7/16. Democratic leaders on the House Commerce Committee (HCC) sent a letter to their Republican counterparts requesting "a hearing on consumer privacy concerns arising from recent reports that cell phone tracking is being widely used by law enforcement officials".

The signers of the letter are Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), the ranking Democrat on the House Commerce Committee (HCC), Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO), the ranking Democrat on the HCC's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) ranking Democrat on the HCC's Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, and Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA).

Previously, Rep. Markey sent letters to mobile phone companies requesting information. See, for example, Rep. Markey's May 2 letter to AT&T, and AT&T's May 29 letter in response. See also, Rep. Markey's web page with hyperlinks to all of these letters and responses.

The HCC Democrats' letter states that the "information provided by the wireless carriers raises concerns about law enforcement’s use of cell phone tracking and what is being done to protect the privacy of consumers. In response to this newly released information, we ask that the Committee hold a hearing to examine whether consumer privacy is being adequately protected by law enforcement officials and wireless carriers."

Rep. Markey also sent a letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ) on July 11, 2012, asking for information about DOJ requests for mobile phone records. He asked for a breakdown, for the last five years, of the number and types of requests, the legal standard that the DOJ believes applies to each type of request, how many individuals were affected, and how much the DOJ paid companies.

He also asked about DOJ use, handling, storage, and safeguarding of the records it obtained.

He requested a response from the DOJ by August 1, 2012.

7/10. Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR), Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), and other members of the House Commerce Committee (HCC) Subcommittee on Communications and Technology sent a letter to the National Telecommunication and Information Administration (NTIA) that asks questions relevant to making more government spectrum available for commercial use.

First, they asked for the "number of spectrum authorizations each Federal user held in 2011, including the activities, capabilities, functions, or missions supported by the authorizations and whether they are space-based, air-based, or ground-based, broken down in frequency ranges from 300 MHz to 3GHz, 1755 MHz to 1850 MHz, and 1755 MHz to 1780 MHz."

Second, they asked for the "amount of spectrum assigned to each Federal user", broken down for the same three frequency ranges. They also ask the NTIA to explain "any adjustments you make to account for the temporal and shared nature of some government spectrum use".

The letter references the HCC's interest in freeing more spectrum for commercial use, particularly mobile broadband services. The letter states that "Finding more efficient ways for the government to use this valuable public asset without compromising critical objectives would not only produce dividends for government agencies, but also inject additional resources into the private sector to spur our economy." Hence, the HCC is taking a "closer look at government spectrum use".

7/16. Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), Chairman of the House Commerce Committee (HCC), released a second quarter report [14 pages in PDF] to the Speaker of the House, Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), on HCC activity.

This report addresses many information and communications technology (ICT) related topics, including making more spectrum available for broadband, reform of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), cyber security, and export regulation reform.

Spectrum. This report states that "First on our list of job-creating policies is spectrum reform." This report states that while the Congress enacted a bill in the first quarter that gives the FCC authority to conduct voluntary incentive auctions, "our work on spectrum is not done yet".

That bill was HR 3630, [LOC | WW]. See, stories titled "House and Senate Negotiators Reach Agreement on Spectrum Legislation", "Summary of Spectrum Bill", and "Reaction to Spectrum Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,339, February 17, 2012, story titled "House and Senate Pass Spectrum Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,340, February 18, 2012, and story titled "Obama Signs Spectrum Bill into Law" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,345, February 23, 2012.

This report states that in the second quarter by Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR) and Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), the Chairman and ranking Democrat on the HCC's Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, "established a bipartisan Federal Spectrum Working Group to examine how the federal government can use the nation’s airwaves more efficiently".

FCC Reform. The report also states that a "committee priority that falls under our efforts to protect taxpayers and reduce the size and scope of government is our ongoing push for FCC process reform."

That bill was HR 3309 [LOC | WW], the "Federal Communications Commission Process Reform Act of 2012". The House, but not the Senate, has passed this bill. It is not likely to become law in the 112th Congress. See, story titled "House Passes FCC Process Reform Act", "Summary of Amendments to HR 3309 Approved or Rejected by the House", and related stories in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,361, March 30, 2012.

The just released report states that "the bill promotes job creation by ensuring regulatory benefits outweigh the costs and improves FCC operations with sensible process reforms, such as requiring the commission to establish and disclose internal procedures for certain matters, establish shot clocks for predictability in its decision making, and improving efficiency with reform to sunshine rules."

The report also praises HR 3310 [LOC | WW], the "Federal Communications Commission Consolidated Reporting Act of 2012", which the House passed on May 30, 2012. See, story titled "House Passes FCC Consolidated Reporting Act" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,388, June 1, 2012.

The report states that the bill "consolidates eight separate, congressionally mandated reports on the communications industry into a single comprehensive report with a focus on intermodal competition, deploying communications capabilities to un-served communities, eliminating regulatory barriers, and empowering small businesses".

While the Senate has not yet passed this bill, it is not divisive or controversial, like HR 3309.

Cyber Security. The just released report also states that in the second quarter, "several of our subcommittees have engaged in the effort to assess cybersecurity threats and responses. The foremost goal is to ensure that any eventual government response to cyber-threats will help, rather than hinder, the effort to secure our critical infrastructure and other mechanisms that could be vulnerable to cyber-attack."

"To that end, three of our members were appointed to serve on the House Cybersecurity Task Force, and Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chairman Walden established an internal, bipartisan cybersecurity working group to scrutinize these issues more carefully. We have much more work ahead to understand and respond to this ever-changing frontier of modern infrastructure threats. But given our broad-based expertise over the range of critical infrastructure elements, our committee is well suited to take on this challenge."

Export Regulation Reform. The report also states that "Another example in which spools of federal red tape are stifling American economic opportunity is in the area of exports. Export promotion streamlining is a tall task, but one that I know we are committed to accomplishing. Today, too many federal agencies imposing layers of federal rules are involved when a U.S. company wants to export its goods for sale overseas. Particularly with our emphasis on an American manufacturing resurgence, delving more deeply into the obstacles standing in the way of American exports is an important economic priority for our team."

7/16. The Senate confirmed Kevin McNulty to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court (DNJ) by a vote of 91-3-1. See, Roll Call No. 178.

7/12. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) held an executive business meeting at which it approved the nominations of Terrence Berg (USDC/EDMich), Jesus Bernal (USDC/CDCal), and Lorna Schofield (USDC/SDNY). The SJC held over consideration of the nominations of Fernando Olguin (USDC/CDCal), Malachy Mannion (USDC/MDPenn), Matthew Brann (USDC/MDPenn), and Frank Geraci (USDC/WDNY).

7/12. President Obama nominated Mark Barnett to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of International Trade. See, White House news office release and release. He has worked in the Office of Chief Counsel for Import Administration at the Department of Commerce (DOC) since 1995. He has also worked for the House Ways and Means Committee, and for the law firm of Steptoe & Johnson.

7/10. The Senate confirmed Thomas Fowlkes to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court (WDTenn) by a vote of 94-2. See, Roll Call No. 173.

7/16. Marissa Mayer was named President, CEO, and a member of the Board of Directors of Yahoo, effective July 17, 2012. She was previously head of Google's Local, Maps, and Location Services. See, Yahoo release.

7/10. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) published a notice in the Federal Register (FR) requesting nominations to its eight advisory committees. These include the Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board (ISPAB), NIST Smart Grid Advisory Committee, and Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology. See, FR, Vol. 77, No. 131, Monday, July 9, 2012, at Pages 40332-40338. The is no deadline for nominations.

7/17. The White House news office issued a release regarding a "Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Master Teacher Corps".

7/12. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) held an executive business meeting at which it held over consideration of S 3276 [LOC | WW], a bill to extend for five years government authority to conduct surveillance related to persons "outside" the US, without individualized court approval. Surveillance of persons "outside of the United States" is a term of art that also enables surveillance of persons inside of the US who fall within the protection of the 4th Amendment. This bill is again on the SJC's agenda for its executive business meeting on July 19, 2012.

7/10. The National Coordination Office for Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NCO/NITRD) announced that it will host a workshop on July 24, 2012, titled "Toward Innovative Spectrum-Sharing Technologies: Wireless Spectrum Research and Development Senior Steering Group (WSRD SSG) Workshop III". See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 132, Tuesday, July 10, 2012, at Page 40647. This workshop will run from 8:15 AM to 5:00 PM on Tuesday, July 24. It will be held at the Millennium Harvest House Boulder, 1325 Twenty-Eighth Street, Boulder, Colorado.

7/5. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR) filed a complaint (nominally a request for consultations) with the World Trade Organization (WTO) against the People's Republic of China (PRC) alleging that the PRC duties on imports of  US made vehicles violate its WTO commitments. This complaint is not technology related. However, recent US complaints against the PRC regarding rare earth materials and restrictions on electronic payment services are technology related.

7/2. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a release regarding plans to open four USPTO regional offices in Detroit, Michigan, Dallas, Texas, Denver, Colorado, and Silicon Valley, California.

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

The Senate will meet at 9:30 AM.

9:30 AM. The Senate Finance Committee (SFC) will meet in executive session to consider numerous trade related matters, including the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) Technical Corrections, Russia Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR), and Moldova PNTR. See, notice. Location: Room 215, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The House Judiciary Committee's (HJC) Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet will hold a hearing titled "The International Trade Commission and Patent Disputes". The witnesses will be Colleen Chien (Santa Clara University School of Law), David Kelley (Ford Global Technologies), Neal Rubin (Cisco Systems), Bernard Cassidy (Tessera Technologies), and Albert Foer (American Antitrust Institute). The HJC will webcast this hearing. See, notice. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a webcast and teleconferenced presentation titled "Anatomy of an M&A Deal -- Session Two -- Non-Disclosure Agreements". The speakers will be Jean Paul Chabaneix (Rodrigo Elias & Medrano Abogador, Lima, Peru), Florian Jörg (Bratschi Wiederkehr & Buob, Zurich, Switzerland), Elena Norman (Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor), and Mattia Colonnelli (Colonnelli de Gasperis Studio Legale, Milan, Italy). CLE credits. Prices vary. See, notice.

1:00 PM. The House Small Business Committee (HSBC) will hold a hearing titled "Digital Divide: Expanding Broadband Access to Small Businesses". The witnesses will be Julius Genachowski (FCC Chairman), Kenneth Adelstein (head of the Department of Agriculture's Rural Utility Service), and Lawrence Strickling (head of the NTIA). See, notice. Location: Room 2360, Rayburn Building.

2:30 PM. The Senate Judiciary Committee's (SJC) Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law will hold a hearing titled "What Facial Recognition Technology Means for Privacy and Civil Liberties". See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

Day one of a two day conference hosted by the Minority Media & Telecom Council (MMTC) titled "10th Annual Access to Capital and Telecom Policy Conference". See, conference web site. Location: Westin Georgetown Hotel, Washington Ballroom, 2350 M St., NW.

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

9:00 AM - 3:00 PM. The Department of Health and Human Services' (DHHS) Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology 's HIT Standards Committee will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 120, Thursday, June 21, 2012, at Pages 37408-37409. Location: Omni Shoreham Hotel, 2500 Calvert St., NW.

9:30 AM. The House Homeland Security Committee's (HHSC) Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations and Management will hold a hearing titled "Using Unmanned Aerial Systems Within the Homeland: Security Game Changer?". The witnesses will be Todd Humphreys (University of Texas at Austin), Gerald Dillingham (Government Accountability Office), Randy McDaniel (Montgomery County, Texas, Sheriff's Office), and Amie Stepanovich (Electronic Privacy Information Center). See, notice. Location: Room 311, Cannon Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold an executive business meeting. The agenda again includes consideration of S 3276 [LOC | WW], a bill to extend for five years government authority to conduct surveillance related to persons "outside" the US, without individualized court approval. Surveillance of persons "outside of the United States" is a term of art that also enables surveillance of persons inside of the US who fall within the protection of the 4th Amendment. The agenda also again includes consideration of the nominations of Fernando Olguin (USDC/CDCal), Malachy Mannion (USDC/MDPenn), Matthew Brann (USDC/MDPenn), and Frank Geraci (USDC/WDNY). The SJC will webcast this meeting. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) will hold a hearing titled "Unfair Trading Practices Against the U.S.: Intellectual Property Rights Infringement, Property Expropriation, and other Barriers". The witnesses will be Grant Aldonas (Split Rock International), Roberto Hernandez (HBO Latin America Group), Derek Scissors (Heritage Foundation), and David Hirschmann (U.S. Chamber of Commerce). The HFAC will webcast this hearing. See, notice. Location: Room 2172, Rayburn Building.

2:00 - 3:30 PM. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host a panel discussion titled "Powering the Mobile Revolution: Principles of Spectrum Allocation". The speakers will include Richard Bennett (ITIF), John Liebovitz (FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau) and Morgan Reed (Association for Competitive Technology). See, notice. Location?

Day one of a two day conference hosted by the Minority Media & Telecom Council (MMTC) titled "10th Annual Access to Capital and Telecom Policy Conference". See, conference web site. Location: Westin Georgetown Hotel, Washington Ballroom, 2350 M St., NW.

Deadline to submit nominations to the Department of the Interior (DOI) for membership on the National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC). See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 107, Monday, June 4, 2012, at Pages 32978-32979.

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

9:00 AM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade will hold a hearing titled "Where the Jobs Are: Moving the Economy with Mobile Apps". The witnesses will be Stephanie Hay (500 Startups), John Horrigan (TechNet), Morgan Reed (Association for Competitive Technology), and Scott Stanfield (Vertigo Software, Inc.). See, notice. Location: Room 2322, Rayburn Building.

9:30 AM. The House Ways and Means Committee's (HWMC) Subcommittee on Human Resources will hold a hearing titled "Use of Technology to Improve the Administration of SSI’s Financial Eligibility Requirements". See, notice. Location: Room 1100, Longworth Building.

TIME?. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade will meet to mark up HR 6131 [LOC | WW], a bill to extend the "Undertaking Spam, Spyware, And Fraud Enforcement With Enforcers Beyond Borders Act of 2006" or "SAFE WEB Act". This meeting will begin following the completion of the 9:00 AM hearing of this Subcommittee. See, notice. Location: Room 2322, Rayburn Building.

9:30 AM - 12:45 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a presentation titled "Cybersleuth’s Guide to Effective Internet Research Strategies for Lawyers: Google, Cloud Apps and Other Tips". The speakers will be Carole Levitt and Mark Rosch (both of Internet For Lawyers). The price to attend ranges from $89 to $129. Reporters are barred from attending most DC Bar events. CLE credits. See, notice. For more information, call 202-626-3488. Location: DC Bar Conference Center, 1101 K St., NW.

1:30 - 4:45 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a presentation titled "Cybersleuth’s Guide to Effective Internet Research Strategies for Lawyers: Investigative Research". The speakers will be Carole Levitt and Mark Rosch (both of Internet For Lawyers). The price to attend ranges from $89 to $129. Reporters are barred from attending most DC Bar events. CLE credits. See, notice. For more information, call 202-626-3488. Location: DC Bar Conference Center, 1101 K St., NW.

Day one of a two day event hosted by the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) titled "AIPLA 16th Annual Patent Cooperation Treaty Seminar". For more information, contact aipla at aipla dot org or call 703-415-0780. Location: Alexandria, VA.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [22 pages in PDF] regarding creating a Do-Not-Call registry for public safety answering points (PSAPs). The FCC adopted this item on May 21, 2012, and released the text on May 22. It is FCC 12-56 in CG Docket No. 12-129. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 120, Thursday, June 21, 2012, Pages 37362-37367.

Day two of a two day event hosted by the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) titled "AIPLA 16th Annual Patent Cooperation Treaty Seminar". For more information, contact aipla at aipla dot org or call 703-415-0780. Location: Alexandria, VA.

10:00 AM. The House Judiciary Committee (HJC) will hold a hearing on HR 3179 [LOC | WW], a bill to authorize state and local government to collect taxes on out of state remote sellers, including internet sales. The HJC will webcast this hearing. This bill has a title that does not describe its content, "Marketplace Equity Act of 2011". See, notice. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

1:00 - 2:30 PM. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host a panel discussion on the use of information technology for voting and voting registration. It is titled "Making Voting Accessible for Disabled Veterans". The speakers will include Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Daniel Castro (ITIF), Brad Fain (Expeditionary Medical Facility Human Systems Integration), and Carol Paquette (Operation BRAVO Foundation). See, notice. Location: Room 188, Russell Building.

2:30 PM. The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) will hold a hearing titled "Cable Act at 20". The witnesses will be Melinda Witmer (Time Warner Cable), Colleen Abdoulah (WOW Internet, Cable, and Phone), Martin Franks (CBS Corporation), Gordon Smith (National Association of Broadcasters), Mark Cooper (Consumer Federation of America), Preston Padden (University of Colorado School of Law). See, notice. Location: Room 253, Russell Building.

Deadline for carriers to file with the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB), with respect to the Connect America Fund Phase I (CAF Phase I), notices stating the amount of support each wishes to accept, and the areas by wire center and census block in which the carrier intends to deploy broadband, or stating that the carrier declines incremental support for 2012. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 105, Thursday, May 31, 2012, at Pages 32113-32114.

9:30 - 11:00 AM. The New America Foundation (NAF) will host a panel discussion titled "Transatlantic Perspectives on Digital Rights and Online Privacy". See, notice. Location: NAF, Suite 400, 1899 L St., NW.

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.