6/6. The Senate is scheduled on Wednesday, June 6, to resume consideration of the motion to proceed to S 3240 [LOC | WW]. This is a huge bill pertaining to agriculture. It also includes provisions related to rural telecommunications, broadband and telemedicine.

Section 6102 of the bill would amend Section 313A(f) of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (REA), which is codified at 7 U.S.C. § 940c-1(f). It authorizes the Department of Agriculture (DOA) to make loan guarantees for telephone purposes. It is set to expire on September 30 of this year. This bill would to extend this program through 2017.

Section 6103 of the bill would amend Section 315(d) of the REA, which is codified at 7 U.S.C. § 940e(d). It authorizes the DOA to make loans "for facilities and equipment to expand or improve in rural areas ... 911 access ... integrated interoperable emergency communications ... homeland security communications ... transportation safety communications ... or ... location technologies ...". It is set to expire this year. This bill would extend this program through 2017.

Section 6104 of the bill would make numerous changes to Section 601 of the REA, which is codified at 7 U.S.C. § 950bb. It pertains to rural broadband loans and grants.

This section states that its purpose "is to provide loans and loan guarantees to provide funds for the costs of the construction, improvement, and acquisition of facilities and equipment for broadband service in rural areas."

This section authorizes the appropriation of $25 Million per year through 2012. This bill would extend this authorization through 2017.

This bill also provides that "In making grants or guaranteeing loans ... the Secretary shall give the highest priority to applicants that offer to provide broadband service to the greatest proportion of households that, prior to the provision of the broadband service, had no incumbent service provider."

Section 6201 of the bill would amend 7 U.S.C. § 950aaa-5, which authorizes the appropriation of $100 Million per year for telemedicine and distance learning in rural areas. Current authority expires this year. This bill would extend this program through 2017.

6/6. Members of Congress condemned the release to news media of confidential national security information regarding the use of cyber attacks on the nuclear weapons development programs of Iran.

For example, the Chairmen and ranking members of the Senate Intelligence Committee (SIC) and House Intelligence Committee (HIC) issued a joint statement condemning the leaks.

They wrote that "we have become increasingly concerned at the continued leaks regarding sensitive intelligence programs and activities, including specific details of sources and methods. The accelerating pace of such disclosures, the sensitivity of the matters in question, and the harm caused to our national security interests is alarming and unacceptable."

They also wrote that the SIC and HIC "each intend to review potential legislation to strengthen authorities and procedures with respect to access to classified information and disclosure of it, as well as to ensure that criminal and administrative measures are taken each time sensitive information is improperly disclosed."

They added that "We plan to move legislation quickly, to include possible action in this year's intelligence authorization act."

The New York Times published a story by David Sanger on June 1, 2012, titled "Obama Order Sped Up Wave of Cyberattacks Against Iran".

That article stated that President Obama "ordered increasingly sophisticated attacks on the computer systems that run Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facilities, significantly expanding America's first sustained use of cyberweapons, according to participants in the program."

That article added that an "element of the program", known as Stuxnet, "accidentally became public in the summer of 2010 because of a programming error that allowed it to escape Iran's Natanz plant and sent it around the world on the Internet".

That article reported on the content of debate regarding the program in the White House involving President Obama, Vice President Biden, then CIA Director Leon Panetta, and others.

For more on the Stuxnet, see story titled "Senate Committee Holds Hearing on Cyber Warfare" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,158, November 17, 2012.

6/5. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regarding the DHS's assertion that it is unable to produce documents to Congress electronically.

They wrote that "By unnecessarily printing tens of thousands of pages of documents, DHS is harming the environment and wasting taxpayer money. Moreover, the practice of electronic document production is standard for most federal departments and agencies".

They also noted that President Obama, in Executive Order 13589, directed agencies to cease printing documents when an electronic version is sufficient.

Sen. Grassley (at right) stated in a release that "It's ironic that the agency striving for expertise on cybersecurity is reluctant to send emails to Congress".

He added that "It would be like if CBO presented estimates to Congress with an abacus or if the transportation secretary rode around town in a horse and buggy. The purpose of the letter is to find out what’s behind the apparent preference for paper over email."

Executive Order 13589 provides, in part, that "Agencies are encouraged to limit the publication and printing of hard copy documents and to presume that information should be provided in an electronic form, whenever practicable, permitted by law, and consistent with applicable records retention requirements. Agencies should consider using acquisition vehicles developed by the OMB's Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative to acquire printing and copying devices and services."

6/4. Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) sent a letter [3 pages in PDF] to Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, regarding Facebook's plans to allow children ages 12 and younger to use Facebook.

Their letter references the June 3, 2012, story in the Wall Street Journal by Anton Troianovski and Shayndi Raice titled "Facebook Explores Giving Kids Access".

Rep. Markey (at right) and Rep. Barton wrote that "Permitting children under 13 to use the social networking site raises a number of important questions about how Facebook would comply with COPPA."

The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which is codified at 15 U.S.C. §§ 6501-6506, bans operators of web sites and online services that are directed to children from collecting information from children under thirteen without parental consent.

The COPPA was S 2326 in the 105th Congress. S 2326 was enacted into law as part of a large omnibus appropriations bill in October of 1998. See, TLJ story titled "Internet and Tech Bills Become Law", October 22, 1998. See also, TLJ web page titled "Children's Online Privacy Protection Act" (1998).

Rep. Markey and Rep. Barton added that "we strongly believe that children and their personal information should not be viewed as a source of revenue."

The two also noted the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) action against Facebook last year regarding its deceptive and privacy invasive practices involving the sharing of users' information.

On November 29, 2011, the FTC released an administrative complaint against Facebook, and an Agreement Containing Consent Order [10 pages in PDF] that settles the action.

The FTC also issued a release that summarizes the complaint and agreement. It states, for example, that "Facebook changed its website so certain information that users may have designated as private -- such as their Friends List -- was made public. They didn't warn users that this change was coming, or get their approval in advance."

It also states that "Facebook represented that third-party apps that users' installed would have access only to user information that they needed to operate. In fact, the apps could access nearly all of users' personal data -- data the apps didn't need."

See also, story titled "FTC Imposes Privacy Related Terms on Facebook" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,315, November 29, 2012.

Rep. Markey and Rep. Barton also propounded numerous interrogatories, to be answered by Facebook by June 25, 2012.

For example, they ask, "What options is Facebook exploring to allow children age 12 and younger to use the social networking site? ... Is Facebook planning to mandate consent from a child or their parent before the company collects, uses, or discloses personal information about kids ages 12 and younger? How does Facebook plan to obtain this consent? How will Facebook verify that a user is indeed a parent?"

They also ask "How does Facebook plan to use information the company collects about children in this age group?"

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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. It will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to S 3240 [LOC | WW], a huge bill pertaining to agriculture. It also includes provisions related to rural telecommunications, broadband and telemedicine.

8:00 AM - 2:30 PM. Day one of a two day event titled "Health Privacy Summit". See, notice. Location: Georgetown Law Center, 600 New Jersey Ave., NW.

Day two of a three day conference hosted by the Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) titled "Cloud Computing Forum & Workshop V". See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 87, Friday, May 4, 2012, at Page 26509. Location: DOC, Hoover Building, Room __, 401 Constitution Ave., NW.

9:00 AM. The Copyright Office (CO) will conclude its hearing regarding its triennial review of exemptions to the anticircumvention provisions of 17 U.S.C. § 1201. The deadline to submit requests to testify is 5:00 PM EDT on April 2, 2012. See, story titled "Copyright Office Schedules Hearings on Proposed Anticircumvention Exemptions" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,351, March 20, 2012. Location: CO, Copyright Hearing Room, LM-408, James Madison Building, Library of Congress, 101 Independence Ave., SE.

9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Day one of a two day conference hosted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) titled "Safeguarding Health Information: Building Assurance through HIPAA Security". See, notice. The price to attend is $395. Location: Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center.

ROOM CHANGE. 10:15 AM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Communications and Technology will hold a hearing titled "The Future of Audio". The witnesses will be Ben Allison (National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences), David Israelite (National Music Publishers’ Association), Cary Sherman (Recording Industry Association of America), Jeff Smulyan (Emmis Communications), Steven Newberry (Commonwealth Broadcasting Corp.), Tim Westergren (Pandora), Christopher McCabe (CTIA), and Gary Shapiro (Consumer Electronics Association). See, notice. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

11:00 AM. The House Judiciary Committee (HJC) will meet to mark up numerous bills. The third item on the agenda is HR 4377 [LOC | WW], the "Responsibly And Professionally Invigorating Development Act of 2012", or "RAPID Act". See, notice. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host a discussion of the book [Amazon] titled "Time to Start Thinking". The speakers will be the author, Ed Luce, and Robert Atkinson (head of the ITIF). See, notice. Free. Open to the public. Location: ITIF/ITIC, Suite 610, 1101 K St., NW.

1:30 PM. The House Foreign Affairs Committee's (HFAC) Subcommittee on Asian and the Pacific will hold a hearing titled "What's Next for the U.S.-Korea Alliance?". See, notice. Location: Room 2172, Rayburn Building.

2:30 PM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold a hearing on the nominations of Lorna Schofield (to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York), Terrence Berg (USDC/EDMich), and Jesus Bernal (USDC/CDCal). The SJC will webcast this event. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

6:00 - 8:00 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Wireless Telecommunications Committee will host a program titled "The Road Ahead for Spectrum". Registrations and cancellations are due by 12:00 NOON on June 5. The price to attend ranges from $25 to $125. Location: Wiley Rein, 1776 K St., NW.

6:00 - 8:30 PM. The Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal & Economic Public Policy Studies will host a speech by Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE), Vice Chairman of the House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, and a panel discussion titled "Communications Act and FCC Reform". The speakers will be Neil Fried (HCC's Chief Communications and Technology Counsel), David Gross (Wiley Rein), Robert Quinn (AT&T), and Howard Symons (Mintz Levin). RSVP to 202-274-0235 or roundtable at phoenix-center dot org. Location: University Club, Roof, 1135 16th St., NW.

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) regarding its its draft NIST IR-7848 [38 pages in PDF] titled "Specification for the Asset Summary Reporting Format 1.0".

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.

8:00 AM - 2:30 PM. Day two of a two day event titled "Health Privacy Summit". See, notice. Location: Georgetown Law Center, 600 New Jersey Ave., NW.

Day three of a three day conference hosted by the Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) titled "Cloud Computing Forum & Workshop V". See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 87, Friday, May 4, 2012, at Page 26509. Location: DOC, Hoover Building, Room __, 401 Constitution Ave., NW.

9:00 AM - 4:30 PM. Day two of a two day conference hosted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) titled "Safeguarding Health Information: Building Assurance through HIPAA Security". See, notice. The price to attend is $395. Location: Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center.

9:30 AM. The House Judiciary Committee (HJC) will hold a hearing titled "Oversight of the United States Department of Justice". See, notice. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

9:30 AM - 2:00 PM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) North American Numbering Council (NANC) will meet. Location: FCC, 445 12th St., SW.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold an executive business meeting. The agenda includes consideration of five judicial nominees: Robert Bacharach (to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit), Paul Grimm (U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland), John Dowdell (USDC/NDOkla), Mark Walker (USDC/NDFl), and Brian Davis (USDC/MDFl). See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

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

11:00 AM - 12:30 PM. American Bar Association's (ABA) Section of Intellectual Property Law will host a webcast and teleconferenced panel discussion titled "International Patent Litigation: A Compare and Contrast of Patent Litigation in Different Countries". The speakers will be Koen Bijvank (Vereenigde), David Hill (Finnegan Henderson), Steve Schad (ESCO Corporation), and Stephanie Roberts (Banner & Witcoff). The price ranges from $75 to $195. See, notice.

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. American Bar Association's (ABA) Section of International Law will host a webcast and teleconferenced panel discussion titled "HIPAA and HITECH Act Fundamentals: What You Need to Know Now About the Privacy and Security Rules". The speakers will be Eddie Williams (Holland & Knight), Elaine Zacharakis (Zacharakis Loumbas Law), and Clay Countryman (Breazeale Sachse & Wilson). The price ranges from $95 to $195. CLE credits. See, notice.

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

Day one of a two day event hosted by the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) titled "Legal Secretaries & Administrators Conference". For more information, contact aipla at aipla dot org or call 703-415-0780. Location: USPTO, Alexandria, VA.

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

9:30 AM. The House Ways and Means Committee's (HWMC) Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures will hold a hearing on expiring tax provisions, including the research and development (R&D) tax credit. It is codified at 21 U.S.C. § 41, but expired on December 31, 2011. It was last extended at the end of 2010. See, story titled "Tax Bill Enacted With R&D Tax Credit Extension" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,182, December 18, 2010. See, notice. Location: Room 1100, Longworth Building.

Day two of a two day event hosted by the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) titled "Legal Secretaries & Administrators Conference". For more information, contact aipla at aipla dot org or call 703-415-0780. Location: USPTO, Alexandria, VA.

Deadline to submit comments to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in response to its Patents External Quality Survey. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 68, Monday, April 9, 2012, at Pages 21086-21087.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) National Coordination Office (NCO) for Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) will host an event titled "National Symposium on Moving Target Research". The purpose of this symposium is to examine whether there is scientific evidence to show that moving target techniques are a substantial improvement in the defense of cyber systems. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 45, Wednesday, March 7, 2012, at Page 13656. Location: Historic Inns of Annapolis, Annapolis, MD.

Deadline to submit to the Department of Health and Human Services' (DHHS) Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONCHIT) nominations to its Health Information Technology Standards Committee (HITSC) and Health Information Technology Policy Committee (HITPC). See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 106, Friday, June 1, 2012, at Pages 32639-32640.

9:00 AM. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) Bureau of Industry and Security's (BIS)Regulations and Procedures Technical Advisory Committee (RPTAC) will hold a partially closed meeting. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 103, Tuesday, May 29, 2012, at Pages 31567-31568. Location: DOC, Hoover Building, Room 3884, 14th Street between Constitution and Pennsylvania Avenues, NW.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold a hearing titled "Oversight of the Department of Justice". The witness will be Attorney General Eric Holder. The SJC will webcast this event. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

12:00 NOON. The National Press Club (NPC) will host a class titled "Social Media Trends for Social Media Managers". See, notice. The price to attend ranges from $62.50 to $125. Location: Bloomberg Room, NPC, 13th Floor, 529 14th St. NW.

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

5:00 PM. Deadline to submit speaker applications to the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) for the 2013 International CES to be held in Las Vegas, Nevada, on January 8-11, 2013. See, notice.

6:00 - 8:15 PM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will host an event titled "The FCC in the Courts". Richard Welch, FCC Deputy Associate General Counsel, will give a presentation titled "How the Agency Fared Over the Last Year". Jacob Lewis, FCC Associate General Counsel, will give a presentation titled "FCC Litigation on the Horizon". CLE credits. See, notice. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) asserts that this is an FCBA event. Location: Bingham McCutchen, 2020 K St., NW.

10:30 AM - 12:00 NOON. The Heritage Foundation (HF) will host a panel discussion titled "Export Control Reform: What's Next?". The speakers will be Patricia Cooper (Satellite Industry Association), Remy Nathan (Aerospace Industry Association), William Reinsch ( National Foreign Trade Council), Baker Spring (HF), and Derek Scissors (HF). See, notice. Free. Open to the public. Location: HF, 214 Massachusetts Ave., NE

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a presentation titled "Impact of AIA on The Choice Between Patent and Trade Secret Protection". The speakers will be Griffith Price and Jia Lu (both of Finnegan Henderson). The price to attend ranges from $89 to $129. Reporters are barred from attending most DC Bar events. No CLE credits. See, notice. For more information, call 202-626-3488. Location: Finnegan, 901 New York Ave., NW.

12:30 - 2:00 PM. The DC Bar Association's Media Law Committee will host a closed brown bag lunch meeting to discuss media and communications law developments. Free. No CLE credits. Reporters are barred from covering this event. For more information, contact the DC Bar at 202-626-3463 or Kurt Wimmer (Covington & Burling) at kwimmer at cov dot com or Jim McLaughlin at mclaughlinj at washpost dot com. See, notice. Location: Covington & Burling, 1201 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.