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Tech Law Journal |
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| News, records, and analysis of legislation, litigation, and regulation affecting the computer, internet, communications and information technology sectors | |
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5/31. The FCC proposed modifying "certain aspects of its rules for the upcoming C and F block auction: [1] to reconfigure the size of C block spectrum licenses; [2] to modify the entrepreneur eligibility restrictions for certain licenses in both large and small markets; [3] and to retain the spectrum cap." See, FCC release. Commissioner Powell wrote in a separate statement that "I am very dismayed that this Further Notice proposes to reject out-of-hand any modification or elimination of the CMRS spectrum cap." 5/31. Microsoft filed its Comments on Plaintiffs' Revised Proposed Final Judgment. This filing responds to the DOJ's Revised Proposed Final Judgment, which was filed on May 26. Microsoft's response states that "the relief requested by the government is extreme and unjustified." Microsoft also filed its Supplement Offer of Proof. This includes an offer of testimony from Dreamworks co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg that "If Microsoft’s ability to produce exciting new products that work well together were restricted, as will be the case if Microsoft is broken up, DreamWorks’ business would suffer." See, MSFT release. 5/31. The DOJ released a statement in response to Microsoft's May 31 filings in which the DOJ asserted that "This is another effort to posture for appeal. Much of Microsoft's submission is patently irrelevant to the question before the court." 5/31. FCC Chairman William Kennard advocated creating a secondary market in spectrum. Kennard said: "All of the new technologies-- mobile phones, faxes, wireless computers-- are consuming spectrum faster than we can make it available, and we are in danger of a spectrum drought. We need to find spectrum to build the web of wireless applications that will continue to fuel our economic growth. The demand for spectrum is simply outstripping supply." See, FCC release. 5/31. The FCC reduced telephone access charges, the prices long distance companies pay to local telephone companies for access to their local phone network. See, FCC release. See also, reaction from USTA, BellSouth, and AT&T. 5/31. EU Member States approved the safe harbor arrangement, which enables the EU to certify that participating U.S. companies meet the EU requirements for adequate privacy protection. Commerce Sec. Wm. Daley released a statement in which he said that "This is a landmark accord for e-commerce because it bridges the differences between EU and U.S. approaches to privacy protection." 5/30. The FCC released its Biennial Review of its broadcast ownership rules. It proposes modification of three rules: (1) the dual network rule to allow common ownership of an established TV network (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC) and an emerging network (WBTN or UPN); (2) the definition of local radio markets and the methods of calculating the number of stations in a market and the number of radio stations a party owns in a particular market; and (3) the newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership rule. The FCC will issue three separate Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). See, FCC release. 5/29. The European Commission approved the Bell Atlantic GTE merger. See, EC release. 5/26. UK telecoms regulator Oftel ruled that BT must provide the necessary services to enable other operators to supply unmetered Internet access over BT’s local network. See, Oftel release. AOL released a statement praising the ruling. AOL stated: "OFTEL's ruling today to effectively end BT's role as gatekeeper to the Internet is a victory for consumers, competition and common sense." MCI Worldcom petitioned Oftel last year to mandate that British Telecom allow other ISPs to offer narrowband Internet access over BT's lines for a low, cost-based annual per-circuit tariff, as opposed to the present per-minute tariff. 5/26. The European Commission opened an investigation into Boeing's proposed acquisition of the satellite business of Hughes Electronics Corp. See, EC release. 5/26. ATT agreed to divest its interest in broadband Internet access provider Road Runner in order to comply with the DOJ demands in its antitrust merger review proceeding on the ATT-MediaOne deal. The DOJ filed a complaint in U.S. District Court in Washington DC, alleging that the combination of ATT's interests in Excite@Home and MediaOne's interests in Road Runner would substantially lessen competition in the aggregation, promotion, and distribution of broadband content. The DOJ also filed a proposed consent decree. See, DOJ release and ATT release. 5/26. The DOJ filed its Revised Proposed Final Judgment and Memorandum in Support of Revised Proposed Final Judgment. The DOJ continues to request that Microsoft be broken into two companies. 5/26. The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee held a hearing to examine export control implementation issues with respect to high performance computers. 5/25. The House voted to repeal the federal 3% excise tax on telephones. 5/25. The Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing to examine a Federal Trade Commission survey of Internet privacy policies. See, statements [in PDF] by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Robert Pitofsky (FTC), Sheila Anthony (FTC), Mozelle Thompson (FTC), Jill Lesser (AOL), Christine Varney (Online Privacy Alliance), Jason Catlett (Junkbusters), Jerry Berman (CDT), Daniel Weitzner (WWW Consortium). 5/25. The House Judiciary Committee's Immigration Subcommittee will held a hearing on the Clinton Administration's failure to promulgate regulations required by the 1998 H1B visas law. See, statement of Rep. Smith, and TLJ story. 5/25. The Senate Judiciary Committee held hearing titled "Internet Security and Privacy". See, statements of Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Sen. Patrick Leahy, (D-VT), Michael Vatis (FBI), James Robinson (DOJ, Criminal Division), Bruce Heiman (Americans for Computer Privacy), Richard Pethia (CERT), and Jeff Richards. 5/25. The House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property held an oversight hearing on "The United States Copyright Office and Sound Recordings as Work for Hire." The subcommittee heard from Marybeth Peters (Copyright Office), Hilary Rosen (Recording Industry Assoc. of Am.), Michael Greene (Recording Academy), Marci Hamilton (Cardozo School of Law), Sheryl Crow (singer), and Paul Goldstein (Stanford). 5/25. The House Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing entitled "Enforcing the Laws on Internet Pharmaceutical Sales: Where are the Feds?" 5/25. The House Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Telecommunications held a hearing on the deployment of broadband technologies. See, statements by Rep. Tom Bliley (R-VA), Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Susan Molinari (iAdvance), Scott Cleland (The Legg Mason Precursor Group), John Windhausen (CompTel), Don Vial, Alliance for Public Technology), Roy Neel, USTA), David Kunkel, PSINet), Shelton Jefferson, (Netcom), Russell Frisby (CTA), Jerry Ellig, (George Mason Univ.), Melvin Malone (Tennessee Regulatory Authority). 5/24. The House voted to grant PNTR status for the PR of China by a vote of 237 to 197. See, TLJ story. 5/24. U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Jackson heard oral arguments on the issue of remedies in DOJ v. Microsoft. 5/24. Microsoft filed its Offer of Proof In Opposition to Entry of the Government’s Proposed Final Judgment. 5/24. The EU released its eEurope 2002 draft plan [PDF]. The report addresses the goals of cheaper Internet access, faster Internet access, security, smart cards, education, stimulating use of the Internet, and other topics. 5/24. An annual survey [PDF] commissioned by the BSA and SIIA on global software piracy estimates that losses exceeded $12 Billion worldwide in 1999 and $59 Billion during the past five years. See, SIIA release. 5/23. The House began debate on PNTR status for China. The final vote is scheduled for Wednesday, May 24. 5/23. Commerce Sec. Wm. Daley gave a speech in which he discussed Wednesday's House vote on PNTR status for China. "Let me cut right to the chase," said Daley. "We still do not have the 218 votes yet to win it -- and the opposition does not have the votes to kill it. We will not know for sure until Speaker Hastert bangs the gavel." 5/23. The House Commerce Committee's Telecommunications Subcommittee held an oversight hearing entitled "Obscene Material Available via the Internet." See, TLJ story. 5/23. FCC Commissioner Gloria Tristani announced personnel changes. Rick Chessen, her Senior Legal Advisor, will resign, and be replaced by William Friedman. Deborah Klein, will be interim legal advisor for mass media and cable issues. Klein is currently the Chief of the Consumer Protection and Competition Division of the Cable Services Bureau. 5/22. The plaintiffs filed their appeal brief [PDF] with the U.S. Court of Appeals in Eldred v. Reno, a challenge to the Copyright Term Extension Act. See, TLJ case summary. See also, Berkman Center summary. 5/22. The U.S. Court of Appeals issued its opinion in U.S. v. Playboy Entertainment Group upholding the trial court ruling that §505 of the Telecom Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. § 561) violates the First Amendment. This section required cable television operators who provide channels “primarily dedicated to sexually-oriented programming” either to “fully scramble or otherwise fully block” those channels or to limit their transmission to hours when children are unlikely to be viewing. 5/22. The FTC issued a long report [PDF] recommending legislation to regulate online privacy. See also, FTC release, and dissent [PDF] of Commissioner Swindle. 5/22. Commerce Sec. Wm. Daley released a statement restating the administration's position that legislation is not necessary at this time. 5/20. USPTO Commissioner Todd Dickenson gave a commencement address at Franklin Pierce Law Center. He discussed "the patenting of methods of doing business, especially business on the internet. Should these methods be patentable? So long as they meet the statutory requirements for patentability -- that is that they are useful, new or novel, and they are not obvious over what’s come before -- the Courts, who set the standard in these matters, have told us clearly that they are. ... Will these patents interfere with -- or even destroy -- the Internet? Of course not." 5/20. The FTC will release the results of its latest survey of online privacy practices, and make its legislative recommendations to Congress, as early as Monday, May 22. It has not publicly released its survey results or recommendations, but press have reported on them, and industry groups have criticized them. See, for example, NYT story, and ITAA release. 5/19. The CCIA and SIIA filed an amicus brief with Judge Jackson in DOJ v. Microsoft which argues that Microsoft should be broken into three companies: operating system, applications, and browser. 5/19. The Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit issued its opinion upholding the constitutionality of two sections of the 1992 Cable Act: the "subscriber limits provision" which directs the FCC to limit the number of subscribers a cable operator may reach (47 U.S.C. § 533(f)(1)(A)), and the "channel occupancy provision" which directs the FCC to limit the number of channels on a cable system that may be devoted to video programming in which the operator has a financial interest. (47 U.S.C. § 533(f)(1)(B)). Time Warner brought a free speech challenge. "I am pleased," said FCC Chairman Wm. Kennard in a release. "The stay of the FCC's rules on cable horizontal ownership is now lifted." 5/19. FCC Chairman Wm. Kennard announced several staff changes. Dorothy Attwood will be senior legal advisor in the Office of the Chairman, and will continue to specialize in common carrier and enforcement issues. Ari Fitzgerald will be a deputy bureau chief of the International Bureau. Clint Odom will replace Fitzgerald as legal advisor for wireless and international matters in the Office of the Chairman; Odom is currently a legal advisor in the CSB. Last month, Karen Onyeije became legal advisor for mass media and cable issues in the Office of the Chairman; she is responsible for consumer issues. See, release. 5/19. The EU and the PR of China signed an agreement on China's accession to the WTO. See, EU release. Commerce Sec. Wm. Daley had this to say: "The agreement reached between the EU and China makes a good deal for America even better, and it makes China's entry into the WTO all but certain this year. If Congress does not approve permanent normal trade relations with China now, the U.S. will be left behind while our competitors enjoy all of the benefits of China's market openings." See, release. 5/19. The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee's Investigations Subcommittee held a hearing to examine the extent to which fraud and criminal activities are affecting commerce on the Internet, focusing on the availability of false identification documents and credentials on the Internet and the criminal uses to which such identification is put. 5/18. Senate Banking Committee's Subcommittee on Financial Institutions held a hearing on the I Love You virus and its impact on the financial services industry. "The thing that should make all of us sit-up and take notice is that if this virus had targeted Microsoft Excel or Lotus spreadsheets, it could have wrought massive devastation on the financial services industry," said Sen. Bob Bennett (R-UT), Chairman of the Subcommittee. "The I Love You virus demonstrates several weaknesses in our government's ability to detect and respond to fast moving cyber events in a coordinated and efficient manner." See, opening statement of Sen. Bennett. See also, prepared statements of Jack Brock (GAO), Gregory Baer (Treas. Dept.), Stephen Malphrus (FRB), and James Adams (iDefense). 5/18. The House Senate conference on electronic signatures legislation held a public meeting. Many members gave speeches, but no report was approved. Rep. John Dingell (D-MI), and several other Democrats, continue to oppose and delay adoption of a conference report. (The House passed HR 1714, and the Senate passed S 761, last year.) 5/18. The House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property held a hearing titled "Privacy and Electronic Communications." See, opening statement by Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC). See also, prepared testimony of Andrew Pincus (DOC), Jodie Bernstein (FTC), Paula Bruening (Truste), Marc Szafran (ESRB), Deirdre Mulligan (CDT), Jonathan Zuck (ACT), and Joel Reidenberg (Fordham). See also, TLJ story. 5/18. The House Reform Committee's Government Management, Information, and Technology Subcommittee held a hearing on HR 220, the "Freedom and Privacy Restoration Act of 1999," a bill to prohibit the establishment in the Federal Government of any uniform national identifying number. 5/17. George W. Bush endorsed extending PNTR status to China in a speech at Boeing. 5/17. The House Ways and Means Committee approved HR 4444, a bill to grant PNTR status to the PR of China, by a vote of 34 to 4. 5/17. The Senate Finance Committee approved S 2277, a bill to grant PNTR status to China, by a vote of 18 to 1. See, release. 5/17. Commerce Sec. Wm. Daley gave another speech on the China trade bill. "This will be the toughest vote the President has faced since his economic plan in '93 won by one vote. The worst mistake we could make is to underestimate the opposition. Organized labor is serious about this, and they are running an incredibly good campaign. They have applied pressure where it is most effective -- not in Washington but in the districts ..." See also, speech by Bill Clinton. 5/17. The House Agriculture Committee held a hearing on PNTR status for China. See, release. See also, testimony of Wm. Daley and Dan Glickman. 5/17. The House Ways and Means Committee approved HR 3916, a bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the excise tax on telephone and other communication services. 5/17. The House Judiciary Committee approved HR 4227, the "Technology Worker Temporary Relief Act," an H1B visa bill. See, TLJ story. 5/17. The House approved an amendment to the defense authorization bill which provides for a 60 day review of computer exports. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) had sought a 30 day review. 5/17. The House Commerce Committee amended and approved HR 4201, the Noncommercial Broadcasting Freedom of Expression Act of 2000. 5/17. The House Commerce Committee approved HR 3489, the Wireless Telecommunications Sourcing and Privacy Act, by a unanimous voice vote. 5/17. The House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law held a legislative hearing on HR 4267, the "Internet Tax Reform and Reduction Act of 2000," and HR 4450, the "Internet Tax Simplification Act of 2000." 5/17. The U.S. Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in USTA v. FCC, a challenge to the FCC's CALEA order. See, TLJ story. 5/17. The DOJ filed its response to Microsoft's proposed remedies in DOJ v. Microsoft. 5/17. AOL announced the launch of AOL@SCHOOL. It is available at no cost to all interested K-12 schools. See, release. 5/16. Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), the ranking Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, endorsed passage of PNTR status for China. 5/16. The House passed HR 1291, a bill preventing the FCC from imposing access charges on Internet access (but not preventing charges on IP telephony). The bill reads, in part: "... the Commission shall not impose on any provider of Internet access service (as such term is defined in section 231(e)) any contribution for the support of universal service that is based on a measure of the time that telecommunications services are used in the provision of such Internet access service. ... Nothing in this subsection shall preclude the Commission from imposing access charges on the providers of Internet telephone services, irrespective of the type of customer premises equipment used in connection with such services." 5/16. Former Housing Secretaries Jack Kemp and Henry Cisneros, and interest groups, advocated adding language providing amnesty for illegal aliens to pending H1B visa legislation. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), the sponsor of HR 4227, responded: "This resembles two contestants on 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire' who desperately need a lifeline to stay in the game. My advice to them is to just poll the audience - the American people will say no to amnesty." 5/16. Bill Clinton held a press conference in Washington DC at which he was asked about next week's House vote on PNTR status for China. "My view is that in the end it will pass." See, transcript. 5/16. The Association for Competitive Technology (ACT) filed a motion in the Microsoft antitrust case requesting that Judge Jackson listen to other IT firms that would be affected by his decision on remedies. See, release. 5/16. The House Ways and Means Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight held a hearing on Internet and telecommunications tax issues, including taxation of sales over the Internet and the excise tax on phones. See, witness list. 5/16. The Government Reform Committee's Government Management, Information and Technology Subcommittee held the second of two hearings on HR 4049, a bill to create a Privacy Protection Commission. Go to News Briefs from May 1-15, 2000.
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