5/1. President Obama announced his intent to nominate Tom Wheeler to be Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and Mignon Clyburn to be the acting Chairman. See, reaction from outgoing Chairman Julius Genachowski and Commissioner Mignon Clyburn.

Wheeler is the Managing Director of Core Capital Partners. He has also been the Chairman of the FCC's Technological Advisory Council since 2010.

Thirty years ago, he was head of the NCTA. He was later the long time head of the CTIA.

Trade groups praised the selections of Wheeler and Clyburn. See, Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) release, Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) release, CTIA release, National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) release and release, National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) release, NTCA release, Public Knowledge (PK) release, and US Telecom release and release.

While most praised and/or congratulated Wheeler, the New America Foundation (NAF) complained in a release that "Wheeler was a major bundler who raised substantial funding for the Obama Administration from the telecommunications market sector he would be overseeing."

Similarly, the Free Press (FP) stated in a release that the FCC "needs a strong leader -- someone who will use this powerful position to stand up to industry giants and protect the public interest. On paper, Tom Wheeler does not appear to be that person, having headed not one but two major trade associations."

4/26. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) and others introduced HR 1772 [LOC | WW | PDF], the "Legal Workforce Act", a bill that would make participation in the government's E-Verify program mandatory.

Employer participation in the E-Verify program is currently voluntary. This bill, like similar bills in the 112th Congress, would make participation mandatory.

The 112th Congress considered HR 2164 [LOC | WW] and the superseding HR 2885 [LOC | WW], both titled the "Legal Workforce Act". See, story titled "Rep. Smith Introduces Bill to Mandate Use of Government Databases to Determine Employment Eligibility" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,300, September 13, 2012.

The House Judiciary Committee (HJC) amended and approved HR 2885 on September 22, 2012. However, neither of the other committees with jurisdiction -- the House Ways and Means Committee (HWMC) and House Education and Workforce Committee (HEWC) -- passed that bill.

The just introduced bill is cosponsored Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), the Chairman of the HJC. This bill has been referred to the same three committees -- HJC, HWMC, and HEWC.

Rep. Goodlatte (at right) stated in a release that "One way to make sure we discourage illegal immigration in the future is to expand the use of E-Verify across the country. This web-based program is a reliable and fast way for employers to check the work eligibility of newly hired employees. The Legal Workforce Act builds on E-Verify’s success and makes a promise to the American people that it can deliver. By expanding E-Verify, it will be much more difficult for people to work illegally in the U.S. and will consequently help stop illegal immigration."

The E-Verify program is an information technology (IT) based national identification system that is based upon accessing electronic databases that include names and social security numbers (SSNs). One of the purposes of this program is to transfer responsibility for enforcing immigration law to employers.

This bill is premised upon the assumptions that the government is capable of creating an IT based system that can enable employers to ascertain whether job applicants are eligible to be employed in the US, and that by effectively preventing ineligible persons from working, aliens will have little incentive to illegally enter into or stay in the US.

The HJC received testimony in the 112th Congress that the E-Verify program is error prone. Eligible workers are falsely not confirmed as eligible. Ineligible workers are falsely confirmed as eligible. See for example, February 10, 2011, prepared testimony [PDF] of Richard Stana of the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

4/25. Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) introduced HR 1730 [LOC | WW], the "Cell Phone Theft Prevention Act of 2013". This is a revised version of a similar bill sponsored by Rep. Engel in the 112th Congress. These bills would require service providers to not provide service to a stolen phone.

The just introduced bill would add a new Section 343 to Title 47 (Communications Act) that provides that "A provider of commercial mobile service or commercial mobile data service may not provide service on a mobile device that has been reported to such provider as stolen -- (A) by the person who holds the account with respect to such service; or (B) by another provider of commercial mobile service or commercial mobile data service".

On March 22, 2012, Rep. Engel and others introduced HR 4247 [LOC | WW], the "Cell Phone Theft Prevention Act of 2012". See, story titled "House Democrats Introduce Bill to Enable Service Blacklisting and Data Erasure for Stolen Mobile Devices" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,356, March 25, 2012.

However, the Congress took no action on that bill, in part because wireless service providers took the initiative first. They created a program based upon integrated databases of unique identifiers of mobile communications devices reported as stolen, by participating wireless service providers. They also committed to not provide service to the unique identifiers associated with devices reported as stolen. See. story titled "Wireless Service Providers Announce Plans for Disabling Stolen Smart Phones" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,369, April 12, 2012.

Rep. Engel (at right) stated in a release that "It makes no sense to reward the thief by continuing service on a stolen cell phone. It’s simple common sense that the victim of a crime isn’t responsible for service they are no longer receiving. If service is cut off on a stolen phone, it just becomes a useless brick and the motivation to threaten, or commit violence, to steal a phone goes away. By cutting off service, wireless companies will do wonders for public safety, and I am confident they will support this legislation".

This bill would accomplish some things that the service providers cannot by private agreement. For example, it would amend Title 18 (criminal code) to make it "unlawful to -- (A) knowingly remove, obliterate, tamper with, or alter a mobile device identification number; or (B) knowingly use, produce, traffic in, have control or custody of, or possess hardware or software, knowing it has been configured to engage in the conduct described in subparagraph (A)."

The only original cosponsor of the just introduced bill is Delegate Eleanor Norton (D-DC).

The bill was referred to the House Commerce Committee (HCC). However, the amendment to Title 18 could serve as the basis for an additional referral to the House Judiciary Committee (HJC).

4/25. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) amended and approved S 607 [LOC | WW], the "Electronic Communications Privacy Act Amendments Act of 2013".

This bill would require that the government obtain a court warrant to access cloud stored e-mail. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced this bill on March 19, 2012. See, story titled "Sen. Leahy and Sen. Lee Introduce Bill to Require Warrant to Access Cloud Stored E-Mail" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,538, March 21, 2013.

However, the SJC considered an earlier version of this bill late in the 112th Congress. See, 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.

The key provision of S 607 would amend 18 U.S.C. § 2703 to provide that "A governmental entity may require the disclosure by a provider of electronic communication service or remote computing service of the contents of a wire or electronic communication that is in electronic storage with or otherwise stored, held, or maintained by the provider only if the governmental entity obtains a warrant issued using the procedures described in the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure (or, in the case of a State court, issued using State warrant procedures) that is issued by a court of competent jurisdiction directing the disclosure." (Parentheses in original.)

At the April 25 mark up the SJC approved one amendment [2 pages in PDF] offered by Sen. Leahy to clarify that it would not affect other specified surveillance provisions.

It provides that "Nothing in this Act or an amendment made by this Act shall be construed to preclude the acquisition by the United States Government of -- (1) the contents of a wire or electronic communication pursuant to other lawful authorities, including the authorities under chapter 119 of title 18 (commonly known as the ‘‘Wiretap Act’’), the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), or any other provision of Federal law not specifically amended by this Act; or (2) records or other information relating to a subscriber or customer of any electronic communications service or remote computing service (not including the content of such communications) pursuant to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), chapter 119 of title 18 (commonly known as the ‘‘Wiretap Act’’), or any other provision of Federal law not specifically amended by this Act."

The SJC also approved a second amendment [4 pages in PDF] offered by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) that requires, and specifies the contents of, a report in 2015 by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on the impact of this bill.

The SJC approved both amendments, and the bill as amended, without roll call votes.

Sen. Leahy said at the mark up that people should have the same privacy in cloud stored records as records stored in filing cabinets. He added that "we are concerned about the Internal Revenue Service, or other government agencies, reading emails without getting a warrant".

Sen. Grassley said that he still "has some concerns with the legislation". He said that the SJC has not held a hearing in this Congress, and should hold one before the full Senate takes up the bill. Nevertheless, he said that "there is a need to update" the 1986 Act, and this bill could be reported at this time.

He also noted that "we have no official position from the Justice Department".

He also expressed concern, along with Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), about the impact of this bill on civil investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Sen. Sessions also argued that there is a "diminished expectation of privacy" in cloud stored e-mail.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) also expressed concerns with the bill, but did not oppose it at this time.

The opponents of this bill include many federal government regulatory and law enforcement agencies and officials.

Ed Black, head of the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), stated in a release that "This is a long overdue step toward bringing our online privacy laws closer to both our existing 4th amendment protections and our reasonable expectations for privacy."

The Tech Freedom's Berin Szoka stated in a release that "This is the most important step towards long-overdue ECPA reforms", but that Congress should also enact a "a warrant requirement for location data".

The House will not meet.

The Senate will not meet.

9:30 AM. The Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies will meet. See, notice. Location: SEC, Multi-Purpose Room LL-006, 100 F St., NE.

12:15 - 1:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Engineering and Technical Committee will host a brown bag lunch titled "Wireline Broadband Technology Advances -- Getting a Gigabit to the Home". Location: T-Mobile, North Building, Suite 800, 601 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

The House will not meet.

The Senate will not meet.

8:00 - 9:30 AM. The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) will host an event titled "CSIS Press Briefing: South Korean President Park Geun-hye White House Visit". See, notice. Location: CSIS, 4th floor conference room, 1800 K St., NW.

1:00 PM. The US Telecom will host a webcast seminar titled "IP and Optical Evolution". The speaker will be Greg Nehib (Cisco). Free. Open to the public. See, notice.

6:00 - 8:00 PM. The New America Foundation (NAF) will host an event at which Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen will discuss their book titled "The New Digital Age: Reshaping the Future of People, Nations and Business". See, notice. Location: McDermott Building, 500 North Capitol St., NW.

6:00 - 8:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) will host an event titled "An Update on the Open Internet Order and Its Impact". Prices vary. CLE credits. Registrations and cancellations due by 12:00 NOON on Wednesday, May 1. See, notice. Location: Dow Lohnes, 1200 New Hampshire Ave., NW.

The House will meet in pro forma session.

The Senate will meet in pro forma session.

8:30 AM. The Department of Labor's (DOL) Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is scheduled to release its April 2013 unemployment data.

3:00 - 3:50 PM. Toshimitsu Motegi (Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry) will give a speech titled "Economic Growth, Energy, and Economic Partnership: Japan’s Current Obstacles and New Opportunities", and answer questions. See, notice. Location: Brookings Institution, 1775 Massachusetts Ave., NW.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will host an event titled "workshop" in its incentive auctions rulemaking proceeding, GN Docket No. 12-268. See, FCC Public Notice (DA 13-614). See also, FCC's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), and story titled "FCC Announces Workshop on Incentive Auction's 600 MHz Band Plan" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,546, April 4, 2013. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room, TW-C305, 445 12th St., SW.

The Senate will meet. It may resume consideration of S 743 [LOC | WW], a bill to authorize states to compel out of state retailers to collect sales taxes on internet and other remote sales. See, story titled "Senate Invokes Cloture on Internet Sales Tax Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,552, April 22, 2013, and story titled "Senate Adjourns Until May 6 Without Passing Internet Sales Tax Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,554, April 24, 2013.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Thomson Licensing SAS v. ITC, App. Ct. No. 2012-1536. Panel B. Location: Courtroom 402, 717 Madison Place, NW.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Copper Innovations v. Nintendo, App. Ct. No. 2012-1622, an appeal from the U.S. District Court (EDPenn) in a patent infringement case involving Wii controllers. Panel B. Location: Courtroom 402, 717 Madison Place, NW.

5:00 PM. The House Intelligence Committee (HIC) will hold a closed hearing titled "Ongoing Intelligence Activities". See, notice. Location: Room HVC-304, Capitol Building.

9:00 AM. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) Bureau of Industry and Security's (BIS) Information Systems Technical Advisory Committee (ISTAC) will meet in open session. This session will also be teleconferenced. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 79, April 24, 2013, at Page 24160. Location: DOC, Hoover Building, Room 3884, 14th Street between Constitution and Pennsylvania Avenues,  NW.

9:00 AM - 1:45 PM. The New America Foundation (NAF) will host an event titled "The Drone Next Door". The speakers will include Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ). See, notice and registration page. Location: NAF, Suite 400, 1899 L St., NW.

9:30 AM. The Senate Appropriations Committee's (SAC) Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch will hold a hearing on the budget for the Library of Congress. See, notice. Location: Room 192, Dirksen Building.

10:30 AM. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (SHSGAC) will hold a hearing on S 744 [LOC | WW], the "Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act". See, notice. Location: Room 342, Dirksen Building.

12:00 NOON - 1:15 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Antitrust Law will host an on site and teleconferenced panel discussion titled "Antitrust and Patent Assertion Entities: The DOJ-FTC Joint Workshop". The speakers will be Michael Carrier (Rutgers School of Law), Erica Mintzer (DOJ Antitrust Division), Suzanne Munck (FTC), Scott Burt (MOSAID Technologies), Paul Melin (Nokia), and Mark Popofsky (Ropes & Gray). Free. No CLE credits. See, notice. Location: Morrison & Foerster, Suite 6000, 2000 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

1:00 - 2:30 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a webcast and teleconferenced panel discussion titled "Cyber Threats and Network Security Countermeasures: Keeping Your Intellectual Property and Secret Safe". The speakers will be Zal Azmi (CACI), Harlan Carvey (Applied Security), David Opderbeck (Seton Hall University Law School), and David Manning (Applied Security). Prices vary. CLE credits. See, notice.

2:00 PM. The House Appropriations Committee's (HAC) Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government will hold a hearing on the budget for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The witness will be SEC Chairman Mary Jo White. Location: Room 2359, Rayburn Building.

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

6:00 - 8:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) will host an event titled "International Privacy: Working in the Global Cloud and Preparing for the EU’s New Privacy Approach". Prices vary. CLE credits. Registrations and cancellations due by 12:00 NOON on Wednesday, May 6. See, notice. Location: Covington & Burling, 11th floor, 1201 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

8:30 - 10:00 AM. The RTI International will host a panel discussion titled "Robotic and Remotely Piloted Aircraft Inside the United States: Applications, Safety, Perceptions, and Privacy Concerns". The speakers will include Rep. Richard Hanna (R-NY), Tim Gabel (RTI), David Schanzer (Duke Univ.), Peter Singer (Brookings Inst.), John McGraw, Joe Eyerman (RTI), Kenneth Mortensen, and Darryl Jenkins (Aviation Consulting). See, notice. Location: Ballroom, 13th floor, National Press Club, 529 14th St.,  NW.

9:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee's (SJC) Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism will hold a hearing titled "Cyber Threats: Law Enforcement and Private Sector Responses". Live and archived webcast. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

9:00 AM. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) Bureau of Industry and Security's (BIS) Information Systems Technical Advisory Committee (ISTAC) will meet in closed session. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 79, April 24, 2013, at Page 24160. Location: DOC, Hoover Building, Room 3884, 14th Street between Constitution and Pennsylvania Avenues,  NW.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Deep9 Corporation v. Barnes & Noble, App. Ct. No. 2013-1031, an appeal from the U.S. District Court (WDWash) in a patent infringement case involving online databases associated with e-book readers. Panel G. Location: Courtroom 402, 717 Madison Place, NW.

12:15 PM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will host an event titled "FCC Enforcement of the Emergency Alert System". The speakers will be FCC officials. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) states that this is an event of its Enforcement Committee. Free. Location: Wiley Rein, 1776 K St., NW.

12:15 - 1:45 PM. The DC Bar Association's Media Law Committee will hold its monthly brown bag lunch. Free. No CLE credits. For more information, call 202-626-3463. Reporters are barred. See, notice. Location: Washington Post, 1150, 15th St., NW.

2:30 PM. The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) will hold a hearing titled "The Role of Immigrants in America's Innovation Economy". See, notice. Location: Room 253, Russell Building.

2:30 PM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold a hearing on the nominations of __. The notice. Webcast. Location: Room 226, Rayburn Building.

Tech Law Journal publishes a free access web site and a subscription e-mail alert. The basic rate for a subscription to the TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert is $250 per year for a single recipient. There are discounts for subscribers with multiple recipients.

Free one month trial subscriptions are available. Also, free subscriptions are available for federal elected officials, and employees of the Congress, courts, and executive branch. The TLJ web site is free access. However, copies of the TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert are not published in the web site until two months after writing.

For information about subscriptions, see subscription information page.

Tech Law Journal now accepts credit card payments. See, TLJ credit card payments page.

TLJ is published by David Carney
Contact: 202-364-8882.
carney at techlawjournal dot com
3034 Newark St. NW, Washington DC, 20008.

Privacy Policy
Notices & Disclaimers
Copyright 1998-2013 David Carney. All rights reserved.