2/14. Lawrence Strickling, head of the Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), sent a letter [PDF] to Julius Genachowski, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), regarding LightsSquared.

Strickling (at right) wrote the NTIA has conducted tests and analyses, and now concludes that "LightSquared's proposed mobile broadband network will impact GPS services and that there is no practical way to mitigate the potential interference at this time".

He added that "while GPS developers may be able to mitigate these issue via new technology in the future, the time and money required for federal, commercial, and private sector users to replace technology in the field and the marketplace, on aircraft, and in integrated national security systems cannot support the scheduled deployment of terrestrial services proposed by LightSquared".

Background. LightSquared wants to build a wholesale 4G LTE wireless broadband network. It must obtain authorization from the FCC. The GPS industry has raised interference concerns. LightSquared's prospective wholesale customers, regional service providers and device makers, have advocated LightSquared's cause.

Incumbent wireless broadband providers would benefit from the absence of additional competition. See also, Verizon's comment of August 1, 2011, and AT&T's comment of August 1, 2011.

The FCC's International Bureau (IB) released an Order and Authorization [23 pages in PDF], also known as the "Conditional Waiver Order", on January 26, 2011. That order is DA 11-133.

LightSquared filed a Petition for Declaratory Ruling with the FCC December 20, 2011. LightSquared seeks a declaratory ruling that, provided that its ancillary terrestrial component (ATC) operations are conducted in accordance within the FCC's technical parameters, commercially available GPS devices are not protected against harmful interference caused by those ATC operations.

On January 20 LightSquared submitted a filing [119 pages in PDF] to the FCC that contains the results of tests performed by Alcatel Lucent Bell Labs. It concludes that "This testing demonstrated the ability of high precision GPS devices to be appropriately filtered so as to be able to fully reject LightSquared authorized transmissions in the adjacent spectrum band."

On January 27, 2012, the FCC released a Public Notice (PN) that sets deadlines to submit comments regarding LightSquared's Petition for Declaratory Ruling. Initial comments are due by February 27. Reply comments are due by March 13. See also, correction to this PN.

The FCC's proceeding is IB Docket No. 11-109 and ET Docket No. 10-142.

2/15. The Federal Communications Commission promptly acted upon the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's (NTIA) February 14 letter [PDF] to the FCC regarding LightsSquared.

Tammy Sun, the FCC's Director of Communications, stated in a release that as a result of the NTIA's conclusion, the FCC "will not lift the prohibition on LightSquared", the FCC's IB "is proposing to (1) vacate the Conditional Waiver Order, and (2) suspend indefinitely LightSquared's Ancillary Terrestrial Component authority to an extent consistent with the NTIA letter", and "A Public Notice seeking comment on NTIA's conclusions and on these proposals will be released tomorrow."

Sun added that "This proceeding has revealed challenges to maximizing the opportunities of mobile broadband for our economy. In particular, it has revealed challenges to removing regulatory barriers on spectrum that restrict use of that spectrum for mobile broadband. This includes receivers that pick up signals from spectrum uses in neighboring bands."

She concluded that "There are very substantial costs to our economy and to consumers of preventing the use of this and other spectrum for mobile broadband. Congress, the FCC, other federal agencies, and private sector stakeholders must work together in a concerted effort to reduce regulatory barriers and free up spectrum for mobile broadband. Part of this effort should address receiver performance to help ensure the most efficient use of all spectrum to drive our economy and best serve American consumers."

The FCC's IB released a Public Notice (PN) on February 15 that proposes to vacate the Conditional Waiver Order, and modify LightSquared's license authority. The FCC seeks comments on the NTIA letter and these proposals. Comments are due by March 1, 2012. This PN is DA 12-214.

This PN states that "The Interference Resolution Process has not been successfully completed and harmful interference concerns have not been resolved."

The PN continues that the "NTIA states that it has monitored the testing done through the Interference Resolution Process and has coordinated additional testing of LightSquared’s equipment by other federal agencies, to assess the interference effects of such equipment on GPS receivers and devices. Based on this testing, NTIA has concluded that LightSquared’s proposed mobile broadband network will impact GPS services and there currently is no practical way to mitigate the potential harmful interference from LightSquared’s planned terrestrial operations in the 1525-1559 MHz band." (Footnotes omitted.)

Moreover, the FCC's record, including the NTIA letter, "indicate that it is highly unlikely that LightSquared will, in any reasonable period of time, be able to satisfy the requirements of the Conditional Waiver Order for providing commercial ATC service in the 1525-1559 MHz band".

Hence, this PN notice announces that the FCC proposes, first, "Vacatur of the Conditional Waiver Order, which is currently the subject of petitions for reconsideration, due to LightSquared’s inability to address satisfactorily the legitimate interference concerns surrounding its planned terrestrial operations, and the appearance that the Interference Resolution Process has no realistic prospect of being successfully completed by LightSquared in a reasonable period of time".

Second, the FCC proposes "Modification of LightSquared’s satellite license pursuant to Section 316 of the Communications Act to suspend indefinitely LightSquared’s underlying ATC authorization, first granted in 2004, to an extent consistent with the NTIA Letter". (Footnote omitted.)

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), stated in a release that "The FCC's action seems to acknowledge the point I’ve been making since April. Prematurely granting a conditional waiver in a rushed process is not the way to get the right result."

Sen. Grassley continued that "Now that the interference issue is settled, we need to find out more than ever why the FCC did what it did. The agency put this project on a fast track for approval with what appears to have been completely inadequate technical research. After all of this time and expense, still, no one outside of the agency knows why. That’s not the way the people's government should work. The public's business ought to be public. Now that the FCC has backtracked on LightSquared, I'd like to see my Senate colleagues join my document request, especially the chairman of the only Senate committee that the FCC is willing to answer. If we don’t find out how and why the FCC failed to avoid this controversy, then it will keep operating as a closed shop instead of the open, publicly accountable agency it should be."

The FCC's proceeding is IB Docket No. 11-109 and ET Docket No. 10-142.

2/9. The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) U.S. Immigration and Citizenship Services announced in a release on February 9, 2012, that "Self Check, a free online service of E-Verify that allows workers to check their own employment eligibility status, is now available in all 50 states".

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee (HJC), which has jurisdiction over immigration legislation, stated in a release that "This will help U.S. workers make sure that their records are accurate so that they will have no problem getting a job if the employer uses E-Verify."

Rep. Smith added that "Twenty-three million Americans are currently unemployed or can't find full-time work. Meanwhile, seven million illegal workers hold jobs in the U.S."

Employer participation in the E-Verify program is currently voluntary. Rep. Smith wants to make participation mandatory.

The E-Verify program is an information technology (IT) based national identification system that is based upon accessing electronic databases that include names and social security numbers (SSNs). One of the purposes of this program is to transfer responsibility for enforcing immigration law to employers.

This bill is premised upon the assumptions that the government is capable of creating an IT based system that can enable employers to ascertain whether job applicants are eligible to be employed in the US, and that by effectively preventing ineligible persons from working, aliens will have little incentive to illegally enter into or stay in the US.

Rep. Smith also bylined an opinion piece published on February 6 in The National Review titled "Media Ignores Facts on Illegal Immigration". This piece states that "This web-based program quickly identifies individuals working illegally in the U.S. and protects jobs for legal workers by checking the Social Security numbers of new hires. Persons eligible to work in the U.S. are immediately confirmed 99.5 percent of the time, and it only takes a minute to run a new hire through E-Verify."

Rep. also stated in his release that "more should be done to encourage the use of E-Verify by American employers and employees."

Rep. Smith has introduced legislation to make employer participation in the e-verify program mandatory. He is the sponsor of HR 2164 LOC | WW] and the superseding HR 2885 [LOC | WW], both titled the "Legal Workforce Act".

The HJC amended and approved HR 2885 on September 22, 2012. See, story titled "Rep. Smith Introduces Bill to Mandate Use of Government Databases to Determine Employment Eligibility" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,300, September 13, 2012. See also, HJC web page titled "Legal Workforce Act".

HR 2885 has 74 cosponsors. However, the HJC has not yet reported this bill, and the full House has not yet considered it. Nevertheless, Rep. Smith asserted in his National Review piece that "reporters from both the Wall Street Journal and USA Today portrayed the bill as unpopular. But these reporters failed to mention that 82 percent of likely voters -- including 78 percent of black voters and 72 percent of other minorities, primarily Hispanics -- think all U.S. employers should be required to use E-Verify. The truth is that E-Verify enjoys strong support from the American people".

The HJC has received testimony that the E-Verify program is error prone. Eligible workers are falsely not confirmed as eligible. Ineligible workers are falsely confirmed as eligible. See for example, February 10, 2011, prepared testimony of Richard Stana of the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

First, SSA databases contain errors. Second, an employee may list his or her name in a manner that is not consistent with the SSA's listing of that same person. Third, ineligible workers can circumvent the process by assuming the identity of eligible persons. Such identity fraud causes the E-Verify program to erroneously verify their eligibility for employment.

The Legal Workforce Act has some similarities to the notorious web sites bill, and the data retention bill. Rep. Smith is the sponsor of all three. All three relate to IT. All three would expand federal government authority. All three would impose mandates on businesses for the purposes of achieving governmental objectives.

Rep. Smith has expended a considerable amount of his own and the HJC's time and resources on these three bills. Yet, to date, Rep. Smith has failed to move any of these bills beyond the HJC.

The notorious web sites bill is HR 3261 [LOC | WW], the "Stop Online Piracy Act" or "SOPA". The data retention bill is HR 1981 [LOC | WW].

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The House will meet at 10:00 AM for morning hour, and at 12:00 NOON for legislative business. See, Rep. Cantor's schedule for the week.

The Senate will meet at 9:30 AM. The will resume consideration of the nomination of Adalberto Jordan to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals (11thCir). It will also consider S 1813 [LOC | WW], a huge bill pertaining to highways and surface transportation. Sections 2301-2306 pertain to the National Intelligent Transportation System, and a 5.9 GHz short range vehicle to vehicle and vehicle to infrastructure communications systems.

9:00 AM - 3:15 PM. The U.S. China Economic and Security Review Commission will hold a hearing titled "China's State-Owned and State Controlled Enterprises". See, notice. Free. Open to the public. Location: Room 562, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. Xi Jinping (Vice President of the People’s Republic of China) will meet with Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY). The only public event will be a photo session at 10:00 AM in Room S-211, Capitol Building.

10:00 AM. The House Homeland Security Committee (HHSC) will meet to mark up several bills, including HR 3563 [LOC | WW], the "Integrated Public Alert Warning System Modernization Act of 2012". See, amendment in the nature of a substitute [14 pages in PDF] to be considered at mark up. See, notice. Location: Room 311, Cannon Building.

10:00 AM. The House Appropriations Committee's (HAC) Subcommittee on Homeland Security will hold a hearing on the budget for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The witness will be Janet Napolitano. The HAC will webcast this hearing. See, notice. Location: Room 2359, Rayburn Building.

10:30 AM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will host an event titled "Open Meeting". See, notice. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room, 445 12th St., SW.

12:00 NOON - 1:00 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host an on site and teleconferenced presentation by Rep. Jim Langevin (D-RI) on cyber security, and "why lawyers in both the public and private sector need to be closely involved in cybersecurity developments". No CLE credits. The price to attend or listen is $15. See, notice. Location: Crowell & Moring, 1001 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

12:15 - 2:00 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) will host a brown bag lunch titled "USAC's Role in USF Contribution Audits and Appeals". The speaker will be David Capozzi (acting General Counsel of FCC's Universal Service Administration Company). Location: Suite 400, Kelley Drye & Warren, 3050 K St., NW.

1:00 PM. The House Small Business Committee (HSBC) will hold a hearing titled "Broadband: A Catalyst for Small Business Growth". The witnesses will be Mitzie Branon (Yadkin Valley Telecom, on behalf of the NTCA, OPASTCO, and WTA), Roger Bundridge (NorthwestCell, on behalf of the Rural Cellular Association), Rebecca Sanders (National Rural Health Association), and Darrell West (Brookings Institute). See, notice. Location: Room 2360, Rayburn Building.

1:00 - 2:30 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a webcast panel discussion titled "Social Media and Other Employment Policies in the International Workplace". The speakers will be Katherine Blostein (Outten & Golden), Paul Callaghan (Taylor Wessing), Lafe Solomon (General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board), Tahl Tyson (Littler Mendelson), and Anne Radolinski (Fredrikson & Byron). CLE credits. Prices vary. See, notice.

2:30 PM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (DJC) will hold a hearing titled "Nominations". See, notice. The SJC will webcast this meeting. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for morning hour, and at 12:00 NOON for legislative business. See, Rep. Cantor's schedule for the week.

8:15 - 10:00 AM. InfraGard and Symantec will host an event titled "InfraGard Critical Sector on Cyber Policy 2012". The speakers will include Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI). For more information, contact Sheri Donahue at sdonahue at infragardmembers dot org or 502-649-3102. Location: Murrow Room, National Press Club, 13th Floor, 529 14th St. NW.

9:00 AM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Communications and Technology will hold a hearing titled "Budget and Spending of the Federal Communications Commission". The witnesses will be Julius Genachowski (FCC Chairman), David Hunt (FCC Inspector General), and Scott Barash (head of the FCC's Universal Service Administrative Company). See, notice. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

9:30 - 11:00 AM. The New America Foundation (NAF) will host an event titled "Public Diplomacy in the Age of Social Media". The speakers will be Suzanne Hall (Department of State), Nick Namba (DOS), Ed Dunn (DOS), and Alexander Howard. See, notice. Location: NAF, Suite 400, 1899 L St., NW.

10:00 AM. The House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) will meet to mark up several bills, including HR 3606 [LOC | WW], the "Reopening American Capital Markets to Emerging Growth Companies Act of 2011". See, notice. Location: Room 2128, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The House Intelligence Committee (HIC) will hold a closed hearing titled "Ongoing Intelligence Activities". See, notice. Location: HVC-304, Capitol Visitor Center.

10:00 AM. The House Homeland Security Committee's (HHSC) Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence will hold a hearing titled "DHS Monitoring of Social Networking and Media: Enhancing Intelligence Gathering and Ensuring Privacy". The witnesses will be Mary Ellen Callahan (Chief Privacy Officer of the Department of Homeland Security) and Richard Chávez (Director of the DHS's Office of Operations, Coordination and Planning). The HHSC will webcast this event. See, notice. Location: Room 311, Cannon Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (DJC) will hold an executive business meeting. The agenda includes consideration of the nomination of Andrew Hurwitz to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals (9thCir), and four nominations for the U.S. District Court (USDC): John Lee (USDC/NDIll), John Tharp (USDC/NDIll), George Russell (USDC/DMd), and Kristine Baker (USDC/(EDArk). See, notice. The SJC will webcast this meeting. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

12:15 - 2:00 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) will host a lunch. The speakers will address distracted driving. The price to attend is $17. Registrations and cancellations are due by 12:00 NOON on February 14. Location: Wiley Rein, 1776 K St., NW.

1:45 PM. The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) will host a panel discussion titled "Xi's Visit: What's Next for U.S.-China Relations". The speakers will be Dan Blumenthal (AEI), Ellen Bork (Foreign Policy Initiative), Derek Scissors (Heritage Foundation), and Michael Mazza (AEI). Free. Open to the public. See, notice. Location: AEI, 12th floor, 1150 17th St., NW.

2:00 PM. The New America Foundation (NAF), Wireless Innovation Alliance (WIA), and Wireless Internet Service Provider Association (WISPA) will host an event titled "Jumpstarting the Unlicensed Internet Economy". The speakers will include Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Peter Stanforth (Spectrum Bridge), and Dan Bubb (Gorge Networks). Location: Room HVC-215, Capitol Visitor Center.

2:30 PM. The Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee (SHSGAC) will hold a hearing titled "Securing America's Future: The Cybersecurity Act of 2012". The witnesses will be Sen. John Rockefeller (D-WV), Janet Napolitano (Secretary of Homeland Security), Thomas Ridge (U.S. Chamber of Commerce), Stewart Baker (Steptoe & Johnson), James Lewis (Center for Strategic and International Studies), Scott Charney (Microsoft). See, notice. The SHSGAC will webcast this hearing. Location: Room 342, Dirksen Building.

2:30 PM. The Senate Intelligence Committee (SIC) will hold a closed meeting. See, notice. Location: Room 219, Hart Building.

6:00 - 8:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Mass Media and the Video Programming & Distribution Committees will host an event titled "Update on Political Advertising Issues". CLE credits. Prices vary. See, notice. Location: Wiley Rein, 1776 K St., NW.

The House will meet at 9:00 AM for legislative business. See, Rep. Cantor's schedule for the week.

Supreme Court conference day. See, calendar. Closed.

9:00 AM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a teleconferenced event titled "Global Antitrust Developments Series: India & China". The speakers will be Catriona Hatton (Hogan Lovells), Kirtikumar Mehta, and Adrian Emch (Hogan Lovells, Beijing office, and Peking University's IP School). No CLE credits. See, notice.

9:30 AM. The House Judiciary Committee's (HJC) Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet will hold a hearing titled "Litigation as a Predatory Practice". See, notice. Location: Room 2147, Rayburn Building.

9:30 - 11:30 AM. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee (HOGRC) Subcommittee on Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations and Procurement Reform will hold a hearing titled "Examining Duplicative IT Investments at DOD and DOE". The HOGRC will webcast this hearing live. Location: Room 2154, Rayburn Building.

9:30 AM. The House Science Committee (HSC) will hold a hearing titled "An Overview of the Administration’s Federal Research and Development Budget for Fiscal Year 2013". The witness will be John Holdren (head of the EOP's Office of Science and Technology Policy. See, notice. Location: Room 2318, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM - 4:30 PM. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will host a public event to discuss and receive public comments on proposed rules changes that implement HR 1249 [LOC | WW], the "Leahy Smith America Invents Act", or "AIA", which was signed into law in September of 2011. See, USPTO release and AIA web page. See also, stories titled "USPTO Announces America Invents Act Implementation Rulemaking Proceedings" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,322, January 9, 2012, and "USPTO to Hold Public Meetings on AIA Rules Changes" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,323, January 10, 2011. Location: USPTO Campus, Alexandria, VA.

12:00 NOON - 1:00 PM. Mark Ryan, the new Director of Litigation of the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Antitrust Division, will speak at an on site and teleconferenced event hosted by the American Bar Association (ABA). No CLE credits. Free. See, notice. Location: Kirkland & Ellis, 655 15th St., NW.

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) regarding its draft SP 800-117 Rev. 1 [26 pages in PDF] titled "Guide to Adopting and Using the Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP) Version 1.2".

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) regarding its draft NIST IR-7817 [22 pages in PDF] titled "A Credential Reliability and Revocation Model for Federated Identities".

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) regarding its draft NIST IR-7799 [75 pages in PDF] titled "Continuous Monitoring Reference Model Workflow, Subsystem, and Interface Specifications".

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) regarding its draft NIST IR-7756 [35 pages in PDF] titled "CAESARS Framework Extension: An Enterprise Continuous Monitoring Technical Reference Architecture".

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) regarding its draft NIST IR-7800 [29 pages in PDF] titled "Applying the Continuous Monitoring Technical Reference Model to the Asset, Configuration, and Vulnerability Management Domains".

Washington's Birthday. This is a federal holiday. See, OPM list of 2012 federal holidays.

The House will not meet on the week of Monday, February 20, through Friday, February 24.

The Senate will not meet on the week of Monday, February 20, through Friday, February 24.

The House will not meet.

The Senate will not meet.

12:15 - 2:00 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Engineering and Technical Practice Committee will host a brown bag lunch. The topic will be three federal advisory committees: the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), the NTIA's Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee (CSMAC) and the FCC's Technology Advisory Committee (TAC). For more information, contact Steve Sharkey at steve dot sharkey at t-mobile dot com. Location: T-Mobile, Suite 800, 601 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, North Building.

12:15 - 2:00 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) will host a brown bag lunch titled "The First Amendment in Telecom Law". The speakers will be Jacob Lewis (FCC Associate General Counsel), Chuck Tobin (Holland & Knight), Coriell Wright (Free Press), Megan Brown (Wiley Rein). For more information, contact Drew Shenkman at drew dot shenkman at hklaw dot com or Brendan Carr at Bcarr at wileyrein dot com.). Location: Holland & Knight, Suite 100, 2099 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

Ash Wednesday.

The House will not meet.

The Senate will not meet.