5/21. Several groups criticized the House Rules Committee's version of HR 3361 [LOC | WW], the "USA Freedom Act", which the House is scheduled to consider on Thursday, May 22, but stopped short of expressing opposition to the bill.

Laura Murphy of the ACLU stated in a release that HR 3361"leaves much to be desired, and it is a limited first step in the direction of reforming mass surveillance practices. The Senate will have to make extensive improvements to satisfy the concerns of the American people over mass surveillance, and we will fight to make that happen."

Harley Geiger of the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) stated in a release that "The USA FREEDOM Act was a strong reform measure when it was introduced. The bill was watered down in the House Judiciary Committee, but it was still an effective prohibition on bulk collection ... Unfortunately, the version of the USA FREEDOM Act that will reach the House Floor will be so weakened that it may continue to allow mass, untargeted collection of Americans’ private records in the future. This is not the reform the world sought."

See also, stories titled ""House to Consider Bill to Limit Bulk Data Collection", "Analysis: HR 3361 and Bulk Collection of Data", and "Analysis: HR 3361 and Encryption Back Door Mandates" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,660, May 20, 2014.

5/21. The House adjourned at 9:45 PM on Wednesday night, May 21, 2014 without completing its consideration of HR 4435 [LOC | WW], the "National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015". The House considered an amendment offered by Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL) that contains the text of HR 4342 [LOC | WW], the DOTCOM Act. The House put off a roll call vote on this and other amendments. The House will resume consideration of HR 4435 on Thursday, May 22.

HR 4342 is the "Domain Openness Through Continued Oversight Matters Act of 2014", or "DOTCOM Act". The House Commerce's Committee (HCC) approved this bill on May 8.

In March the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) proposed to relinquish US control over internet domain name system functions. See, NTIA March 14, 2014 release and release.

This bill requires that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) write a report regarding a proposal that the NTIA receives "relating to the relinquishment of the responsibility of the NTIA over Internet domain name system functions".

The bill further provides that until then, the NTIA "may not relinquish or agree to any proposal relating to the relinquishment of the responsibility" of the NTIA "over Internet domain name system functions, including responsibility with respect to the authoritative root zone file, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority functions, and related root zone management functions."

5/14. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) released a discussion draft of a yet to be introduced bill titled the "Protecting Student Privacy Act", a bill that would regulate the collection, use, sharing, and retention of student data. It is particularly directed at schools' sharing of student data with private companies.

Sen. Markey stated in a release that the "student data shared with private companies may vary from information such as grades, test scores, and attendance records, to other data such as disabilities, family relationships, and disciplinary data. The draft legislation would ensure that students are better protected when data is shared with and held by third parties, and parents are able to control the sensitive information of their children."

The federal government does not educate many students. State and local governments and private entities do. The bill would leverage federal subsidization of educational entities to obtain compliance with its terms.

For example, it provides that "No funds shall be made available under any applicable program to any educational agency or institution unless the educational agency or institution establishes, implements, and enforces policies and procedures regarding information security practices ... serve to protect the education records and personally identifiable information held or maintained by the educational agency or institution; and ... require any outside party who maintains or stores such personally identifiable information, including contractors, volunteers, consultants, or other authorized representatives, to follow the policies and procedures required under this paragraph".

It also provides that "no funds shall be made available under any applicable program to any educational agency or institution that has a policy or practice of using, releasing, or otherwise providing access to personally identifiable information ... in the education records of a student to advertise or market a product or service".

It would also withhold federal subsidies from any school that does not have a policy that "promotes data minimization", and that provides for destruction personally identifiable student data after the individual is no longer a student.

It would also require a right of parental access to, and correction of, personally identifiable student data.

5/12. The Cato Institute released a paper [36 pages in PDF] titled "REAL ID: A State-by-State Update". The author is the Cato's Jim Harper.

Background. The original version of HR 418 (109th Congress), the "REAL ID Act of 2005", was introduced by Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) on January 26, 2005. However, the Congress enacted it in 2005, not as a stand alone bill, but rather as part of a larger appropriations bill, HR 1268 (109th Congress).

The REAL ID does not create a federally run national identification system. Rather, it attempts to create a national ID system by regulating the state drivers license issuing entities. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) promulgated rules in 2007 and early 2008. The federal government offers some money as incentives, and holds the threat of federal agencies refusing to recognize drivers licenses issued by non-compliant states.

Title II of the REAL ID Act imposes unfunded federal mandates on the states' identification document process, and mandates state electronic databases and data sharing. The Act sets minimum standards for states, penalizes states that do not implement its standards, but nevertheless relies upon states to implement it, largely at their own cost.

Cato Findings. This paper states that "States across the country rejected this unfunded federal surveillance mandate. Half the state legislatures in the country passed resolutions objecting to the REAL ID Act or bills outright barring their states from complying. Almost a decade later, there is no national ID, but Congress continues to funnel money into the federal government’s national ID project. The federal government has
spent more than a quarter billion dollars on REAL ID."

"Although REAL ID is moribund, a state-by-state review reveals that some states’ legislatures have backtracked on their opposition to the national ID law, and in some states motor vehicle bureaus are quietly moving forward with REAL ID compliance -- contrary to state policy. Surprisingly, in some states, motor vehicle bureaucrats are working to undercut state policy opposing REAL ID and the national ID system."

This paper argues that "If the United States is to avoid having a national ID, all states should cease implementation of REAL ID, the federal government should stop funding REAL ID efforts, and Congress should repeal this unwanted national ID law."

5/9. The Department of Defense (DOD) published a notice in the Federal Register (FR) on May 6, 2014 that announces, describes, recites, and sets the effective date (May 6) for, it final rules regarding "Detection and Avoidance of Counterfeit Electronic Parts".

Section 818 and Section 833 of the National Defense Authorization Acts (NDAA) for Fiscal Years 2012 and 2013 directed the DOD to write these rules.

These rules define the term "electronic part" to include, among other things, "an integrated circuit", "discrete electronic component", "circuit assembly", "embedded software", and "firmware". See, FR, Vol. 79, No. 87, May 6, 2014, at Pages 26091-26108.

The DOD also announced in another FR notice on May 9 that it will hold a public hearing on June 16 at 8:30 AM at the NASA Headquarters at 300 E St., SW. The deadline to register to attend is June 9. See, FR, Vol. 79, No. 90, May 9, 2014, at Pages 26725-26726.

5/21. Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) sent a letter to Brian Roberts, CEO of Comcast, regarding FCC net neutrality rules. Sen. Franken (at left) asked, "Will Comcast commit to abide by its existing net neutrality obligations -- including the anti-blocking and anti-discrimination requirements -- beyond January 2018 regardless of whether the FCC has implemented new and binding industry-wide net neutrality rules at that time?" During the FCC's review of Comcast's acquisition of NBC Universal, Comcast committed to adhere to the FCC's December 2010 rules that regulate the network management practices of broadband internet access service (BIAS) providers, through January of 2018, regardless of whether or not the Court of Appeals overturned those rules. The Court of Appeals vacated both the blocking and discrimination sections of those rules in January of 2014. Comcast is now undergoing a review of its proposed merger with Time Warner Cable, which gives Members of Congress and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) another opportunity to seek the imposition of conditions upon the merging parties.

5/14. The Department of Defense (DOD) published a notice in the Federal Register (FR) that announces, describes, recites, and sets the effective date (May 14) for, its rules for its "Pilot Program for the Temporary Exchange of Information Technology Personnel". See, FR, Vol. 79, No. 93, May 14, 2014, at Pages 27487-27488.

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The House will meet at 9:00 AM. It will first consider HR 3361 [LOC | WW], the "Uniting and Strengthening America by Fulfilling Rights and Ending Eavesdropping, Dragnet-collection, and Online Monitoring Act'' or "USA FREEDOM Act", a bill to limit the surveillance powers of the government by stating that several provisions of surveillance law may not be used for certain bulk collection. See, stories titled "House to Consider Bill to Limit Bulk Data Collection", "Analysis: HR 3361 and Bulk Collection of Data", and "Analysis: HR 3361 and Encryption Back Door Mandates" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,660, May 20, 2014. The House will then complete its consideration of HR 4435 [LOC | WW], the "National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015". See, Rep. Cantor's schedule.

The Senate will meet at 10:00 AM.

Supreme Court conference day. See, October Term 2013 calendar.

Day one of four of elections for the European Parliament.

9:00 AM. The House Intelligence Committee (HIC) will hold a closed meeting to mark up HR 4661 [LOC | WW], the "Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015". No webcast. See, notice. Location: Room HVC-304, Capitol Building.

9:15 AM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade will hold a hearing on HR __, a yet to be introduced bill regarding demand letters that allege patent infringement. Webcast. See, notice. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

9:30 AM. The House Small Business Committee's (HSBC) Subcommittee on Agriculture, Energy and Trade will hold a hearing titled "Unfair Trade Practices: Addressing Barriers Facing Small Business Exporters". This hearing will address, among other topics, intellectual property theft. Webcast. See, notice. Location: Room 2360, Rayburn Building.

9:30 AM. The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) will hold a closed business meeting to continue its mark up the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015. Location: Room 222, Russell Building.

CANCELLED. 9:30 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold an executive business meeting. The agenda once again includes consideration of S 1720 [LOC | WW], the "Patent Transparency and Improvements Act of 2013". See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building. See, story titled "Sen. Leahy Announces Failure to Reach Consensus on Patent Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,660, May 20, 2014.

10:00 - 1:45 AM. The New America Foundation (NAF) will host an event titled "Globalization Goes Digital". The speakers will address cross border flows of data, goods, services, finance, and talent. The speakers will include Eric Schmidt (Google and NAF) and Eric Spiegel (P/CEO of Siemens USA). Free. Open to the public. Webcast. See, notice. Location: NAF, Suite 400, 1899 L St., NW.

12:15 PM. Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) and others will hold a news conference to discuss House passage of HR 3361 [LOC | WW], the "USA FREEDOM Act". Location: Room HVC-114 (Studio A), Capitol Building.

1:00 - 5:00 PM. The Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics' (RTCA) Special Committee 228, Minimum Operational Performance Standards for Unmanned Aircraft Systems, will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 79, No. 68, April 9, 2014, at Page 19705. Location: RTCA, Suite 910, 1150 18th St., NW.

1:00 - 5:00 PM. The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of Customs and Border Protection will meet online and on site (in Miami, Florida). The DHS engages in several technology related activities, including enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPR) by seizing infringing goods, seizure of domain names, and warrantless searches of laptops, tablets, phones and other devices at entry points. The agenda for the meeting includes discussion of "the recommendations on the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Working Group's work to determine the feasibility of a Partnership Program for IPR" and "application of the Document Imaging System as a tool for IPR authentication". See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 79, No. 86, May 5, 2014, at Pages 25608-25609, and CBP notice. The deadline to submit comments is  May 15, 2014. The deadline to register to attend, either on site or online, is 5:00 PM EST on May 20, 2014. See, FR, Vol. 79, No. 86, May 5, 2014, at Pages 25608-25609.

CANCELLED. 6:00 - 8:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Engineering and Technical Committee will host an event titled "Repacking Broadcasters: A Technical and Legal Discussion". See, notice.

Deadline to submit nominations for Co-Chair of the Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Young Lawyers Committee. Submit nominations by e-mail to Justin Faulb at jfaulb at nab dot org and Lindsey Tonsager ltonsager at cov dot com.

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

Day two of four of elections for the European Parliament.

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) regarding its second draft SP 800-90 A Rev. 1 [112 pages in PDF] titled "Recommendation for Random Number Generation Using Deterministic Random Bit Generators".

Day three of four of elections for the European Parliament.

Day four of four of elections for the European Parliament.

Memorial Day. This is a federal holiday. See, Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) 2014 calendar of federal holidays.

12:15 - 1:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Young Lawyers Committee will host an event titled "Co-Chair Election and Planning Meeting". Location: Covington & Burling, 1201 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

11:59 PM. Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in response to its request for information on its potential transition of Internet Time Service (ITS) from a NIST only service to private sector operation of an ensemble of time servers that will provide NIST traceable time information in a number of different formats over the internet. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 79, No. 58, March 26, 2014, at Pages 16772-16774.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to Part VI(A) of its Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) regarding closed captioning of video programming. Part VI(A) pertains to "Responsibilities for Meeting the Closed Captioning Obligations". The FCC adopted this FNPRM on February 20, 2014, and released it on February 24, 2014. It is FCC 14-12 in CG Docket No. 05-231. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 79, No. 59, March 27, 2014, at Pages 17093-17106.

9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Day one of a two day meeting of the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics' (RTCA) Special Committee 231, TAWS-GPWS. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 79, No. 73, April 16, 2014, at Page 21505. Location: RTCA, Suite 910, 1150 18th St., NW.

9:30 - 11:00 AM. The New America Foundation (NAF) will host a panel discussion titled "Localism Over Consolidation: An Exploration of Public Broadband Options". The speakers will be Christopher Mitchell, Joanne Hovis, Will Aycock, Catharine Rice, and Sarah Morris. Free. Open to the public. Webcast. See, notice. Location: NAF, Suite 400, 1899 L St., NW.

12:00 NOON - 1:15 PM ET. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a webcast panel discussion titled "Fundamentals of Antitrust Exemptions and Immunities". The speakers will be Stephen Medlock (Mayer Brown), Carrie Amezcua (McDermott Will & Emery), Michael Gleason (Jones Day), and Gregory Luib (FTC). Prices vary. No CLE credits. See, notice.

12:30 - 2:00 PM. The American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) will host a webcast panel discussion titled "Octane Fitness and Highmark: A Look at the Supreme Court’s New Standards for Attorney Fee Awards". CLE credits. Prices vary. See, notice.

1:00 - 2:00 PM. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host a panel discussion titled "The Copyright Alert System: Year One in Review". The speakers will be Doug Brake (ITIF), Jerry Berman (Center for Democracy and Technology), Thomas Dailey (Verizon), Jill Lesser (Center for Copyright Information). See, notice. Location: Room 121, Cannon Building, Capitol Hill.

RESCHEDULED FROM MAY 21. LOCATION CHANGE. 6:00 - 7:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) International Committee will host an event titled "Reception". The speaker will be Daniel Sepulveda (Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and U.S. Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy). No webcast. No CLE credits. Prices vary. The deadline for registrations and cancellations is 5:00 PM on May 26. See, notice. Location: Hogan Lovells, Room 13 West, 555 13th St., NW.

EXTENDED FROM APRIL 28. Extended deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Public Notice (PN) that requests comments to refresh the record regarding the ability of non-English speakers to access emergency information. This PN is DA 14-336 in EB Docket No. 04-296. The FCC released it on March 11, 2014. See also, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 79, No. 60, March 28, 2014, at Pages 17490-17493, and April 24 Public Notice (DA 14-552) extending deadlines.

Supreme Court conference day. See, October Term 2013 calendar.

9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Day two of a two day meeting of the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics' (RTCA) Special Committee 231, TAWS-GPWS. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 79, No. 73, April 16, 2014, at Page 21505. Location: RTCA, Suite 910, 1150 18th St., NW.

6:00 - 8:15 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a panel discussion titled "What's a Trademark to Do: Protection and Infringement on the Internet". The speakers will be Eric Fingerhut (Dykema Gossett) and Joanne Ludovici (McDermott Will & Emery). The price to attend ranges from $89 to $129. CLE credits. No webcast. For more information, call 202-626-3488. The DC Bar has a history of barring reporters from its events. See, notice. Location: DC Bar Conference Center, 1101 K St., NW.

6:00 - 8:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Wireline Committee will host an event titled "Net Neutrality Redux: What Should the FCC Do?". The speakers will be Greg Haledjian, Jim Smith, Sean Lev (Kellogg Huber), Peter Karanjia (Davis Wright Tremaine), Scott Cleland (Precursor), Chris Lewis (Public Knowledge), Philip Macres, Robert Quinn (AT&T), Michael Altschul (CTIA), Robert Beury (Cogent Communications), and Earl Comstock (Eckert Seamans). Prices vary. CLE credits. No webcast. The deadline for registrations and cancellations is 5:00 PM on May 28. See, notice. Location: Davis Wright Tremaine, 1919 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.