12/6. The Senate passed HR 6156 [LOC | WW], the "Russia and Moldova Jackson-Vanik Repeal and Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012", a bill to establish permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) with Russia, by a vote of 92-4. See, Roll Call No. 223.

The House passed this bill on November 16, 2012 by a vote of 365-43. See, Roll Call No. 608. President Obama stated in a release on December 6 that "I look forward to receiving and signing this legislation."

President Obama stated that this bill "will ensure that American businesses and workers are able to take full advantage of the WTO rules and market access commitments that the United States worked so hard to negotiate. We are also one step closer to realizing job-creating export opportunities and leveling the playing field for American workers, farmers, ranchers, and service providers. My Administration will continue to work with Congress and our partners to support those seeking a free and democratic future for Russia and promote the rule of law and respect for human rights around the world."

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) stated in the Senate that this bill "is going to cause Russia to have to live up to some international trade and international intellectual property laws. We in this country believe in obeying those laws, and I have to say Russia, India, and China have invaded intellectual property in areas they shouldn't have. Hopefully, this type of agreement, PNTR, will help alleviate that problem."

Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) (at right), Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee (SFC), stated in the Senate that "I see this too as a vote to help propel us to the next level of trade expansion. One is the TPP, Trans-Pacific Partnership, which is being worked on by the United States and other Asian countries. I think it is a dramatic opportunity for growth.  Second, working with Europe, the potential free-trade agreement with Europe".

Robert Holleyman, head of the Business Software Association (BSA), stated in a release that "With passage of this legislation, America can now use the full array of tools available through the World Trade Organization to ensure Russia strengthens intellectual property protections and further opens its market to software and other technology products and services."

Gary Shapiro, head of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), stated in a release that "Without normalized trade relations, U.S. companies have been at a significant disadvantage since Russia joined the World Trade Organization earlier this year. Normalized trade relations with Russia, the ninth largest economy in the world, will open markets to American businesses, allowing them to compete and meet the demands of the growing consumer class of Russia, while helping create more jobs on the home front."

Microsoft's Fred Humphries stated in a release that this bill "ensures that America now will be able to take advantage of the benefits of their joining the WTO, and the enforcement of the rule of law in key areas such as Intellectual Property Rights protection and Services".

Ed Black, head of the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), stated in a release that "CCIA has long advocated the recognition of Internet censorship as both a human rights issue and a trade barrier issue. The USTR reporting requirement on barriers to digital trade in Russia constitutes legislative recognition of the importance of digital trade and the significance of new trade barriers in a digital global economy. It is a good first step toward building in better provisions to discourage Internet censorship as part of our future trade relations. This vote comes amid serious concerns regarding Russian policies on Internet filtering and blacklisting enacted in recent months. Internet censorship will need to be addressed as part of our continued vigilance on Russia's human rights violations."

12/7. The Department of Labor's (DOL) Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released employment data for the U.S. for the month of November 2012.

The BLS stated in a release that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the US in November was 7.7%. This is down from 7.9% in October.

However, while a decline in the unemployment rate usually suggests an improvement, the underlying data shows that the labor market actually worsened. Total employment decreased. But, since the BLS also recorded an even larger decrease in the number of people participating in the labor force, the unemployment rate dropped. Decreases in the labor force participation rate suggests that many people gave up looking for work.

In the tech sectors, the employment situation remained lackluster. However, there was a large increase in employment in November in "Motion picture & sound recording". Also, the "Computer systems design & related services" sector continued its job growth trend.

BLS Table A-1, which is based on household surveys, shows that the seasonally adjusted total labor force shrunk from 155,641,000 to 155,291,000, a decrease of 350,000. The labor force participation rate decreased from 63.8% in October to 63.6% in November. This same table shows that total employment shrank from 143,384,000 to 143,262,000, a decrease of 122,000. Since the BLS moved so many people from being in the labor force, to being outside the labor force, the BLS reported that unemployment declined from 12,258,000 to 12,029,000.

BLS Table B-1, which is based upon business surveys, reveals employment trends in various industry sectors, including information and communications technology (ICT) sectors. The BLS's categories do not facilitate precise analysis of trends in ICT. Nevertheless, the data set out in the table below contains ICT related categories.

The table below contains ICT related excerpts from the BLS table titled "Table B-1. Employees on nonfarm payrolls by industry sector and selected industry detail". This is the seasonally adjusted data.

The BLS category of "Computer Systems Design & Related Services" is one of the bright spots in BLS employment data. There was job growth in this category of 7,100 from October to November, and job growth of 77,900 from November of 2011 to November of 2012, or about 5%.

This BLS category includes about 250 subcategories. The subcategories with the large numbers of workers include "Computer Systems Analysts", "Computer Programmers", "Software Developers, Applications", "Software Developers, Systems Software", "Database Administrators", "Network and Computer Systems Administrators", "Computer Support Specialists", "Information Security Analysts, Web Developers, and Computer Network Architects", "Computer Hardware Engineers", and "Computer and Information Systems Managers". See, May 2011 BLS web page on "Computer Systems Design & Related Services".

Also, employment in the BLS category of "Motion Picture and Sound Recording" grew by 14,600 from October to November, an increase of 4% in just one month.

12/5. Netflix filed a Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on December 5, 2012, that discloses that the SEC is investigating Netflix because its CEO, Reed Hastings, posted short items in Facebook last summer announcing that Netflix had reached one "billion hours per month".

The SEC has a history of devoting substantial resources to bringing high publicity cases against famous and wealthy founders of technology and web based companies, such as Mark Cuban, Henry Samueli, Martha Stewart and Sam and Charles Wyly. These actions arguably have done little if anything to increase the integrity of securities markets, and have wasted taxpayer funded resources.

Meanwhile, the SEC also has a history of failing to detect and stop actual instances of large scale long running securities fraud, as for example, in the case of Bernard Madoff.

The SEC's Netflix investigation fits into the former, rather than the latter, category.

The SEC has not filed a complaint, or issued a public statement, regarding this Netflix matter.

Netflix's Form 8-K states this:

"On December 5, 2012, Netflix, Inc. (“the Company”) and its Chief Executive Officer Reed Hastings each received a “Wells Notice” from the Staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) indicating its intent to recommend to the SEC that it institute a cease and desist proceeding and/or bring a civil injunctive action against Netflix and Mr. Hastings for violations of Regulation Fair Disclosure, Section 13(a) of the Securities Exchange Act and Rules 13a-11 and 13a-15 thereunder.   A copy of a statement that will be made by Mr. Hastings to subscribers on his publicly available Facebook page is attached as Exhibit 99.1."

The SEC's Regulation FD is outdated. It was drafted before online social media developed.

In this exhibit, Hastings states that "We use blogging and social media, including Facebook, to communicate effectively with the public and our members. In June we posted on our blog that our members were enjoying ``nearly a billion hours per month´´ of Netflix, and people wrote about this. We did not also issue a press release or 8-K filing about this."

Then "In early July, I publicly posted on Facebook to the over 200,000 of you who subscribe to me that our members had enjoyed over 1 billion hours in June, highlighting how strong our content was. There was press coverage as there are many reporters and bloggers among you, my public followers. Some of you re-posted my post.  Again, we did not also issue a press release or file an 8-K about this."

Hastings continued that "SEC staff informed us yesterday that they are recommending that the SEC bring a civil action against us for my July 1 billion hour public post, asserting we violated ``Reg FD´´. This rule is designed to ensure that individual investors have equal access to information as large institutional investors, by prohibiting selective disclosure of material information. The SEC staff believes that I gave you all ``material´´ investor information in my post and that we needed to instead release the June viewing fact “publicly” with an 8-K filing or press release."

He argued that "posting to over 200,000 people is very public, especially because many of my subscribers are reporters and bloggers." He also argued that the billion hours statement was not material.

He concluded "We remain optimistic this can be cleared up quickly through the SEC's review process."

12/6. The Rachel Brandenburger of the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Antitrust Division gave a speech [17 pages in PDF] in Brussels, Belgium, titled "International Cooperation: Taking a Broader View".

She discussed (at pages 4 and 10-11) cooperation between the US DOJ and the European Commission (EC) on the DOJ's "challenge to anticompetitive conduct by Apple" and book publishers regarding e-books. She also briefly referenced (at page 5) most favored nation (MFN) clauses (which are at issue in the Apple cases), and the recent DOJ workshop on MFNs.

She also discussed (at pages 5-7) standard essential patents (SEPs). She also touched on (at pages 4-5) the DOJ's LCD price fixing cases.

She said that "the Antitrust Division has made cooperation in competition matters, and particularly in enforcement matters, a priority". She added that "International cooperation in competition cases is becoming more important and widespread, but is in some ways still at a formative stage."

She elaborated that "case cooperation is more common in merger cases than in unilateral conduct cases" and that "enforcement cooperation in cartel cases ... has so far been limited to a somewhat smaller group of agencies than is the case for mergers".

She noted that antitrust agencies "face constraints in case cooperation" such as "legal limitations on their ability to share confidential information and the absence of waivers from parties or third parties to share such information."

But, "many agencies can rely on confidentiality waivers by parties or third parties as a legal basis for exchanging statutorily-protected information. The use of such waivers has become commonplace in merger cases, at least for some agencies, but it is less so in cartel and unilateral conduct cases. Also, not all parties to investigations have supported a cooperative agency approach, and some parties have tried to leverage one agency’s investigation against another’s." (Footnote omitted.)

She asked rhetorically "whether current cooperation frameworks will suffice for future needs". She stated that in addition to the US and the European Competition Network (ECN), there is "a core group of only a dozen or so agencies worldwide that regularly participate in case cooperation". She said that this "suggests that there is potential for generating broader participation in international case cooperation efforts within the current framework."

"In addition, newer or smaller agencies may, because of limited resources, the character of their national economies, or their enforcement books of business, only periodically find it useful to cooperate in cases. However, when those agencies do wish to cooperate, they will want to have access to cooperation mechanisms that accommodate their needs, as well as those of the larger and more established agencies."

12/5. The Washington Examiner published a story on December 5, 2012, titled "GOP Sides with Mickey Mouse on Copyright Reform" in which it stated that Derek Khanna "was fired" from his position on the staff of the House Republican Study Committee, and that the "main reason" was his short polemic titled "Three Myths About Copyright Law and Where to Start to Fix It", dated November 16, 2012.

12/7. Steve Holzen joined Invotex as a Director. He focuses on the valuation of intellectual property (IP) and the determination of economic damages in litigation involving patent infringement, theft of trade secrets, trademark infringement and violations of licensing agreements. See, Invotex release.

12/5. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced in a release that Mark Cahn, its General Counsel, "will leave the agency at the end of the year to return to the private sector". Before joining the SEC in 2009 he worked in the law firm of Wilmer Hale.

12/4. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced in a release that Meredith Cross, Director of the SEC's Division of Corporate Finance, "will leave the SEC at the end of the year to return to the private sector". Before joining the SEC in 2009 she worked in the law firm of Wilmer Hale.

12/7. The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) published a notice in the Federal Register (FR) that announces, describes, recites, and requests comments on, its "interim final" changes to the health information technology rules published on September 4, 2012. See, FR, Vol. 77, No. 236, December 7, 2012, at Pages 72985-72991. See also, notice in the FR, Vol. 77, No. 171, September 4, 2012, at Pages 54163-54292. The deadline to submit comments is January 7, 2013.

12/6. The National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) released its draft NIST IR-7298 Rev. 2 [222 pages in PDF] titled "Glossary of Key Information Security Terms". The deadline to submit comments is January 15, 2013.

12/6. The U.S. Court of Appeals (5thCir) issued its opinion [23 pages in PDF] in Abraham v. Alpha Chi Omega, affirming the judgment of the U.S. District Court (NDTex). This case involves application of the doctrine of laches to the issue of trademark infringement. This case is Thomas Kenneth Abraham v. Alpha Chi Omega, et al., U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, App. Ct. No. 12-10525, an appeal from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. Judge Garza wrote the opinion of the Court of Appeals, in which Judges Jones and Prado joined.

12/5. The U.S. Court of Appeals (9thCir) issued an amended opinion [22 pages in PDF] in Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation v. Obama, a case involving electronic surveillance under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and the state secrets privilege. This case is Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, Inc., et al.  v. Barack Obama, et al., U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, App. Ct. Nos. 11-15468 and 11-15535, appeals from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Judge Margaret McKeown wrote the opinion of the Court of Appeals, in which Judges Harry Pregerson and Michael Hawkins joined.

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Rep. Cantor's schedule for the week states that "no votes are expected" in the House.

The Senate will meet at 2:00 PM. It will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to S 3637 [LOC | WW], an untitled bill to temporarily extend the transaction account guarantee program.

9:00 AM - 5:30 PM. The Department of Justice's (DOJ) Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will hold a workshop titled "Patent Assertion Entity Activities". See, notice and agenda. Location: FTC, Satellite Building and Conference Center, 601 New Jersey Ave., NW.

10:00 AM - 12:30 PM. The Center for American Progress (CAP) will host a panel discussion titled "Investing in the Future: Higher Education, Innovation, and American Competitiveness". The speakers will include Susan Molinari (Google). See, notice. Location: CAP, 10th floor, 1333 H St., NW.

1:00 - 4:00 PM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Technological Advisory Council will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 227, November 26, 2012, at Pages 70434-70435. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room, 445 12th St., SW.

2:00 - 3:00 PM. The Heritage Foundation (HF) will host a panel discussion titled "Assessing the South Korean and Japanese Elections". The speakers will be Michael Green (Georgetown University) Gordon Flake (Mansfield Foundation), Bruce Klingner (HF), and Walter Lohman (HF). See, notice. Location: HF, 214 Massachusetts Ave., NE

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [57 pages in PDF] regarding cable TV technical rules. The FCC adopted and released this item on August 3, 2012. It is FCC 12-86 in MB Docket No. 12-217. See, notice in the Federal Register Vol. 77, No. 195, October 9, 2012, at Pages 61351-61375. See also, TLJ story titled "FCC Adopts NPRM Regarding Cable TV Technical Rules" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,421, August 5, 2012.

The House will meet at 12:00 NOON for morning hour, and at 2:00 PM for legislative business. The House is scheduled to consider the motion to go to conference on HR 4310 [LOC | WW, the "National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013". Votes will be postponed until 6:30 PM. See, Rep. Cantor's schedule for the week.

9:00 - 10:30 PM. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host a panel discussion titled "Why America Needs a National Network for Manufacturing Innovation". The speakers will be Robert Atkinson (ITIF), Dennis Dotson (Dotson Iron Castings), David Hart (George Mason University), and Celia Merzbacher ( Semiconductor Research Corporation). See, notice. Location: Room 200, Capitol Visitor Center.

10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship will meet. No webcast. This event is open to the public only via teleconference. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 234, December 5, 2012, at Page 72322. Location: DOC, Room __, 1401 Constitution Ave., NW.

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a webcast and teleconferenced panel discussion titled "Nuts and Bolts of International Cartel Enforcement". The speakers will be Kevin Goldstein (Weil Gotshal), Jennifer Chippendale (Sheppard Mullin), Patrick Harrison (Sidley Austin), and Michelle Rindone (DOJ Antitrust Division). Free. No CLE credits. See, notice.

1:00 - 2:30 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a webcast and teleconferenced panel discussion titled "Insuring for Data Security Threats: Everything a Business Lawyer Wants to Know But Is Afraid To Ask". The speakers will be John Black (Boundas Skarzynski Walsh & Black), Erich Bublitz (Admiral Insurance Company), Janice Hugener, Winston Krone (Kivu Consulting), and Edward Morse (Creighton University School of Law). Prices vary. CLE credits. See, notice.

1:30 - 3:00 PM. TIME. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a webcast and teleconferenced panel discussion titled "America Invents Act: Practical Considerations for Practitioners and Inventors". The speakers will be Jonathan Sick (McAndrews Held & Malloy), Robert Titus (Eli Lilly and Company), Alysa Youngson (MH2 Technology Law Group), Nathan Prepelka (The Webb Law Firm). Prices vary. CLE credits. See, notice.

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

3:00 - 4:30 PM. The Copyright Office (CO) will host a panel discussion titled "The Authors Guild on the Occasion of Its 100th Anniversary: History and Future of the Professional Author". The speakers will be Scott Turow (President of the Authors Guild), John Cole (Library of Congress), Robert Massie (former President of the Authors Guild), and Peter Smith (Codex Group). See, notice. Location: Coolidge Auditorium, Jefferson Building, 101 Independence Ave., SE.

5:00 PM. The House Intelligence Committee (HIC) will hold a closed hearing. See, notice. Location: Room HVC-304, Capitol Visitor Center.

6:00 - 9:15 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a program titled "IP Year in Review Series 2012: Part 2: The New Patent Law and More". The speakers will be Andrew Sommer (Winston & Strawn) and Bradley Wright (Banner & Witcoff). 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.

Deadline for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR) to submit its annual report to the Congress on the People's Republic of China's (PRC) compliance with its World Trade Organization (WTO) obligations. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 161, August 20, 2012, at Pages 50206-50207. See also, story titled "OUSTR to Receive Comments and Hold Hearing on PRC Compliance with WTO Obligations" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,431, August 17, 2012.

Deadline to submit to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) replies to 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.

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

TIME? The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Communications and Technology will hold a hearing titled "Keeping the New Broadband Spectrum Law on Track". The witnesses will be the five FCC Commissioners. See, notice. Location: __.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold a hearing on judicial nominations. The SJC will webcast this event. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

10:30 AM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will hold an event titled "open meeting". There are five items on the agenda: (1) NPRM on small cell use in the 3550-3650 MHz band, (2) R&O and FNPRM on expanding the 911 regime to text messaging and other technologies, (3) R&O on expanding the FCC's universal service tax and subsidy regime for health care providers, (4) R&O and Order of Proposed Modification regarding service rules for several bands, and (5) NPRM regarding service rules for the AWS H block. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room, Room TW-C305, 445 12th St., NW.

1:00 - 2:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Homeland Security and Emergency Communications and International Telecommunications Committees will host a brown bag lunch titled "Canadian-US Collaboration and Coordination Across the Border". The speakers will Emilie Brown (Public Safety Canada), Brian Marenco (FCC Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau), Cyndie Walters (U.S. Customs and Border Protection), and Rick Joyce (Venable). No CLE credits. Location: Embassy of Canada, 501 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Wireless Telecommunications Bureau's (WTB) and Office of Engineering and Technology's (OET) Public Notice (PN) [8 pages in PDF] regarding refreshing the record in its wireless microphones proceedings. See, January 2010 R&O and FNPRM [103 pages in PDF] (FCC 10-16). The FCC released this PN on October 5, 2012. It is DA 12-1570 in WT Docket Nos. 08-166 and 08-167 and ET Docket No. 10-24. See also, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 204, October 22, 2012, at Pages 64446-64450. See also, 2008 NPRM and Order (FCC 08-188) and story titled "FCC Releases NPRM on Wireless Microphones Operating in 700 MHz Band" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,817, August 21, 2008. See also, story titled "FCC Seeks More Comments on Wireless Microphones" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,466, October 23, 2012.

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

Day one of a two day event hosted by the Practicing Law Institute (PLI) and the Federal Communication Bar Association (FCBA) titled "30th Annual Institute on Telecommunications Policy & Regulation". The price to attend ranges from free to $1,595. See, registration form. Location: Washington Hilton, 1919 Connecticut Ave., NW.

9:00 - 10:30 AM. The US Telecom and National Emergency Number Association (NENA) will host an on site and webcast event titled "USTelecom Breakfast Briefing on Next Generation 9-1-1". The speakers will be Brian Fontes, Trey Forgety, Roger Hixson and Ty Wooten (all of NENA), and Bob Gojanovich (TCS). Registration is required. See, notice and registration page. Location: USTelecom, Suite 400, 607 14th St., NW.

9:00 - 10:30 PM. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host a panel discussion titled "China's Indigenous Innovation Policy and the Semiconductor Industry". The speakers will be Robert Atkinson (ITIF), Dieter Ernst (East West Center), Brian Toohey ( Semiconductor Industry Association), and Alan Wolff (McKenna Long & Aldridge). See, notice. Location: ITIF/ITIC, Suite 610A, 1101 K St., NW.

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

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold an executive business meeting. The agenda again includes consideration of S 1223 [LOC | WW], the "Location Privacy Protection Act of 2011", sponsored by Sen. Al Franken (D-MN). See, notice. See also, story titled "Senate Judiciary Committee Holds Over Geolocation Data Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,485, December 7, 2012. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) North American Numbering Council will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 223, Monday, November 19, 2012, at Page 69453. The FCC has also stated that this event will be at 9:30 AM. Location: FCC, Room 5-C162, 445 12th St., SW.

10:00 AM. The House Intelligence Committee (HIC) will hold a closed business meeting. The agenda includes "Investigative Report on the U.S. National Security Issues Posed by Chinese Telecommunications Companies Huawei and ZTE".See, HIC notice. See also, story titled "House Intelligence Committee Report Finds Huawei and ZTE Could Undermine US National Security" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,461, October 15, 2012. Location: Room HVC-304, Capitol Visitor Center.

10:30 AM. The House Intelligence Committee (HIC) will hold a closed hearing. See, notice. Location: Room HVC-304, Capitol Visitor Center.

12:00 NOON - 2:00 PM. The DC Bar Association will host an event titled "Obviousness Since KSR: Views From the Bench and the Bar Regarding Recent Developments in the Law". See, 2007 opinion of the Supreme Court, and story titled "Supreme Court Rules on Patent Obviousness in KSR v. Teleflex" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,576, May 7, 2007. The speakers will be former Judge Paul Michel, Theodore Essex (Administrative Law Judge, U.S. International Trade Commission), Roderick McKelvie (Covington & Burling), Jonas Anderson (American University law school), and Jeffrey Fougere (Sterne Kessler). The price to attend ranges from $25 to $35. No CLE credits. See, notice. For more information, call 202-626-3463. The DC Bar has a history of barring reporters from its events. Location: Sterne Kessler, 9th floor, 1100 New York Ave., NW.

12:30 - 1:45 PM. The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) will host an event titled "China, Japan, South Korea Trilateral Cooperation: Implications for Northeast Asian Politics and Order". See, notice. Location: CSIS, B1 C conference room, 1800 K St., NW.

2:30 PM. The Senate Intelligence Committee (SIC) will hold a closed business meeting with an undisclosed agenda. See, notice. Location: Room 219, Hart Building.

LOCATION CHANGE. 3:00 PM. The Tech Freedom (TF) and Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) will host a panel discussion titled "CopyRIGHT: Can Free Marketeers Agree On Copyright Reform?". The speakers will be Berin Szoka (TF), Jerry Brito (Mercatus Center at George Mason University), Larry Downes, Geoffrey Manne (Lewis & Clark Law School), and Adam Mossoff (George Mason University School of Law), and Ryan Radia (CEI). Location: Room HC-8, Capitol Building Room 1310, Longworth Building.

6:00 - 8:00 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) will host an event titled "Annual Chairman's Dinner". Prices vary. Location: Washington Hilton, 1919 Connecticut Ave., NW.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB) in response to its Public Notice (PN) regarding Next Generation 911 (NG911) services. This PN is DA 12-1831 in PS Docket Nos. 10-255, 11-153, and 12-333. The FCC released it on November 13, 2012.

Rep. Cantor's schedule for the week states that "no votes are expected" in the House.

Day two of a two day event hosted by the Practicing Law Institute (PLI) and the Federal Communication Bar Association (FCBA) titled "30th Annual Institute on Telecommunications Policy & Regulation". The price to attend ranges from free to $1,595. See, registration form. Location: Washington Hilton, 1919 Connecticut Ave., NW.

9:00 AM - 4:30 PM. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) Bureau of the Census's Federal Economic Statistics Advisory Committee will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 229, November 28, 2012, at Page 70992. Location: Census Bureau Conference Center, 4600 Silver Hill Road, Suitland, MD.

9:30 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir) will hear oral argument in inContact, Inc. v. FCC, App. Ct. No. 12-1133. This is a challenge to a universal service tax assessment. See, FCC brief [37 pages in PDF]. Judges Garland, Griffith and Randolph will preside. This is the second of three items on the Court's agenda. Location: USCA Courtroom, 5th floor, Prettyman Courthouse, 333 Constitution Ave., NW.

10:30 AM - 3:30 PM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Emergency Access Advisory Committee will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 228, November 27, 2012, at
Pages 70777-70778. 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 800-164 [33 pages in PDF] titled "Guidelines on Hardware-Rooted Security in Mobile Devices".

EXTENDED FROM NOVEMBER 30. Extended 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. See also, extension notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 234, December 5, 2012, at Pages 72295-72296.

9:00 - 11:00 AM. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host a panel discussion titled "The 10th Anniversary of the E-Government Act: A Discussion of the Past and Future of E-Government". The speakers will be Alan Balutis (Cisco Systems), Doug Bourgeois (VMware), Dan Chenok (IBM), William Eggers (Deloitte Research), Mark Forman (Government Transaction Services), Tom Davis (Deloitte), Karen Evans, David Mihalchik (Google), and Robert Atkinson (ITIF). See, notice. Location: Room 215, Capitol Visitor Center.

4:00 - 6:00 PM. The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) will host a book talk. Andrew Nathan (Columbia University) and Andrew Scobell (RAND Corporation) will discuss their book titled "China's Search for Security". The other discussants will be David Lampton (Johns Hopkins University), Randy Schriver (Armitage International), and Bonnie Glaser (CSIS). See, notice. Location: CSIS, basement conference room, 1800 K St., NW.

EXTENDED TO JANUARY 14. Deadline to submit reply 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. See also, extension notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 234, December 5, 2012, at Pages 72295-72296.