4/11. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) released a paper [8pages in PDF] titled "Why the Current Education Reform Strategy Won't Work". The author is Robert Atkinson, head of the ITIF.

He urges a policy shift for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) secondary education in the U.S. He recommends moving from a STEM for all to a STEM for some approach.

He wrote that "it is time to introduce a new framework based on an ``All STEM for Some´´ approach, where the purpose of driving STEM education is not principally to create economic opportunity for individuals but to provide the ``fuel´´ needed to power a science- and technology-driven U.S. economy."

He added that "The framework will require working actively to recruit those students who are most interested in, and capable of doing well in, STEM and providing them with the kind of educational experience they need to make it all the way through the educational pipeline and come out ready, willing, and able to contribute to growing the U.S. innovation economy."

4/11. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (FCC) filed a civil complaint [30 pages in PDF] in the U.S. District Court (DMass) against AutoChina International Limited and several of its directors and employees alleging violation of US securities laws in connection with their opening brokerage accounts at E*Trade and artificially boosting the trading volume of AutoChina.

The complaint states that AutoChina is a company that is based in the People's Republic of China (PRC) and listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market, and that is a foreign private issuer that files Forms 20-F with the SEC.

The complaint alleges that the defendants opened online accounts and proceeded to trade among themselves with matched orders, wash trades, and other non-economic transactions that raised trading volume. The scheme was not to raise the stock price and make fraudulent profits, but rather merely to create the appearance that the stock was more heavily traded as part of an effort to obtain loan financing for the company.

The complaint states that "Many of the trades in different Defendants' accounts were made from the same computer network, or even the same computer".

The complaint alleges securities fraud in violation of Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act, violation of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act, and other violations.

This case is SEC v. AutoChina International Limited, et al., U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, D.C. No. 1:12-cv-10643-GAO.

3/30. Numerous information and communications technology (ICT) related groups, and others, sent a letter to Secretary of Commerce John Bryson, USTR Ron Kirk, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton regarding certain foreign government policies of mandatory ICT technology transfer, and other forms of protectionism, and other violations of trade agreements.

They warned that "governments around the world have begun implementing new policies that are undermining the ability of American ICT companies to compete fairly in critical markets. These policies also impact broader industries such as advanced manufacturing and services. If left unchecked, these policies will lead to a devastating loss of competitiveness and global market share for our companies, undermining economic growth and job creation here in the United States."

They continued that "these governments have begun implementing a number of indigenous innovation policies designed to boost their domestic manufacturing, high-technology and R&D capabilities, and services by discriminating against foreign companies. These types of policies were once limited to China, and to a lesser extent Brazil, but are emerging in India, Russia, Indonesia, and Argentina.

"These policies share a number of troubling provisions, including mandatory technology transfer requirements, local sourcing requirements in government and private sector procurements, the escrow of source code and other sensitive design elements, import restrictions, and restrictions on the flow of data." They added that "Many of these appear to be clear violations of global trade agreements and commitments".

These groups asked for government assistance, and "a more comprehensive strategy to defeat these policies". They suggested that the US government could raise "indigenous innovation as an agenda item at the upcoming meetings of the G8/G20."

The G8 summit will be held at Camp David, Maryland, on May 18-19, 2012. Russia is the only offending country that is a G8 member.

The G20 summit will be held in Los Cabos, Mexico, on June 18-19, 2012. All of the offending countries are G20 members.

The parties to the letter include the Business Software Alliance (BSA), Information Technology Industry Council (ITIC), Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), TechAmerica (TA), and Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA).

The parties also include the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and others.

These groups have been taking their concerns about indigenous innovation policies to various US government entities for years. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the Department of Commerce (DOC) have studied the issue. However, their focus has been the PRC.

In addition, the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) has issued reports. See:

• December 2010 USITC report [196 pages in PDF] titled "China: Intellectual Property Infringement, Indigenous Innovation Policies, and Frameworks for Measuring the Effects on the U.S. Economy", and story titled "USITC Releases First Report on IPR Infringement in the PRC" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,178, December 14, 2010.
• May 2011 USITC report [308 pages in PDF] titled "China: Effects of Intellectual Property Infringement and Indigenous Innovation Policies on the U.S. Economy", and story titled "USITC Reports on IP Infringement and Indigenous Innovation in the PRC" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,243, May 17, 2011.

Also, the European Commission (EC) has studied the issue. See, story titled "EC Trade Commissioner Addresses Indigenous Innovation and IPR in the PRC" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,122, August 10, 2010. And, the World Trade Organization (WTO) has studied the issue. See, story titled "WTO's 3rd Trade Policy Review Addresses IPR in the PRC" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,090, June 2, 2010.

4/12. Scott Turow, President of the Authors Guild, a group that advocates the interests of writers, criticized the Department of Justice's (DOJ) antitrust action against Apple and e-book publishers.

See, story titled "DOJ Sues Apple and Book Publishers Alleging E-Book Price Collusion", and related stories, in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,368, April 11, 2012.

Turow stated in a release that "The proposed settlement is a shocking trip through the looking-glass." Charles Dodgson, also known as Lewis Carroll, wrote the book titled Alice's Adventures in Wonderland [ Amazon | Apple | Google] and a sequel titled Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There [ Amazon | Apple | Google].

Turow is a lawyer and writer. He worked long ago as a federal prosecutor. His first book, One L, was an autobiographical account of his first year in law school. He then wrote a series of widely read legal thriller novels, including The Burden of Proof, Presumed Innocent, Pleading Guilty, and Personal Injuries.

Turow argued that "By allowing Amazon to resume selling most titles at a loss, the Department of Justice will basically prevent traditional bookstores from trying to enter the e-book market, at the same time it drives trade out of those stores and into the proprietary world of the Kindle."

"The settlement provides a gigantic obstacle to Amazon's competitors in the e-book business by allowing Amazon to function without making a profit, something that leaves that market forbidding to anyone else who might think of entering, and a bad business for those already there."

Turow added that "Today's low Kindle book prices will last only as long as it takes Amazon to re-establish its monopoly. It is hard to believe that the Justice Department has somehow persuaded itself that this solution fosters competition or is good for readers in the long run."

The Association for Competitive Technology (ACT) made a similar argument against the DOJ's antitrust action.

It stated in a release that "Many of our small business members are concerned", and that the DOJ's action "may have a profoundly negative impact on smaller retailers."

"The wrong result from DOJ action could harm small businesses on the iTunes store significantly. The convergence of app makers and publishers at iTunes and the App Store has allowed for the distribution of innovative interactive content that can only succeed when its creators have flexibility in choosing how to bring their works to market."

"Unfortunately", the ACT concluded, the DOJ's "latest step reprises the old story of the small developer/publisher becoming the collateral damage in the battle of the giants."

The Authors Guild is also one plaintiff in the copyright infringement actions against Google arising out of its Google Books program. The Author's Guild filed a class action complaint against Google in the U.S. District Court (SDNY) on September 20, 2005. See, story titled "Author's Guild Sues Google for Copyright Infringement" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,218, September 21, 2005. Book publishers and photographers have also filed lawsuits against Google. The Authors Guild and book publishers reached a class settlement, which is legislative in scope, that the DOJ opposed. See, story titled "DOJ Files Pleading in Google Books Case" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,985, September 21, 2009, and story titled "DOJ Criticizes Amended Google Books Settlement" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,043, February 12, 2010. The District Court rejected the proposed settlement. See, story titled "District Court Rejects Google Books Class Action Settlement" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,206, March 22, 2011. Negotiations continue.

4/12. Google's CEO Larry Page stated in a conference call regarding Google's 2012 first quarter earnings that Google is "very excited about tablets", and in particular, lower priced Android based devices. See, transcript published by Seeking Alpha.

Page, without mentioning Amazon, Amazon's Kindle Fire, or e-books, implied that Google might soon offer a product line that competes with Amazon.

He said that "I think that we're very excited about tablets. I think there's a number of Android tablets out there and obviously, we have strong competition there as well. I think you've seen us really invest substantially also in things like Google Play, which really give you great access to entertainment, media, books and videos and so on, and as well as the apps. And we think that's an important component of what we're doing."

Google Play is Google's online platform for selling movies, music, apps, games and books. See, its e-books store.

Page continued that "I think there's also -- obviously, there's been a lot of success on some lower-priced tablets that run Android, maybe not the full Google version of Android."

He did not elaborate that Amazon's Kindle Fire runs on a forked version of Android, and that it is lower priced than Apple's iPad. The starting price of the Fire is $199. The starting price of the new 4G LTE iPad is $499. Page did not state what the starting price of a Google Android tablet might be.

Page concluded, "But we definitely believe that there's going to be a lot of success at the lower end of the market as well with lower-priced products that will be very significant. And it's definitely an area we think is important and we're quite focused on."

Google is competing with Apple and Amazon, and others, in selling e-books. Apple and Amazon, and others, are already competing in the market for devices that can be used to purchase, download, and read e-books. Page's statements on April 12 suggest that Google too may soon be an additional competitor in the reader market.

Tech media reports predict that Google will soon offer a tablet computer that will compete with Amazon's Kindle. See, April 13, 2012 story in Digital Spy by Mark Langshaw titled "Google to take on Amazon with Kindle rival?", and April 13 story in PC World by Daniel Ionescu titled "Google Targets Budget Tablets, CEO Says", and April 13 story in Time by Jared Newman titled "Google’s Larry Page: We’re Focused On Cheap Android Tablets".

4/12. The New America Foundation (NAF) released a polemic essay on April 12 titled "The Real Bad Guy in the E-Book Price Fixing Case: Amazon's continued domination of the publishing industry will hurt the book market". The author is the NAF's Barry Lynn.

Eric Schmidt (at right) is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the NAF. Schmidt is also the Executive Chairman of Google. The policy advocacy of the NAF, on issues such as spectrum, network neutrality, and intellectual property, often parallels the economic interests of Google.

Schmidt is also a former Director of Apple.

According to the Department of Justice's (DOJ) complaint [36 pages in PDF], Apple and e-book publishers conspired to raise e-book prices, in part by colluding to eliminate lower prices offered by Amazon under the wholesale model of books distribution, and imposing industry wide an agency model. Under the DOJ's theory, consumers are harmed by higher prices, while the e-book publishers and Apple benefit.

However, applying the DOJ's reasoning to Google Play's e-book sales, and the likely offering by Google of a low priced Android tablet, Google, like Apple, has reason to condemn the DOJ's antitrust action. Google would be better off with the state of the e-book distribution market as it existed just prior to the DOJ's action.

Moreover, it should be noted that Amazon used Google's Android operating system for its Kindle Fire, but forked it, thus eliminating the Google app store and media services.

Barry Lynn criticized the DOJ for this action. He also denigrated and maligned Amazon. He hyperbolized that Amazon is "gouging all writers", and "has a direct interest in suppressing any work of reporting that questions its power".

He also argued that higher prices are not necessarily a bad thing, and pined nostalgically for an earlier era when government agencies could set prices, or at least limit the role of market participants, in certain key industries. He also argued that the DOJ should have examined the longer term consequences of its antitrust action.

He wrote that "Lower prices enable horizontal predation; when a fatly capitalized retailer (like Amazon) wants to bankrupt its less-wealthy direct competitors, it simply undersells them day after day after day. Furthermore, lower prices can be used in vertical predation, against producers; when a powerful retailer (like Amazon) wants to extract more wealth from its now-captive suppliers, it can set prices to promote those firms who accept its terms and to punish those who resist." (Parentheses in original.)

He argued that "the best way to lower prices over the long run" is "to allow producers to set higher prices today. That’s because doing so forces producers to compete with producers rather than retailers. And it forces retailers to compete with retailers rather than with producers. The result being that we end up with both producers and retailers doing a better job of serving the consumer."

He argued too that "We need to re-empower producers to set a minimum price for their goods, just as the book publishers attempted to do with their ``Agency´´ model -- the one the DOJ found so objectionable. Doing so would help to prevent Amazon (and other goliath trading companies) from continuing to use its immense and unfair pricing power to bankrupt other retailers, to loot the profits of and capture control over their suppliers, and to manipulate the content of the product itself." (Parentheses in original.)

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 1998-2012 David Carney. All rights reserved.

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".