8/2. The House passed HConRes 127, regarding the upcoming by World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT), by a vote of 414-0. See, Roll Call No. 555.

This resolves that "That it is the sense of Congress that the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information, in consultation with the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and United States Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy, should continue working to implement the position of the United States on Internet governance that clearly articulates the consistent and unequivocal policy of the United States to promote a global Internet free from government control and preserve and advance the successful multistakeholder model that governs the Internet today."

It recites in its findings that "proposals, in international bodies such as the United Nations General Assembly, the United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development, and the International Telecommunication Union, would justify under international law increased government control over the Internet and would reject the current multistakeholder model that has enabled the Internet to flourish and under which the private sector, civil society, academia, and individual users play an important role in charting its direction".

Rep. Mary Mack (R-CA) introduced this resolution on May 30, 2012.

Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR) stated in the House on August 1 that "Nations from across the globe will meet in December for the World Conference on International Telecommunications in Dubai. There, the 193 member countries of the United Nations will consider whether to apply to the Internet a regulatory regime that the International Telecommunications Union created for old-fashioned telephone service, as well as whether to swallow the Internet's nongovernmental organization's structure whole and make it part of the United Nations. Neither of these are acceptable outcomes." See, Congressional Record, Wednesday, August 1, 2012, at Page H5599.

Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) stated in the House that "several nations, including Russia, are set on asserting intergovernmental control over the Internet, leading to a balkanized Internet where censorship could become the new norm. While there's no question that nations have to work together to address challenges to the Internet's growth and stability, such as cybersecurity, online privacy, and intellectual property protection, these issues can best be addressed under the existing model."

Rep. Eshoo (at left) said that "It's absolutely essential that the United States defend the current model of Internet governance at the upcoming Dubai conference this December because the very fabric of the free and open Internet is at stake."

Rep. Mack stated that "For nearly a decade, the United Nations has been angling quietly to become the epicenter of Internet governance. A vote for our resolution is a vote to keep the Internet free from government control, and to prevent Russia, China, India, and other nations from succeeding in giving the U.N. unprecedented control over Web content and infrastructure."

She continued that "These proposed treaty changes, which have been going on in secret, could have a devastating impact worldwide on both freedom and economic prosperity. If this power grab is successful, I'm concerned that the next Arab Spring will instead become a Russian Winter where free speech is chilled, not encouraged, and the Internet becomes a wasteland of unfulfilled hopes, dreams, and opportunities. We cannot let this happen."

8/1. Terry Kramer, head of the US delegation to the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) gave a speech in Washington DC on August 1, 2012 regarding upcoming WCIT and International Telecommunications Regulations (ITRs).

The WCIT will be held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on December 3-14, 2012. See, event web site.

He said that "Throughout the WCIT process, the United States has, and will continue to, express opposition to proposals that would place governments in a position of greater power to censor the Internet, track content or target end users -- even under the guise of combating spam, controlling traffic routing or identifying calling number information as a way to defeat alleged fraud and ``misuse´´ of networks."

Kramer said that "proposals to control content transmitted over networks run counter to the foundation of a free and vibrant telecommunications and Internet society".

He said that "Proposals to control content and routing, or to expand the definitions of international telecommunications to cover the Internet, ultimately will not work. Such proposals will only ... Stifle innovation, promote customer cynicism, and breed "work-around" solutions to undermine flawed policies" and " Undercut the free flow of information and ideas, defeating the entire purpose of the ITRs themselves".

"Similarly, proposals that seek to artificially mandate pricing terms -- such as "transfer payments" between content providers and network operators -- will only result in failure."

Kramer concluded that the US "will oppose changes to the ITRs that (1) restrict the free flow of content, (2) broaden the scope of the ITRs, however subtly, to impinge on the Internet’s natural growth and evolution, or (3) impose uneconomic pricing or transfer-payment obligations on Internet content providers or backbone operators."

Also on August 1, the Department of State (DOS) announced in a release that it "will submit its first group of proposals" regarding ITRs for the WCIT on August 3.

This release states that "the ITRs should remain a high-level treaty that establishes an international framework for market-driven development of telecommunications networks and services".

It adds that "The U.S. is concerned that proposals by some other governments could lead to greater regulatory burdens being placed on the international telecom sector, or perhaps even extended to the Internet sector -- a result the U.S. would oppose."

It states that the US proposals include "Minimal changes to the preamble of the ITRs", "Alignment of the definitions in the ITRs with those in the ITU Constitution and Convention, including no change to the definitions of telecommunications and international telecommunications service", "Maintaining the voluntary nature of compliance with ITU-T Recommendations", "Continuing to apply the ITRs only to recognized operating agencies or RoAs; i.e., the ITRs’ scope should not be expanded to address other operating agencies that are not involved in the provision of authorized or licensed international telecommunications services to the public", and "Revisions of Article 6 to affirm the role played by market competition and commercially negotiated agreements for exchanging international telecommunication traffic".

8/1. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) introduced HR 6245 [LOC | WW | TLJ], the "Saving High-tech Innovators from Egregious Legal Disputes", or "SHIELD Act".

Supporters of this bill decry "patent trolls" and plaintiffs who allege infringement of patents that they own, but do not practice.

However, this bill is very narrow and limited. It would merely allow the District Court to award costs and attorneys fees to the prevailing party in a patent infringement action involving a computer hardware or software patent.

The bill does not reference "patent troll" or any similar term. Nor does it limit standing to sue to patent holders who practice the patent in suit.

It provides that "in an action disputing the validity or alleging the infringement of a computer hardware or software patent, upon making a determination that the party alleging the infringement of the patent did not have a reasonable likelihood of succeeding, the court may award the recovery of full costs to the prevailing party, including reasonable attorney’s fees, other than the United States."

Moreover, this bill, if enacted, would bring the rule for recovery of costs and attorneys fees in tech related patent litigation more in line with the procedural rules for many other types litigation in the US.

Currently, 35 U.S.C. § 285 provides that "The court in exceptional cases may award reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party."

Rep. DeFazio (at right) issued a release that complains about "patent trolls" who "buy patents solely to sue the American tech startups".

He stated that "Patent trolls don't create new technology and they don’t create American jobs ... They pad their pockets by buying patents on products they didn’t create and then suing the innovators who did the hard work and created the product. These egregious lawsuits hurt American innovation and small technology start ups, and they cost jobs. My legislation would force patent trolls to take financial responsibility for their frivolous lawsuits."

Michael Petricone of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) stated in a release that "The recent explosion of lawsuits brought by non-practicing entities, better known as 'patent trolls,' is a tax on technology and an anchor on our ability to compete internationally. Every dollar companies spend fighting baseless lawsuits is a dollar not spent on creating jobs and developing new products."

He said that this bill "would take a club to these patent trolls".

Ed Black, head of the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), stated in a release that "The patent reform bill last year unfortunately did not address this growing toll on innovation -- junk lawsuits. Because tech products are interoperable with hundreds of components, the industry is particularly vulnerable to phony companies that don't produce anything and exist mainly to sue other companies."

He said that "The SHIELD Act would offer some disincentives to those attacking tech companies with nuisance lawsuits and counting on quick lucrative settlements. While this is not going to solve all the problems with our dysfunctional patent system, it is a step toward sanity and a step that will help staunch this drain on our economy."

8/2. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) held an executive business meeting at which it amended and approved S 225 [LOC | WW], the "Access to Information About Missing Children Act of 2011".

The SJC approved an amendment in the nature of a substitute [5 pages in PDF] by unanimous consent. The SJC then approved the bill as amended by unanimous voice vote. There was no substantive discussion or debate.

The sponsor of this bill, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), has stated that the purpose of this bill is to enable local law enforcement officials to obtain the address someone who has filed a federal income tax return with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in cases involving abductions of children by family members, who often file accurate tax returns that list their dependent children.

However, this is not what the bill as introduced would have done. It would have enabled any "Federal officer" to obtain "any information held by any Federal agency", thereby overriding the Privacy Act and the confidentiality statutes and rules for all federal agencies.

The amendment adopted on August 2 transforms the bill, and brings its text in line with the sponsor's rhetoric.

The amendment changes who can get access from any federal officer to a "Federal law enforcement officer". (Federal law enforcement officers can make requests on behalf of state officials.) The amendment changes the agencies covered from "any Federal agency" to the "Internal Revenue Service". And, the amendment changes the information to be disclosed from "any information" to "the mailing address" of the filer.

For an explanation of this bill as introduced, see story titled "Senate Judiciary Committee to Take Up Access to Federal Information Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,410, July 24, 2012. See also, story titled "Senate Judiciary Committee Holds Over Consideration of S 225" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,411, July 25, 2012.

The House will not meet, except for pro forma sessions, until September 10.

The Senate will not meet, except for pro forma sessions, until September 10.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Accenture Global Services v. Guidewire Software, App. Ct. No. 2011-1486, an appeal from the U.S. District Court (NDCal) in a patent infringement case. Location: Courtroom 201.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [182 pages in PDF] regarding its collection of universal service taxes. The FCC adopted this item on April 27, 2012, and released the text on April 30. It is FCC 12-46 in WC Docket Nos. 06-122 and GN Docket No. 09-51. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 110, Thursday, June 7, 2012, at Pages 33896-33944.

Deadline to submit reply 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.

The Senate will meet at 11:00 AM in pro forma session.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Trans Video Electronics v. Sony Electronics, App. Ct. No.2012-1110, an appeal from the U.S. District Court (NDCal) in a patent infringement case involving video distribution technology, D.C. No. 09-civ-3304. Location: Courtroom 201.

1:30 - 3:00 PM. The New America Foundation (NAF) will host a panel discussion titled "Congress 2.0: How is Congress Coping with the Information Revolution?". See, notice. Location: Suite 400, NAF, 1899 L St., NW.

6:00 - 8:15 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a presentation titled "Ethics of E-Mail and Social Media". The speaker will be Thomas Spahn (McGuire Woods). 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.

No events listed.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Northrup Grumman Computing Systems v. US, App. Ct. Nos. 2011-5124 and 2012-5044, appeals from the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. Location: Courtroom 402.

5:00 PM. Deadline to register to present comments at the President's National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC) August 16 meeting. The agenda includes discussions of (1) the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network (NPSBN), (2) the DHS's National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC), and (3) the proposal to develop a separate out of band data network supporting communications among carriers, ISPs, vendors, and additional critical infrastructure owners and operators during a severe cyber incident that renders the internet unusable. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 146, Monday, July 30, 2012, at Pages 44641-44642.

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) regarding its draft NIST IR-7823 [67 pages in PDF] titled "Advanced Metering Infrastructure Smart Meter Upgradeability Test Framework".

The Senate will meet at 11:00 AM in pro forma session.

Deadline to submit written comments to the President's National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC) in advance of its August 16 meeting. The agenda includes discussions of (1) the Nationwide Public Safety Broadband Network (NPSBN), (2) the DHS's National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC), and (3) the proposal to develop a separate out of band data network supporting communications among carriers, ISPs, vendors, and additional critical infrastructure owners and operators during a severe cyber incident that renders the internet unusable. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 146, Monday, July 30, 2012, at Pages 44641-44642.

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) regarding its draft SP 800-76-2 [57 pages in PDF] titled "Biometric Data Specification for Personal Identity Verification".

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) regarding its draft FIPS-201 -2 [89 pages in PDF] titled "Personal Identity Verification (PIV) of Federal Employees and Contractors".

The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Young Lawyers Committee will host an event titled "3rd Annual End of Summer Rooftop BBQ". The price to attend is $15. Registrations and cancellations are due by 4:00 PM. on August 8. See, notice. For more information contact Justin Faulb at faulbjl at gmail dot com, Delara Derakhshani at delara dot derakhshani at gmail dot com, or Brendan Carr at BrendanTCarr at gmail dot com. Location: undisclosed.

5:00 PM. Deadline to submit initial comments to the Copyright Office (CO) in response to its notice in the Federal Register (FR) regarding its proposed rules that implement the provision of the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act of 2010 (STELA) that allows copyright owners to audit certain Statements of Account filed with the CO. See, FR, Vol. 77, No. 115, Thursday, June 14, 2012, at Pages 35643-35652. See also, story titled "Copyright Office Issues Proposed STELA Rules Regarding Auditing Statements of Account" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,398, June 18, 2012.

8/2. President Obama nominated Pamela Chen to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. See, White House news office release and release. She is a long time Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

8/1. Joe Matel's last day as Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) counsel to Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) was August 1, 2012. He will join the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's (USPTO) Office of the Solicitor. Matel worked on HR 1249 [LOC | WW], the "Leahy-Smith America Invents Act", which was signed into law in September of 2011.

8/2. Oracle announced in a release that Oracle and SAP "today stipulated to SAP paying Oracle a damage award of $306 million in the copyright infringement suit filed by Oracle after it discovered massive downloading and copying of its intellectual property by the German software maker." It added that "Oracle's unanimous 2010 jury verdict awarding it $1.3 billion can now be immediately taken to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals." See also, story titled "Jury Awards Oracle $1.3 Billion" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,164, November 24, 2010. This case is Oracle Corporation, et al. v. SAP AG, et al., U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco Division, D.C. No. 3:07-cv-01658.

7/30. The National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) released its draft SP 800-147 B [31 pages in PDF] titled "BIOS Protection Guidelines for Servers". The deadline to submit comments is September 14, 2012.

7/25. The National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) released its draft SP 800-94 Rev. 1 [111 pages in PDF] titled "Guide to Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems (IDPS)". The deadline to submit comments is August 31, 2012.

7/25. The National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) released its draft SP 800-83 Rev. 1 [45 pages in PDF] titled "Guide to Malware Incident Prevention and Handling for Desktops and Laptops". The deadline to submit comments is August 31, 2012.

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