On Monday, April 4, the House Rules Committee (HRC) adopted a closed rule [PDF] that did not allow the consideration of amendments.

On Tuesday, April 5, the House debated and approved that rule, by a vote of 241-178. See, Roll Call No. 227. The House has yet to vote on HJRes 37.

Republicans voted 236-0 for the rule. Democrats voted 5-178. The Democrats who supported the rule were Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Rep. Heath Shuler (D-NC), Rep. Dan Boren (D-OK), Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA), and Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN).

See, story titled "House Commerce Committee Approves HJRes 37" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,204, March 15, 2011; story titled "House Subcommittee Passes Resolution of Disapproval of FCC BIAS Rules" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,202, March 10, 2011; and story titled "House Subcommittee to Mark Up Resolution Disapproving FCC's BIAS Rules" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,201, March 2, 2011.

The FCC's rules are contained in the Report and Order (R&O) [194 pages in PDF] adopted on December 21, 2010, and released on December 23, 2010. This R&O is FCC 10-201 in GN Docket No. 09-191 and WC Docket No. 07-52. See also, stories in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,186, December 22, 2010, and TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,188, December 24, 2010.

On April 5, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), the ranking Democrat on the House Commerce Committee (HCC), and other Democratic members of the HCC, sent a Dear Colleague letter [PDF] urging opposition to HJRes 37.

They wrote that "While many of us support the FCC's Open Internet Rules, others among us differ on the provisions. But we are united in opposing the straitjacket H. J. Res 37 imposes, which prevents the House from debating and amending the substantive issues involved."

They explained that "Under the terms of the Congressional Review Act, resolutions of disapproval are not open to amendment. This means we are forced into an up-or-down vote on H. J. Res. 37. Even an amendment to restore the transparency provisions of the FCC rule, which gives consumers basic information about the speed and cost of their Internet connections, was ruled out of order in Committee."

4/4. The Executive Office of the President's (EOP) Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a short statement [PDF] that states that "If the President is presented with a Resolution of Disapproval that would not safeguard the free and open Internet, his senior advisers would recommend that he veto the Resolution."

This statement argues that HJRes 37 "would undermine a fundamental part of the Nation's Internet and innovation strategy -- an enforceable and effective policy for keeping the Internet free and open. Since the development of the Internet, Federal policy has ensured that this medium is kept open and facilitates innovation and investment, protects consumer choice, and enables free speech."

"The rule at issue resulted from a process that brought together parties on all sides of this issue -- from consumer groups to technology companies to broadband providers -- to enable their voices to be heard." The OMB statement continues that the FCC's rules "reflected a constructive effort to build a consensus around what safeguards and protections were reasonable and necessary to ensure that the Internet continues to attract investment and to spur innovation."

It argues that "Disapproval of the rule would threaten those values and raise questions as to whether innovation on the Internet will be allowed to flourish, consumers will be protected from abuses, and the democratic spirit of the Internet will remain intact."

The Public Knowledge's (PK) Gigi Sohn praised the OMB announcement. See, PK release.

4/4. The U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir) issued a per curiam order [PDF] that dismisses the appeals of both Verizon and MetroPCS of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) order adopting rules regulating broadband internet access service (BIAS) providers.

Verizon and MetroPCS filed appeals in early January arguing that the FCC's BIAS rules exceed the statutory authority of the FCC, are arbitrary and capricious, and violated the Constitution. The FCC moved to dismiss both as premature on January 28.

The FCC's rules are contained in the Report and Order (R&O) [194 pages in PDF] adopted on December 21, 2010, and released on December 23, 2010. This R&O is FCC 10-201 in GN Docket No. 09-191 and WC Docket No. 07-52. For descriptions and discussions of these rules, see stories in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,186, December 22, 2010, and TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,188, December 24, 2010.

However, the FCC has not yet published a notice in the Federal Register regarding this R&O. Verizon and MetroPCS are free to file again when the FCC has published this notice.

The Court wrote "The challenged order is a rulemaking document subject to publication in the Federal Register".

"The order will therefore be subject to judicial review upon publication in the Federal Register. ... Regardless of whether the order is reviewable by way of a petition for review, 47 U.S.C. § 402(a), or a notice of appeal, 47 U.S.C. § 402(b), the prematurity is incurable."

47 U.S.C. § 402 provides for judicial review of final orders of the FCC. 28 U.S.C §§ 2341-2351 provide for judicial review of agency orders generally.

Aparna Sridhar of the Free Press (FP) wrote in a release that "We are pleased that the D.C. Circuit rejected this attempt by Verizon and MetroPCS to circumvent basic rules on challenging FCC decisions. We're gratified that the Court ruled that even powerful companies like these cannot jump the line to have their arguments heard. We expect that Verizon and MetroPCS are not finished trying to undo the FCC's Net Neutrality policy, but we hope that this ruling sends a signal to those companies that their arguments will face close scrutiny, no matter how novel or clever they appear to be."

These cases are Verizon v. FCC, App. Ct. No. 11-1014, and MetroPCS 700MHz, LLC, et al. v. FCC, App. Ct. No. 11-1016.

4/5. Warner Bros. Entertainment, and other members of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), filed a complaint [PDF] in the U.S. District Court (CDCal) against WTV Systems, the operator of the video service marketed as Zediva, alleging copyright infringement in violation of 17 U.S.C. § 501.

The plaintiffs -- Warner Bros., Columbia, Disney, Paramount, Twentieth Century Fox, and Universal -- allege in this complaint that the Zediva web site "streams Plaintiffs' movies on demand to paying customers over the Internet" without plaintiffs' authorization.

They allege that this is a public performance in violation of their exclusive rights of copyright. See, 17 U.S.C. § 106(4).

They allege that "Unlike Netflix and other licensed online services, Defendants' business is based on infringing Plaintiffs' rights. Defendants transmit performances of Plaintiffs' copyrighted works to members of the public without Plaintiffs' authorization."

The one count complaint seeks injunctive and monetary relief -- $150,000 per statutory award.

Zediva's CEO, Venkatesh Srinivasan, who is also a named defendant, filed a comment [6 pages in PDF] with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) dated December 10, 2010 in the proceeding in which it adopted rules regulating broadband internet access service (BIAS) providers. This proceeding is FCC Docket Nos. GN 09-191 and WC 07-52.

He urged the FCC to write rules that would prevent BIAS providers from blocking or discriminating against the Zediva service. He urged the FCC to adopts rules that "ban all application-specific discrimination". He made no mention of an exception for copyright infringing applications.

He offered this description of Zediva in his comment to the FCC. "Zediva enables its users to rent DVDs, and watch their rentals instantly on their computer, without needing to pick up a physical copy of the DVD." He further stated that "users can rent a DVD and a DVD player located in Zediva's data centers". He further described this as remote place shifting.

This case is Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., et al. v. WTV Systems, Inc. and WTV Systems, LLC dba Zediva, and Venkatesh Srinivasan, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Western Division, D.C. No. CV11-02817-JFW. The plaintiffs are represented by Glenn Pomerantz of the law firm of Munger Tolles & Olson.

4/5. Neither WTV Systems (operator of Zediva) nor its CEO, Venkatesh Srinivasan, have filed an answer to the copyright infringement complaint [PDF] filed by movie companies on April 5, 2011. Under Rule 12, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the general rule is that one must serve an answer "within 21 days after being served with the summons and complaint". The defendants have not yet disclosed what arguments and defenses they might raise.

However, based upon Srinivasan's filing with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in December of 2010, the likely legal argument appears to be that the Zediva service is a DVD rental service, even though there is no brick and mortar DVD rental store, and the customers do not acquire possession of any DVDs. See, related story in this issue titled "Movie Companies Sue Zediva for Copyright Infringement".

The argument appears to rely upon the first sale doctrine. That is, under 17 U.S.C. § 109, traditional brick and mortar DVD rental companies, having purchased a large number of physical DVDs, can then rent them out, or resell them, to customers.

The factual basis underlying this defense would be stronger if Zediva actually purchases physical DVDs and makes no copies, and when a customer pays for the streaming of a movie, that movie it is on a DVD purchased and possessed by Zediva, Zediva is actually streaming from that DVD, and that DVD is only being used to stream to one customer at a time.

This would not be an efficient delivery technology, compared to other internet content delivery systems, but it would be more analogous to the legitimate business model of brick and mortar DVD store rentals.

However, even if the nature of Zediva's service is as described above, there remains the application of the Copyright Act.

First, there are several exclusive rights of copyright. They are listed in 17 U.S.C. § 106. The complaint alleges infringement of only one exclusive right of copyright, the performance right, which is codified at subsection 106(4).

Second, there is Section 109, which codifies one exception to the exclusive rights of copyright, the first sale doctrine. Significantly, section 109 does not apply the first sale doctrine uniformly across all exclusive rights of copyright, and all technologies. The basic exception pertains to the exclusive rights codified in subsection 106(3).

This subsection provides that "the owner of copyright under this title has the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of the following ... (3) to distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending".

But, the movie companies allege in their complaint violation of their exclusive right under 17 U.S.C. § 106(4), which provides that "the owner of copyright under this title has the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of the following ... (4) in the case of ... motion pictures and other audiovisual works, to perform the copyrighted work publicly". (Emphasis added.)

Section 109 only provides an exemption to the performance right in the context of "an electronic audiovisual game intended for use in coin-operated equipment". (Emphasis added.)

Thus, if the Zediva service provides public performances within the meaning of subsection 106(4), but not distribution by rentals within the meaning of subsection 106(3), then the first sale doctrine would provide no defense.

The movie companies have already disclosed that they argue that Zediva provides public performances. The defendants will likely argue that Zediva provides distribution by rental. Definitions will be critical.

17 U.S.C. § 101 contains definitions. It provides that "To ``perform´´ a work means to recite, render, play, dance, or act it, either directly or by means of any device or process or, in the case of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, to show its images in any sequence or to make the sounds accompanying it audible."

It further provides that "To perform or display a work ``publicly´´ means---
  (1) to perform or display it at a place open to the public or at any place where a substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle of a family and its social acquaintances is gathered; or
  (2) to transmit or otherwise communicate a performance or display of the work to a place specified by clause (1) or to the public, by means of any device or process, whether the members of the public capable of receiving the performance or display receive it in the same place or in separate places and at the same time or at different times."

Performance includes rendering "by means of any device or process", which would include internet streaming. Public performance includes performance "by means of any device or process, whether the members of the public capable of receiving the performance or display receive it in the same place or in separate places and at the same time or at different times". These definitions are broad enough to be interpreted to encompass streaming movies one at a time to customers.

Section 101 provides no definition of "rent" or "rental". Although, the word rent in legal usage connotates an occupational or possessory right. Under Zediva's system, customers take possession of nothing.

One precedent that is likely to be invoked in this case is the August 4, 2008, opinion [44 pages in PDF] of the U.S. Court of Appeals (2ndCir) in Cartoon Network v. CSC Holdings, 536 F.3d 121. The Court of Appeals held that CSC's Remote Storage Digital Video Recorder (RS-DVR) system does not violate the Copyright Act by infringing plaintiffs' exclusive rights of reproduction and public performance. The Supreme Court denied certiorari on June 29, 2009.

See, story titled "2nd Circuit Reverses in Remote Storage DVR Copyright Case" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,806, August 5, 2008; story titled "Copyright Alliance and Others File Amicus Briefs in Remote Storage DVR Case" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,854, November 10, 2008; and story titled "DOJ Urges SCUS to Deny Cert in RS-DVR Case" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,946, June 2, 2009.

4/5. The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) announced that a survey conducted by the Advertiser Perceptions found that marketers and agencies plan to increase their digital video advertising.

The IAB stated in a release that "69% of marketers and 55% of agencies plan to increase their Digital Video Advertising (DVA), with a 22% growth predicted in the next 12 months".

The IAB also stated that the survey shows that "Marketers will migrate TV ad dollars to digital video based on the belief it will deliver better" return on investment, and that "agencies and television decision makers will shift ad dollars in an attempt to follow their target audiences".

The survey results are published in a set of presentation slides [29 pages in PDF] titled "An Inside Look at Demand-Side Perceptions of Digital Video Advertising".

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The House will meet at 10:00 AM for morning hour, and at 12:00 NOON for legislative business. The House will consider HJRes 37, a resolution disapproving the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) rules regulating broadband internet access service (BIAS) providers. See, rule. See, Rep. Cantor's schedule for the week of April 4.

The Senate will meet at 10:00 AM.

9:00 - 10:30 AM. The Global Business Dialogue will host an event titled "Unwanted Trade: A Look at Trade That Steals, Corrupts, and Destroys". The speakers will be Louis Shelley (George Mason University), Jeannie Cameron (British American Tobacco), Nancy Boswell (Transparency International, USA), Loren Yager (GAO). See, notice. Location: National Press Club, First Amendment Lounge, 529 14th St., NW.

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The Net Caucus will host an panel discussion titled "Enabling Online Privacy With Do Not Track: By Congress, Corporations or Code?". The speakers will be Erich Andersen (Microsoft), Stuart Ingis (Venable, and Digital Advertising Alliance), Maneesha Mithal (FTC's Division of Privacy and Identity Protection), and Ashkan Soltani. Lunch will be served. Free. Register by email to rsvp at netcaucus dot org or by phone to 202-407-8829. Location: Room B-340, Rayburn Building.

2:00 - 3:30 PM. The Department of Justice's (DOJ) Antitrust Division will host a presentation titled "Explaining adoption and use of payment instruments by US consumers". The speaker will be Seigei Koulayev (Boston College), one of the co-authors of a paper with the same title. There are hyperlinks to copies of this and related papers in Koulayev's personal web site. For more information, contact Thomas Jeitschko at 202-532-4826 or atr dot eag at usdoj dot gov. Location: Liberty Square Building, 450 5th St., NW.

2:30 PM. The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) will hold a hearing titled "Closing the Digital Divide: Connecting Native Nations and Communities to the 21st Century". See, notice. Location: Room 253, Russell Building.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for morning hour, and at 12:00 NOON for legislative business. The schedule for the week includes consideration of HJRes 37, a resolution disapproving the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) rules regulating broadband internet access service (BIAS) providers. See, Rep. Cantor's schedule for the week of April 4.

The Senate will meet at 9:30 AM. It will resume consideration of S 493 [LOC | WW], the "SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Act of 2011".

8:30 AM - 4:30 PM. Day one of a two day meeting of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) Advisory Committee on the Electronic Records Archives (ACERA). See, notice in the Federal Register, March 21, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 54, at Page 15349. Location: 700 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

9:00 AM. The House Appropriations Committee's (HAC) Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies will hold a hearing on the FY 2012 budget request for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The witness will be FBI Director Robert Mueller. Location: Room 2359, Rayburn Building.

9:00 AM - 5:30 PM. Day one of a two day seminar hosted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) titled "USPTO China Road Show: Protecting Your Intellectual Property in China and the Global Marketplace". Free. Open to the public. The deadline to register is April 5. See, notice and registration page. Location: USPTO, James Madison Auditorium North, 600 Dulany Street, Concourse Level, Alexandria, VA.

TIME CHANGE. 9:30 AM. 9:15 AM - 3:00 PM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will hold an event titled "workshop" regarding its February 8, 2011, NPRM regarding its intercarrier compensation system and universal service fund. See also, NPRM [289 pages in PDF] adopted on February 8, 2011, and released on February 9, 2011. It is FCC 11-13 in WC Docket No. 10-90, GN Docket No. 09-51, WC Docket No. 07-135, WC Docket No. 05-337, CC Docket No. 01-92, CC Docket No. 96-45, and WC Docket No. 03-109. See, notice. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room, 445 12th St., SW..

POSTPONED. 10:00 AM. The House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) will hold a hearing titled "Export Controls, Arms Sales, and Reform: Balancing U.S. Interests, Part 1". The witnesses will be Eric Hirschhorn (head of the Bureau of Industry and Security), Ellen Tauscher (Department of State), and James Miller (Department of Defense). See, notice. Location: Room 2172, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold a hearing titled "The Electronic Communications Privacy Act: Government Perspectives on Protecting Privacy in the Digital Age". The witnesses will be Cameron Kerry (General Counsel, Department of Commerce) and James Baker (Associate Deputy Attorney General). The SJC will webcast this hearing. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The Executive Office of the President (EOP) will host events titled "Spectrum Auctions: Unlocking the Innovative Potential of Wireless Broadband". The participants will be Austan Goolsbee (Chairman of the EOP's Council of Economic Advisers), Julius Genachowski (FCC Chairman), Jason Furman ( Deputy Director of the National Economic Council), Paul Milgrom (Stanford University), Hal Varian (Google), Michelle Connolly (Duke University), and Michael Riordan (Columbia University). The final gather will be at 9:30 AM in the Brady Press Briefing Room. Location: South Court Auditorium, Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

10:45 AM. The House Judiciary Committee's (HJC) Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet will hold a hearing titled "Promoting Investment and Protecting Commerce Online: Legitimate Sites v. Parasites, Part II". See, notice. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

12:30 - 1:30 PM. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host a panel discussion titled "Innovation Policy in the European Union-Issues and Challenges from Ireland and the European Commission". The speakers will be Burton Lee (Stanford) and Stephen Ezell (ITIF). See, notice and registration page. This event is free and open to the public. The ITIC will webcast this event. Location: ITIF/ITIC, 6th floor, 1101 K St., NW.

1:00 PM. The House Small Business Committee (HSBC) will hold a hearing titled "How Passing Free Trade Agreements Will Help Small Businesses Create New Jobs". See, notice. Location: Room 2360, Rayburn Building.

1:00 - 4:30 PM. The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) will host a half day conference titled "Rare Earth Crisis?". See, notice. This event is free and open to the public. Location: AEI, 12th floor, 1150 17th St., NW.

6:00 - 8:00 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) will host an event titled "Congressional Reception". See, notice and registration form [PDF]. Prices vary. The FCBA excludes reporters from some of its events. Location: Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill, 400 New Jersey Ave., NW.

Day one of a four day conference hosted by the the American Bar Association (ABA) titled "26th Annual Intellectual Property Law Conference". See, notice. Location: Crystal Gateway Marriott, Arlington, VA.

The House will meet at 9:00 AM legislative business. The schedule for the week includes consideration of HJRes 37, a resolution disapproving the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) rules regulating broadband internet access service (BIAS) providers. See, Rep. Cantor's schedule for the week of April 4.

Day one of a two day event hosted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) titled "Cloud Computing Forum & Workshop III". See, notice in the Federal Register, March 15, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 50, at Pages 13984-13985. Location: NIST, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD.

9:00 AM - 5:30 PM. Day two of a two day seminar hosted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) titled "USPTO China Road Show: Protecting Your Intellectual Property in China and the Global Marketplace". Free. Open to the public. The deadline to register is April 5. See, notice and registration page. Location: USPTO, James Madison Auditorium North, 600 Dulany Street, Concourse Level, Alexandria, VA.

9:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. Day two of a two day meeting of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) Advisory Committee on the Electronic Records Archives (ACERA). See, notice in the Federal Register, March 21, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 54, at Page 15349. Location: 700 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

10:00 AM - 1:00 PM. The House Intelligence Committee (HIC) will hold a closed hearing titled "National Reconnaissance Program and National Geospatial Program FY 2012 Budget Overview". See, notice. Location: Room HVC-304, Capitol Visitor Center.

10:00 AM. The House Small Business Committee's (HSBC) Subcommittee on Healthcare and Technology will hold a hearing on HR __, the "Creating Jobs Through Small Business Innovation Act of 2011". This bill pertains to the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBTT) programs. See, notice. Location: Room 2360, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The House Appropriations Committee's (HAC) Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies will hold a hearing on the FY 2012 budget request for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The witness will be NIST Director Patrick Gallagher. Location: Room H-309, Capitol Building.

10:00 AM. The House Ways and Means Committee's (HWMC) Subcommittee on Trade will hold a hearing on the pending U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement. See, notice. Location: Rooom 1100, Longworth Building.

10:30 AM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will hold an event titled "open meeting". The FCC will webcast this event. The FCC will webcast this event. See, agenda. See also, story titled "FCC Releases Tentative Agenda for April 7 Meeting" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,207, March 23, 2011. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room, 445 12th St., SW.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold an executive business meeting. The agenda again includes consideration of Goodwin Liu (to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit). The agenda also includes consideration Esther Salas (USDC/DNJ), Paul Oetken (USDC/SDNY), and Paul Engelmayer (USDC/SDNY). The agenda also includes consideration of S 410 [LOC | WW], the "Sunshine in the Courtroom Act". The SJC rarely follows its published agendas. The SJC will webcast this event. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

11:15 AM. The Senate Appropriations Committee's (SAC) Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science and Related Agencies will hold a hearing on the FY 2012 budget request for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The witness will be FBI Director Robert Mueller. Location: Room 192, Dirksen Building.

12:00 NOON - 2:00 PM. The Tech Freedom and Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) will host an event titled "What Should Lawmakers Do About Rogue Websites?". The speakers will be Juliana Gruenwald (National Journal), Daniel Castro (Information Technology & Innovation Foundation), Larry Downes (TF), Danny McPherson (VeriSign), Ryan Radia (CEI), David Sohn (Center for Democracy & Technology), and Thomas Sydnor (Association for Competitive Technology). Register by email: nciandella at cei dot org. Lunch will be served. Free. Open to the public. Location: National Press Club, 13th Floor, 529 14th St. NW.

2:30 PM. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) will hold a hearing on the nomination of Kurt Tong to be U.S. Senior Official for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum. See, notice. The SFRC will webcast this hearing. Location: Room 419, Dirksen Building.

4:00 PM. George Mason University (GMU) will host a lecture by Shane Greenstein (Northwestern University business school) titled "The Mythology of Networks and Other Lessons from the Commercial Internet". See, notice. Location: Room 120, Hazel Hall, GMU law school, Arlington, VA.

6:00 - 9:15 PM. The DC Bar Association will host an event titled "Preserving Intellectual Property Rights in Government Contracts: A Beginner’s Guide (Part 1)". The speakers will be David Bloch (Winston & Strawn), Richard Gray (Department of Defense, Office of General Counsel), John Lucas (Department of Energy), and James McEwen (Stein McEwen). See, notice. The price to attend ranges from $89 to $129. CLE credits. For more information, call 202-626-3488. Location: DC Bar Conference Center, 1101 K St., NW.

Day two of a four day conference hosted by the the American Bar Association (ABA) titled "26th Annual Intellectual Property Law Conference". See, notice. Location: Crystal Gateway Marriott, Arlington, VA.

Deadline to submit comments to be considered by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in advance of its April 28, 2011, event titled "Public Workshop: Debt Collection 2.0: Protecting Consumers as Technologies Change". See, notice in the Federal Register, March 15, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 50, at Pages 14010-14014, and story titled "FTC Workshop to Address Use of Facebook and Other New Technologies for Debt Collection" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,204, March 15, 2011.

The House will not meet. See, Rep. Cantor's schedule for the week of April 4.

Day two of a two day event hosted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) titled "Cloud Computing Forum & Workshop III". See, notice in the Federal Register, March 15, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 50, at Pages 13984-13985. Location: NIST, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD.

Day three of a four day conference hosted by the the American Bar Association (ABA) titled "26th Annual Intellectual Property Law Conference". See, notice. Location: Crystal Gateway Marriott, Arlington, VA.

Day four of a four day conference hosted by the the American Bar Association (ABA) titled "26th Annual Intellectual Property Law Conference". See, notice. Location: Crystal Gateway Marriott, Arlington, VA.

3:30 - 5:00 PM. The Heritage Foundation (HF) will host an vent titled "Taiwan's Future in the Asian Economic Order". The speakers will be Rupert Hammond-Chambers (US-Taiwan Business Council), Rick Ruzicka (American Institute in Taiwan), Jay Eizenstat (Miller & Chevalier), and Derek Scissors (HF). See, notice. Free. Open to the public. Location: HR, 214 Massachusetts Ave., NE.

6:00 - 9:15 PM. The DC Bar Association will host an event titled "Software Development Contracts: Practical Advice on Drafting, Managing, and Litigating". The speaker will be David Temeles, Cornerstone Venture Law. See, notice. The price to attend ranges from $89 to $129. CLE credits. For more information, call 202-626-3488. Location: DC Bar Conference Center, 1101 K St., NW.

Day one of a three day convention hosted by the American Cable Association (ACA). See, convention web site. Location: Hyatt Regency Hotel, 400 New Jersey Ave., NW.

Deadline to submit comments to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) regarding its supplementary guidelines for the examination of claims in patent applications for compliance with the second paragraph of 35 U.S.C. § 112, which requires that claims particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter that applicant regards as his or her invention. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 9, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 27, at Pages 7162-7175.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding spectrum use in the Experimental Radio Service (ERS). The FCC adopted and released this NPRM on November 30, 2010. It is FCC 10-197 in ET Docket No. 10-236. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 8, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 26, at Pages 6927-6956.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [58 pages in PDF] regarding development of a technical interoperability framework for a nationwide public safety broadband network in the 700 MHz band. The FCC adopted this NPRM on January 25, 2011, and released the text on January 26, 2011. It is FCC 11-6 in PS Docket No. 06-229, WT Docket 06-150, and WP Docket 07-100. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 24, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 37, at Pages 10295-10299.

8:00 -10:00 AM. Broadband Census News LLC will host a panel discussion titled "The Costs of Global Intellectual Property Piracy: How Can They Be Empirically Quantified?". Breakfast will be served. This is open to the public. The price to attend is $47.12. See, notice and registration page. This event is also sponsored by the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) and the Public Knowledge (PK). Location: Clyde's of Gallery Place, 707 7th St., NW.

11:45 AM - 2:00 PM. The Free State Foundation (FSF) will host a panel discussion titled "Regulatory Reform at the FCC: Why Not Now?" The speakers will be Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL), Ed Lazarus (FCC Chief of Staff), James Assey (NCTA), Steve Largent (CTIA), Walter McCormack (US Telecom) and Gigi Sohn (Public Knowledge). This event is free and open tot the public. Lunch will be served. To register, contact Kathee Baker at kbaker at freestatefoundation dot org. Location: Congressional Meeting Room North, Capitol Visitor Center.

2:30 PM. The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) will meet to mark up numerous bills. The agenda includes no communications of information technology related bills. Location: Room 253, Russell Building.

2:30 PM. The Senate Judiciary Committee's (SJC) Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism will hold a hearing titled "Cyber Security: Responding to the Threat of Cyber Crime and Terrorism". See, notice. The SJC will webcast this hearing. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

4:00 PM. The House Judiciary Committee's (HJC) Subcommittee on the Constitution will hold a hearing on HR __, the "Private Property Rights Protection Act". See, notice. This bill has not yet been introduced. There was an identically titled bill in the 111th Congress, HR 1885 [LOC | WW]. That bill was a reaction to abuse of the power of eminent domain, and the Supreme Court's 2005 opinion in Kelo v. New London, 545 U.S. 469. That bill did not expressly address state or local government seizure of patents, copyrights or trademarks. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

Day two of a three day convention hosted by the American Cable Association (ACA). FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn will speak at 10:30 AM. See, convention web site. Location: Hyatt Regency Hotel, 400 New Jersey Ave., NW.

Deadline to submit comments to the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Science & Technology Directorate regarding its data collection forms for the CyberForensics Electronic Technology Clearinghouse (CyberFETCH) program. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 11, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 29, at Pages 7870-7871.