1/21. President Obama gave a speech in Washington DC on January 21, 2013 in which he stated that "Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity, until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our country."

On November 30, 2012, the House passed HR 6429 [LOC | WW], the "STEM Jobs Act of 2012", by a vote of 245-139. See, story titled "House Passes STEM Visas Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,480, December 1, 2012.

This bill would enable aliens who obtain advanced degrees in STEM fields from US universities to obtain visas, and therefore remain in the US, and contribute to innovation and economic development.

However, two days before the House voted on this bill, President Obama's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a statement announcing that "the Administration opposes House passage of H.R. 6429". See also, story titled "Obama Opposes STEM Visas Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,478, November 29, 2012.

Also, the Democratic controlled Senate did not allow a vote on HR 6429.

Otherwise, it was a political speech, in which the President advocated many of his policy objectives. However, he said very little about technology related policy areas.

1/16. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) gave a speech at Georgetown University law school in which he addressed the agenda for the 113th Congress of the Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC), which he chairs.

"I expect that the Judiciary Committee will devote most of our time this Spring working to pass comprehensive immigration reform." He added that "Next month we will begin this national discussion in the full Senate Judiciary Committee with public hearings."

He said that immigrants "play vital roles ... innovating for our technology companies, or creating businesses of their own". However, he did not mention HR 6429 [LOC | WW], the "STEM Jobs Act of 2012", any other bills that would provide visas to aliens with advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) fields, or STEM visas generally.

He also said that the agenda of the SJC includes gun issues, including "how we manage the exposure of children to violence in popular media".

See, story titled "Guns, Video Games, Apps, and Video Programming" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,509, January 16, 2013.

Sen. Leahy continued that "I am concerned about the growing use of drones by federal and local authorities to spy on Americans here at home. This fast-emerging technology is cheap and could pose a significant threat to the privacy and civil liberties of millions of Americans. It is another example of a fast-changing policy area on which we need to focus to make sure that modern technology is not used to erode Americans' right to privacy, and this will be the subject of hearings this Congress."

He also stated "I will keep pushing to update our privacy laws to address emerging technology and the Internet, including the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and cybersecurity laws."

The SJC passed two ECPA related bills late in the 112th Congress.

First, it approved HR 2471 [LOC | WW | HTML], an untitled bill that, as amended by the SJC, would require a warrant for accessing cloud stored e-mail. See also, story titled "Senate Judiciary Committee Approves Leahy Bill to Require Warrant for Accessing Cloud Stored E-Mail" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,479, November 30, 2012.

Second, it approved S 1223 [LOC | WW], the "Location Privacy Protection Act of 2011". See, story titled "Senate Judiciary Committee Holds Over Geolocation Data Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,485, December 7, 2012, and "Capitol Hill News" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,490, December 14, 2012.

Finally, Sen. Leahy said that "We must also reauthorize the satellite TV license, make books accessible to those with visual disabilities, and create incentives for innovation."

1/15. The Department of Transportation's (DOT) Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) published a notice in the Federal Register (FR) that announces, describes, recites, and sets the comment deadline for, its proposed rule regarding limiting flightcrew members personal use of personal wireless communications devices or laptop computers on aircraft.

However, this proposed rule would merely implement by rule the parallel statutory prohibition enacted in Section 307 of HR 658 [LOC | WW], the "FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012".

The proposed rule provides that "During all flight time as defined in 14 CFR 1.1, no flight crewmember may use, nor may any pilot in command permit the use of, a personal wireless communications device or laptop computer while at a flight crewmember duty station unless the purpose is directly related to operation of the aircraft, or for emergency, safety-related, or employment-related communications, in accordance with air carrier procedures approved by the Administrator."

The deadline to submit comments is March 18, 2013. See, FR, Vol. 78, No. 10 January 15, 2013, at Pages 2912-2916.

1/18. One year ago the House and Senate ceased active consideration of two bills related to combating web sites dedicated on infringing activity. Washington DC based groups that lobbied against the bills celebrated at several gatherings. Some identify January 18 as "Internet Freedom Day". On the other hand, at least one proponent of the bills wrote that there was a silver lining in the defeat.

The House Judiciary Committee (HJC) had begun its mark up of the House bill just before Christmas, 2011. It was poised to complete its mark up at the start of the second session of the 112th Congress. However, opponents of the bills waged a very successful grass roots lobbying campaign, inducing individuals to contact their legislators to express opposition.

House bill, sponsored by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), was HR 3261 [LOC | WW], the "Stop Online Piracy Act". It was also know, especially by its opponents, as "SOPA".

The Senate bill, sponsored by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), was S 968 [LOC | WW], the "Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2011". It is also referred to by its proponents as the "PROTECT IP Act", and by its opponents as the "PIPA".

After Representatives' and Senators' offices received torrents of e-mail messages and phone calls voicing opposition, there were no further hearings or mark ups of either bill. No replacement bills were introduced in the 112th Congress. The affected industry sectors engaged in no meaningful negotiations. The opponents effectively succeeded in blocking further consideration.

Ed Black, head of the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), stated in a release on January 18 that "We are grateful that one year ago today Internet users, along with public interest groups and Internet companies, halted extreme copyright legislation that would have altered and harmed the Internet."

He added that some threats to internet freedom come from "those who want to carve out seemingly well-intended exceptions to Internet freedom in frustrated attempts to fix social ills. We must remain equally vigilant in protecting the Internet from a death by a thousand cuts and direct assault. We must look at all policies impacting the Internet, measure the intended and collateral damage and analyze the costs and benefits carefully."

Berin Szoka, head of the Tech Freedom, stated in a piece on January 18 that "Today we celebrate the Internet's ability to increase freedom and improve the human condition in ways both large and small. We unite in protecting the freedoms that have allowed the Internet to thrive."

Katy Tasker of the Public Knowledge (PK) wrote in a short piece that "With a unified voice, the online community spoke out against legislation that would have crippled the internet in the name of copyright protection." She also asserted that, as a consequence, "Today, copyright reform is a real possibility".

In contrast, on January 14, the Copyright Alliance (CA) published a piece titled "The Silver Lining of the SOPA Debate". The author is the CA's Sandra Aistars.

She wrote that "many who seek to exploit the work of creators without their consent will be looking backwards and celebrating last year's defeat of those bills. So one might expect advocates for artists and creators to be in a dour mood again, but there is ample cause for optimism among members of the creative community."

She asserted that the debate one year ago "raised awareness about the very nature of creativity on the internet", for the better. For example, "Instagram users -- hobbyists and professionals alike -- revolted when a change of terms for the free service allowed Instagram to sell photos commercially without attribution or compensation to the photographer".

She concluded that "The conversation is clearly just beginning, but thoughtful discussion with all of its ebbs and flows will serve us better than the talking points and slogans that dominated the legislative season of 2012". She also wrote that "some of the goals of the legislation have been achieved". That is, credit card companies and PayPal are employing "best practices to reduce sales of counterfeit and pirated goods by cutting off sites that distribute infringing goods from conducting financial transactions through these processors". ISPs are collaborating on the Copyright Alert System. And, Google "started considering whether sites are rogue websites when doing search rankings".

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The House will meet at 10:00 AM for morning hour, and at 12:00 NOON for legislative business. There are no technology related items on the agenda. See, Rep. Cantor's schedule.

10:00 AM. The House Commerce Committee (HCC) will hold its organizational meeting for the 113th Congress. See, notice. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

12:30 PM. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee (HOGRC) will hold its organizational meeting for the 113th Congress. Location: Room 2154, Rayburn Building.

1:00 PM. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee (HOGRC) will hold a hearing titled "Wasting Information Technology Dollars: How Can the Federal Government Reform its IT Investment Strategy?". See, notice. Location: Room 2154, Rayburn Building.

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

3:30 - 5:15 PM. The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) will host an event titled "China in 2013 and Beyond". The speakers will be Frank Lavin (Export Now), Carolyn Bartholomew (US-China Economic and Security Review Commission), Dan Blumenthal (AEI), Phillip Swagel (AEI), and Danielle Pletka (AEI). Webcast. Free. Open to the public. See, notice. For more information, contact Lara Crouch at lara dot crouch at aei dot org or 202-862-7160. Location: AEI, 12th floor, 1150 17th St., NW.

5:00 PM. Deadline to submit reply comments to the Copyright Office (CO) in response to its notice in the Federal Register regarding its proposed fee schedule for filing cable and satellite statements of account. See, FR, Vol. 77, No. 235, December 6, 2012, at Pages 72788-72791.

Day one of a two day conference titled "State of the Net Conference". Prices vary. See, notice and registration page. Location: Hyatt Regency, 400 New Jersey Ave., NW.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [18 pages in PDF] regarding the amateur radio service. The FCC adopted this NPRM on October 1, 2012, and released the text on October 2. It is FCC 12-121 in WT Docket Nos. 12-283 and 09-209. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 206, October 24, 2012, at Pages 64947-64949.

EXTENDED TO FEBRUARY 13. Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding its licensing and operating rules for satellite services. The FCC adopted and released this NPRM on September 28, 2012. It is FCC 12-117 in IB Docket No. 12-267. See, original notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 217, November 8, 2012, at Pages 67171-67201. See also, extension notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 250, December 31, 2012, at Pages 77001-77002.

EXTENDED FROM JANUARY 7. Further extended deadline to submit comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its November 1 Public Notice (PN) seeking updated information and comment on review of hearing aid compatibility regulations. This PN is DA 12-1745 in WT Docket No. 10-254. See also, November 27 extension Public Notice (DA 12-1898) and extension notice in the Federal Register (FR), Vol. 77, No. 234, December 5, 2012, at Pages 72294-72295, and further extension notice in the FR, Vol. 78, No. 9, January 14, 2013, at Pages 2653-2654.

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

Day two of a two day conference titled "State of the Net Conference". Prices vary. See, notice and registration page. Location: Hyatt Regency, 400 New Jersey Ave., NW.

9:00 AM. The House Science Committee (HSC) will hold its organizational meeting for the 113th Congress. Location: Room 2318, Rayburn Building.

9:30 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir) will hear oral argument in American Electric Power Serv. v. FCC, App. Ct. No. 11-1146. This is a challenge to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) pole attachment rules. See, April 7, 2011, Report and Order and Order on Reconsideration [144 pages in PDF]. It is FCC 11-50 in WC Docket No. 07-245 and GN Docket No. 09-51. See also, FCC brief. This case is the third of three on the schedule. Judges Sentelle, Tatel and Williams will preside. Location: USCA Courtroom, 5th floor, Prettyman Courthouse, 333 Constitution Ave., NW.

10:00 AM. The House Homeland Security Committee (HHSC) will hold its organizational meeting for the 113th Congress. See, notice. Location: Room 311, Cannon Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold a hearing on judicial nominations: Nelson Roman (USDC/SDNY), Analisa Torres (USDC/SDNY), Raymond Moore (USDC/DColo), Derrick Watson (USDC/DHaw), and Claire Kelly (USCIT). See, notice. Webcast. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

11:00 AM. The House Appropriations Committee (HAC) will hold its organizational meeting for the 113th Congress. See, notice. Location: Room 2359, Rayburn Building.

12:00 NOON - 2:15 PM. The Free State Foundation (FSF) will host an event to discuss the recently published book titled "Communications Law and Policy in the Digital Age: The Next Five Years". The speakers will include four of the contributing authors: Christopher Yoo (University of Pennsylvania Law School, and author of chapter titled "Internet Policy Going Forward: Does One Size Still Fit All?"), Daniel Lyons (Boston College Law School, and author of chapter titled "Reforming the Universal Service Fund for the Digital Age"), Ellen Goodman (Rutgers School of Law, and author of the chapter titled "Public Media Policy Reform and Digital Age Realities"), and Seth Cooper (author of the chapter titled "Restoring a Minimal Regulatory Environment for a Healthy Wireless Future"). Free. Lunch will be served. Registration require: e-mail Kathee Baker at kbaker at freestatefoundation dot org. Location: National Press Club, 13th Floor, 529 14th St., NW.

1:00 PM. The House Small Business Committee (HSBC) will hold its organizational meeting for the 113th Congress. See, notice. Location: Room 2360, Rayburn Building.

1:00 - 2:30 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a webcast and teleconferenced panel discussion titled "Trademark Fundamentals: The United States Patent and Trademark Office Federal Registration Process". The speakers will be Dawn Cassie (Navigant Consulting), Maureen Gorman (Marshall Gerstein Borun), Casey Mangan (Allstate Insurance Company), and Rene Guess (Procter & Gamble). Prices vary. CLE credits. See, notice.

5:00 PM. Facebook will announce its fourth quarter and fiscal 2012 financial results. See, notice.

House schedule. See, House calendar for 113th Congress, 1st Session, and Rep. Cantor's schedule.

9:00 - 10:30 PM. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host a panel discussion titled "Data Innovation in Government". The speakers will be Robert Bectel (Department of Energy), Teresa Carlson (Amazon Web Services), Richard Culatta (Department of Education), David Forrest (Department of Health and Human Services), Jason O'Connor (Lockheed Martin), and Daniel Castro (ITIF). See, notice. Location: ITIF/ITIC, Suite 610A, 1101 K St., NW.

10:00 AM. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) will hold a hearing on the nomination of John Kerry to be Secretary of State. See, notice. Location: Room 216, Hart Building.

12:00 NOON - 1:15 PM. The American Bar Association's (ABA) Section of Antitrust Law will host a teleconferenced panel discussion titled "Recent Developments in Two-Sided Markets in US and Canada". The speakers will be Micah Wood (Blakes), David Evans (Global Economics Group), Roger Ware (Queens University), and Leah Brannon (Cleary Gottlieb). Free. No CLE credits. See, notice.

12:00 NOON - 3:00 PM. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host a panel discussion titled "Data Innovation in the U.S. Economy". The speakers will be William Chernicoff (Toyota Motor North America), Scott Neuman (Opower), and Daniel Castro (ITIF). See, notice. Location: Reserve Officers Association, 5th Floor, One Constitution Ave., NE.

1:00 PM. The US Telecom and ADTRAN will host a webcast seminar titled "Vectoring Demystified". Free. 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.

6:30 - 8:00 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) Legislative Committee will host an event titled "Communications and Technology Policy in the 113th Congress". The participants will include House and Senate staff. No webcast. Closed to reporters. No CLE credits. Location: Georgetown University law school, Gewirz Student Center, 12th Floor, 120 F St., NW.

House schedule. See, House calendar for 113th Congress, 1st Session, and Rep. Cantor's schedule.

12:00 NOON - 1:00 PM. The American Bar Association's (ABA) Section of Antitrust Law will host a teleconferenced panel discussion titled "Criminal Antitrust Update". The speakers will be Anne Marie Cushmac (SunTrust Banks), Mark Rosman (Wilson Sonsini), Jeff VanHooreweghe (Wilson Sonsini), and Creighton Macy (Wilson Sonsini). Free. No CLE credits. See, notice.

Deadline to submit written comments to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) regarding its January 11, 2013 roundtable on the possibility of changing USPTO rules of practice to require the disclosure of real party in interest information during patent prosecution and at certain times post-issuance. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 227, November 26, 2012, at Pages 70385-70389. See also, story titled "USPTO to Host Roundtable on Requiring Real Party in Interest Disclosures" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,483, December 5, 2012.

EXTENDED FROM DECEMBER 21. Extended deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [205 pages in PDF] regarding incentive auctions. The FCC adopted this NPRM on September 28, and released the text on October 2. It is FCC 12-118 in Docket No. 12-268. See, notice in the Federal Register,  Vol. 77, No. 225, November 21, 2012, at Pages 69933-69992. See also, stories titled "FCC Adopts NPRM on Incentive Auctions" and "FCC Adopts Spectrum Aggregation NPRM" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,455, October 1, 2012. See, extension notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 239, December 12, 2012, at Page 73969.

The House will not meet the week of January 28 through February 1. See, House calendar for 113th Congress, 1st Session.

11:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The Heritage Foundation (HF) will host a panel discussion titled "REAL ID Realities: Perspectives on the Future of the REAL ID Program". The speakers will be Jennifer Cohan (Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles), Lori Rectanus (Government Accountability Office), Andrew Meehan (Coalition for A Secure Driver’s License), and Jessica Zuckerman (HF). Free. Open to the public. Webcast. See, notice. Location: HF, 214 Massachusetts Ave., NE.

12:15 - 1:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Intellectual Property Committee will host a closed brown bag lunch. The speakers will discuss HR 6480 and S 3609 (112th Congress), the "Internet Radio Fairness Act". The speakers will be Harley Geiger (staff of Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA)), Troy Stock (staff of Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT)), Brieanne Elpert (SoundExchange), Lee Knife (Digital Media Association), and Brendan Kelsay (Clear Channel). Free. Closed to reporters. No CLE credits. Location: Dow Lohnes, 1200 New Hampshire Ave., NW.

Deadline to submit comments to the Department of Commerce's (DOC) Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) in response to its notice that announces proposed removals from the Commerce Control List of certain Category XI items, which pertain to military electronics, and which include telecommunications equipment and software. See, Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 229, November 28, 2012, at Pages 70945-70955.

9:30 AM. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) Bureau of Industry and Security's (BIS) Sensors and Instrumentation Technical Advisory Committee will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 5, January 8, 2013, at Page 1198. Location: DOC, Hoover Building, Room 6087B, 14th Street between Constitution and Pennsylvania Aves., NW.

12:15 - 1:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Young Lawyers Committee and Wireline Committee will host a brown bag lunch titled "Growing the Skill Set -- a Focus on Continuous Career Development". The speakers will include Jessica Almond (Chief of Staff of the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau), Chris McCabe ( CTIA), Melissa Newman (CenturyLink), Barry Ohlson (Cox Enterprises), Mike Senkowski (Wiley Rein), and Davina Sashkin (Fletcher Heald & Hildreth). Free. No CLE credits. Location: Wiley Rein, 10th Floor Conference Room, 1750 K St., NW.