8/5. The Department of Labor's (DOL) Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released employment data for the U.S. for the month of July, 2011. The BLS stated in a release that "Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 117,000 in July, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 9.1 percent".

Keith Hall, Commissioner of the BLS, wrote in his prepared testimony for a hearing of the Congress' Joint Economic Committee (JEC) on August 5 that "The unemployment rate was 9.1 percent in July and has shown little definitive movement since April."

Sen. Robert Casey (D-PA), the Chairman of the JEC, stated at this hearing that, to create jobs, the Congress should, among other things, make the research and development tax credit permanent.

Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX), the Vice Chairman of the JEC, said at this hearing that "it is long past time to pull the plug on the President's failed economic policies", such as the "poorly designed stimulus". He argued that the President has "tried and failed".

He advocated reducing trade barriers, approving pending free trade agreements, reducing regulation, and "calling a halt to the President's new health care law". He also called upon President Obama and his staff to stop "demonizing" the "free market and job creators".

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee (SFC), stated in a release that "The American people have had enough of the partisan games and are demanding real solutions to jump start our economy and put people back to work. ... Passing trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea would pump more than $14 billion into the economy and create 250,000 jobs."

The tables attached to the report reveal employment trends in various industry sectors, including information and communications technology (ICT).

There is a downward trend in employment in telecommunications. Employment in the movie, record and broadcast industries is holding constant. Employment in manufacturing computers and semiconductors, and in "Other information services" and "Computer systems design" is expanding.

Legal employment increased in July.

The table below contains ICT related excerpts from the BLS table titled "Table B-1. Employees on nonfarm payrolls by industry sector and selected industry detail".

8/1. Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA) introduced HR 2748 [LOC | WW], the "Smart Electronics Act".

This bill would require the Department of Energy (DOE) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to write a report on energy consumption by "consumer electronics" that "assesses the potential for cost-effective integration of smart electronics technologies and capabilities in all products that are reviewed for potential designation as Energy Star products".

It also provides that the DOE and EPA "shall establish within the Energy Star program a Smart Electronics Registry that provides a voluntary mechanism for electronics manufacturers and sellers to register their smart electronics products".

Rep. Honda (at right), who represents a Silicon Valley district, stated in a release that "This proliferation of electronic devices ... if not made more energy efficient, will undermine efforts to increase energy security and reduce the emission of greenhouse gases responsible for global warming."

He said that "The answer is found in better devices that are built more efficiently and run on less energy. Importantly, this legislation helps us green the electronics industry by providing the private sector with reliable standards and incentives and by educating and empowering consumers to make smarter and more efficient choices -- all of which help cool the planet."

This bill has no original cosponsors. It was referred to the House Commerce Committee (HCC). Rep. Honda is not a member.

8/2. The U.S. Court of Appeals (3rdCir) issued its opinion [26 pages in PDF] in Lyndhurst v. Priceline.com, a case regarding hotel occupancy taxes and online hotel booking services. The Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment of the District Court, which dismissed for lack of standing.

A statute of the state of New Jersey permits the Township of Lyndhurst and other political subdivisions of the state to impose a local hotel occupancy tax. However, this statute gives enforcement power only to the state Director of the Division of Taxation.

Lyndhurst enacted an ordinance that provides that "There is hereby established a hotel and motel room occupancy tax in the Township of Lyndhurst which shall be fixed at a uniform percentage rate of ... three percent on charges of rent for every occupancy of a hotel or motel room in the Township of Lyndhurst on or after July 1, 2004, of a room or rooms in a hotel subject to taxation ..."

Priceline and the other defendants acquire inventories of hotel rooms at negotiated wholesale rates, and then sell rooms to consumers at retail rates. It pays occupancy taxes to the hotels, which forward the money to Lyndhurst and other taxing jurisdictions, based upon the wholesale rates. But, Lyndhurst wants to collect taxes based upon the retail rates.

Lyndhurst filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court (DNJ) against Priceline.com, Travelocity, Expedia, Orbitz and other online hotel booking services, claiming unpaid hotel occupancy taxes. Lyndhurst also sought class action status, to act on behalf of other political subdivisions of the state.

The District Court dismissed with prejudice on prudential standing grounds. It ruled that the state of New Jersey, not one of its townships, is the appropriate party to bring this action.

The Court of Appeals affirmed, on standing grounds. It did not reach the underlying question of whether taxes can be collected upon the retail rates charged by the hotel booking websites to their customers.

The Court of Appeals wrote that the state statute "provided Lyndhurst with the power to enact its hotel occupancy tax, but not to enforce it directly. This enforcement power was given to the Director alone (though assisted by the Attorney General), and included the exclusive right both to determine the amount of tax due and then to collect that amount. As such, it was for the Director -- not Lyndhurst -- to determine whether the difference between the wholesale rate and the retail rate was taxable under Lyndhurst’s hotel occupancy tax." (Parentheses in original.)

This case is Township of Lyndhurst, New Jersey v. Priceline.com, Inc., et al., U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit, App. Ct. No. 09-2053, an appeal from the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, D.C. No. 2-08-cv-03033, Judge Jose Linares presiding. Judge Ambro wrote the opinion of the Court of Appeals, in which Judges Chagares and Greenaway joined.

8/4. Sharis Pozen was named acting Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Antitrust Division upon the departure of Christine Varney. See, DOJ release. See also, story titled "Varney to Leave Antitrust Division" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,255, July 11, 2011.

Pozen joined the DOJ at the beginning of the Obama administration, and has served as Chief of Staff. From 1995 through 2009 she worked for the law firm of Hogan & Lovells, which was also Varney's firm.

The DOJ release adds that Pozen was "the lead antitrust official for the CPTN Holdings LLC and Novell Inc. matter in which the division required the companies to change the terms of their proposed merger in order to address open source concerns." See, story titled "DOJ to Allow CPTN to Acquire Novell Patents Subject to Conditions" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,226, April 26, 2011.

8/5. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner Kathleen Casey's last day at the SEC was August 5, 2011. See, SEC release.

8/2. The Senate confirmed Matthew Olsen to be Director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC). See, Congressional Record, August 2, 2011, at Page S5293. See also, story titled "Obama Picks Olsen for NCTC Director" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,256, July 12, 2011.

8/2. The Senate confirmed Dan Arvizu, Alan Leshner, and William Lineberger to be members of the National Science Foundation's (NSF) National Science Board (NDB) for terms that expire on May 10, 2016. See, Congressional Record, August 2, 2011, at Page S5293.

8/2. The Senate confirmed Alan Estevez to be Assistant Secretary of Defense for Logistics & Materiel Readiness. See, Congressional Record, August 2, 2011, at Page S5293.

8/2. The Senate confirmed Madelyn Creedon to be Assistant Secretary of Defense for Global Strategic Affairs. See, Congressional Record, August 2, 2011, at Page S5293.

The House will not meet. It is in recess until 2:00 PM on September 7. However, it will hold pro forma sessions twice per week until then.

The Senate will not meet. It is in recess until 2:00 PM on September 6. However, it will hold pro forma sessions twice per week until then.

EXTENDED TO AUGUST 15. Deadline to submit comments to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in response to its notice in the Federal Register regarding the proposed self-regulatory guidelines submitted to the FTC by Aristotle International, Inc. under the safe harbor provision of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) Rule. See, Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 123, Monday, June 27, 2011, at Pages 37290-37291. See, notice of extension.

The House will meet in pro forma session at 10:00 AM.

The Senate will meet in pro forma session at 11:00 AM.

10:30 AM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will hold an event titled "open meeting". See, tentative agenda, and story titled "FCC Releases Tentative Agenda for August 9 Meeting" in TLJ Daily e-Mail Alert No. 2,264, July 20, 2011. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room, 445 12th St., SW.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [17 pages in PDF] regarding Terrestrial Trunked Radio, or TETRA, technology. The FCC adopted this item on April 18, 2011, and released the text on April 26, 2011. It is FCC 11-63 in WT Docket No. 11-69 and ET Docket No. 09-234. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 91, Wednesday, May 11, 2011, at Pages 27296-27300.

Deadline set by Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) for Groupon to respond the interrogatories propounded in their July 26 letter regarding the July 11 article in the Washington Post titled "Groupon changes privacy policy to collect, share more information". See also, Rep. Markey's release.

10:00 AM. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) Bureau of Industry and Security's (BIS) Materials Technical Advisory Committee will hold a partially closed meeting. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 146, Friday, July 29, 2011, at Page 45508. Location: DOC, Hoover Building, Room 3884, 14th Street between Constitution & Pennsylvania Avenues, NW.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [15 pages in PDF] regarding whether to make the grandfathered providers permanently eligible for universal service subsidies under the FCC's rural health care program. The FCC adopted this NPRM on June 20, 2011, and released the text on June 21, 2011. It is FCC 11-101 in WC Docket No. 02-60. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 123, Monday, June 27, 2011, at Pages 37307-37309.

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) regarding its draft SP 800-56 C [17 pages in PDF] titled "Recommendation for Key Derivation through Extraction-then-Expansion".

The House will meet in pro forma session at 10:00 AM.

The Senate will meet in pro forma session at 12:00 NOON.

11:00 AM - 12:30 PM. The Heritage Foundation (HF) will host a panel discussion titled "National EMP Recognition Day: The Threat That Can't Be Ingnored". The speakers will be Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD), Peter Pry (EMPact America), Frank Gafney (Center for Security Studies), Drew Miller, and James Carafano (HF). This event is free and open to the public. See, notice. Location: HF, 214 Massachusetts Ave., NE.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding the report submitted to the FCC on June 30, 2011, by the technical working group co-chaired by LightSquared and the U.S. Global Positioning System Industry Council (USGIC). See, FCC International Bureau's (IB) order dated June 30, 2011. It is DA 11-1133 in DA 11-1133. See also report, part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, and part 7.

EXTENDED FROM AUGUST 8. Extended deadline to submit comments to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in response to its notice in the Federal Register regarding the proposed self-regulatory guidelines submitted to the FTC by Aristotle International, Inc. under the safe harbor provision of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) Rule. See, Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 123, Monday, June 27, 2011, at Pages 37290-37291. See, notice of extension.

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) regarding its draft NIST IR-7275 Rev. 4 [77 pages in PDF] titled "Specification for the Extensible Configuration Checklist Description Format (XCCDF) Version 1.2".

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