), Scott Wallsten (Georgetown), Tom Hazlett (George Mason University), Peter Cramton (University of Maryland), and Len Cali (AT&T). At 10:15 AM, there will be a panel titled "Wireless is Everywhere: Discussing Wireless Deployment Possibilities". At 11:30 AM, FCC Commissioner Meredith Baker will speak. See, notice. Location: Holeman Lounge, National Press Club, 13th floor, 529 14 St., NW.

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 NOON. The Constitution Project will host a panel discussion titled "Principles for Government Data Mining: Preserving Civil Liberties in the Information Age". The speakers will include Mary Ellen Callahan (DHS Chief Privacy Officer). For more information, contact Francine Wargo at 202-580-6924 or fwargo at constitutionproject dot org. Location: National Press Club, 13th floor, Murrow Room, 529 14 St., 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.

12:00 NOON - 2:00 PM. The Federal Society will host a panel discussion and lunch titled "Changing the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure: Has the Time Come?". See, notice. CLE credits. Location: First Amendment Lounge, National Press Club, 13th floor, 529 14 St., 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.