5/19. Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) introduced S 1038 [LOC | WW], the "PATRIOT Sunsets Extension Act of 2011", a bill to extend for four years three expiring provisions of surveillance law, on May 19, 2011.

Sen. Reid filed a cloture motion the same day. See, Congressional Record, May 19, 2011, at Page S3162.

The full Senate is scheduled to consider this bill on Monday, May 23, 2001.

Three provisions of surveillance law are scheduled to sunset on Friday, May 27, 2011. See, story titled "Obama Signs Three Month Extension of Surveillance Provisions" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,198, February 25, 2011.

The three provisions are codified in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). They pertain to (1) treating lone wolf individuals like agents of foreign governments or terrorists organizations (see, 50 U.S.C. § 1801(b)'s definition of the term "agent of a foreign power"), (2) access to business records, including library records (see, 50 U.S.C. § 1861 as amended by Section 215 of the 2001 surveillance act), and (3) roving wiretaps (see, 50 U.S.C. § 1805).

S 1038 is a short bill that would merely extend the three provisions for four years, to June 1, 2015. The text of the bill is also in the Congressional Record, May 19, 2011, at Page S3179.

The House has not yet passed a bill. However, on May 12, 2011, the House Judiciary Committee (HJC) approved HR 1800 [LOC | WW], the "FISA Sunsets Reauthorization Act of 2011". It is a short bill that provides a six year extension (until December 31, 2017) of the sunset for roving wiretap and Section 215 business records authority. It makes permanent lone wolf authority.

See also, story titled "House Judiciary Committee Approves Bill to Extend Three Provisions of Surveillance Law" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,240, May 13, 2011; story titled "House Judiciary Committee to Mark Up Surveillance Sunsets Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,237, May 10, 2011; and story titled "House Crime Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Extending Surveillance Provisions" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,239, May 12, 2011.

On March 10, 2011, the Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) approved S 193 [LOC | WW], the "USA PATRIOT Act Sunset Extension Act of 2011".

S 193 would extend the sunsets to December 31, 2013, and address standards, accountability, and oversight, for the purpose of limiting government abuse of surveillance authority.

5/19. The Technology Policy Institute (TPI) released a paper [12 pages in PDF] titled "Improving ICANN’s Governance and Accountability: A Policy Proposal". The authors are Thomas Lenard (TPI) and Lawrence White (NYU Stern School of Business).

This paper states it is a serious problem that the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is not accountable to any outside authority.

The paper recommends that the ICANN remain as a non-profit organization, but that its board of directors should be drawn from the ranks of the registries, including Regional Internet Registries, and registrars, to provide direct accountability.

This paper states that "a lack of accountability is one of the most important issues surrounding ICANN -- and thus the Internet. Accountability requires some meaningful external checks; but those external checks are absent. A set of ``notice and comment´´ procedures over which ICANN has sole control does not constitute meaningful accountability. Instead, our review of other institutional models suggests that a change in governance that puts ICANN's direct users effectively in control would make the organization more accountable and would improve incentives for efficient operation." (Footnote omitted.)

5/17. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski named Renata Hesse to be Senior Counsel to the Chairman for Transactions.

The FCC issued a release that states that Hesse will "head the working team that is conducting the review of the proposed AT&T/T-Mobile transaction, and will oversee the inter-bureau steering committee established to coordinate the agency's review of the merger application".

She is currently a partner in the Washington DC office of the law firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati (WSGR). She previously worked at the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Antitrust Division, where she was head of the Networks and Technology Enforcement Section.

She was one of the senior attorneys involved in the DOJ's action in 2004 against Oracle to block its acquisition of PeopleSoft. The DOJ suffered a humiliating defeat in the District Court, and dropped the case without appealing. Oracle proceeded to acquire PeopleSoft.

On February 26, 2004, the DOJ filed a complaint in U.S. District Court (NDCal) against Oracle alleging that its proposed acquisition of PeopleSoft would lessen competition substantially in interstate trade and commerce in violation of Section 7 of the Clayton Act, which is codified at 15 U.S.C. § 18. The plaintiffs sought an injunction of the proposed acquisition. See, story titled "Antitrust Division Sues Oracle to Enjoin Its Proposed Acquisition of PeopleSoft" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 846, March 1, 2004.

On September 9, 2004, the District Court issued its Findings of Facts, Conclusions of Law and Order Thereon holding that the DOJ failed to meet its burden of showing by a preponderance of the evidence that the proposed merger is likely substantially to lessen competition in a relevant product and geographic market. Hence, the District Court directed the entry of judgment against the government, and in favor of Oracle. See, story titled "DOJ Loses Oracle Case" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 974, September 10, 2004.

The FCC has structured its antitrust merger review process to evade judicial review. Since it began conducting antitrust merger reviews shortly after enactment of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, not one FCC disposition has been subjected to judicial review.

Hesse also worked on the DOJ's antitrust action against Microsoft.

Hesse's WSGR web page states that "her practice is focused on antitrust litigation and counseling". It adds that she represented McAfee in its acquisition by Intel, 3Com in its acquisition by Hewlett-Packard, and Sun Microsystems in its acquisition by Oracle.

AT&T and T-Mobile USA announced their transaction on March 20, 2011. See, story titled "AT&T to Acquire T-Mobile USA" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,205, March 21, 2011. They filed their merger application [112 pages in PDF, redacted], nominally a license transfer request, on April 21, 2011.

Petitions to deny are due by May 31, 2011. Oppositions are due by June 10, 2011. Replies are due by June 20, 2011. See, FCC Public Notice (PN). It is DA 11-799 in WT Docket No. 11-65. See also, story titled "FCC Sets Comments Deadlines for AT&T T-Mobile USA Antitrust Merger Review" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,229, April 29, 2011.

5/19. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a tentative agenda for its event titled "open meeting" on June 9, 2011.

First, this agenda states that the FCC is scheduled to adopt a Report and Order (R&O) that "enables all carriers that file tariffs with the Commission to do so electronically".

Second, this agenda states that the FCC is scheduled to adopt a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) regarding "enabling the use of wider channel bandwidths for the provision of broadband services in the Broadband Radio Service (BRS) and the Educational Broadband Service (EBS)".

Third, this agenda states that the FCC is scheduled to adopt a R&O "adopting technical rules to mitigate space path interference between the 17/24 GHz Broadcasting-Satellite Service (BSS) space stations and current and future Direct Broadcasting Service (DBS) space stations that operate in the same frequency band".

Fourth, this agenda states that the FCC is scheduled to adopt a Memorandum Opinion and Order (MOO) regarding a "petition for reconsideration of the deadline by which VHF Public Coast (VPC) licensees must vacate Channel 87B following its re-designation for the exclusive use of Automatic Identification Systems and to modify the VPC frequency band".

This meeting is scheduled for 10:30 AM on Thursday, June 9, 2011, in the FCC's Commission Meeting Room. The FCC sometimes adds or deletes items. The FCC does not always start its meetings at the scheduled time.

5/19. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski gave a speech to a convention of the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) in Dallas, Texas, in which he stated that "The single most important step we can take for U.S. leadership in mobile is implementing voluntary incentive auctions".

He said that "Incentive auctions would unleash market forces to reallocate this scarce resource of spectrum from less efficient uses to more efficient uses. They are two-sided auctions, providing for licensees like over-the-air broadcasters who voluntarily supply spectrum to receive a share of the proceeds. It's an incentive-based approach, grounded in strong free-market principles."

He also said that "Momentum is building behind this idea. Incentive auction authority has been included in bipartisan bills in both the House and the Senate."

For a summary of pending proposals to authorize the FCC to conduct voluntary spectrum auctions, see story titled "Rep. Latta Introduces Incentive Auctions Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,227, April 27, 2011, and story titled "Rep. Boucher and Rep. Stearns Introduce Voluntary Incentive Auctions Act" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,114, July 29, 2010.

Genachowski also stated that the FCC is "Giving greater flexibility to bands like Mobile Satellite Service to permit terrestrial broadband use", "Releasing substantial unlicensed spectrum for the next generation of Wi-Fi, machine-to-machine communication and other innovations", and "Fostering greater efficiency in technology and software and spurring dynamic spectrum sharing and secondary markets".

5/10. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a Public Notice (PN) [6 pages in PDF] that requests comments regarding the economic impact of low power FM (LPFM) stations on full service commercial FM stations.

Section 8 of the Local Community Radio Act of 2010 (LCRA) requires the FCC to conduct this study. This Act was HR 6533 [LOC | WW] in the 111th Congress. It is now Public Law No. 111-371.

The Act merely states that the FCC must conduct an "economic study on the impact that low-power FM stations will have on full-service commercial FM stations" and submit a report to the House Commerce Committee and the Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) within one year. President Obama signed it on January 4, 2011.

See, stories titled "Congress Passes Low Power FM Bill", "Summary of HR 6533, the Local Community Radio Act of 2010" and "History of LPFM Law and Policy Making" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,183, December 19, 2010.

The FCC's just released PN asks specific questions. For example, it asks for "evidence that LPFM stations have had, or are likely to have after the LCRA's implementation, a direct or indirect impact on the audience ratings of full-service commercial FM stations", and asks, "what extent do they compete for listeners with full-service commercial stations?"

The PN also asks about LPFM stations' impact on the advertising revenues of full service commercial FM stations.

The PN also announces that the FCC will not address in this study and report "potential interference issues".

The deadline to submit initial comments is June 24, 2011. The deadline to submit reply comments is July 25, 2011. This is a permit but disclose proceeding. The FCC released this PN on May 10, 2011. It is DA 11-756 in MB Docket No. 11-83. See also, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 97, Thursday, May 19, 2011, at Pages 28983-28986.

5/19. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski sent a letter to House Commerce Committee (HCC) leaders regarding regarding the public safety equipment and device market. Genachowski's letter responds to the April 20 letter [PDF] sent by  Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR), and Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), who are the Chairmen and ranking Democrats of the (HCC) and its Subcommittee on Communications and Technology. See, story titled "Representatives Write FCC Re Motorola Dominance in Public Safety Market" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,226, April 26, 2011.

5/17. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) published a notice in the Federal Register that sets comment deadlines for its Notice of Inquiry (NOI) [27 pages in PDF] regarding rights of way policies and wireless facilities siting requirements. The deadline to submit initial comments is July 18, 2011. The deadline to submit reply comments is August 30, 2011. The FCC adopted and released this item on April 7, 2011. It is FCC 11-51 in WC Docket No. 11-59. See,  Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 95, Tuesday, May 17, 2011, at Pages 28397-28403.

Tech Law Journal publishes a free access web site and a subscription e-mail alert. The basic rate for a subscription to the TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert is $250 per year for a single recipient. There are discounts for subscribers with multiple recipients.

Free one month trial subscriptions are available. Also, free subscriptions are available for federal elected officials, and employees of the Congress, courts, and executive branch. The TLJ web site is free access. However, copies of the TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert are not published in the web site until two months after writing.

For information about subscriptions, see subscription information page.

Tech Law Journal now accepts credit card payments. See, TLJ credit card payments page.

TLJ is published by David Carney
Contact: 202-364-8882.
carney at techlawjournal dot com
3034 Newark St. NW, Washington DC, 20008.

Privacy Policy
Notices & Disclaimers
Copyright 1998-2011 David Carney. All rights reserved.

The House will not meet.

The Senate will not meet.

9:00 AM - 1:00 PM. Day two of a two day meeting of the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Advisory Committee for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences. The agenda for May 20 includes consideration of "Cyberinfrastructure Framework for the 21st Century". See, notice in the Federal Register, April 29, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 83, at Page 24062. Location: NSF, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Stafford II, Room 555, Arlington, VA.

12:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) International Telecommunications Committee will host a brown bag lunch titled "Regulatory Trends and State of Play in Established and Emerging Markets Around the World". The speaker will be Andrew Haire (former Deputy Director-General IDA, Singapore). For more information, contact jennifer at thejgroupplanning dot com. Location: Sidley Austin, 1501 K St., NW.

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) regarding its draft NIST IR-7511 Rev. 2 [41 pages in PDF] titled "Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP) Version 1.0 Validation Program Test Requirements".

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) regarding its draft NIST IR-7696 [32 pages in PDF] titled "Common Platform Enumeration: Name Matching Specification Version 2.3".

EXTENDED TO JUNE 20. Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Inquiry (NOI) [46 pages in PDF] regarding how its rules and policies could be modified to provide greater economic, market entry, communication adoption opportunities, and incentives for Native Nations. This notice is FCC 11-30 in CG Docket No. 11-41. The FCC adopted it on March 3, 2011, and released the text on March 4, 2011. See, notice in the Federal Register: April 5, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 65, at Pages 18759-18761. See, extension notice (DA 11-873).

The House will return from its one week May recess. It will meet at 2:00 PM.

The Senate will meet at 2:00 PM. It will consider S 1038 [LOC | WW], the "PATRIOT Sunsets Extension Act of 2011", by introduced by Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on May 19 to extend expiring provisions of surveillance law.

12:00 NOON - 2:00 PM. The Technology Policy Institute (TPI) will host a panel discussion titled "Spectrum Incentive Auctions: the Nuts, Bolts  and Economics". The speakers will be Lawrence Ausubel (University of Maryland), Peter Cramton (University of Maryland), Evan Kwerel (FCC), and Karen Wrege (Power Auctions). Lunch will be served. This event is free and open to the public. See, notice. Location: Room 2322, Rayburn Building.

5:00 - 6:00 PM. The House Intelligence Committee (HIC) will hold a closed hearing on the FY 2012 intelligence budget. Location: Room 304, Capitol Visitor Center.

6:30 PM. The National Press Club (NPC) and George Washington University's Global Media Institute will host a presentation by Paul Steinle and Sara Brown titled "Who Needs Newspapers? A Report on the Status of Newspapers in the United States". See, notice. RSVP to professionaldevelopment at press dot org or 202-662-7524. Location: NPC, Murrow Room, 529 14th St., NW.

Deadline to submit comments to the Department of Commerce's (DOC) Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) regarding reducing the burdens that its regulatory requirements impose. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 24, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 57, at Page 16604.

Deadline to submit objections to the Copyright Office (CO) to its "initial list of television stations listed in filed affidavits in which the owner or licensee of the television station attests that the station qualifies as a specialty station in accordance with" the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) definition. The CO will use the final list "to verify the specialty station status of those television stations identified as such by cable systems on their semi-annual statements of account". See, notice in the Federal Register, April 22, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 78, at Pages 22733-22734.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding video relay service (VRS) rates. The FCC adopted this item on April 14, 2011, and released it on April 15, 2011. It is FCC 11-62 in CG Docket Nos. 10-51 and 03-123. See, notice in the Federal Register, May 2, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 84, at Pages 24442-24443.

10:00 AM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Emergency Response Interoperability Center Public Safety Advisory Committee (ERICPSAC) will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 28, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 82, at Page 23810. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room.

10:00 AM - 5:00 PM. The Social Security Administration's (SSA) Future Systems Technology Advisory Panel  will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 90, Tuesday, May 10, 2011, at Page 27143. Location: Hyatt Regency Crystal City, 2799 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA.

2:00 PM. The House Ways and Means Committee (HWMC) will hold a hearing titled "How Other Countries Have Used Tax Reform to Help Their Companies Compete in the Global Market and Create Jobs". See, notice. Location: Room 1100, Longworth Building.

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

6:00 - 8:00 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) will host an event titled "Spring Reception". Prices vary. See, notice and registration form [PDF]. Location: Washington Hilton Hotel, 1919 Connecticut Ave., NW.

ROOM CHANGE. 9:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Telecommunications and Information Administration's (NTIA) Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee will meet. The deadline to submit written comments is May 18, 2011. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 28, 2011 Vol. 76, No. 82, at Pages 23796-23797, and notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 92, Thursday, May 12, 2011, at Page 27636. Location: DOC, Room 6059, 1401 Constitution Ave., NW.

9:00 - 10:30 AM. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host a panel discussion titled "Crafting the Trans-Pacific Partnership as a True Model 21st Century Trade Agreement". The speakers will be Grant Aldonas (Split Rock International), Karan Bhatia (General Electric), Robert Atkinson (ITIF), and Stephen Ezell (ITIF). See, notice and registration page. Location: Suite 610A, ITIF/ITIC, 1101 K St., NW.

10:00 AM. The House Judiciary Committee's (HJC) Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet and Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security will hold a joint hearing titled "Cybersecurity: Innovative Solutions to Challenging Problems". See, notice. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee's (HOGRC) Subcommittee on Government Organization, Efficiency, and Financial Management will hold a hearing titled "IRS E-File and Identity Theft". See, notice. Location: Room 2154, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The House Science Committee's (HSC) Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation and Subcommittee on Research and Science Education will hold a joint hearing titled "Protecting Information in the Digital Age: Federal Cybersecurity Research and Development Efforts". See, Location: Room 2318, Rayburn Building.

10:30 AM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Communications and Technology will hold a hearing titled "Creating an Interoperable Public Safety Network". See, notice. Location: Room 2322, Rayburn Building.

12:15 - 1:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Homeland Security and Emergency Communications Committee will host a brown bag lunch titled "The FCC's Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council (CSRIC): Challenges and Actions". The speakers will be Jeffery Goldthorp (FCC's Associate Chief for Cybersecurity and Communications Reliability), Stephen Malphrus (Federal Reserve System) and Paula Silberthau (FCC's Office of General Counsel). Location: __.

1:30 PM. The House Judiciary Committee's (HJC) Subcommittee on Courts, Commercial and Administrative Law will hold a hearing on HR 1864 [LOC | WW], the "Mobile Workforce State Income Tax Simplification Act of 2011". See, notice. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

1:30 - 3:30 PM. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee (HOGRC) Subcommittee on National Security, Homeland Defense and Foreign Operations will hold a hearing titled "Cybersecurity: Assessing the Immediate Threat to the United States". See, notice. Location: Room 2154, Rayburn Building.

2:00 - 4:00 PM. The House Intelligence Committee (HIC) will hold a partially closed hearing. The witness will be FBI Director Robert Mueller. Location: Room 304, Capitol Visitor Center.

2:00 PM. The Senate Finance Committee's (SFC) Subcommittee on Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Growth will hold a hearing titled "The Spread of Tax Fraud by Identity Theft: A Threat to Taxpayers, A Drain on the Public Treasury". See, notice. Location: Room 215, Dirksen Building.

2:00 - 3:30 PM. The Heritage Foundation (HF) will host a panel discussion titled "Radio Silence in China: VOA Abandons the Airwaves". The speakers will be David Jackson (Burson Marsteller), Maochun Yu (U.S. Naval Academy), Dan Dickey (Continental Electronics Corporation), Huchen Zhang (Voice of America), and Helle Dale (HF). See, notice. Location: HF, 214 Massachusetts Ave., NE.

5:00 PM. Deadline to register to attend the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's (USPTO) June 1, 2011, hearing regarding its ex parte and inter partes reexamination proceedings. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 25, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 79, at Pages 22854-22861. See also, story titled "USPTO to Hold Hearing on Inter Partes Reexamination Proceedings" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,226, April 26, 2011.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to some portions of its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [139 pages in PDF] regarding changes to the two universal service tax and subsidy programs titled "Lifeline" and "Link Up". The FCC adopted this NPRM on March 3, 2011, and released the text on March 4, 2011. It is FCC 11-32 in WC Docket Nos. 11-42 and 03-109, and CC Docket No. 96-45. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 23, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 56, at Pages 16481-16519.

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

10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The House Intelligence Committee (HIC) will hold a partially closed business meeting. Th agenda includes consideration of HR 1892 [LOC | WW], the "Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal year 2012". Location: Room 304, Capitol Visitor Center.

10:00 AM. The Senate Finance Committee (SFC) will hold a hearing titled "U.S. Korea Free Trade Agreement". The witnesses will include Demetrios Marantis (Deputy USTR). See, notice. Location: Room 215, Dirksen Building.

10:30 AM. The House Judiciary Committee's (HJC) Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet will hold a hearing titled "How Will the Proposed Merger Between AT&T and T-Mobile Affect Wireless Telecommunications Competition?". See, notice. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

1:00 PM. The US Telecom will host a webcast seminar titled "Cloud Computing Security". The speakers will be Glenn Biery (Verizon) and John Hatem (Verizon). This event is free. See, notice.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Public Notice (PN) asking what its broadband internet access service (BIAS) transparency rule means. The FCC promulgated its BIAS transparency rule in its huge Report and Order (R&O) [194 pages in PDF] which contains rules for the regulation of BIAS service providers. The FCC released this PN on April 11, 2011. It is DA 11-661 in CG Docket No. 09-158. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 20, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 76, at Pages 22103-22104. See also, story titled "FCC Issues Public Notice Asking What Its BIAS Transparency Rule Means" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,221, April 12, 2011.

5:00 PM. Deadline to submit notices of intent to testify at the Copyright Office's (CO) June 10 public hearing in its inquiry in to possible mechanisms, methods, and recommendations for phasing out the statutory licensing requirements set forth in 17 U.S.C. § 111, § 119, and § 122. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 90, May 10, 2011, at Pages 27091-27092. See also, story titled "Copyright Office to Hold Hearing on Phasing Out Statutory Licensing Requirements" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,238, May 11, 2011.

Deadline to submit comments to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding 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.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [52 pages in PDF] regarding retransmission consent negotiations. The FCC adopted and released this NPRM on March 3, 2011. It is FCC 11-31 in MB Docket No. 10-71. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 28, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 59, at Pages 17071-17088.

Deadline to submit comments regarding, and deadline to register to attend the open portion of, the Executive Office of the President's (EOP) National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee's (NSTAC) meeting on June 2 at 2:00 PM. The agenda includes government use of cloud computing, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) national security and emergency preparedness (NSEP) communications, communications resiliency, commercial satellite mission assurance, implementation of a national public safety broadband network, and secure communications for mobile devices. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 95, Tuesday, May 17, 2011, at Pages 28443-28444.

Three provisions of surveillance law are scheduled to sunset. The three provisions are codified in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). They pertain to (1) treating lone wolf individuals like agents of foreign governments or terrorists organizations (see, 50 U.S.C. § 1801(b)'s definition of the term "agent of a foreign power"), (2) access to business records, including library records (see, 50 U.S.C. § 1861 as amended by Section 215 of the 2001 surveillance act), and (3) roving wiretaps (see, 50 U.S.C. § 1805).