9/6. The U.S. District Court (SDNY) released its Opinion and Order [48 pages in PDF] in U.S. v. Apple, approving the settlement agreement between the US and the settling defendants, Hachette, HarperCollins, and Simon & Schuster. This is a defeat for Apple.

This is the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Antitrust Division's Sherman Act case filed in April against Apple and five e-book publishers. The complaint alleges that Apple and five publishers violated of Section 1 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1, by conspiring to increase the prices that consumers pay for e-books. Three publishers settled with the DOJ in April, while Apple and two other publishers continue to contest the action.

See, April 11 complaint [36 pages in PDF] and proposed final judgment (PFJ). See also, stories titled "DOJ Sues Apple and Book Publishers Alleging E-Book Price Collusion" and "Analysis of DOJ's Sherman Act Claim Against Apple and E-Book Publishers", and related stories in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,368, April 11, 2012.

Under the Tunney Act, 15 U.S.C. § 16, these settlements must be published, open for public comment, and then approved by the District Court. Apple opposed the settlement, both in the District Court, and in the court of public opinion.

Apple is not a party to the settlement. However, the PFJ requires the settling publishers to terminate certain contracts with Apple.

Also, this Tunney Act settlement approval gave the non-settling defendants a first opportunity to argue the merits of the underlying case. The District Court not only approved the PFJ. Its analysis rejects some of the arguments advanced by Apple in opposition to the underlying antitrust claim against it..

See, Apple's comment [9 pages in PDF] and August 15 opposition to motion for entry of judgment. See also, story titled "Update on DOJ v. Apple eBooks Case" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,437, August 25, 2012.

The Tunney Act requires that the District Court determine whether the PFJ is "in the public interest", which includes consideration of the "competitive impact of such judgment". The Tunney Act does not require the District Court to hold an evidentiary hearing. Rather, the District Court makes its ruling based upon the complaint and the PFJ.

The District Court wrote that "the Complaint alleges that the defendants conspired to raise, fix, and stabilize the retail price for newly-released and bestselling trade e-books, to end retail price competition among trade e-books retailers, and to limit retail price competition among the Publisher Defendants in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act."

It continued that entry of the PFJ "is appropriate" because it "secures a remedy that is closely related to the violations alleged in the Complaint. Whereas the Complaint alleges unlawful communications and industry collusion that gave rise to a series of agreements designed to ensure defendants’ use of agency pricing for e-books, the proposed Final Judgment disallows such communications and unravels both the Agency Agreements and agreements with other e-book retailers implementing the broader shift to agency pricing."

"By effectively disallowing the Settling Defendants from using the agency model for at least two years, subject to limited exceptions, and from using" price based most favored nation (MFN) clauses "for at least five, the proposed Final Judgment appears reasonably calculated to restore retail price competition to the market for trade e-books, to return prices to their competitive level, and to benefit e-books consumers and the public generally, at least as to the competitive harms alleged in the Complaint." (Footnote omitted.)

"The two year limitation on retail price restraints and the five year limitation on Price MFNs appear wholly appropriate given the Settling Defendants’ alleged abuse of such provisions in the Agency Agreements, the Government’s recognition that such terms are not intrinsically unlawful, and the nascent state of competition in the e-books industry. The Government reasonably describes these time-limited provisions as providing a “coolingoff period” for the e-books industry that will allow it to return to a competitive state free from the impact of defendants’ collusive behavior. The time limits on these provisions suggest that they will not unduly dictate the ultimate contours of competition within the e-books industry as it develops over time."

The Court also noted that "The Government and critics of the settlement dispute whether the decree effectively disallows agency pricing and therefore dictates a particular business model. The Court states no opinion on this issue as it is largely semantic and irrelevant to the disposition of this matter. The terms of the decree speak for themselves: they disallow restrictions on retail discounting for two years subject to certain limited exceptions."

The Court also wrote that while the DOJ "did not submit any economic studies to support its allegations, such studies are unnecessary."

The District Court concluded that "The Complaint alleges a straightforward, horizontal price-fixing conspiracy, which is per se unlawful under the Sherman Act. ... The Complaint also details the defendants’ public statements, conversations, and meetings as evidence of the existence of the conspiracy. The decree is directed narrowly towards undoing the price-fixing conspiracy, ensuring that price-fixing does not immediately reemerge, and ensuring compliance. Based on the factual allegations in the Complaint and CIS, it is reasonable to conclude that these remedies will result in a return to the pre-conspiracy status quo. In this straightforward price-fixing case, no further showing is required."

This case is U.S. v. Apple, et al., U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, D.C. 1:12-cv-02826-DLC, Judge Denise Cote presiding.

9/6. Amazon, maker of Kindle e-book readers, and Kindle Fire multipurpose reader/tablet devices, announced new product offerings and prices. See, release and release.

Amazon is now offering a version of its Kindle Fire for $159, down from $199. The Fire had previously been priced at 40% of the price of Apple's cheapest iPad, which sells for $499.

Amazon also announced a new line of dedicated reader devices.

Also, it might be noted that while Apple enthusiasts and best selling authors may assert that the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Antitrust Division is unduly harassing Apple and its business model with antitrust litigation, Amazon enthusiasts also have cause for asserting that the DOJ's Civil Rights Division (CRD) is unduly harassing Amazon and other makers of e-book readers with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) based enforcement actions.

See, for example, DOJ August 29, 2012, release announcing its settlement with the Sacramento Public Library Authority regarding its use of Barnes & Noble's Nook e-book readers.

See also, story titled "DOJ CRD Regulates eBook Reader Designs" and related stories in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,080, April 26, 2010.

While CRD personnel rhetorically assert authority under Title III (regarding public accommodations) of the ADA to regulate e-book reader makers, such assertions are weak. Moreover, these companies would have the resources to contest a DOJ action. Hence, the CRD has not sued Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or other makers of e-book readers. Rather, the DOJ pursues third parties against whom it can often rely upon Title II (regarding state and local governments) of the ADA.

9/5. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Ajit Pai traveled to Kansas City, Missouri, to examine examine "Google’s investment in high-speed IP infrastructure in Kansas City, better known as Google Fiber".

He also released a statement in which he argued that "It is critically important that states and local communities adopt broadband-friendly policies when it comes to rights-of-way management. When broadband service providers seek to construct next-generation networks, they need to access government-controlled land, poles, and conduits in order to lay fiber and install other infrastructure. Currently, too many providers who try to obtain such access are confronted with daunting sets of federal, state, and/or municipal regulations that often delay and sometimes deter infrastructure investment and broadband deployment."

Paid said that in Kansas City "local governments made a significant upfront commitment to expedite and simplify the permitting process. Indeed, this was one of the main reasons that Google selected Kansas City."

He concluded that "to enable the nationwide deployment of next-generation networks like Google Fiber, we need to eliminate regulatory barriers to innovation and investment at all levels of government." Moreover, the FCC "should work with stakeholders to develop model regulations, guidelines, or best practices for rights-of-way management that facilitate fiber deployment while safeguarding legitimate government interests."

9/6. The U.S. District Court (DC) sentenced Joshua Schichtel to serve 30 months in prison for violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1030 in connection with his sale of access to botnets.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) stated in a release that "Individuals who wanted to infect computers with various different types of malicious software (malware) would contact Schichtel and pay him to install, or have installed, malware on the computers that comprised those botnets.  Specifically, Schichtel pleaded guilty to causing software to be installed on approximately 72,000 computers on behalf of a customer who paid him $1,500 for use of the botnet." (Parentheses in original.)

Botnet is a slang term of recent origin derived from the words robot network. It is used to describe a collection of software robots that reside on a collection of compromised computers, almost always without the authority or knowledge of the owners or operators, that are controlled remotely for various nefarious purposes. The compromised computers are often referred to as zombies.

The purposes for forming botnets include sending spam, running denial of service attacks, committing click fraud, and infecting computers with spyware. Botnet based spam can be used for less harmful purposes, such as marketing, or for more harmful purposes, such as pump and dump securities fraud, theft of personal and financial information to commit further crimes, and various consumer fraud schemes. Also, Botnet operators sometimes lease spamming capacity to others.

8/31. The U.S. District Court (EDVa) sentenced Otasowie Christopher Asuen to serve 33 months in prison. On June 6, 2012, he pled guilty to money laundering and conspiring to travel and use interstate facilities in aid of a racketeering enterprise. Although, the underlying activity was running a online prostitution business.

The Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia stated in a release that Asuen "owned an online prostitution business -- first named Prime DC and later DMV INDYS -- that used Craigslist and Backpage to recruit prostitutes from throughout the United States to work in the Washington, D.C., area. He paid the travel and hotel costs and received 40 percent of the women’s hourly rate; the women would keep 60 percent. Once the prostitute arrived at the pre-arranged hotel, he or an associate would take their photograph and post it -- along with details about the prostitutes, the services they would perform, and their rate -- on the business’s website to solicit clients."

In a related online prostitution case, on May 16, Kuraye Tamunoibi Akuiyibo pled guilty to the same charges, plus violent crime in aid of racketeering. On August 2 the District Court sentenced him to serve 51 months in prison. See, USAO's August 2 release.

8/1. The Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California issued a release regarding the forfeiture of property. At issue is a total of about $24 Million in bank funds and gold, silver and platinum seized by the governments of the US and Australia. This all pertains to the former e-Bullion internet based business once run by James Fayed.

In short, the U.S. District Court (CDCal) and a court in Australia issued forfeiture judgments awarding the seized assets to the two government.

The whole matter has been overshadowed by the July 2008 murder of Pamela Fayed, wife and business associate of James Fayed, by hired killers. James Fayed is now incarcerated, and waiting execution of a death sentence, following his May 2011 conviction in California state court of the first degree murder.

The US federal government, and the government of Australia, have long been involved, in part, because they have viewed e-Bullion as an illegal internet based money transmitting business. See, 18 U.S.C. § 1960, regarding "Prohibition of unlicensed money transmitting business".

The USAO release does not allege fraud by e-Bullion or James Fayed. However, it alleges that people who engage in fraud used e-Bullion to secretly move funds out of the US. e-Bullion held itself out as a digital gold currency service. The USAO stated in its release that through the e-Bullion web site, "individuals opened accounts with real money, which they used to purchase virtual “e-currency” purportedly backed by precious metal reserves maintained by Fayed's companies in the United States and Australia. e-Bullion accountholders could then trade their e-currency with others on the website."

However, "In practice, e-Bullion allowed individuals engaging in fraud to obtain money from victims and move the money around the world while remaining virtually anonymous and avoiding many global banking reporting requirements." For example, an FBI and IRS investigation "revealed that operators of fraudulent “High-Yield Investment Programs” and other illegal investment schemes used e-Bullion to collect millions of dollars of e-currency from victims, much of which was wire transferred" overseas.

9/4. Hyung Lim pled guilty in the U.S. District Court (SDNY) to conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud. The Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York stated in a release that both counts relate to insider trading. With respect to the securities fraud count, Lim "obtained inside information from an employee of NVIDIA Corporation ... and passed that information to an analyst at a wealth management company who then traded in NVIDIA stock." With respect to the wire fraud count, Lim passed "inside information that he obtained while working at Alterra Corporation".

8/30. The Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois charged David Tresch, a former Chief Information Officer of the law firm of Mayer Brown, with one count of mail fraud in connection with his alleged defrauding of the firm. The USAO stated in a release he defrauded "the firm of at least $850,000 over the last year as a result of an allegedly fraudulent billing scheme with a vendor company". The USAO alleged that he "approved payments to a vendor for work that had not been performed, and in turn, pocketed hundreds of thousands of dollars from that vendor". The USAO added that "The firm reported his alleged criminal activity to federal authorities and cooperated in the ensuing investigation." See also, complaint filed with the U.S. District Court (NDIll).

8/29. The U.S. District Court (DC) sentenced Thomas A. Bowdoin, Jr., aka Andy Bowdoin, to serve 78 months in prison in connection with his having run a fraudulent internet based advertising scheme. He pled guilty to wire fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1343) in May. The Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia stated in a release that he "ran a Ponzi scheme disguised as an online advertising company. AdSurf Daily, Inc., or ASD, drew in large numbers of investors by promising huge returns on their investments. Thousands of victims, many from the Washington, D.C. area, lost money through the scheme." See also, indictment filed on.November 23, 2010, and USAO web page with hyperlinks to other documents.

8/29. Jeramiah B. Perkins pled guilty in the U.S. District Court (EDVa) to one count of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement. See, 18 U.S.C. § 371 and 17 U.S.C. § 506 and 18 U.S.C. § 2319. The Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia stated in a release that he was one of the leaders of the "IMAGiNE Group, an organized online piracy group seeking to become the premier group to first release Internet copies of new movies only showing in theaters." The USAO continued that "Perkins and his co-conspirators sought to illegally obtain and disseminate digital copies of copyrighted motion pictures showing in theaters. Perkins admitted he took the lead in renting computer servers in France and elsewhere for use by the IMAGiNE Group. He also admitted he registered domain names for use by the IMAGiNE Group, and opened e-mail and PayPal accounts to receive donations and payments from persons downloading or buying IMAGiNE Group releases of pirated copies of motion pictures and other copyrighted works. Perkins directed and participated in using receivers and recording devices in movie theaters to secretly capture the audio sound tracks of copyrighted movies and then synchronized the audio files with illegally recorded video files to create completed movie files suitable for sharing over the Internet among members of the IMAGiNE Group and others." See also, 18 U.S.C. § 2319B and story titled "Camcorder Infringement in Movie Theaters" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,052, March 1, 2010.

8/23. Dennis Newsome pled guilty in the U.S. District Court (EDVa) to violations of federal law in connection with his copying and selling copyrighted computer software and computer-based training materials. The Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia stated in a release that he "owned and operated an online business, known as PCTech101, which sold computer software, education, and training materials to customers via the Internet and by means of websites". The USAO added that "Newsome illegally sold copies of valuable, copyrighted works from his websites at a fraction of the true cost of the genuine copyrighted works. For example, Newsome sold illegal copies of several copyrighted computer security training products made and sold by the SANS Institute for $24.99, when the SANS Institute sold such products at prices ranging from $750 to $4,295."

8/17. The U.S. District Court (DC) sentenced John M. Harris to serve six months in prison. He pled guilty to criminal copyright infringement in May in connection with his reproducing motion pictures onto DVDs without the permission and then distributing them to vendors in the District of Columbia. Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia stated in a release that Harris "admitted selling the DVDs he created to vendors at the Florida Avenue/D.C. Farmer’s Market, in the 500 block of Neal Place NW. In an interview with law enforcement, Harris acknowledged burning between 600 and1,000 movies a weekend and delivering them to the Farmer’s Market. According to Harris, he charged 60 cents per DVD for the pirated movies."

8/16. The U.S. District Court (DC) sentenced Brenda L. Jones, a former employee of XM Satellite Radio (now Sirius XM Radio), to serve 15 months in prison for violation of federal law in connection with her embezzlement of more than $900,000 from her former employer, XM Satellite Radio. The Office of the U.S Attorney for the District of Columbia stated in a release that Jones worked at XM from July 2005 until July 2006 "as an administrator in the Accounts Payable Department, a branch of the controller’s office. Jones’s duties included responsibility for payments to commercial vendors. From 2005 until at least 2008, Jones and a coordinator in the Accounts Payable Department, Valencia Person, embezzled nearly $909,000 from the company. They secretly diverted at least 26 payments, which were supposed to go to XM vendors, to bank accounts held by Jones. They covered up the activities by altering data in the company’s accounting system. Jones then gave a portion of the monies to Person."

8/9. Quynh Trong Nguyen pled guilty in the U.S. District Court (EDVa) to criminal copyright infringement in connection with his sale of counterfeit and altered computer software, including Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Office, and Autodesk AutoCAD. The Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia stated in a release that he "sold more than $2.3 million in copyright-infringing computer software ... through several Internet websites operated from his home in Annandale, Virginia".

7/31. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) asserted in a release that it has finally deployed Sentinel, its digital information and case management system, to all employees. Deployment of this vastly expensive Sentinel was repeatedly delayed and over budget. See, for example:

• "DOJ Report Discusses FBI's Failures in Creating a Secure Web Accessed File System" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,499, December 5, 2006.
• "GAO Releases Report on FBI IT Deployment Project" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,834, September 29, 2008.
• "DOJ OIG Reports on FBI's IT Adoption Problems" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,016, November 17, 2009.
• "DOJ/OIG Again Reports on FBI's Failure to Implement IT Project" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,146, October 25, 2010.

The House will not meet.

The Senate will not meet.

Day three of three of the Democratic National Convention.

10:00 AM. The President's Export Council's (PEC) Subcommittee on Export Administration will hold a partially closed meeting. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 162, August 21, 2012, at Page 50463. Location: Department of Commerce, Hoover Building, Room 4830, 14th Street between Pennsylvania and Constitution Avenues, NW.

10:00 AM - 3:00 PM. The Department of Health and Human Services' (DHHS) Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology's (NCOHIT) HIT Policy Committee will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 163, August 22, 2012, at Page 50690-50691. Location: Washington Marriott, 1221 22nd St., NW.

1:00 - 2:00 PM. The law firm of Fulbright & Jaworski (FJ) will host a webcast panel discussion titled "FTC Speaks Through Spokeo: When Privacy Meets FCRA: Web and Social Media Data Collection in the Crosshairs". See, June 7, 2012, Complaint, Stipulation, and Consent Decree in USA v. Spokeo, U.S. District Court (CDCal), D.C. No. 2:12-cv-05001-MMM-SH. The speakers will be Jamie Hine (FTC Division of Privacy & Identity Protection), Shauna Clark (FJ), Erika Lee (FJ), Sue Ross (FJ), and Pamela Harbour (FJ). See, registration page.

1:00 - 2:00 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a webcast panel discussion titled "Privacy and Information Security Update". The speakers will be Benita Kahn (Vorys Sater Seymour & Pease), Kelly DeMarchis (Venable), and Julia Kernochan Tama (Venable). No CLE credits. See, notice.

1:30 - 4:30 PM. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will hold a public roundtable regarding its notice of proposed rulemaking and a notice of proposed examination guidelines to implement the first inventor to file provisions of the Leahy Smith America Invents Act. See, notice of proposed rules in the Federal Register (FR) Vol. 77, No. 144, July 26, 2012, at Pages 43742-43759; notice of proposed examination guidelines in the FR, Vol. 77, No. 144, July 26, 2012, at Pages 43759-43773; and, notice of public roundtable in the FR, Vol. 77, No. 159, August 16, 2012, at Pages 49427-49428. See also, story titled "USPTO Announces First Inventor to File NPRM and Roundtable" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,430, August 16, 2012. Location: USPTO, Madison Auditorium, Madison Building, 600 Dulany Street, Alexandria, VA.

Deadline to submit comments to the Copyright Royalty Board regarding the Alliance of Artists and Recording Companies' (AARC) motion for partial distribution in connection with 2011 DART Sound Recordings Fund royalties. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 152, August 7, 2012, at Pages 47120-47121.

The House will not meet.

The Senate will not meet.

The Department of Labor's (DOL) Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is scheduled to release its August 2012 unemployment data.

12:30 PM. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will host an webcast and teleconferenced event titled "USPTO America Invents Act Webinar". The speakers will be USPTO Director David Kappos, Deputy Director Terry Rea, Commissioner for Patents Peggy Focarino, General Counsel Bernie Knight, Chief Judge James Smith, and Lead Judge Michael Tierney. See, notice.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to the Wireline Competition Bureau's WCB) Public Notice [23 pages in PDF] regarding expanding FCC subsidies for rural health care providers to include broadband. The FCC released this item on July 19, 2012. It is DA 12-1166 in WC Docket No. 02-60. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 144, Thursday, July 26, 2012, at Pages 43773-43780.

The House will return from its August recess at 2:00 PM.

The Senate will return from its August recess at 2:00 PM. It may consider the nomination of Stephanie Marie Rose to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court (SDIowa).

9:00 AM - 5:30 PM. The Department of Justice's (DOJ) Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will host a public workshop titled "Most Favored Nation Clauses and Antitrust Enforcement and Policy". See, event web site. See also, story titled "Antitrust Agencies to Host Workshop on MFN Clauses" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,429, August 15, 2012. Location: FTC, Satellite Building and Conference Center, 601 New Jersey Ave., NW.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Inquiry [29 pages in PDF] that requests information to assist it in preparing its next video competition report. This NOI is FCC 12-80 in MB Docket No. 12-203. See, story titled "FCC Releases Video Competition Report" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,411, July 25, 2012. See also, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 153, August 8, 2012, at Pages 47383-47392.

Deadline to submit comments to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in response to its further notice of proposed rulemaking implementing the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). See, FTC notice [43 pages in PDF] and story titled "FTC Releases COPPA Further NPRM" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,418, August 2, 2012.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Further Notice of Proposed Rule Making (FNPRM) [67 pages in PDF] regarding Medical Body Area Network (MBAN) coordinators for the 2360-2390 MHz band. The FCC adopted and released this item on May 24, 2012. It is 12-54 in ET Docket No. 08-59. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 143, Wednesday, July 25, 2012, at Pages 43567-43570.

8:00 AM - 1:30 PM. The Women in Government Relations (WGR) will host an event titled "Trends in Technology Conference". There will be panels titled "The Buzz with Tech Reporters", "Will Congress Pass Cyber Security Legislation?", and "Outlook for the Lame Duck and Prospect in the 113th Congress". See, notice and registration page. Prices vary. Location: Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill, 400 New Jersey Ave., NW.

9:00 AM. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) Bureau of Industry and Security's (BIS) Regulations and Procedures Technical Advisory Committee will hold a partially closed on site and teleconferenced meeting. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 162, August 21, 2012, at Page 50463. Location: DOC, Hoover Building, Room 3884, 14th Street between Constitution and Pennsylvania Avenues, NW.

9:30 AM - 5:00 PM. Day one of a three day meeting of the Department of Transportation's (DOT) Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) RTCA Special Committee 222, Inmarsat Aeronautical Mobile Satellite (Route) Services. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 157, August 14, 2012, at Pages 48584-48585. Location: RTCA, Inc., Suite 910, 1150 18th St., NW.

1:00 - 2:00 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a webcast panel discussion titled "The Limits of the FTC’s Data Security Program: Where is the line, and where should it be?". The speakers will be Thomas Zych (Thompson Hine), Janis Kestenbaum (FTC), Michael Scott (Southwestern Law School), and David Zetoony (Bryan Cave). No CLE credits. See, notice.

2:15 PM. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) will hold an executive business meeting. The agenda includes numerous items, including consideration of SConRes 50, a resolution "Expressing the sense of Congress regarding actions to preserve and advance the multistakeholder governance model under which the Internet has thrived". See, notice. Location: Room S-116, Capitol Building.

6:00 - 9:15 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a panel discussion titled "Trade Secret Fundamentals: What You Can and Can’t Do". The speakers will be Richard Horowitz and Peter Toren (Weisbrod Matteis & Copley). The price to attend 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.

TIME? The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a webcast panel discussion titled "Video Games and Digital Media: A Litigation Update".

TIME? The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) will hold a hearing on the probable economic effect of providing duty free treatment for imports under the U.S.-Trans-Pacific Partnership Free Trade Agreement. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 155, August 10, 2012, at Pages 47880-47882. Location: USITC, 500 E St., SW.

9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. The U.S. China Economic and Security Review Commission will meet to consider drafts of material for its 2012 annual report to Congress. See, original notice in the Federal Register (FR), Vol. 77, No. 143, July 25, 2012, at Pages 43662-43663, and second notice in the FR, Vol. 77, No. 171, September 4, 2012, at Pages 53965-53966. Location: Hall of the States, Conference Room 233, 444 North Capitol St., NW.

9:00 AM - 1:00 PM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council (CSRIC) will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 156, August 13, 2012, at Page 48153. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room, Room TW-C305, 445 12th St., SW.

9:30 AM - 5:00 PM. Day two of a three day meeting of the Department of Transportation's (DOT) Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) RTCA Special Committee 222, Inmarsat Aeronautical Mobile Satellite (Route) Services. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 157, August 14, 2012, at Pages 48584-48585. Location: RTCA, Inc., Suite 910, 1150 18th St., NW.

9:45 AM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade will hold a hearing titled "Where the Jobs Are: There’s an App for That". See, notice. Location: Room 2322, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The House Homeland Security Committee's (HHSC) Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies will hold a hearing titled "The EMP Threat: Examining the Consequences". See, notice. Location: Room 211, Cannon Building.

10:00 AM. The House Judiciary Committee (HJC) will hold a hearing titled "The Obama Administration's Abuse of Power". See, notice. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

10:30 AM - 5:00 PM. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will host an event titled "roadshow" to explain and answer questions about USPTO rules that implement provisions of the Leahy Smith America Invents Act, which take effect on September 16, 2012. See, notice and agenda. Location: USPTO, Alexandria, Virginia.

12:00 NOON. The World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) Tracking Protection Working Group will meet by teleconference. The call in number is 1-617-761-6200. The passcode is TRACK (87225).

2:00 PM. The House Homeland Security Committee's (HHSC) Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Communications will hold a hearing titled "Resilient Communications: Current Challenges and Future Advancements". See, notice. Location: Room 311, Cannon Building.

5:00 PM. Deadline to submit reply 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.

6:00 - 8:00 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) will host an event titled "Seminar on Next Generation 9-1-1". The speakers will be Trey Forgety (NENA), Brian Hurley (FCC), Robert Gojanovich (TeleCommunication Systems), John Kelly (Ottosen Britz), and Tim Stelzig (Deputy Chief of the FCC's WCB's Competition Policy Division). CLE credits. Prices vary. Registrations and cancellations are due by 12:00 NOON on Tuesday, September 11. See, notice. Location: Drinker Biddle & Reath, 1500 K St., NW.

8:30 - 10:30 AM. FairSearch, a group organized around the proposition that "Google is abusing its search monopoly to thwart competition", will host an event titled "Searching for Innovation and Competition in the Online Marketplace". The speakers will be Susan Athey (Harvard University), Robert Birge (KAYAK), Mark Corallo, Albert Foer (American Antitrust Institute), Rodman Forter (Skyhook Wireless), Pamela Harbour (Fulbright & Jaworski), Patrick Lynch, Nathan Newman, Jim O’Connell (Covington & Burlington), and Dan Savage (TradeComet.com). See, notice. Location: Newseum, 555 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. The U.S. China Economic and Security Review Commission will meet to consider drafts of material for its 2012 annual report to Congress. See, original notice in the Federal Register (FR), Vol. 77, No. 143, July 25, 2012, at Pages 43662-43663, and second notice in the FR, Vol. 77, No. 171, September 4, 2012, at Pages 53965-53966. Location: Hall of the States, Conference Room 231, 444 North Capitol St., NW.

9:00 - 11:00 AM. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host a discussion of the book titled "Innovation Economics: The Race for Global Advantage". The speakers will include the authors, Robert Atkinson (ITIF) and Stephen Ezell (ITIF). See, notice. Location: Holeman Lounge, National Press Club, 529 14th St., NW.

9:30 AM - 5:00 PM. Day three of a three day meeting of the Department of Transportation's (DOT) Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) RTCA Special Committee 222, Inmarsat Aeronautical Mobile Satellite (Route) Services. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 157, August 14, 2012, at Pages 48584-48585. Location: RTCA, Inc., Suite 910, 1150 18th St., NW.

10:00 AM. The House Financial Services Committee's (HFSC) Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee (HOGRC) will hold a joint hearing titled "The JOBS ACT: Importance of Prompt Implementation for Entrepreneurs, Capital Formation, and Job Creation". In March of this year the Congress enacted HR 3606 [LOC | WW], the "Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act" or JOBS Act", a bill that reduces securities regulation for small and start up companies. See, stories titled "House Passes Securities Regulation Bill" and "Summary of HR 3606" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,350, March 19, 2012. It is now Public Law No. 112-106. See, notice. Location: Room 2154, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold an executive business meeting. There are no technology related items on the agenda. See, SJC notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

10:15 AM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Communications and Technology will hold a hearing titled "Creating Opportunities through Improved Government Spectrum Efficiency". See, notice. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

12:15 - 1:45 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Privacy and Data Security Committee will hold a brown bag lunch and planning meeting. Location: Kelley Drye & Warren, Suite 400, 3050 K St., NW.

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

5:30 - 9:00 PM. The Public Knowledge (PK) will host a fundraising event titled "9th Annual IP3 Awards". The price to attend is $50. See, registration page. Location: Ronald Regan Building and International Trade Center.

6:00 - 8:00 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) will host an event titled "Meet and greet new FCC Commissioners Reception". Prices vary. See, notice and registration form. Location: Capital Hilton, 1001 16th St., NW.

11:59 PM. Deadline to submit annual license and regulatory fees to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). See, notice.

10:00 AM - 4:00 PM. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will host an event titled "Technology and Trading: Promoting Stability in Today's Markets". See, notice and agenda. Location?

9:30 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir) will hear oral argument in EchoStar Satellite v. FCC, App. Ct. No. 04-1033. This case pertains to FCC rules, adopted in 2003, regarding digital plug and play compatibility. See, story titled "FCC Adopts Digital Plug and Play Cable Compatibility Rules" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 737, September 11, 2003. See also, FCC brief filed on March 30, 2012. Judges Brown, Edwards, and Randolph will preside. Location: Courtroom 11.

10:30 AM - 3:30 PM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Emergency Access Advisory Committee (EAAC) will hold a meeting regarding next generation 911 accessibility by persons with disabilities. See, notice. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room, 445 12th St., SW.

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) regarding its draft SP 800-147 B [31 pages in PDF] titled "BIOS Protection Guidelines for Servers".

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to the National Cable & Telecommunications Association's (NCTA) Petition for Partial Reconsideration [7 pages in PDF] of the FCC's Report and Order implementing the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act, or CALM Act, which is codified at 47 U.S.C. § 621. The FCC adopted and released this R&O on December 13, 2011. It is FCC 11-182 in MB Docket No. 11-93. The NCTA argues, among other things, that the FCC confused promotion of television programming for commercial advertisements. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 161, Monday, August 20, 2012, at Page 50071. See also, story titled "NCTA Petitions FCC for Reconsideration of CALM Act Rules" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,432, August 20, 2012.

Deadline to submit comments to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR) in response to its notice in the Federal Register (FR) requesting comments to assist it in preparing its 2012 Notorious Markets List, which identifies internet and physical notorious markets located outside of the US that make available intellectual property infringing products. See, FR, Vol. 77, No. 157, August 14, 2012, at Pages 48583-48584. See also, story titled "USTR Seeks Comments on Notorious Markets" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,431, August 17, 2012.

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