4/7. The House amended and passed HR 3470 [LOC | WW], the "Taiwan Relations Act Affirmation and Naval Vessel Transfer Act of 2014", without a roll call vote, and without opposition.

Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) introduced this bill on November 13, 2013. The House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) approved it unanimously on November 20.

The Senate has not yet passed this bill.

Trade and Investment. This bill contains numerous statements of policy regarding US Taiwan relations. It states that the "Congress ... reaffirms its commitment to deepen United States-Taiwan trade and investment relations as well as support for Taiwan's inclusion in bilateral and regional trade agreements at the appropriate time and under the right conditions in which outstanding issues affecting United States exports are being addressed" and "supports the strong and deepening relationship between the United States and Taiwan."

Rep. Royce (at right) stated in the House that "Taiwan's participation in regional trade agreements could greatly benefit American consumers and exporters as well."

Export Control Regime. The bill also makes minor changes to the US arms export regulation regime, by increasing the Congressional notification thresholds for certain foreign military and commercial sales.

Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) stated in the House that "The bill also will help advance the President's Export Control Reform initiative, which has long been a priority for the high-tech community which I am proud to represent in northern Virginia. I have been working with the House Foreign Affairs Committee for years to reform Federal export controls, which have stifled innovation in the American commercial defense industry and put U.S. exports at a disadvantage. Today's bill updates the process for congressional review of exports to reflect regulatory changes now being implemented by the Departments of State, Commerce, and Defense."

Taiwan Relations Act. This bill states that the Congress "reaffirms its unwavering commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act as the cornerstone of relations between the United States and Taiwan". The Act was enacted in 1979.

It also states that the Congress "supports the United States commitment to Taiwan's security in accord with the Taiwan Relations Act, including Taiwan's procurement of sophisticated weapons of a defensive character, such as F-16 C/Ds aircraft and diesel electric submarines".

It also provides for the transfer of four guided missile frigates to Taiwan, two to Thailand, and two to Mexico. All are of a class build from the late 1970s through 1980s.

Rep. George Holding (R-NC) stated in the House that "As we have seen the Chinese Government continue to escalate tensions in the region, Mr. Speaker, making certain that we enhance this security cooperation is important."

Rep. Connolly said that "China's recent declaration of an Air Defense Identification Zone and subsequent provocation toward other ships in the region has raised concerns about the possibility of escalation and provocation. That makes the security posture of friends like Taiwan even more precarious and more important and underscores the need for us to continue this defense partnership."

4/5. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR) announced in a release that "U.S. and Taiwan trade authorities concluded the eighth Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) Council meeting".

Wendy Cutler (at right) of the OUSTR led US participants. Other US agencies involved included the Copyright Office and Department of Commerce.

The OUSTR release states that the US "welcomed the concrete steps Taiwan authorities took in the months following the 2013 TIFA to improve trade secrets protection and address pharmaceutical issues."

It also states that "The Taiwan authorities outlined plans to devote necessary resources to strengthen IPR enforcement. The two sides recognized the need for further engagement on intellectual property protection, including in the challenging but critical area of online piracy, as well as on pharmaceutical and medical device issues over the next year."

In addition, "The two sides updated each other on regional and multilateral initiatives. They highlighted their close cooperation on various initiatives in APEC, their work towards the prompt conclusion of a balanced and commercially significant expansion of the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) at the WTO, achieving entry into force and full implementation of the WTO trade facilitation agreement, and efforts to advance the Trade in Services Agreement negotiations."

4/4. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR) released a report titled "2014 Section 1377 Review On Compliance with Telecommunications Trade Agreements". Much of the report focuses on the People's Republic of China (PRC).

The OUSTR prepares this report annually, relying heavily upon the public comments that it receives. See, 2013 report, and story titled "OUSTR Releases Report on Compliance with Telecommunications Trade Agreements" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,547, April 8, 2013. See also, 2012 report.

These reports address foreign governments' non-compliance with telecommunications trade agreements, and their barriers to trade. It does not address US non-compliance and barriers.

USTR Michael Froman stated in a release that "Barriers to trade in telecommunications-related goods and services disproportionately affect U.S. suppliers, given our strong competitive position in these sectors. We have made important progress this year in advancing market liberalization in this sector, though we continue to see the emergence of new barriers data flows and other localization requirements".

This report faults the PRC for barriers to VOIP services, protectionist actions by its regulatory agency, restrictions on foreign investment, barriers to providing satellite services, and barriers to information security technology providers. This report also again raises concerns that the PRC might impose an encryption standard for 4G LTE telecommunications equipment.

The report states that "The Chinese government imposes unreasonably strict limitations on companies that wish to offer VoIP services in China. China requires a supplier to have a value-added service (VAS) license to provide VoIP service. Foreign companies may obtain a VAS license only through a joint-venture company. Since such suppliers cannot connect to the PSTN without obtaining a basic telecommunications license, the scope of VoIP service is unreasonably limited (China’s requirements for a basic service license (e.g. capitalization levels exceeding one hundred million U.S. Dollars) make little sense for a service that requires no investment in or control of transmission facilities). Currently, only a few small pilot VoIP projects -- involving the incumbent state-owned operators -- are allowed to offer PSTN-interconnected VoIP services to Chinese consumers." (Parentheses in original.)

Next, the report states that the PRC's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) "has actively worked to consolidate market participants and has often shielded China’s state-owned operators from competition, both domestic and foreign. Assignment of spectrum for new mobile services (e.g. LTE) lacks basic transparency, and has resulted in assignments exclusively to state-owned incumbents."

The report also states that "China’s equity restrictions on foreign participation constitute a major impediment to market access in China."

The report also addresses actions of other nations. For example, it states that "Impediments to cross-border data flows remain a serious and growing concern. The dramatic expansion of data flows and the increasing integration of such data into myriad forms of economic activity make addressing barriers to data flows a key trade priority."

The report cites "a new law that in Turkey that has resulted in a massive blocking of websites and Turkey’s new privacy laws that severely restricts data exports involving personal information; and the European Union (EU), where a variety of voices, including a leading German telecommunications supplier, are openly advocating for trade-distortive restrictions on data flows, purportedly justified on privacy grounds."

3/26. The World Trade Organization (WTO) released its panel reports [258 pages in PDF] in its case titled "China -- Measures Related to the Exportation of Rare Earths, Tungsten, and Molybdenum".

The WTO panel found that the People's Republic of China's (PRC) export duties on rare earths are inconsistent with its accession protocol, and its export duties are inconsistent with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (GATT 1994). The panel also faulted the PRC's restrictions on the trading rights of enterprises exporting rare earths.

The US, Japan and EU filed complaints, which are nominally requests for consultations, in March of 2012. See, stories titled "US, Japan and EU Take Rare Earths Issue to WTO" and "OUSTR Explains Rare Earths Request for Consultations" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,349, March 14, 2012.

The US, Japan and EU requested that the WTO establish a dispute settlement panel (DSP) to rule on their complaints June 27, 2012. See, story titled "US, Japan and EU Request WTO DSP for REM Complaint Against PRC" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,406, July 20, 2012.

Rare earth materials (REMs) have a wide range of uses. Among other things, they are used in such information and communications technology (ICT) products as fiber optic cable and smart phone screens. However, one of their key uses is in making permanent magnets, which have the properties of compactness, high strength, and very strong magnetic fields. These magnets are used in computer hard drives, cell phones, loudspeakers, headphones, magnetic resonance imaging, cordless electric tools, and other products.

The rare earth elements from which REMs are made are Scandium, Yttrium, Lanthanum, Cerium, Praseodymium, Neodymium, Promethium, Samarium, Europium, Gadolinium, Terbium, Dysprosium, Holmium, Erbium, Thulium, Ytterbium, and Lutetium. See also, periodic table. This case also involved Molybdenum and Tungsten.

Almost all of the world's supply of REMs now comes from the PRC. The PRC has attempted to leverage this to gain competitive advantages.

The European Commission (EC) stated in a release that "The verdict is clear: export restrictions cannot be imposed supposedly to conserve exhaustible natural resources if domestic use of the same raw materials is not limited for the same purpose."

The EC added that "Neither the complainants nor the panel contest China's right to put in place environmental and conservation policies. However, as unequivocally confirmed by the WTO Panel, the sovereign right of a country over its natural resources does not allow it to control international markets or the global distribution of raw materials. A WTO Member may decide on the level or pace at which it uses its resources but once raw materials have been extracted, they are subject to WTO trade rules. The extracting country cannot limit the sales of its raw materials to its domestic industry, giving them a competitive edge over foreign firms."

USTR Michael Froman (at right) stated in a release that "China's decision to promote its own industry and discriminate against U.S. companies has caused U.S. manufacturers to pay as much as three times more than what their Chinese competitors pay for the exact same rare earths. WTO rules prohibit this kind of discriminatory export restraint and this win today, along with our win 2 years ago in an earlier case, demonstrates that clearly."

The OUSTR release also states that "The Chinese export restraints challenged in this dispute include export duties and export quotas, as well as related export quota administration requirements. These types of export restraints can skew the playing field against the United States and other countries in the production and export of downstream products. They can artificially increase world prices for these raw material inputs while artificially lowering prices for Chinese producers. This enables China's domestic downstream producers to produce lower-priced products from the raw materials and thereby creates significant advantages for China's producers when competing against U.S. and other producers both in China's market and other countries' markets. The export restraints can also create substantial pressure on foreign downstream producers to move their operations, jobs and technologies to China."

US Responsibility for Rare Earths Problems. While almost all REM production is now in the PRC, rare earth elements are also located in many other nations, including the US. However, they must be mined and extracted. The US has more stringent environmental protection regulation, as well as more tedious permitting processes, that effectively preclude domestic production.

The US could eliminate the PRC's ability to leverage its position as sole supplier by resuming US production. Indeed, the Republican controlled House passed a bill last year with this as a goal. However, there is broad opposition within the Democratic Party, and enactment into law is highly unlikely at this time.

See, HR 761 [LOC | WW], the "National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act of 2013", and story titled "House Passes Rare Earths Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,604, September 24 2013.

See also, story titled "Sen. Murkowski Assigns Some Blame for Rare Earths Problem on US Government Regulation" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,349, March 14, 2012.

3/21. The European Commission (EC) announced the adoption of new competition rules and guidelines for the assessment of technology transfer agreements, through which a licensor permits a licensee to exploit patents, know how or software for the production of goods and services.

The EC stated in a release that "The revised rules facilitate such sharing of intellectual property, including through patent pools, and provide clearer guidance on licensing agreements that stimulate competition. At the same time they aim to strengthen incentives for research and innovation.

The EC released a new Technology Transfer Block Exemption Regulation (TTBER), which exempts certain licensing agreements from antitrust rules, and Technology Transfer Guidelines, which provide further guidance.

These rules and guidelines go into effect on May 1, 2014.

4/7. World Trade Organization (WTO) Director General Roberto Azevêdo gave a speech regarding Doha round negotiations. He said that "consultations have not yet produced anything very new in terms of members’ stated positions". But, he said, "we have been making good progress".

4/4. The U.S. China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCESRC) released a report titled "Monthly Analysis of US-China of Trade Data".

4/4. The EU released a statement regarding ongoing trade negotiations between the EU and Japan. It states, "Meeting this week in Tokyo, officials from the EU and Japan exchanged offers to open their markets to each other's products. The fifth round of negotiations for a free trade agreement" included discussion of "protection of intellectual property ... trade in services, investment, ... electronic commerce, competition policy; and the resolution of disputes".

4/4. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan announced in a release that President Obama will visit Japan. "The Government of Japan welcomes the President as a state guest from Thursday, April 24th to Friday, April 25th."

4/1. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR) published a notice in the Federal Register that requests nominations for membership on its Intergovernmental Policy Advisory Committee on Trade (IGPAC). The deadline to submit nominations is May 1, 2014. See, FR, Vol. 79, No. 62, April 1, 2014, at Pages 18382-18384.

3/27. The  World Trade Organization (WTO) released its panel report [128 pages in PDF] in the case titled "United States -- Countervailing and Anti-Dumping Measures on Certain Products from China". The People's Republic of China (PRC) filed its complaint (request for consultations) against the US on September 17, 2012.

3/11. The U.S. China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCESRC) released a report titled "Should China Join the WTO's Services Agreement?" The author is Iacob Koch-Weser.

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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.

The Senate will meet at 10:00 AM.

9:00 AM - 4:00 PM. Day two of a two day partially closed meeting of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Homeland Security Science and Technology Advisory Committee (HSSTAC). The agenda for April 8 includes a discussion of the DHS Science and Technology Directorate's (STD) Cyber Security Division (CSD). See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 79, No. 53, March 19, 2014, at Pages 15354-15355. Location: DHS, Room 8 ABC, 1120 Vermont Ave., NW.

9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Day one of a two day joint meeting of the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics' (RTCA) Special Committee 216, Aeronautical Systems Security, and EUROCAE WG-72. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 79, No. 56, March 24, 2014, at Pages 16094-16095. Location: RTCA, Suite 910, 1150 18th St., NW.

9:30 AM - 3:00 PM. The Department of Health and Human Services' (DHHS) Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology's (ONC/HIT) HIT Policy Committee will meet. See, DHHS notice and notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 243, December 18, 2013, at Page 76627. Location: __.

10:00 AM. The House Commerce's Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade will hold a hearing titled "Trolling for a Solution: Ending Abusive Patent Demand Letters". The witnesses will be Rheo Brouillard (American Bankers Association), Mark Chandler (Cisco Systems), Michael Dixon (UNeMed Corporation), Jason Schultz (New York University School of Law), Dennis Skarvan (Coalition for 21st Century Patent Reform), and William Sorrell (Attorney General of the state of Vermont). See, notice. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The House Judiciary Committee (HJC) will hold a hearing titled "Oversight of the Department of Justice". The witness will be Attorney General Eric Holder. See, notice. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

POSTPONED. 11:00 AM. The House Appropriations Committee (HAC) will hold a closed hearing titled "Cybersecurity". The witnesses will be Suzanne Spaulding, Phyllis Schneck, and Larry Zelvin (all of the DHS's National Protection and Programs Directorate). See, notice. Location: Room HVC-301, Capitol Visitor Center.

1:00 - 5:00 PM. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will host one of its series of meetings regarding privacy and facial recognition technology. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 235, December 6, 2013, at Pages 73502-73503. Location: American Institute of Architects, 1735 New York Ave., NW.

POSTPONED. 2:30 PM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold an executive business meeting. The agenda again includes consideration of S 1720 [LOC | WW], the "Patent Transparency and Improvements Act of 2013". Webcast. See, notice. Location: Room 106, Dirksen Building.

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

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.

The Senate will meet at 10:00 AM.

8:00 AM - 5:00 PM. The Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) will host a one day event titled "2014 Washington DC Conference". See, notice. For more information, contact Maggie Clark Brennan at 202-783-0070 ext. 120 or mclark at ccianet dot org. Location: Newseum, 7th floor, Knight Conference Center, 555 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

9:00 AM - 3:00 PM. Day two of a two day joint meeting of the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics' (RTCA) Special Committee 216, Aeronautical Systems Security, and EUROCAE WG-72. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 79, No. 56, March 24, 2014, at Pages 16094-16095. Location: RTCA, Suite 910, 1150 18th St., NW.

10:00 AM. The House Financial Services Committee's (HFSC) Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises will hold a hearing titled "Legislative Proposals to Enhance Capital Formation for Small and Emerging Growth Companies". The witnesses will be David Burton (Heritage Foundation), John Coffee (Columbia University law school), Brian Hahn (Biotechnology Industry Organization), and Tom Quaadman (U.S. Chamber of Commerce). See, notice. Location: Room 2128, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The House Science Committee's (HSC) Subcommittee on Research and Technology will hold a hearing titled "Prizes to Spur Innovation and Technology Breakthroughs". The witnesses will be Christopher Frangione (XPRIZE), Donnie Wilson (Elastec American Marine), Narinder Singh (TopCoder), and Sharon Moe (American Society of Nephrology). See, notice. Location:
Room 2318, Rayburn Building.

RESCHEDULED FROM APRIL 2. LOCATION CHANGE. 10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold a hearing titled "Examining the Comcast-Time Warner Cable Merger and the Impact on Consumers". The witnesses will be David Cohen (Comcast), Arthur Minson (Time Warner Cable), Gene Kimmelman (Public Knowledge), James Bosworth (Back9Network), Richard Sherwin (Spot On Networks), and Christopher Yoo (University of Pennsylvania law school). Webcast. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building. Room 216, Hart Building.

2:00 PM. The House Appropriations Committee's (HAC) Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies will hold a hearing on the FY 2015 budget for the Department of Commerce. The witness will be Penny Pritzger (Secretary of Commerce). See, notice. Location: Room H-309, Capitol Building.

2:30 PM. The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) will hold an executive business meeting. The agenda includes mark up of 15 bills and consideration of nominations. The agenda includes S 1379 [LOC | WW], the "Federal Communications Commission Consolidated Reporting Act of 2013". It also includes S 1925, the "Driver Privacy Act", a bill that allows "a court or other judicial or administrative authority having jurisdiction" to authorize access to data stored in vehicle event data recorders. However, it does not include any patent bills. Location: Room 253, Russell Building.

4:00 PM. The House Commerce's Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Communications and Technology will begin its mark up of HR 4342 [LOC | WW], the "Domain Openness Through Continued Oversight Matters Act of 2014", also known as the DOTCOM Act. This session will be for opening statements only. See, notice. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

5:30 PM. Deadline to submit to the U.S. China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCESRC) proposals for writing a research report to be titled "China's Civilian and Military Space Programs". See, Request for Proposals (RFP).

The House will meet at 9:00 AM for morning hour, and at 12:00 NOON for legislative business. See, Rep. Cantor's schedule for the week.

9:00 AM. The House Commerce's Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Communications and Technology will complete its mark up of HR 4342 [LOC | WW], the "Domain Openness Through Continued Oversight Matters Act of 2014", also known as the DOTCOM Act. See, notice. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

9:00 AM. The House Judiciary Committee's (HJC) Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet will hold a hearing titled "Should the Department of Commerce Relinquish Direct Oversight Over ICANN?". The witnesses will be Lawrence Strickling (head of the NTIA), Fadi Chehadé (P/CEO of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), Steven Metalitz (Coalition for Online Accountability), Daniel Castro (Information Technology & Innovation Foundation), and Paul Rosenzweig (Heritage Foundation). See, notice. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

9:00 AM. The House Science Committee (HSC) will hold a hearing titled "Department of Energy Science and Technology Priorities". The witness will be Ernest Moniz (Secretary of Energy). See, notice. Location: Room 2318, Rayburn Building.

9:00 AM. The House Intelligence Committee (HIC) will hold a closed hearing titled "Ongoing Intelligence Activities". See, notice. Location: Room HVC-304, Capitol Visitor Center.

9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Day one of a two day meeting of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Homeland Security Information Network Advisory Committee (HSINAC). This meeting will be on site, teleconferenced, and webcast. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 79, No. 42, March 4, 2014, at Pages 12209-12210. Location: 131 M St., NE.

9:30 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir) will hear oral argument in Alpine PCS v. FCC, App. Ct. No. 13-5205, an appeal from the U.S. District Court (DC). See also, FCC brief filed on November 25, 2013. Judges Brown, Millett and Pillard will preside. This is the third item on the Court's agenda. Location: USCA Courtroom, Prettyman Courthouse, 333 Constitution Ave., NW.

10:00 AM. The House Appropriations Committee (HAC) will hold a closed hearing on the FY 2015 budget for various surveillance and intelligence related agencies. The witness will be James Clapper (Director of National Intelligence). See, notice. Location: Room H-405, Capitol Building.

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

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

9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Day two of a two day meeting of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Homeland Security Information Network Advisory Committee (HSINAC). This meeting will be on site, teleconferenced, and webcast. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 79, No. 42, March 4, 2014, at Pages 12209-12210. Location: 131 M St., NE.

Deadline to submit to the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) all written statements regarding its preparation of a report for Congressional committees regarding India's industrial policies that create barriers to U.S. imports and investment. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 172, September 5, 2013, at Pages 54677-54678. This proceeding is Investigation No. 332-543.

Passover begins at sundown.

The House will not meet the week of April 14-18. See, 2014 House calendar.

5:00 PM. Deadline to submit comments to the Copyright Office (CO) regarding "Orphan Works and Mass Digitization". See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 79, No. 27, February 10, 2014, at Pages 7706-7711.

Deadline to submit comments to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) regarding its collection of information incident to collection of fees for processing and other services related to patents, trademarks, and information products, via credit cards, deposit accounts, and its forthcoming MyFinancials system. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 79, No. 29, February 12, 2014, at Pages 8439-8441.

Deadline to submit comments to the Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service (RUS) in response to its proposal to amend the telecommunications standards and specifications for material, equipment and construction regulations by replacing Equipment Specific Contracts, RUS Forms 397, 398, 525, 545, and the associated documents (Forms 231, 396, 396a, 397b, 397c, 397d, 397f, 397g, 397h, 517, 525a, 744, 752a, 754, and addenda) with a new Equipment Contract, RUS Form 395 and the associated close-out documents (Forms 395a, 395b, 395c and 395d). See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 79, No. 29, February 12, 2014, at Pages 8327-8337.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to the two Further Notice of Proposed Rulemakings (FNPRMs) contained in its huge item [114 pages in PDF] adopted on January 30, 2014, and released on January 31, regarding technology transitions in voice communications. This item is FCC 14-5 in GN Docket No. 13-5 and WC Docket Nos. 10-90 and 13-97. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 79, No. 40, February 28, 2014, at Pages 11366-11373.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding the "Proposal for Ongoing Data Initiative". See, Part V of the FCC's huge item [114 pages in PDF] adopted on January 30, 2014, and released on January 31, regarding technology transitions in voice communications. This item is FCC 14-5 in GN Docket No. 13-5 and WC Docket Nos. 10-90 and 13-97.

11:00 AM - 2:00 PM. The National Science Foundation's (NSF) Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) Program's Large Scale Networking Joint Engineering Team (LSN/JET) meets the third Tuesday of each month. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 226, November 22, 2013, at Page 70076. Location: NSF, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA.

10:00 - 11:00 AM. The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) will host a discussion regarding "Edward Snowden's betrayal". The speakers will be Liam Fox (UK Member of Parliament, and former Minister of Defense) and Marc Thiessen (AEI). Webcast. See, notice. Location: AEI, 12th floor, 1150 17th St., NW.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) regarding extension of the freeze of jurisdictional separations category relationships and cost allocation factors for three years, through June 30, 2017. The FCC adopted this FNPRM on March 26, 2014, and released it on March 27. It is FCC 14-27 in CC Docket No. 80-286. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 79, No. 63, April 2, 2014, at Pages 18498-18503.