11/28. President Obama's Office of Managment and Budget (OMB) released a statement on November 28 opposing HR 6429 [LOC | WW | PDF], the "STEM Jobs Act of 2012". It states that "the Administration opposes House passage of H.R. 6429". The OMB statement is inconsistent with President Obama's prior statements.

The House Rules Committee (HRC) adopted a rule for consideration of HR 6429 on Wednesday afternoon, November 28. The full House is likely to approve this rule on Thursday, and the bill on Friday.

This bill, which is supported by many large US technology companies, would create a new visa program that would provide up to 55,000 visas per year to aliens with Ph.D.s, and then Masters degrees, from U.S. universities, in math, science, engineering or technology (STEM) fields.

It would also eliminate a comparably sized lottery visa program which is supported by many House Democrats and President Obama. That program does nothing to increase US economic competitiveness.

President Obama, Mitt Romney, and others have long given speeches advocating STEM visa programs, sometimes employing metaphors such as stapling green cards to diplomas.

The HRC adopted a closed rule that makes in order only a manager's amendment [3 pages in PDF] offered by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee (HJC) and sponsor of the bill.

The HRC did not make in order any amendment that would delete the provision in the bill that would terminate the lottery visa program.

The HRC did not make in order an amendment offered by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) that would substitute the body of her bill, HR 6412 [LOC | WW], the "Attracting the Best and Brightest Act of 2012". See, story titled "Rep. Lofgren Introduces Alternative STEM Visa Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,448, September 14, 2012. Rep. Lofgren proposes a similar STEM visa program. However, she also proposes to keep the lottery visa program.

The HRC did not make in order an amendment offered by Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) that would add a section titled "American Entrepreneurship and Investment Act of 2012" that pertains to EB-5 visas.

The bill is likely to pass with overwhelming support from House Republicans, and some support from House Democrats.

The House rejected a very similar version of this same bill on September 20. That bill received a simple majority, but was considered under suspension of the rules, which requires a two thirds majority for passage. See also, stories titled "House to Vote Again on STEM Visas Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,476, November 27, 2012, and story titled "House Rejects STEM Visas Bill in Suspension Vote" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,452, September 20, 2012.

The OMB statement makes the assertion that, notwithstanding the Obama administration's opposition to this STEM visas bill, "the Administration strongly supports legislation to attract and retain foreign students who graduate with advanced STEM degrees". The OMB statement asserts that President Obama wants "comprehensive immigration reform", which this bill is not.

The Senate has not passed this bill, or a similar STEM visas bill.

The OMB statement does not threaten a veto by President Obama.

11/20. The U.S. District Court (NDCal) issued its order [9 pages in PDF] approving the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) settlement with Google in its action regarding Google's circumvention of the Apple Safari browser's blocking of third party cookies, in violation of a previous consent order.

The FTC imposed a civil fine of $22.5 Million. Google did not admit wrongdoing. The Consumer Watchdog (CW) filed a memorandum opposing District Court approval. The District Court's order addresses, and rejects, the CW objections.

The FTC's David Vladeck stated in a release that "The court's approval of the Commission's record setting $22.5 million fine against Google is a clear victory for consumers and privacy. As this case and many others demonstrate, the Commission will continue to ensure that its orders are obeyed, and that consumers’ privacy is protected."

The CW's John Simpson stated in a release that "the decision makes two things clear: First, if consumers are to have any privacy at all and be able to control what data is gathered about them, tough Do Not Track rules must be implemented. Second, as we told the FTC last week, the Commission needs to file an antitrust suit against Google and take it to trial in U.S. District Court. The FTC should seek to force Google to divest its Motorola Mobility subsidiary, separate search from advertising, and undergo the same sort of regulation as a public utility."

See, stories titled "FTC Sues and Settles With Google for Circumventing Apple Safari Browser's Blocking of Third Party Cookies", "Commentary: Claims that the USA/FTC Did Not Bring Against Google", and "Reaction to the Google Settlement" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,425, August 9, 2012.

11/28. Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) announced House Commerce Committee (HCC) subcommittee chairmen and vice-chairmen for the 113th Congress. See, release.

Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR) will again be Chairman of the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology (SCT). Rep. Bob Latta (R-OH) will be Vice Chairman. Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE) is currently the Vice Chairman.

This subcommittee conducts oversight of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and holds hearings on, and markups of, proposed amendments to the Communications Act.

Rep. Terry (at right) will become the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade. He will replace Rep. Mary Mack (R-CA) who lost in the November general election. Rep. Leonard Lance (R-NJ) will be Vice Chairman.

If there an effort to enact privacy legislation in the 113th Congress, this Subcommittee would conduct hearings and mark up legislation. This Subcommittee will also oversee the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) privacy related actions.

One of the criteria used by both Republican and Democratic party leaders in making House Committee assignments, and especially for the HCC, is the expected effect of such assignments on future election outcomes. Party leaders take some actions that are intended to maximize their number of seats in the House.

Since the HCC has jurisdiction over subjects that affect the financial interests of many sectors of the US economy, an assignment  to the HCC generally increases that member's aggregate receipt of campaign contributions. Thus, an assignment to the HCC is sometimes made, in part, to increase the re-election prospects of a member who does not represent a safe seat.

Rep. Terry narrowly won re-election earlier this month. His appointment as Subcommittee Chairman will likely assure an even larger flow of campaign contributions from those who would be affected by privacy legislation.

Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA) will become Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. He will replace Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) who lost in his Republican primary election. Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX) will be Vice Chairman.

Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), who is currently Vice Chairman of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade, will become Vice Chairman of the full Committee. She will replace Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC), who is retiring.

In addition, Rep. Charlie Bass (R-NH) lost in the general election, Rep. John Sullivan (R-OK) lost in the primary election, and Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-CA) lost in the general election.

Rep. Ed Towns (D-NY) is retiring. Rep. Charles Gonzalez (R-TX) is retiring, Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) was elected to the Senate, and Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR) is retiring.

Three outgoing Republicans -- Rep. Mack, Rep. Bass, and Rep. Bilbray -- and one outgoing Democrat -- Rep. Ed Towns -- hold seats on the SCT. Neither party has announced new assignments to the HCC and its Subcommittees.

11/28. The House Republican Conference selected Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) to be Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee (HJC) in the 113th Congress. See, Rep. Goodlatte's release. In the 112th Congress, Rep. Goodlatte has been one of the HJC most ardent and expert supporters of HR 3261 [LOC | WW], the "Stop Online Piracy Act" or "SOPA". (That bill has not been enacted.). He also supported HR 1981 [LOC | WW], the data retention bill. (That bill has progressed, but with the data retention mandate deleted.)

11/28. The House Republican Conference selected Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI) to be Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee (HWMC) again in the 113th Congress. See, HWMC release.

11/29. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report [15 pages in PDF] titled "Identity Theft: Total Extent of Refund Fraud Using Stolen Identities is Unknown".

11/20. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report [21 pages in PDF] titled "Spectrum Management: FCC's Licensing Approach in the 11, 18, and 23 Gigahertz Bands Currently Supports Spectrum Availability and Efficiency".

11/20. Federal Reserve Board (FRB) Chairman Ben Bernanke gave a speech in New York City titled "The Economic Recovery and Economic Policy". He attempted to explain the "slow pace of economic recovery in the United States" over the last four years, including slow GDP growth and high unemployment. He stated, among other things, that "the commercial application of new technologies" (emphasis added) has been "impeded", and the "pace of productivity gains -- another key determinant of growth in potential output" has been "restrained". He still blames "the financial crisis" for this. He said that "the U.S. economy continues to be hampered by the lingering effects of the financial crisis on its productive potential".

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The House will meet at 10:00 AM for morning hour, and at 12:00 NOON for legislative business. The schedule for the week includes consideration of HR 6429 [LOC | WW | PDF], the "STEM Jobs Act of 2012". See, Rep. Cantor's schedule for the week.

The Senate will meet at 9:30 AM. It will resume consideration of S 3254 [LOC | WW], the "Department of Defense Authorization Act".

8:30 AM - 1:45 PM. The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the MITRE Corporation will host a conference titled "Toward Strategic Outcomes: Envisioning the Future of the Homeland Security Enterprise". There will be panels titled "Maturing the Homeland Security Enterprise", "Enterprise Screening and Credentialing", "Border Security Intelligence and Information Sharing", and "Cyber Threat Information Sharing". See, notice. Location: CSIS, B1 Conference Center, 1800 K St., NW.

8:30 AM - 2:30 PM. Day two of a two day meeting of the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Advisory Committee for Computer and Information Science and Engineering. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 216, November 7, 2012, at Page 66873. Location: NSF, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1235, Arlington, VA.

9:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The New America Foundation (NAF) will host an event titled "Who Should Govern the Internet?". The speakers will be Jonathan Koppell (Arizona State University), Andrew McLaughlin (betaworks), Ellery Biddle (Center for Democracy and Technology), Milton Mueller (Syracuse University School of Information Studies), Sascha Meinrath (NAF), Sunil Abraham (Centre for Internet and Society), Jim Cicconi (AT&T), David Post (Temple University law school), Derrick Cogburn (American University law school), Rebecca MacKinnon (NAF), and Christine Rosen (NAF). See, notice. Location: NAF, Suite 400, 1899 L St., NW.

9:00 - 11:00 AM. There will be a panel discussion titled "Privacy and the Identity Economy". The speakers will be Becky Burr (Neustar), Michelle Dennedy (McAfee/Intel), Ben Isaacson (Experian), Jeremy Grant (NIST), and Andy Land (UnboundID). For more information, contact Jennifer Pett at 512-402-5857 x30 or rsvp at phillipscompany dot com. See, notice. Location: First Amendment Lounge, National Press Club, 13th Floor, 529 14th St., NW.

10:00 AM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Communications and Technology will hold a hearing titled "The Role of Receivers in a Spectrum Scarce World". The witnesses will be Brian Markwalter (Consumer Electronics Association), Ron Repasi (FCC), and Pierre de Vries. See, notice. The start time will be delayed until 10 minutes after the conclusion of the Democratic Caucus meeting. Location: Room 2322, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee (HOGRC) will hold a hearing titled "Identity Theft and Tax Fraud: Growing Problems for the Internal Revenue Service". See, notice. Location: Room 2247, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold an executive business meeting. The agenda includes consideration of HR 2471 [LOC | WW], an untitled bill to amend the "Video Privacy Protection Act" or VPPA. The House passed this bill on December 6, 2011. See, story titled "Senate Judiciary Committee to Take Up Tech Bills and Baer Nomination" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,445, September 11, 2012. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) has an amendment regarding law enforcement access to e-mail under the ECPA. The agenda also includes consideration of the nominations of Katherine Failla (USDC/SDNY), Troy Nunley (USDC/EDCal), Sheri Chappell (USDC/MDFl), Pamela Ki Mai Chen (USDC/EDNY), and Mark Barnett (U.S. Court of International Trade). See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

12:00 NOON - 1:00 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a teleconferenced panel discussion titled "November Antitrust Update for In-House Counsel". The speakers will be Atleen Kaur (Yazaki North America) and Ankur Kapoor, Taline Sahakian and Gordon Schnell (all of Constantine Cannon). Free. No CLE credits. See, notice.

2:00 PM. The House Foreign Affairs Committee (HRAC) will meet to mark up HR 1798 [LOC | WW] the "Judgment Evading Foreign States Accountability Act of 2011". See, notice. Location: Room 2172, Rayburn Building.

2:00 PM. The House Financial Services Committee's (HFSC) Subcommittee on Monetary Policy and Technology will hold a hearing titled "The Future of Money: Dollars and Sense". See, notice. Location: Room 2220, Rayburn Building.

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

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Public Notice (PN) [MS Word] regarding access technology and enhanced database operations for video relay service (VRS). The FCC released this PN on October 15, 2012. It is DA 12-1644 in CG Docket Nos. 03-123 and 10-51. See also, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 209, October 29, 2012, at Pages 65526-65530.

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

TIME CHANGE. 10:30 AM. 10:00 AM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will hold an event titled "open meeting". The only item on the agenda is adoption of a Fifth Order on Reconsideration and Sixth Report and Order regarding approval of pending FM translator radio applications and implementation of the Local Community Radio Act (LCRA). Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room, Room TW-C305, 445 12th St., NW.

12:30 - 1:30 PM. The Heritage Foundation (HF) will host a panel discussion titled "Filibuster Reform or Power Grab: A Discussion of the Senate's Rules". See, notice. Location: HF, 214 Massachusetts Ave., NE.

1:00 - 5:00 PM. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will hold another in a series of meetings regarding consumer data privacy in the context of mobile applications. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 149, Thursday, August 2, 2012, Pages 46067-46068. See also, NTIA web page titled "Privacy Multistakeholder Process: Mobile Application Transparency". Location: American Institute of Architects, 1735 New York Ave., NW.

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) regarding its draft SP 800-88 Rev. 1 [57 pages in PDF] titled "Guidelines to Media Sanitization".

Extended deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [59 pages in PDF] regarding the 4940-4990 MHz (4.9 GHz) public safety band. The FCC adopted and released this FNPRM on June 13, 2012. It is FCC 12-61 in WP Docket No. 07-100, PS Docket No. 06-229, WT Docket No. 06-150. See, original notice in the Federal Register (FR), Vol. 77, No. 148, August 1, 2012, at Pages 45558-45571, and August 3 Public Notice (DA 12-1268). See also, extension notice in the FR, Vol. 77, No. 199, October 15, 2012, at Pages 62480-62481.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [146 pages in PDF] regarding its program access rules. The FCC adopted and released this item on October 5, 2012. It is FCC 12-123 in MB Docket No. 12-68. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 211, October 31, 2012, at Pages 66052-66065, and stories titled "FCC Lets Expire Its Per Se Ban on Exclusive Program Distribution Contracts", "FCC Adopts Report and Order on Program Access Rules", "FCC Adopts NPRM on Case by Case Analysis of Exclusive Contracts", and "Reaction to FCC's Program Access Order" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,460, October 6, 2012.

12:00 NOON - 1:00 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host an on site and teleconferenced panel discussion titled "The FTC Report That K-Dur Ignored". See, July 16, 2012 opinion of the U.S. Court of Appeals (3rdCir) in In Re K-Dur Antitrust Litigation. The speakers will be Shylah Alfonso (Perkins Coie), Kelly Smith (Arnold & Porter), Michael Kades (FTC), and Joanna Tsai (Charles River Associates). Free. No CLE credits. See, notice. Location: Perkins Coie, 700 13th St., NW.

Deadline to submit to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) oppositions to the petitions for reconsideration of its First Report and Order [67 pages in PDF] regarding spectrum for the operation of Medical Body Area Networks (MBAN). This R&O is FCC 12-54 in ET Docket No. 08-59. See, petition and petition. See also, FCC Public Notice, and notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 222, November 16, 2012, at Pages 68721-68722.

12:00 NOON - 1:15 PM. The George Mason University's (GMU) School of Public Policy will host book presentation. Robert Atkinson (Information Technology and Innovation Foundation) will discuss his recently published book [Amazon] titled "Innovation Economics: the Race for Global Advantage". Location: GMU, Room 475, Founders Hall, 3351 Fairfax Drive, Fairfax, VA.

1:00 - 2:30 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a webcast and teleconferenced panel discussion titled "Building or Sabotaging the Enterprise? Squaring Cyber Security with Technologies that Undermine It". The speakers will be James Clark (Oasis), Charles Palmer (IBM Research), Candace Jones (Federal Reserve Bank of New York), and Roland Trope (Trope & Schramm). Prices vary. CLE credits. See, notice.

1:00 - 2:30 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a webcast and teleconferenced panel discussion titled "Videotaping Police, Wiretapping Laws and the First Amendment CLE Teleconference". Prices vary. No CLE credits. See, notice.

2:30 PM. The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) will hold a hearing on numerous pending nominations, including Joshua Wright (to be an FTC Commission) and Mignon Clyburn (reappointment to FCC). See, notice. The SCC will webcast this hearing. Location: Room 253, Russell Building.

6:00 - 8:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) International Committee and Wireless Telecommunications Committee will host an event titled "Holiday Program and Networking Reception". No CLE credits. Prices vary. See, notice. Location: House of Sweden, 2900 K St., NW.

PRESCHEDULED FROM SEPTEMBER 20. 10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The House Science Committee's (HSC) Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight will hold a hearing titled "The Impact of International Technology Transfer on American Research and Development". The HSC will webcast this hearing. Location: Room 2318, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM - 3:00 PM. The Department of Health and Human Services' (DHHS) Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology's (ONCHIT) HIT Policy Committee will meet. Open to the public. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 210, October 30, 2012, at Pages 65691-65692. Location: Dupont Circle Hotel, 1500 New Hampshire Ave., NW.

12:00 NOON - 1:00 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a webcast and teleconferenced panel discussion titled "Perspectives on Canada's New Copyright Laws: Bill C-11". The speakers will be Jerry Cohen (Burns Levinson), David Kent (McMillan), Sarah Kilpatrick (McMillan), Stephen Zolf (Heenan Blaikie), and Johanna Dennis (Southern University Law Center). Prices vary. No CLE credits. See, notice.

TIME?. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council (CSRIC) will meet. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room, Room TW-C305, 445 12th St., SW.

POSTPONED. 6:00 - 8:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Transactional Committee will host an event titled "Verizon/SpectrumCo: Issues and Process -- Anatomy of a Transaction". CLE credits. Prices vary. See, notice.

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) regarding its draft SP 800-90 C [50 pages in PDF] titled "Recommendation for Random Bit Generator (RBG) Constructions".

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) regarding its draft SP 800-90 B [78 pages in PDF] titled "Recommendation for the Entropy Sources Used for Random Bit Generation".

Deadline to submit comments to the Copyright Office (CO) regarding creating a "resale royalty right" for visual artists. See, original notice in the Federal Register (FR), Vol. 77, No. 182, September 19, 2012, at Pages 58175-58179, and extension notice in the FR, Vol. 77, No. 200, October 16, 2012, at Page 63342. See also, story titled "Copyright Office Requests Comments on Creating a Resale Royalty Right for Visual Artists" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,464, October 18, 2012.

9:30 AM - 12:15 PM. The Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal & Economic Public Policy Studies will to host an event titled "Conference to Examine Impact of Election on U.S. Broadband Policy". The speakers will be Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Ajit Pai (FCC Commissioner), Michael McCurry, Rich Galen, Kathy Brown (Verizon), and James Cicconi (AT&T). Location: Phoenix Center, Suite 440, 5335 Wisconsin Ave. NW.

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The National Economists Club will host a lunch. The speaker will be Robert Atkinson (ITIF). Prices vary. See, notice and registration page. Location: ITIF/ITIC, Suite 610A, 1101 K St., NW.

12:00 NOON - 2:00 PM. The Federalist Society will host a lunch and panel discussion titled "Private Attorneys and the War on Terror". The speakers will be Nitsana Leitner (Israel Law Center), Steven Bradbury (Dechert), and Stephen Vladeck (American University law school). See, notice and registration page. Free. No CLE credits. Location: National Press Club, 13th Floor, 529 14th St., NW.

2:00 - 2:30 PM. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will hold a news conference by teleconference to release and discuss the ITIF's report titled "2012 State New Economy Index". The speakers will be Rob Atkinson (ITIF) and Luke Stewart (ITIF). For call in information, contact Alexis Fearon at afearon at itif dot org or 202-524-4390.