4/2. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) published in its web site a large number of freedom of information act (FOIA) requests that it submitted to local law enforcement agencies around the US, and the responses that it received. These requests and responses pertain to electronic surveillance, and especially, cell phone tracking.

The ACLU also issued a short release, and a report [7 pages in PDF] titled "ACLU Affiliate Nationwide Cell Phone Tracking Public Records Requests: Findings and Analysis". See also, ACLU web page with hyperlinks to requests and responses.

This report finds that "The overwhelming majority of law enforcement agencies that responded engage in at least some cell phone tracking. Most law enforcement agencies that responded engage in cell phone tracking for investigative purposes. Even those that have not tracked cell phones in the course of a criminal investigation have tracked cell phones in emergencies, for example to locate a missing person. A few law enforcement agencies stated that they have never tracked cell phones."

The report also states that some law enforcement agencies, including those of Wichita, Kansas, and Lexington, Kentucky, "require a warrant and probable cause to track cell phones for investigative purposes". However, most proceed with less.

The ACLU's Catherine Crump stated in the ACLU release that "What we have learned is disturbing. The government should have to get a warrant before tracking cell phones. That is what is necessary to protect Americans' privacy, and it is also what is required under the Constitution ... The fact that some law enforcement agencies do get warrants shows that a probable cause requirement is a completely reasonable and workable policy, allowing police to protect both public safety and privacy."

Crump is one of the attorneys who signed an amicus curiae brief filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals (5thCir) last month in the case titled In the Matter of the Application of the United States of America for Historical Cell Site Data. See, related story in this issue titled "Groups File Amicus Briefs Regarding Warrantless Seizure of Historical Cell Site Location Data".

Also, the ACLU report states that "While most law enforcement agencies report relying on cell phone companies to track their customers, some have purchased their own cell tracking technology."

The ACLU report notes that wireless services providers are holding data for a long time, and making lots of money from selling access to it to law enforcement agencies.

4/13. Two bills have been pending in the House and Senate for over ten months that would require law enforcement agencies to get a court warrant based upon probable cause to obtain geolocation data from wireless service providers.

No Committee or Subcommittee has yet held a hearing or a mark up session on either bill. However, there have been hearing in both chambers that have addressed law enforcement access to location data, as well as tracking technologies.

On March 30, 2010, a coalition of companies and groups named Digital Due Process (DDP) announced a set of four principles which they argue should be incorporated into the federal statutes that regulate government searches and seizures of stored communications and data.

One of these is that "The government should obtain a search warrant based on probable cause before it can track, prospectively or retrospectively, the location of a cell phone or other mobile communications device."

The membership of the DDP now includes Adobe, Amazon, eBay, Google, IBM, Intel, HP, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Salesforce.com, and other companies.

The DDP web site lists AT&T, Century Link and some other wireless service providers as members.

The membership also includes the Association for Competitive Technology (ACT), Business Software Association (BSA), Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA), Tech America, Tech Freedom, Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), and other information and communications technology groups.

The membership also includes the ACLU and other groups. See also, story titled "Digital Due Process Coalition Proposes Changes to Federal Surveillance Law" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,068, March 31, 2010.

In June of 2011 legislators introduced companion bills in the House and Senate that would require law enforcement agencies to get a court warrant to obtain geolocation data for wireless devices.

On June 15, 2011, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) introduced S 1212 [LOC | WW], the "Geolocational Privacy and Surveillance Act". Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) became a cosponsor on October 18. He is the only cosponsor.

S 1212 was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC), which has taken no action on the bill. Neither Sen. Wyden nor Sen. Kirk are members of the SJC.

On June 14, 2011, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) introduced HR 2168 [LOC | WW], also titled the "Geolocational Privacy and Surveillance Act". It now has a total of 18 sponsors.

Support for HR 2168 is bipartisan. But then, so is opposition. And, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), the Chairman of the HJC, is worked to expand law enforcement access to data via his data retention mandate bill, HR 1981 [LOC | WW]. See, stories in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,278, August 3, 2011.

HR 2168 was referred to the House Judiciary Committee (HJC), and its Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, and to the House Intelligence Commitee (HIC).

These bills would add a new Chapter 120 to the criminal code titled "Geolocation Information". (Currently, Chapter 119, which addresses "Wire and Electronic Communications Interception and Interception of Oral Communications", deals with wiretaps, other intercepts, and bugs. Also, currently, Chapter 121 addresses "Stored Wire and Electronic Communications and Transactional Records Access".)

First, the two bills define "geolocation information" as "the location of a wireless communication device or tracking device ... that, in whole or in part, is generated by or derived from the operation of that device and that could be used to determine or infer information regarding the location of the person".

Then, the bills broadly define "intercept" as "the acquisition of geolocation information through the use of any electronic, mechanical, or other device".

Then, the bills prohibit intercepting geolocation information, as well as disclosing or using intercepted geolocation information.

Of course, the bills provide numerous exceptions. The service provider is allowed to intercept, use and disclose geolocation information in the normal course of providing wireless service.

There are also exceptions for interception under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), with consent, for emergency purposes, and for law enforcement investigation of fraud or theft of wireless devices.

And, there is an exception for interception, disclosure and use pursuant to a court issued warrant.

The basic prohibition provides in part that "it shall be unlawful for any person to ... intentionally intercept, endeavor to intercept, or procure any other person to intercept or endeavor to intercept, geolocation information pertaining to another person ... intentionally disclose, or endeavor to disclose, to any other person geolocation information pertaining to another person, knowing or having reason to know that the information was obtained through the interception of such information in violation of this paragraph ... intentionally use, or endeavor to use, any geolocation information, knowing or having reason to know that the information was obtained through the interception of such information in violation of this paragraph ... intentionally disclose, or endeavor to disclose, to any other person the geolocation information pertaining to another person intercepted by" authorized means".

The warrant exception provides in part that "A governmental entity may intercept geolocation information or require the disclosure by a provider of a covered service of geolocation information only pursuant to a warrant issued using the procedures described in the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure (or, in the case of a State court, issued using State warrant procedures) by a court of competent jurisdiction ..." (Parentheses in original.)

The bills also create an exclusionary rule for location data. Any location data acquired in violation of the new Chapter 120 is inadmissible as evidence in court.

The bills also create a private right of action for violation.

3/16. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), and others filed an amicus curiae brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals (5thCir) in In the Matter of the Application of the United States of America for Historical Cell Site Data.

They argued that the Stored Communications Act (SCA) grants courts the discretion to require the government to obtain a warrant based upon probable cause before accessing historical cell phone location data. The SCA compels this conclusion, and the Court of Appeals should avoid the 4th Amendment issue, these groups asserted.

This case is an appeal brought by the US from a judgment of the District Court which upheld a magistrate judge's decision that law enforcement agencies seeking 60 days of cell site location information from wireless service providers must obtain from the court a warrant based upon probable cause. The District Court held that this is a 4th Amendment requirement.

See also, short piece by the CDT's Greg Nojeim.

Also, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) filed its own amicus curiae brief [41 pages in PDF] on March 16 in this case.

The EPIC argued that consumers have a reasonable expectation that their cell phone location data will remain private, and that the "Court should protect individual privacy by holding the Government to a Fourth Amendment probable cause standard when it seeks to obtain comprehensive records concerning an individual’s private activities".

See also, the EPIC web page for this case.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) argued in its brief, filed in February, that consumer location data is business records of the wireless service providers, and that law enforcement agencies can obtain an order from the court under the Section 2703(d) of the SCA, without a showing of probable cause, directing the service providers to give law enforcement agencies that data.

Under 18 U.S.C. § 2703(d) the government need only show the court that the information sought is "relevant and material to an ongoing criminal investigation". This is a very low and easy to satisfy standard.

This case is In the Matter of the Application of the United States of America for Historical Cell Site Data, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, App. Ct. No. 11-20884, an appeal from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, D.C. No. 4:11-MC-00223.

4/1. The Senate of the state of Maryland passed Senate Bill 443, a bill regarding employer demands for employees' social media passwords.

This bill provides that "an employer may not request or require that an employee or applicant disclose any user name, password, or other means for accessing a personal account or service through an electronic communications device". However, an employer may demand user names or passwords that provide access to the employer's internal computer or information systems.

The U.S. House of Representatives briefly discussed this issue during floor consideration of HR 3309 [LOC | WW], the "Federal Communications Commission Process Reform Act of 2012". See, story titled "House Rejects Motion Pertaining to Employer Demands for Employee Passwords for Social Networking Sites", and related stories, in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,361, March 30, 2012.

4/13. Suzanne Barnett was named Chief Copyright Royalty Judge and head of the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB), effective May 20, 2012. She is currently a state trial court judge in King County, Washington. She will replace James Sledge. This is a three member panel. William Roberts and Stanley Wisniewski are the two other members of the CRB.

4/12. Matthew Solomon was named Deputy Chief Litigation Counsel of the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) Division of Enforcement. See, SEC release. He was previously an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of Columbia, and Chief of its Fraud Unit. Before that, he briefly worked for the Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC). And before that, he worked in the Department of Justice's (DOJ) ethically challenged Public Integrity Section (PIS).

4/11. President Obama announced his intent to appoint Carol Greider to be a member of the President's Committee on the National Medal of Science. See, White House news office release. She is a biology professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

4/10. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) announced in a release the members of its Advisory Board for 2012. They are Colin Bennett (University of Victoria, Canada), Ryan Calo (Stanford University law school), Laura Donohue (Georgetown University law school), Cynthia Dwork (Microsoft), Orin Kerr (George Washington University law school), and Frank Pasquale (Seton Hall University law school).

4/9. T-Mobile USA and Leap Wireless announced plans to exchange spectrum. T-Mobile announced in a release that it "has entered into an agreement with Leap Wireless International, Inc. and Savary Island Wireless, LLC (Leap's non-controlled, majority-owned venture), to exchange wireless spectrum in various markets." (Parentheses in original.) It added that "T-Mobile will receive spectrum from Leap in several markets in Alabama, Illinois, Missouri and Minnesota, and Leap will receive spectrum from T-Mobile in Phoenix, AZ and Houston, Galveston and Bryan-College Station, TX. Additionally, the companies will exchange spectrum in Philadelphia, Wilmington, DE and Atlantic City, NJ as well as several markets in Texas and New Mexico." The license transfers require approval by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). See also, Leap Wireless release.

4/9. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) released a short piece by David Kappos titled "Electronic Terminal Disclaimers Now Get Immediate Approvals".

4/4. European Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht issued a release regarding the status of the referral of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) to the European Court of Justice (ECJ). It states that "The legal submission agreed by the College of Commissioners today is a broad legal question which will allow the European Court of Justice a detailed examination of whether ACTA is in line with European Fundamental Rights such as the freedom of expression and information or data protection and the right to property including that of intellectual property. The question which has been agreed upon unanimously is: ``Is the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) compatible with the European Treaties, in particular with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union?´´". De Gucht also urged the European Parliament to wait for the ECJ opinion before determining its own position.

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The House will return from its two week recess at 2:00 PM. Votes will be postponed until 6:30 PM. The House will consider several commemorative items under suspension of the rules. See, Rep. Cantor's schedule for the week.

The Senate will return from its two week recess. It will resume consideration of S 2230 [LOC | WW], a tax bill.

8:00 AM - 5:00 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a conference titled "Public Utility, Communications and Transportation Annual Spring Program 2012". The price to attend ranges from $75 to $450. See, notice. Location: Pepco Holdings, 701 9th St., NW.

8:30 AM - 5:00 PM. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) Bureau of Industry and Security's (BIS) Emerging Technology and Research Advisory Committee (ETRAC) will hold a closed meeting. The BIS agenda for this meeting is undisclosed. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 62, Friday, March 30, 2012, at Page 19179. Location: Room 6527, DOC Hoover Building, 14th Street between Pennsylvania and Constitution Avenues, NW.

1:00 - 2:00 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host an on site and telecast panel discussion titled "Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation: Cross Border Privacy Rules Introduction And Spotlight on Canada". The speakers will be Daniele Chatelois (Canadian government's Industry Canada) and Josh Harris (U.S. Department of Commerce's Office of Technology and Electronic Commerce). Free. No CLE credits. See, notice. Location: Fulbright & Jaworski, 801 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

1:00 - 2:30 PM. The Heritage Foundation will host a speech by Shintaro Ishihara (Governor of Tokyo) and panel discussion titled "The U.S.-Japan Alliance and the Debate Over Japan's Role in Asia". The other speakers will be Richard Lawless (former Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs), James Auer (Vanderbilt University), and Walter Lohman (Heritage). See, notice. Location: Heritage, 214 Massachusetts Ave., NE.

TIME? The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a telecast panel discussion titled "Legal Issues Stemming from the Impending Shortage of Wireless Spectrum". The speakers will be Tarak Anada (Jones Walker), Babette Boliek (Pepperdine University School of Law), Michael Goggin (AT&T Mobility), and Daniel Brenner (Hogan Lovells). Different ABA notices provide different times. One states 3:00 - 4:00 PM. The other states 4:00 - 5:00 PM. See, notice.

The Executive Office of the President's (EOP) President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) will hold a partially closed meeting. The agenda includes a discussion of a report on the PCAST's Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP). The public portion of the meeting will be teleconferenced from 4:30 - 5:00 PM. The deadline to register to register is 12:00 NOON on April 12. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 60, Wednesday, March 28, 2012, at Pages 18798-18799.

5:00 PM. Deadline to submit comments to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR) following its March 29 hearing to assist it in preparing its 2011 Annual GSP Product Review. See, original notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 34, Tuesday, February 21, 2012, at Pages 10034-10036. See also, notice of change of date in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 52, Friday, March 16, 2012, at Page 15841.

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

8:00 - 10:00 AM. The Broadband Census News LLC will host a panel discussion titled "Social Networking, the End of Media and Future of Privacy". The speakers will be Julie Brill (FTC Commissioner), Bruce Gottlieb (General Counsel of Atlantic Media Company), Sarah Hudgins (Interactive Advertising Bureau), Jules Polonetsky (Future of Privacy Forum), and Drew Clark (moderator). Breakfast will be served. This event is open to the public. The price to attend is $47.12. See, notice and registration page. This event is also sponsored by Comcast, Google, ICF Intl., Intel, NCTA TIA, and US Telecom. Location: Clyde's of Gallery Place, 707 7th St., NW.

8:30 AM - 3:30 PM. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) Bureau of Industry and Security's (BIS) Emerging Technology and Research Advisory Committee (ETRAC) will hold an open meeting. The agenda for this meeting includes a discussion of "Nanotechnology--Nanocoated Materials". See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 62, Friday, March 30, 2012, at Page 19179. Nanocoating has many applications in ICT, including protecting electronics devices from moisture caused corrosion, producing flat panel displays, and adding antireflection coating to optical products. Location: Room 3884, DOC Hoover Building, 14th Street between Pennsylvania and Constitution Avenues, NW.

1:00 - 2:30 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a webcast and telecast panel discussion titled "The New World of Licensing Songs and Sound Recordings". The speakers will be Jeff Brabec (BMG Chrysalis), Todd Brabec, Henny Root (Lapidus Root). Prices vary. CLE credits. See, notice.

1:30 - 4:30 PM. The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC) will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 62, Friday, March 30, 2012, at Pages 19300-19301. Location: 1310 N. Courthouse Road, Suite 300, Arlington, VA.

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

6:00 - 9:15 PM. The DC Bar Association will host the first part of a two part program titled "Preserving Intellectual Property Rights in Gov't Contracts". This first part is subtitled "A Beginner's Guide". The speakers will be David Bloch (Winston & Strawn), Richard Gray (Department of Defense), John Lucas (Department of Energy), and James McEwen (Stein McEwen). The price to attend this part ranges from $89 to $129. CLE credits. See, notice. For more information, call 202-626-3488. The DC Bar has a history of barring reporters from its events. Location: DC Bar Conference Center, 1101 K St., NW.

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

9:00 AM - 3:00 PM. The Department of Health and Human Services' (DHHS) Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology's (ONCHIT) HIT Standards Committee will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 52, Friday, March 16, 2012, at Page 15760. Location: Renaissance Hotel, 999 9th St., NW.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold a hearing titled "Nominations to the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board". The witnesses will be the five nominees: James Dempsey (CDT), Elisebeth Cook, Rachel Brand, David Medine, and Patricia Wald. See, notice. See also, story titled "Obama to Nominate Dempsey and Cook to Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,181, December 17, 2010, and August 25, 2001 letter of the ACLU, EPIC and others. The SJC will webcast this hearing. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

11:15 AM. The House Judiciary Committee's (HJC) Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement will hold a hearing titled "Document Fraud in Employment Authorization: How an E-Verify Requirement Can Help". The witnesses will include Waldemar Rodriguez (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement). See, HJC notice. See also, story titled "Rep. Lamar Smith Seeks Passage of E-Verify Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,337, February 15, 2012. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

12:00 NOON - 1:15 PM. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host a panel discussion titled "Internet Platform Competition and Market Convergence". The speakers will be Richard Bennett (ITIF), Anna-Marie Kovacs (Georgetown University), and Jonathan Sallet (O'Melveny & Myers). Location: Room B-318, Rayburn Building.

12:30 - 2:00 PM. The American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) will host a webcast presentation titled "Are You the Weakest Link?  Making Certain that In-House and Outside Counsel Protect Their Client’s Trade Secrets". The speakers will be Mark Halligan (Nixon Peabody) and Janet Craycroft (Intel Corporation). CLE credits. CD, MP4 download, archived webcast, and other formats available. Prices vary. See, registration page.

1:00 - 2:30 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a audio webcast and telecast panel discussion titled "Remote Sales Tax and Nexus Issues: The Latest on Taxation of Internet Sales". The speakers will be Edward Bernert (Baker & Hostetler), George Isaacson (Brann & Isaacson), and Bruce Johnson (Utah State Tax Commission). Prices vary. CLE credits. See, notice.

2:00 PM. The House Science Committee's (HSC) Subcommittee on on Technology and Innovation will hold a hearing titled "Avoiding the Spectrum Crunch: Growing the Wireless Economy through Innovation". The witnesses will be Richard Bennett (Information Technology and Innovation Foundation), Mary Brown ( Cisco Systems), Christopher McCabe (CTIA), Rangam Subramanian (Idaho National Laboratory), and James Olthoff (NIST). The HSC will webcast this event. See, notice. Location: Room 2318, Rayburn Building.

2:00 PM. The House Homeland Security Committee's (HHSC) Subcommittee on Transportation Security will hold a hearing titled "Building Secure Partnerships in Travel, Commerce, and Trade with the Asia-Pacific Region". The witnesses will include Mark Koumans (DHS) and John Halinkski (DHS/TSA). See, notice. Location: Room 311, Cannon Building.

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

3:30 - 5:00 PM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will hold an event titled "Inside the FCC: Tips on Effective Written Advocacy from FCC Staff". For more information, contact Brendan Carr (Wiley Rein) at bcarr at wileyrein dot com or Justin Faulb (Lampert O'Connor & Johnson) at faulb at lojlaw dot com. The FCBA states that this is an event of its Young Lawyers Committee. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room, 445 12th St., SW.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Public Notice (PN) that seeks comment regarding whether to fund Rural Health Care Pilot Program participants who will exhaust funding allocated to them before or during funding year 2012 (July 1, 2012 - June 30, 2013). The FCC's Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB) released this PN on February 27, 2012. It is DA 12-273 in WC Docket No. 02-60. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 47, Friday, March 9, 2012, at Pages 14364-14366.

The House will meet at 9:00 AM for legislative business. The House will consider non-technology related items. See, Rep. Cantor's schedule for the week.

8:30 AM - 1:30 PM. The Technology Policy Institute (TPI), Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) and Silicon Flatirons will host an event titled "The Innovation Consensus: Economic Growth in 2013 and Beyond". The speakers will include Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS), Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX), and Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI). See, TPI notice and ITIF notice. Location: Kaiser Family Foundation, 1330 G St., NW.

9:00 AM. The House Intelligence Committee (HIC) will hold a hearing titled "Ongoing Intelligence Activities". See, notice. Location: __.

10:00 AM. The House Ways and Means Committee's (HWMC) Subcommittee on Human Resources will hold a hearing titled "Use of Technology to Better Target Benefits and Eliminate Waste, Fraud, and Abuse". Location: Room 1100, Longworth Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold an executive business meeting. The agenda again includes consideration of the nominations of William Kayatta to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals (1stCir), John Fowlkes (USDC/WDTenn), Kevin McNulty (USDC/DNJ), Michael Shipp (USDC/DNJ), and Stephanie Rose (USDC/SDIowa). The SJC will webcast this event. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade will hold a hearing titled "Where the Jobs Are: Can American Manufacturing Thrive Again?". The witness will be Secretary of Commerce John Bryson. See, notice. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

12:15 - 1:45 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Wireless Telecommunications Committee will host an event titled "A Panel Discussion on the Verizon/Spectrum Co. and Verizon/Cox Transactions". The price to attend is $17. Registrations and cancellations are due by 12:00 NOON on April 17. Location: Wiley Rein, 1776 K St., NW.

4:00 - 5:00 PM. Proponents of state control or regulation of alcohol sales will host a news briefing titled "The Dangers of an Uncontrolled Marketplace". For more information, contact Elizabeth Armstrong at 202-371-9792 or elizabeth dot armstrong at wswa dot org. Location: Holeman Lounge, National Press Club, 13th Floor, 529 14th St. NW.

4:30 - 6:30 PM. The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and Federalist Society (FS) will host a discussion of the book [Amazon] titled "Taming Globalization: International Law, the U.S. Constitution and the New World Order". The speakers will be the co-authors, Julian Ku (Hofstra University School of Law) and John Yoo (UC Berkeley School of Law), as well as Martin Flaherty (Fordham University School of Law), Jeremy Rabkin (George Mason University School of Law), and Jennifer Rubin (Commentary Magazine). See, notice. Location: AEI, 12th Floor, 1150 17th St., NW.

Rep. Cantor's schedule for the week states that "no votes are expected in the House".

12:15 - 1:45 PM. The New America Foundation (NAF) will host a panel discussion by proponents of increasing regulatory burdens on broadcasters to disclose information. The speakers will be Michael Calabrese (NAF), Steven Waldman (Columbia Journalism School), Corie Wright (Free Press), Harold Feld (Public Knowledge), and Kathy Kiely (Sunlight Foundation). Waldman previously worked at the Genachowski FCC, where he wrote, among other things, the FCC report titled "Information Needs of Communities". Location: NAF, Suite 400, 1899 L St., NW.

12:15 - 1:30 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a program titled "Fundamentals of Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisitions". The speakers will be Daniel Fisher (Akin Gump), John Vasily (Debevoise & Plimpton), and Andrew Brady (Skadden Arps). Prices vary. No CLE credits. See, notice. For more information, call 202-626-3463. The DC Bar has a history of barring reporters from its events. Location: DC Bar Conference Center, 1101 K St., NW.

1:00 - 5:00 PM. The Public Knowledge (PK) will host an event related to Open Source Hardware". There will be two panels, and a technology exposition. Location: Room 2168 (Gold Room), Rayburn Building.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau (CGAB) regarding whether certain docketed FCC proceedings should be terminated as dormant. See, February 15, 2012, Public Notice (DA 12-220 in CG Docket No. 12-39), and notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 44, Tuesday, March 6, 2012, at Pages 13322-13323.

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. 3.01.165 [47 pages in PDF] titled "Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP) Version 1.0 Validation Program Test Requirements".