4/26. The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) released a paper [PDF] titled "Solving the Capacity Crunch: Options for Enhancing Data Capacity on Wireless Networks". The author is Uzoma Unyeije. See also, NAB release.

The report states this. "Is massive spectrum reallocation urgently needed to address the capacity concerns of wireless
carriers? The simple answer is no."

And this. "Many wireless carriers and their trade associations argue that the FCC must make hundreds of megahertz of spectrum available for wireless broadband in order to keep pace with customers' growing mobile data demands. But this is not so. Capacity problems can be addressed in numerous ways that do not involve spectrum. So while additional spectrum is a tool that can help relieve congestion on mobile networks, the current rush to reallocate is not necessary."

Rather, wireless companies only "face a capacity crunch in a limited number of locations".

The NAB argues that technology continues to advance in ways that alleviates capacity concerns. The paper addresses spectral efficiency, migrating voice traffic to internet protocol, use of femtocells and wi-fi, and other innovations.

The NAB paper also urges policies, such as "Reclaiming hundreds of megahertz of spectrum from speculators and warehousers", increased licensing flexibility, and improved secondary markets for spectrum.

This paper offers an assessment different from that expressed in the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) March 15, 2010, staff report [376 pages in PDF] titled "A National Broadband Plan for Our Future". See also, story titled "FCC Releases National Broadband Plan" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,058, March 15, 2010.

That FCC report stated that "The FCC should initiate a rule making proceeding to reallocate 120 megahertz from the broadcast television (TV) bands."

More generally, that report stated that the FCC should "Free up and allocate additional spectrum for unlicensed use", "Make 500 megahertz of spectrum newly available for broadband within 10 years, of which 300 megahertz should be made available for mobile use within five years", and "Expand opportunities for innovative spectrum access models by creating new avenues for opportunistic and unlicensed use of spectrum".

Also, President Obama issued a Memorandum on June 28, 2010, in which he asked the FCC and National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to identify and make available 500 megahertz of spectrum. On April 4, 2011, the NTIA released a report [PDF] titled "First Interim Progress Report on the Ten-Year Plan and Timetable" that address the status of attaining this 500 megahertz goal.

On Thursday, May 5, 2011, at 10:00 AM, the Brookings Institution will host a panel discussion titled "Bridging the Digital Divide: Spectrum Policy, Program Diversity and Consumer Rights". The speakers will be Uzoma Unyeije (author of the NAB paper), Darrell West (Brookings), Matthew Hussey (office of Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME)), and Christopher Ornelas (NAB). See, notice.

4/15. Rep. Bob Latta (R-OH) introduced HR 1622 [LOC | WW], the "Spectrum Innovation Act", another in a series of bills that would provide for voluntary incentive auction revenue sharing.

It was referred to the House Commerce Committee (HCC). Rep. Latta is a member of the HCC and its Subcommittee on Communications and Technology.

He stated in a release that "In order to meet tomorrow's high volume of mobile data, it is imperative we allow the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to conduct voluntary incentive auctions. Passing this measure would permit the wireless broadband industry to grow, increasing U.S. jobs, productivity and innovation".

This bill would amend 47 U.S.C. § 309(j)(8) to allow for the sharing of spectrum auction proceeds with the licensees who voluntarily relinquish that spectrum. It could provide a financial incentive for television broadcasters and other licensees to relinquish spectrum.

This bill would provide that if the FCC "determines that it is consistent with the public interest in utilization of the spectrum for a licensee to relinquish voluntarily some or all of its licensed spectrum usage rights in order to permit the assignment of new initial licenses subject to new service rules, the proceeds from the use of a competitive bidding system under this subsection in granting such rights to another licensee shall be shared, in an amount or percentage that the Commission considers appropriate, with the licensee who voluntarily relinquished such rights".

It adds that the FCC "shall establish rules for the implementation of voluntary incentive auction revenue sharing", but that the FCC "may not reclaim frequencies of broadcast television licensees directly or indirectly on an involuntary basis".

On July 29, 2010, in the 111th Congress, former Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA) and Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) introduced the first of many incentive auction bills -- HR 5947 [LOC | WW | PDF], 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.

For other bills in the current 112th Congress, see:

• HR 911 [LOC | WW], the "Spectrum Inventory and Auction Act of 2011", introduced by Rep. John Barrow (D-GA) on March 3, 2011. This is a bill to provide for incentive auctions and a spectrum inventory.
• S 28 [LOC | WW], the "Public Safety Spectrum and Wireless Innovation Act", introduced by Sen. John Rockefeller (D-WV) and others on January 25, 2011. This the 112th Congress version of S 3756 [LOC | WW] (111th Congress), the "Public Safety Spectrum and Wireless Innovation Act". See, story titled "Sen. Rockefeller to Introduce Public Safety Spectrum and Wireless Innovation Act" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,109, July 21, 2010, and "Senate Commerce Committee Holds Hearing on Public Safety Network" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,134, September 28, 2010.
• S 415 [LOC | WW], the "Spectrum Optimization Act", introduced by Sen. Mark Warner (D-GA) on February 17, 2011. This is a short bill that only provides for incentive auctions.
• S 455 [LOC | WW], the "Reforming Airwaves by Developing Incentives and Opportunistic Sharing Act" or the "RADIOS Act'", introduced by Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) on March 2, 2011. This is related to S 3610 [LOC | WW] (111th Congress), the "Spectrum Measurement and Policy Reform Act".

See also, stories titled "112 Economists Back Incentive Auctions" and "Legislative Proposals that Pertain to Incentive Auctions" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,218, April 6, 2011.

4/27. Apple released a statement regarding the collection of location data by iPhones and iPads. It asserted that "Apple is not tracking the location of your iPhone. Apple has never done so and has no plans to ever do so."

Apple offered this explanation of location data collection by its devices. "The iPhone is not logging your location. Rather, it's maintaining a database of Wi-Fi hotspots and cell towers around your current location, some of which may be located more than one hundred miles away from your iPhone, to help your iPhone rapidly and accurately calculate its location when requested. Calculating a phone's location using just GPS satellite data can take up to several minutes. iPhone can reduce this time to just a few seconds by using Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower data to quickly find GPS satellites, and even triangulate its location using just Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower data when GPS is not available (such as indoors or in basements). These calculations are performed live on the iPhone using a crowd-sourced database of Wi-Fi hotspot and cell tower data that is generated by tens of millions of iPhones sending the geo-tagged locations of nearby Wi-Fi hotspots and cell towers in an anonymous and encrypted form to Apple." (Parentheses in original.)

Apple also wrote that "Our iAds advertising system can use location as a factor in targeting ads. Location is not shared with any third party or ad unless the user explicitly approves giving the current location to the current ad (for example, to request the ad locate the Target store nearest them)." (Parentheses in original.)

Apple did not address in this statement why this location data is stored in accessible and unencrypted files.

See also, House Commerce Committee's (HCC) April 25, 2011, letter [PDF] to Steve Jobs, and story titled "House Republicans Write Apple and Others Re Cell Phone and Tablet Location Data Collection" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,225, April 25, 2011,

And see, Sen. Al Franken's (D-MN) April 20, 2011, letter to Steve Jobs, and story titled "Sen. Franken Writes Steve Jobs Regarding Location Data Retention by iPhones and 3G iPads" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,224, April 20, 2011.

On Tuesday, May 10, 2011, the Senate Judiciary Committee's (SJC) Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law will hold a hearing titled "Protecting Mobile Privacy: Your Smartphones, Tablets, Cell Phones and Your Privacy". See, SJC notice.

4/27. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced in a release that it has "has postponed the start date of the Track One prioritized patent examination program, which was scheduled to go into effect on May 4, 2011, until further notice due to reduced spending authority in the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011."

Last June the USPTO announced a three track plan. Track one allows inventors and businesses, for a fee, to have their patents processed within twelve months. See, notice in the Federal Register, June 4, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 107, at Pages 31763-31768, and story titled "USPTO Proposes Three Track Patent Examination System" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,092, June 4, 2011.

David Kappos, head of the USPTO, added in this release that the USPTO lacks "resources to hire a sufficient number of examiners to implement Track One".

The USPTO added that it will publish additional information in a notice in the Federal Register on Friday, April 29, 2011.

4/26. The Business Software Alliance (BSA) announced that it conducted of a public opinion survey regarding support for protection of intellectual property. On April 26, 2011, it announced the responses to one question, regarding support for patent rights.

Surveyors read two statements, and asked respondents, "Which comes closer to you view". 71% picked the pro-patent statement. See, BSA release.

The pro-patent statement was as follows: "It is important for people who invent new products or technologies to be paid for them, because it creates an incentive for people to produce more innovations. That is good for society because it drives technological progress and economic growth." The anti-patent statement was as follows: "No company or individual should be allowed to control a product or technology that could benefit the rest of society. Laws like that limit the free flow of ideas, stifle innovation, and give too much power to too few people."

The BSA added that Ipsos Public Affairs conducted the poll of "a globally representative sample of approximately 15,000 personal computer users in 32 countries". The BSA has yet to release this poll's other questions and responses. The full report will be titled "2010 BSA Global Software Piracy Study".

4/22. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a notice in the Federal Register requesting comments about the extent to which the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) "should become more directly involved in settlement discussions of parties to inter partes proceedings, including oppositions, cancellations and concurrent use cases".

This notice contains numerous questions. The notice adds that "The purpose of this notice of inquiry is to determine whether the involvement of an Administrative Trademark Judge (ATJ) or Board Interlocutory Attorney (IA) would be desirable by parties, and if so, how extensively and at what points in proceedings. In addition, to the extent stakeholders voice a preference for assistance in settlement discussions but prefer such assistance to be provided by mediators or individuals other than Board judges and attorneys, it will be useful for the Board to receive suggestions on this option."

The deadline to submit comments is June 21, 2011. See, Federal Register, April 22, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 78, at Pages 22678-22679.

4/19. Copyright Office (CO) published a notice in the Federal Register that announces, describes, recites, and sets the comment deadline for, its proposed rules changes to "provide reporting of uses of sound recordings performed by means of digital audio transmissions pursuant to statutory license for the period April 1, 2004, through December 1, 2009". The deadline to submit comments is May 19, 2011. See, Federal Register, April 19, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 75, at Pages 21833-21835.

4/14. The Association of American Publishers (AAP) announced in a release that "According to the February results, once again e-Books have enjoyed triple-digit percentage growth, 202.3%, vs February 2010. Downloaded Audiobooks, which have also seen consistent monthly gains, increased 36.7% vs last February."

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The House will be in recess the week of Monday, April 18 through Friday, April 22, and the week of Monday, April 25 through Friday, April 29. The House will return at 2:00 PM on Monday, May 2.

The Senate will be in recess the week of Monday, April 18 through Friday, April 22, and the week of Monday, April 25 through Friday, April 29. The Senate will return at 2:00 PM on Monday, May 2.

9:30 AM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will host a second workshop its intercarrier compensation system and universal service fund. The first was on April 6, 2011. See, FCC notice of second workshop, and 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. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room, 445 12th St., SW.

10:00 AM. The Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) will host a news briefing titled "Unpacking the Kerry-McCain Privacy Bill". The Kerry McCain bill is S 799 [LOC | WW], the "Commercial Privacy Bill of Rights Act of 2011". See also, HR 1528 [LOC | WW], the "Consumer Privacy Protection Act of 2011" (Stearns Matheson); HR 654 [LOC | WW], the "Do Not Track Me Online Act of 2011" (Speier); and HR 611 [LOC | WW], the "Building Effective Strategies To Promote Responsibility Accountability Choice Transparency Innovation Consumer Expectations and Safeguards Act" or "BEST PRACTICES Act" (Rush). Leslie Harris, Justin Brookman, and other CDT staff will speak and answer questions. The call in number is 800-377-8846; the participant code is 92874158 #. Location: CDT conference room, 11th floor, 1634 I St., NW.

12:30 - 2:00 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a webcast panel discussion titled "Viacom v. YouTube: Does Third Party Contributory Copyright Infringement Really Exist for Internet Service Providers (ISPs)?". The speakers will be Carole Handler (Lathrop & Gage), William Henslee (Florida A&M University College of Law), and Cliff Sloan (Skadden Arps). Prices vary. CLE credits. See, notice and registration page.

TIME? The National Coordination Office for Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NCO/NITRD) will host a workshop on cyber security research titled "Trust Anchors are Invulnerable". This is part of its series titled "Assumption Buster Workshops". See, NITRD issue summary, and notice in the Federal Register, February 25, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 38, at Page 10627-10628. Location: __, Savage, MD.

The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Auction 91, regarding certain FM Broadcast Construction Permits, is scheduled to commence. See, March 10, 2011, Public Notice, and notice in the Federal Register, January 21, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 14, at Pages 3892-3906. See also, September 21, 2010, FCC Public Notice (DA 10-1711 in AU Docket No. 10-183) and notice in the Federal Register, October 6, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 193, at Pages 61752-61756.

8:30 AM - 5:30 PM. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will host an 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.

8:30 AM - 4:00 PM. Day one of a two day meeting of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) NASA Advisory Council's Technology and Innovation Committee. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 8, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 68, at Page 19793. Location: NASA Headquarters, Room MIC-6A (6H45), 300 E St.,  SW.

9:00 - 10:00 AM. The Washington International Trade Association (WITA) will host an event titled "Breakfast with USTR Ron Kirk". See, notice. Location: Horizon Ballroom, Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

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

8:30 AM - 12:30 PM. Day two of a two day meeting of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) NASA Advisory Council's Technology and Innovation Committee. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 8, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 68, at Page 19793. Location: NASA Headquarters, Room MIC-6A (6H45), 300 E St.,  SW.

1:00 - 2:00 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a webcast panel discussion titled "The Nuts and Bolts of Trademark Law". Prices vary. CLE credits. See, notice and registration page.

Deadline to submit applications to the Department of Commerce (DOC) for membership on the U.S.-Brazil CEO Forum. See, DOC notice.

Target date for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR) to release its 2011 Special 301 report, regarding 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 IP protection. See, notice in the Federal Register, December 30, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 250, at Pages 82424-82426. See also, story titled "OUSTR Seeks Input for Special 301 Report" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,191, January 3, 2011.

The House will return from its April recess at 2:00 PM.

The Senate will return from its April recess at 2:00 PM.

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host a panel discussion titled "China is not Simply the Latest Paper Tiger". The speakers will be Robert Atkinson (ITIF), Adam Segal (Council on Foreign Relations) and Bruce Stokes (German Marshall Fund). See, notice and registration page. Location: ITIF/ITIC, Suite 610A, 1101 K St., NW.

The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will consider on the briefs Odom v. Microsoft Corporation, App. Ct. No. 2011-1160. Location: Courtroom 201, 717 Madison Place, NW.

Deadline for the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) to release its second report on intellectual property rights (IPR) infringement in the People's Republic of China (PRC). This second report will describe the size and scope of reported IPR violations and provide quantitative analysis of the effect of IPR infringement and indigenous innovation policies in the PRC on the U.S. economy and jobs. See, first report [196 pages in PDF] titled "China: Intellectual Property Infringement, Indigenous Innovation Policies, and Frameworks for Measuring the Effects on the U.S. Economy", released on December 13, 2010. See also, story titled "USITC Releases First Report on IPR Infringement in the PRC" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,178, December 14, 2010.

Deadline to submit comments to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) regarding its online employment application process for patent examiners. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 1, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 40, at Pages 11206-11208.

Deadline to submit comments to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) regarding substantive submissions made during prosecution of a trademark application. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 1, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 40, at Pages 11208-11210.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding the payment of filing fees by winning bidders in auctions of construction permits in the broadcast services. The FCC adopted this NPRM on February 28, 2011, and released the text on March 3, 2011. It is FCC 11-21 in GEN Docket No. 86-285. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 1, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 63, at Pages 18137-18138.

Deadline to submit comments to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding its Agreement Containing Consent Order [9 pages in PDF] with Google regarding Google Buzz. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 5, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 65, at Pages 18762-18765. See also, stories titled "FTC Issues and Settles Complaint Against Google" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,213, March 31, 2011, and "EPIC Launches Campaign Regarding FTC Settlement with Google on Buzz" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,218, April 6, 2011.

Deadline to submit comments to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in advance of its event on May 11, 2011 titled "Examining Phone Bill Cramming: A Discussion". See, notice and agenda.

10:00 AM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Communications and Technology will hold a hearing titled "FCC Process Reform". The witnesses will be the five members of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). See, notice. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The House Intelligence Committee (HIC) will hold a closed hearing titled "Consolidated Cryptologic Program FY 20012 Budget Overview". See, notice. Location: Room HVC-304, Capitol Visitor Center.

10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The Senate Banking Committee (SBC) will hold a hearing on several pending nominations, including that of David Cohen to be Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Crimes at the Department of the Treasury. See, notice. Location: Room 538, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Cybersource Corp. v. Retail Decisions, Inc., App. Ct. No. 2009-1358, an appeal from the U.S. District Court (NDCal) in a business method patent case involving a method and system for detecting fraud in a credit card transaction between a consumer and a merchant over the internet. Location: Courtroom 402, 717 Madison Place, NW.

10:15 AM. The House Judiciary Committee (HJC) will hold a hearing titled "Oversight Hearing on the United States Department of Justice". See, notice. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

10:30 AM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold a hearing titled "White House Transparency, Visitor Logs and Lobbyists". See, notice. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is also investigating this issue, and in particular, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski's frequent White House visits. Location: Room 2322, Rayburn Building.

12:15 - 1:30 PM. The DC Bar Association and the Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) will host a brown bag lunch titled "Consumer Privacy -- Is there an App for That?". Location: Latham & Watkins, Suite 1000, 555 11th St., NW.

2:00 - 3:00 PM. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (NACIE) will hold a teleconferenced meeting regarding access to capital. For listening, the call in number is 888-942-9574, and the passcode is 6315042. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 20, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 76, at Page 22078.

3:00 - 4:30 PM. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host a panel discussion titled "Medical Data Innovation: Building the Foundations of a Health Information Economy". The speakers will be Cathy Betz (Wolters Kluwer Pharma Solutions), Marc Rodwin (Suffolk University law school), Ann Waldo (Wittie Letsche & Waldo), and Daniel Castro (ITIF). See, notice and registration page. Location: ITIF/ITIC, Suite 610A, 1101 K St., NW.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding implementation of S 30 [LOC | WW], the "Truth in Caller ID Act. This statute prohibits caller ID spoofing, but only if the purpose is to defraud or cause harm. See, stories titled "Obama Signs Truth in Caller ID Act" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,187, December 23, 2010, and "House Passes Truth in Caller ID Act" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,180, December 16, 2010. The FCC adopted and released this NPRM on March 9, 2011. It is FCC 11-41 in WC Docket No. 11-39. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 23, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 56, at Pages 16367-16375.

8:00 AM - 5:00 PM. The Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) will host an event titled "Washington Caucus". See, notice. Members can register by contacting mclark at ccianet dot org. Reporters can register by contacting hgreenfield at ccianet dot org. Location: Newseum, 7th floor, 555 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

8:30 AM - 4:15 PM. The U.S. China Economic and Security Review Commission will host a hearing titled "China's Intellectual Property Rights and Indigenous Innovation Policy". See, notice in the Federal Register, April 25, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 79, at Page 22945. Location: Room 485, Russell Building, Capitol Hill.

9:00 - 10:30 AM. There will be an event titled "Nanotechnology: The Huge Challenge of Regulating Tiny Technologies". See, notice. For more information, contact Lisa Wolfe at 919-316-3596 or lbistreich at rti dot org. Location: Ballroom, National Press Club.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold a hearing titled "Oversight of the Department of Justice". The witness will be Attorney General Eric Holder. See, notice. The SJC will webcast this event. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The House Judiciary Committee's (HJC) Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet will hold a hearing titled "ICANN Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLD) Oversight Hearing". See, notice. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Appropriations Committee's (SAC) Subcommittee on Financial Services will hold a hearing on the FY 2012 budget requests of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). See, notice. Location: Room 138, Dirksen Building.

POSTPONED. 10:00 AM. The Senate Finance Committee (SFC) will hold a hearing titled "The U.S. -- China Relationship: Charting a New Course Forward". The witness will be Henry Kissinger. See, notice. Location: Room 215, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The House Science Committee (HSC) will meet to mark up HR 1425 [LOC | WW], the "Creating Jobs Through Small Business Innovation Act of 2011". The HSC will webcast this event. See, notice. Location: Room 2318, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Powertech Technology, Inc. v. Tessera, Inc., App. Ct. No. 2010-1489, a patent case involving semiconductor chip technology. Location: Courtroom 201, 717 Madison Place, NW.

2:30 PM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold a hearing on nominations. See, notice. The SJC will webcast this hearing. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

Deadline to submit comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Public Notice (PN) regarding the Universal Service Fund (USF) Mobility Fund and tribal issues. The FCC released this PN on April 18, 2011. It is DA 11-702 in WT Docket No. 10-208. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 21, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 77, at Pages 22340-22342.