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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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9/15. The DOJ approved Verizon's purchase of OnePoint Communications, a provider of broadband services to apartment buildings and condos. See, Verizon release. The FCC has not given its approval. 9/15. The FCC is seeking nominations of elected municipal officials to fill a vacancy on the FCC's Local and State Government Advisory Committee (LSGAC), which was left by the departure of Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Mary Poss. The LSGAC provides advice and information to the FCC on public rights-of-way, facilities siting, universal service, removal of barriers to competitive entry, and public safety communications. Nominations will be accepted through 5 PM on Oct. 6. See, FCC release [MS Word]. 9/15. The Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) Board of Directors elected Jeffrey Hawley of Eastman Kodak to be an additional IPO Vice President. 9/15. The RIAA hired Bruce Block to be its SVP of Technology. He previously worked as CTO and VP of Business Development at Musicmaker.com, a transaction-based e-commerce media company. See, release. 9/14. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) sent a letter to the U.S. Court of Appeals (9th Cir.) taking issue with the amicus curiae brief filed by the U.S. in Napster v. A&M Records on Sept. 11. The Copyright Office, which is an agency of the legislative branch, joined in that brief. Sen. Hatch, who is Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, wrote that "I thought it important that the Court be under no misapprehension that the brief necessarily expresses the views of the Congress in this matter. Indeed Congress has recently held hearings into the matter and is engaged in ongoing deliberations about it merits as the events unfold in the emerging online music and entertainment market." The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing in July on copying of music files on the Internet. See, TLJ story of July 12. 9/14. U.S. District Court Judge Paul Friedman (DDC) entered an injunction against two individuals who set up a company named American Telephone and Telecommunications Corporation (ATTC) which purported to provide Internet telephony services. The SEC filed its civil complaint against Wendell Carter and Paul Carter on Oct. 27, 1999, in which it alleged violation of § 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and § 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, by selling to the public ATTC stock and joint venture interests in a series of fraudulent offerings targeted mainly to Washington DC area residents. [Case No. 99-2848] See, SEC release. 9/14. The Texas Department of Public Safety, with assistance from the RIAA's Anti-Piracy Unit, executed a search warrant at Kode Red, a retail outlet in a Dallas suburb. Among the items seized were three CD-R towers, containing a total of 12 eight-speed CD-R burners, 329 blank CD-Rs, 528 jewel cases, 898 pirate CD-R labels, and 373 completed alleged pirate CD-Rs. See, RIAA release. 9/14. DOJ antitrust chief Joel Klein gave a speech in Brussels, Belgium, in which he advocated a global competition initiative. See also, TLJ story. 9/13. The FBI issued a statement about the privacy of people who use its web site. It is an apparent response to the Sept. 12 GAO report which found that 97% of federal government web sites do not comply with the four fair information practices announced by the FTC. Quote: "The FBI Home Page does not capture any information which identifies an individual visitor, or install "cookies" of any kind on a visitor's computer." However, the FBI's statement did not identity the privacy practices of pages in its web site other than its Home Page. 9/14. The FCC delayed consideration of its Notice of Inquiry regarding open access to broadband cable systems at its Commission meeting on Sept. 14. The five members of the Commission agreed to vote on the matter within two weeks. The pending AOL Time Warner merger was one reason for delay. Commissioner Gloria Tristani requested a delay at the meeting, and released a statement in which she said: "I requested that consideration of the Notice of Inquiry (NOI) on open access be delayed until the FCC completes its review of the Time Warner - AOL merger. With this adjudicatory matter pending involving open access, further analysis is appropriate prior to issuing an NOI. Nonetheless, I think it is high time to proceed with consideration of a national framework on this issue, and I look forward to acting on this expeditiously." 9/14. The FCC also postponed consideration of several matters pertaining to proposed rules to allow telecommunications providers to locate their facilities on rental properties, without the permission of the owners. Telecom companies support the rules that would allow them forced access. Property owners oppose them; they would have a legal claim, with a high probability of success, under the takings clause of the Fifth Amendment and the Loretto case, if the FCC were to attempt to impose forced access to their rooftops and right of ways. The FCC would likely have to rely of the shaky legal arguments, such as that the Heart of Atlanta case is controlling. [WT Docket No. 99-217, CC Docket No. 96-98, and CC Docket No. 88-57.] 9/14. The FCC adopted, but did not release, a "Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Declaratory Ruling" regarding navigation devices. § 629 of the Communications Act directs the FCC to adopt rules that allow consumers to buy navigation devices, such as cable set-top boxes and remote control units, from sources other than their cable providers. In 1998, the FCC adopted rules. The purpose of this latest notice is to initiate a review of those rules. At issue is whether the copy protection licensing agreement under development by CableLabs, known as the DFAST license, violates the rules. The FCC release also states that "some measure of anti-copying encryption technology located within a host navigation device is consistent" with its rules. NCTA CEO Robert Sachs had this reaction: "Program creators expect their digital content over cable systems to be protected, or they wont make it available. The FCCs decision will enable cable operators to require inclusion of copy protection technologies in digital TV sets and set-tops sold at retail." See, NCTA release. The CEA has this reaction. "We maintain, however, that the FCC has no legal authority to grant CableLabs permission to mandate copy protection schemes in the Dynamic Feedback Arrangement Scrambling Technique (DFAST) license." 9/14. The House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution met to mark up HR 5018, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 2000, and HR 4908, the Notice of Electronic Monitoring Act (NEMA). The subcommittee amended, adopted and reported HR 5018. Specifically, the subcommittee approved an amendment in the nature of a substitute (offered by Rep. Canady), as amended by an amendment (offered by Rep. Barr). The subcommittee did not take up HR 4908, which would require that employers who monitor their employee's e-mail give annual notice of their surveillance activities. 9/14. Susan DeSanti, Director of Policy Planning at the FTC, gave an address to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Legal Affairs Counsel on electronic B2B marketplaces and antitrust law enforcement. See, TLJ story. 9/14. Rep. Dick Armey (R-TX) wrote a letter to the IRS regarding the study [PDF] of the privacy practices of government web sites conducted by the GAO which was released on Sept. 12. He asked the IRS to explain why it failed to comply with two of the four fair information practices set by the FTC, and why the IRS web site places third party cookies on users' computers. 9/14. The Congressional Wireless Caucus held a press conference and technology demonstration on Capitol Hill. Sen. Sam Greenback (R-KS) spoke briefly; he advocated less regulation and more spectrum for wireless services. Rep. Chip Pickering (R-MS) spoke about the benefits of wireless communications. Dr. Howard Champion advocated the placement of wireless communications devices in all automobiles that would automatically provide accident notification. 9/14. Rep. Chip Pickering (R-MS) told TLJ that the chances are slim that the House will pass a stand alone bill in few remaining days of the 106th Congress that would require that schools and libraries receiving e-rate subsidies to use porn filtering software. However, he says that he still hopes that the measure will be attached as an amendment to an appropriations bill. Rep. Pickering is the sponsor of HR 4600, the Children's Internet Protection Act. 9/14. SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt named Tracey Aronson to be his new Chief of Staff. She is currently the SEC's Director of the Congressional and Legislative Affairs. She replaces Jennifer Scardino, who will join the London office of Citigroup as Director of Corporate Affairs for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. See, release. 9/14. The SEC filed and settled a civil lawsuit in U.S. District Court (WDTX) against 1stBuy.com, Inc. and its founder, Roger Pringle, for securities fraud and violation of the registration provisions of federal securities laws. Defendants made false statements on 1stBuy's web site and in unsolicited e-mail messages, including that 1stBuy's offering was a "pre-IPO" offering, and that an IPO price range of $12 - $18 had been set. [Case No. A-00-ca-599sf] See, release. 9/14. 9/14. The Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) held a summit on options for CALEA, following the August 15 decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals striking down the FCC's CALEA order. 9/14. USPTO chief Todd Dickinson announced that he will travel to Thailand to give the keynote address on Sept. 18 at the Conference on Intellectual Property Enforcement in a Knowledge-Based Economy, sponsored by the USPTO and WIPO. His message will be that there is a relationship between effective civil and criminal intellectual property enforcement mechanisms and thriving in the knowledge-based global economy. See, release. 9/14. The House Commerce Committee approved by voice vote an amendment in the nature of a substitute [PDF] to HR 3850, the Independent Telecommunications Consumer Enhancement Act of 2000. The Committee then voted to report the bill, as amended. The bill, as amended, relieves two percent carriers (any ILEC that has less than 2% of the nation's subscriber lines) from certain regulations affecting other ILECs. It states that one of its purposes is to further the deployment of broadband services. 9/14. At its Sept. 13 mark up session, the House Commerce Committee put off until Monday, Sept. 18, its mark up of the reciprocal compensation bill, HR 4445. See also, Sept. 14 statement of Rep. John Dingell (D-MI). 9/14. The House Commerce Committee approved by voice vote an amendment in the nature of a substitute [PDF] to HR 3100, the "Know Your Caller Act." The Committee voted to report the bill, as amended. The bill provides that, "It shall be unlawful for any person with the United States, in making a telephone solicitation to interfere with or circumvent the capability of a caller identification service to access or provide to the recipient of the telephone call involved in the solicitation any information regarding the call that such service is capable of providing." 9/13. The House Ways and Means Committee released its Rept. No. 106-845 [PDF] on H.R. 4986, the FSC Repeal and Extraterritorial Income Exclusion Act of 2000. The bill replaces the foreign sales corporations (FSC) scheme, which the WTO held to be an illegal export subsidy, with an extraterritorial income exclusion scheme. 9/13. The Senate continued its consideration of HR 4444, a bill to provide PNTR status for China. 9/13. Sen. Fred Thompson (R-TN) introduced S 3040, a bill to establish the Commission for the Comprehensive Study of Privacy Protection. "The increasing popularity of the Internet and e-mail as a primary means of communicating and disseminating information is one of the major reasons for the rising concerns about personal privacy," said Sen. Thompson. 9/13. Sen. John Ashcroft (R-MO) introduced S 3042, a bill to protect citizens against becoming victims of Internet fraud, to provide stiff penalties against those who target senior citizens, and to educate senior citizens on how to avoid being victimized by Internet or telemarketing fraud. 9/13. The House Banking Committee held a hearing on HR 4311, the Identity Theft Prevention Act of 2000. Betsy Broder, of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection testified that "The Internet has dramatically altered the potential occurrence and impact of identity theft. First, the Internet provides access to identifying information, through both illicit and legal means. The global publication of identifying details that previously were available only to a select few increases the potential for misuse of that information. Second, the ability of the identity thief to purchase goods and services from innumerable e-merchants expands the potential harm to the victim through numerous purchases." See, Broder testimony. See also, links to prepared statements of all witnesses. 9/13. FCC Chairman Wm. Kennard gave a speech to the NABOB. "The rise of the New Economy brought Americans great prosperity, but it also created considerable new dangers. Those without access to crucial new technologies now faced a silicon ceiling that threatened to limit their upward mobility and their full potential," said Kennard. "Thanks to the leadership of President Clinton and Vice-President Gore, we have wired one million classrooms to the Internet through the e-rate program." He also addressed low power FM, EEO rules, and minority broadcast ownership. 9/13. The EPIC sent a letter to the subscribers of its e-mail alert stating that it will no longer have a formal relationship with Amazon.com, due to its recent changes to its privacy practices. EPIC is a a Washington DC based group involved in privacy and civil rights issues associated with electronic media. See also, Amazon's privacy policy. 9/13. The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) announced that Robert Cresanti will join its staff as SVP of Government Affairs and General Counsel. He previously was Staff Director of the Financial Institutions Subcommittee of the Senate Banking Committee. He also worked for the Senate Y2K Committee. He is a Texan. He replaces Marc Pearl, who left to join the law firm of Shaw Pittman. See, ITAA release. 9/13. Marc Wensell was sentenced in the U.S. District Court (EDVa) to serve 3 years of probation for criminal copyright infringement in connection with the sale of pirated software over the Internet. Wensell entered a plea of guilty to one count of violation of 17 U.S.C. § 506 (a)(1) and 18 U.S.C. § 2319 (b)(1). See, SIIA release. 9/13. Microsoft filed three complaints in U.S. District Court (EDMo) alleging copyright infringement for distributing counterfeit software. See, release. 9/13. The SEC adopted rules to allow investment advisors to submit their registration forms and other filings electronically. The SEC's new Investment Adviser Registration Depository (IARD) is a web based system. It will provide information about advisers, including the services they provide, fees they charge, their conflicts of interest and disciplinary history. See, SEC release. 9/13. The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) released a Preliminary Determination [41 pages in PDF] on its investigation of a complaint that Korea, China, and the UK are importing desktop note counters and scanners into the U.S. in violation of §733(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. §1673b(a), regarding anti-dumping. The ITC found that "there is no reasonable indication that an industry in the United States is threatened with material injury by reason of subject imports ..." [Investigations Nos. 731-TA-885-887] 9/12. Reps. Tom Bliley (R-VA), Billy Tauzin (R-LA), and Mike Oxley (R-OH) sent a letter to USTR Charlene Barshefsky regarding government ownership of foreign telecom monopolies. "A telecom regulator cannot be truly 'impartial' if it retains a financial interest in the incumbent telephone company." They continued that, "now is the time for foreign governments to get out of the telecom services business. And now is the time for USTR to see that it is done." 9/12. Napster filed its Reply Brief [47 pages in PDF] with the U.S. Court of Appeals (9th Cir.) in Napster v. A&M Records. It asserts that "serious errors pervade" the Appellees' Brief, and that Appellees assert as fact propositions not found by the District Court. Napster also argues that Appellees misinterpret the AHRA and the Sony case. 9/12. The House Science Committee's Subcommittee on Basic Research held a hearing titled "Beyond Silicon-Based Computing: Quantum and Molecular Computing." "If we are to continue to see improvements in the performance and cost of computing, we must go beyond silicon," said the NSF's Ruzena Bajcsy. See, prepared statements of Rep. Nick Smith (R-MI), Ruzena Bajcsy, Charles Bennett (IBM), Timothy Havel (Harvard), and Laura Landweber (Princeton). 9/12. The Senate resumed consideration of HR 4444, a bill to provide PNTR status for China. The Senate also proceeded with its serial rejection of numerous proposed amendments. The following amendments were defeated: Byrd Amendment No. 4117, regarding WTO subsidy obligations. Wellstone Am. No. 4119 (prison labor) by a vote of 29 yeas to 68 nays [Roll Call No. 238]. Helms/Wellstone Am. No. 4125 (human rights) by a vote of 32 yeas to 63 nays [Roll Call No. 239]. Wellstone Am. No. 4118 (human rights). Wellstone Am. No. 4120 (unions). Wellstone Am. No. 4121 (strikes). Smith (NH) Am. No. 4129 (abortions and body parts). Byrd Am. No. 4131 (USITC). Thompson Am. No. 4132 (bombs and rockets). Hollings Am. No. 4134 (SEC 10-K forms). Hollings Am. No. 4135 (grains and beans). Hollings Am. No. 4136 (trade reports). Hollings Am. No. 4137 (insurance). 9/12. House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX) and Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-LA) released a GAO report that found that of a sample of 65 federal government web sites, only 3% satisfy the privacy standards which the FTC applies to commercial web sites. See also, TLJ story and transcript of press conference. 9/12. MP3.com CEO Michael Robertson released a lengthy statement on the pending copyright infringement litigation against MP3.com. On Sept. 6, U.S. District Court Judge Rakoff ruled that MP3.com willfully infringed Universal Music Group's copyrights, and set damages at $25,000 for each compact disk. Quote: "Regardless of the aggregate judgement, we intend to pursue an appeal of all appropriate issues related to this lawsuit, including the court's decision regarding the 'willfulness' issue and level of statutory damages, as well as the court's ruling on the issue of 'fair use.' " He added: "We are working with several legislators in Washington DC to review current copyright laws and possibly revise those laws ..." 9/12. The House Government Reform Committee's Subcommittee on Government Management, Information, and Technology held a hearing on establishing a Federal Chief Information Officer. Rep. Jim Turner (D-TX), the ranking Democrat on the Subcommittee, is the sponsor of HR 4670, the Chief Information Officer of the United States Act of 2000. Witnesses included: Sally Katzen (OMB), David McClure (GAO), Jim Flyzik (Treasury Dept.). 9/12. Attorney General Janet Reno gave the keynote speech at the Intellectual Property Symposium of the Americas. She devoted her address to intellectual property crime and the need for cooperation among governments and industry. 9/12. The House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on HR 4321, the "Antitrust Enforcement Improvement Act of 2000." 9/12. Harris Interactive (HI), an Internet market research firm, announced that is has dismissed its complaint against MAPS and several ISPs. "We sued to open communication with our respondents and that goal was accomplished," said CEO Gordon Black. HI filed suit in U.S. District Court (WDNY) on July 31 against Microsoft (as the operator of hotmail), AOL, Qwest, other e-mail service providers, and MAPS, alleging violation of antitrust law, defamation, negligence, and other causes of action. The e-mail service defendants were blocking HI e-mail as part of their anti-spam efforts. Both AOL and Microsoft previously reached settlements with HI, in which both agreed not to block HI e-mail. See, release. 9/12. FCC Chairman Wm. Kennard gave a speech in Atlanta about Internet telephony and the nature of FCC regulation. He stated that "now my top priority at the FCC is to get high-speed broadband access into every home and hamlet in this country." He commented that "I also think that regulation is too often used as a shield, to protect the status quo from new competition - often in the form of smaller, hungrier competitors -- and too infrequently as a sword -- to cut a pathway for new competitors to compete by creating new networks and services." 9/11. FCC Chairman Wm. Kennard announced his intention to name Sherille Ismail Deputy Chief of the Cable Services Bureau. He is currently Dep. Dir. of the Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs. He has also worked in the Common Carrier Bureau and International Bureau. Prior to working for the FCC, he worked for Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee. See, release [MS Word]. 9/12. Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) President Matthew Flanigan advocated passage of S 2698 and HR 4728, the Broadband Internet Access of 2000, at a press conference in Washington DC. See, TIA release. 9/12. NCTA EVP Peggy Binzel gave a speech in Baltimore in which she stated that "much of our competition is continuing to run to Washington with arguments about 'consolidation' and 'bottlenecks' -- conveniently forgetting that cable operators face intense competition in each of our new businesses while facing growing competition in our core business -- from satellites, overbuilders and ultimately, from the Internet itself." 9/12. Microsoft announced that it filed five complaints in U.S. District Courts in California alleging that the five defendants distributed counterfeit and/or infringing copies of Microsoft software or software components. See, MSFT release. 9/11. The Senate resumed consideration of HR 4444, a bill to provide permanent normal trade relations status for China, and proposed amendments thereto. 9/11. The FTC sent letters to the founders of the proposed Covisint automotive business to business (B2B) venture, stating that it has closed its investigation of whether Covisint violates Section 7 of the Clayton Act, and that its has terminated the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act. See, letter to GM, Ford and Daimler Crysler. The FTC sent similar letters to Renault, Nissan, CommerceOne and Oracle. See, FTC release. See also, TLJ story. 9/11. Rambus filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) against two Hyundai companies alleging unlawful importation into the US, and sale in the US after importation, of Hyundai products covered covered by Rambus patents, in violation of §337 of the Tariff Act of 1930. See, Rambus release. Rambus also filed two lawsuits in France and Germany against Hyundai Electronics Industries alleging patent infringement. See, Rambus release. Rambus also filed two lawsuits in France and Germany against Micron alleging patent infringement. See, Rambus release. On Aug. 29, Hyundai filed a complaint alleging patent infringement against Rambus in U.S. District Court (N.D.Cal., San Jose). Micron filed a similar complaint on Aug. 28. Rambus, based in Mountain View, CA, designs and develops high bandwidth chip connection technologies that enable semiconductor memory devices to keep pace with faster generations of processors and controllers. Micron, based in Boise, Idaho, makes semiconductor memory products. 9/11. Media Metrix, a company which measures Internet audiences, released a report on the growth of both home and office users of the legally embattled Napster. The number of unique home users grew from 1.1 Million in February to 4.9 Million in July, a 345% increase. The number of unique office users grew from 417,000 in May to 887,000 in July. See, release. 9/11. The House Government Reform Committee's Subcommittee on Government Management, Information, and Technology will hold a hearing titled "Computer Security: Are Federal Agencies Adequately Protecting Their Computer Systems and Information?" See, TLJ story. 9/11. The BSA filed an amicus brief [PDF, 18 pages] with the U.S. Court of Appeals (9th Cir.) in Napster v. A&M Records, urging that the lower court be affirmed. Quote: "BSA recognizes that peer-to-peer technology is inherently a promising and positive technological development, and should not be condemned. At the same time, however, the courts have the authority -- and should exercise such authority -- to enjoin illegal uses of this or any other technology that undermine the statutory and constitutional protections afforded to copyrightholders, whether online or through other media. In this regard, the lower courts decision was correct on the facts of this case and the applicable law, and should therefore be affirmed." 9/11. The SIIA announced that actions taken against alleged Internet software pirates increased 235% over the year ending August 31. In that time, SIIA took action on 757 cases of pirates selling or distributing illegal software or technological information allowing the circumvention of copyright protection, compared to 226 actions the previous year. See, SIIA release. 9/11. The Urban Institute released a report on the e-rate. FCC Chairman Wm. Kennard issued a release in which he praised the report and called the e-rate a "spectacular success." See also, statement of FCC Commissioner Ness praising the report and the e-rate. 9/10. ICANN announced that its at large nominations period has concluded. Voting will run from Oct. 1-10. See, release. 9/8. The Senate Appropriations Committee filed its report to accompany HR 4690 RS, a bill making appropriations for the Commerce, Justice, State, and the Judiciary (CJS) for FY 2001. The bill includes appropriations for the USPTO, which has been a hotly debated issue this year. The USPTO is funded solely from user fees. Since 1990 an increasingly large amount of these have been diverted to pay for other government programs. The House bill diverts an estimated $295 Million. The House rejected by a vote of 145 to 223 an amendment offered by Rep. Coble on June 23 that would have restored $134 Million. The Senate committee version is now $1,038,732,000. The version passed by the House is $904,924,000. See, excerpts from of Senate Report No. 106-404 and HR 4690 RS pertaining to the USPTO. 9/8. Geoworks filed a complaint against phone.com, Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. of Japan, and Sanyo North America Corp. with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC). The complaint alleges patent infringement, and seeks an order blocking importation into the US of Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) cellular telephones containing Phone.com's microbrowser. At issue is Geoworks' U.S. Patent No. 5,327,529. See, Geoworks release. On April 25, phone.com filed a complaint in U.S. District Court (N.D.Cal., S.F.) against Geoworks alleging that Geoworks' patent is invalid and unenforceable. On June 16 Geoworks counterclaimed for patent infringement. See also, phone.com's release of April 25. 8/28. The IRS wrote a letter to ICANN in which it stated that ICANN is "exempt from federal income tax under section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code as an organization described in section 501(c)(3)." 9/8. The USPTO and the Copyright Office filed an amicus brief in A&M Records v. Napster in which it argued that "Section 1008 of the Audio Home Recording Act does not protect Napster from the plaintiffs' claims of copyright infringement. Section 1008 was adopted to address a very different phenomenon the noncommercial consumer use of digital audio recording devices, such as DAT tape decks, to perform "home taping" of musical recordings. Napster's effort to bring itself within the ambit of Section 1008 flouts the terms of the statute and conflicts with the basic policies of the Act." 9/8. Harris Interactive (HI) and Microsoft reached a settlement of HI's lawsuit against Microsoft and others. Microsoft, as part of an anti-spam effort, blocked HI e-mail messages reaching Microsoft's hotmail users. Microsoft agreed to stop filtering HI e-mail. HI filed suit in U.S. District Court (WDNY) on July 31 against Microsoft, AOL, Qwest and other e-mail service providers alleging violation of antitrust law, defamation, negligence, and other causes of action. All subscribed to the Realtime Blackhole List, which is maintained by the Mail Abuse Prevention System. MAPS is also a defendant in the suit. AOL settled in August by agreeing to stop blocking HI e-mail. See, HI release. 9/8. FCC released an order [47 pages, MS Word] in its SBC Ameritech antitrust merger review proceeding (CC Docket No. 98-141). The FCC waived parts of its order approving the merger to allow SBC to begin providing DSL service through neighborhood broadband gateways deployed by it as part of the its $6 Billion Project Pronto initiative. This order waives the condition imposed upon SBC that requires an SBC separate affiliate to own equipment used to provide advanced services. See, TLJ story. See also, SBC release. 9/8. The House Commerce Committee's Telecom Subcommittee postponed indefinitely its meeting to mark up several bills, including H.R. 3011, the Truth in Telephone Billing Act of 1999. HR 3100, the Know Your Caller Act. HR 3850, the Independent Telecoms. Consumer Enhancement Act of 2000. HR 2346, regarding regulation of citizens band radio equipment. 9/8. The Child Online Protection Commission announced that it will hold a meeting in Washington DC on Sept. 18 and 19. See, TLJ Calendar. 9/7. FCC Commissioner Gloria Tristani gave a speech in Washington DC to the LCCR titled "Civil Rights in the Digital World." Quote: "The civil rights and policy debate in the digital era is about ... answering the following questions. ... And one final question, should the universal access to the telephone of the past century be extended to the technology of the digital century?" See also, TLJ story. 9/7. Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA) and Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) sent a letter to FCC Chairman Wm. Kennard and FTC Chairman Rbt. Pitofsky requesting that the FCC institute a formal rule making proceeding on open access, but that neither the FTC or FCC impose any open access conditions in their AOL Time Warner merger proceedings. See, TLJ story. 9/7. Real Networks and Streambox settled their lawsuit. Real filed suit in Dec. 1999 in U.S. District Court (WDWa) alleging that Streambox products violated the DMCA. The companies issued releases which both stated: "Streambox agreed that it will modify its Streambox Ripper product so that it no longer transcodes RealMedia streams into other formats, and that it will modify its Streambox VCR product so that it respects the copy protection feature in RealSystem. RealNetworks will provide Streambox with a license to the RealSystem Software Development Kit, which Streambox can use to create future versions of Streambox products that will respect RealNetworks' copy protection technology. As part of the settlement, Streambox also agreed to stop distributing the Streambox Ferret program, which altered the search functionality on RealNetworks' RealPlayer, and to pay RealNetworks an undisclosed sum of money. The parties did not release further details of the confidential settlement agreement." See, Real release. 9/7. The House Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Health and Environment held a hearing titled "Telehealth: A Cutting Edge Medical Tool for the 21st Century." 9/7. The House Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Telecommunications held a hearing titled "Foreign Government Ownership of American Telecommunications Companies." See, prepared statements of Rep. Tom Bliley (R-VA), Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-SC), Rep. Jennifer Dunn (R-WA), Kevin DiGregory (DOJ), Larry Parkinson (FBI), William Kennard (FCC), Richard Fisher (USTR), John Stanton (VoiceStream), Morton Bahr (CWA), Gregory Sidak (AEI), and Andrew Lipman (Swidler Berlin). 9/7. The FCC released an agenda for its Sept. 14 open meeting. 9/7. Glenn Reynolds was appointed Associate Bureau Chief of the FCC's Common Carrier Bureau (CCB). He will have primary responsibility for the oversight and coordination of issues handled by the Bureau's Policy and Program Planning Division, including 271 applications, merger reviews, and local competition rules. Jeffrey Dygert was named an Asst. Bureau Chief of the CCB. See, FCC release [MS Word]. Katherine Schroder was appointed Chief of the CCB's Accounting Policy Division. Mark Seifert was appointed Deputy Division Chief. See, FCC release [MS Word]. 9/7. The FEC issued a draft advisory opinion which pertains to the use of electronic signatures. Several incorporated trade associations requested an opinion regarding whether electronic signatures may be used by a corporate representative to authorize solicitations by a trade association for contributions to its separate segregated fund. The draft opinion states that they may, provided that there are "adequate security measures", including that they have the "ability to verify that the electronically signed authorization came from the particular representative", and that the record is stored and retrievable. The FEC welcomes comments on the draft opinion until 12:00 noon on Sept. 13. [Draft AO 2000-22.] 9/7. The SIIA sent a letter to Members of the House, and a similar letter to Senators, urging passage of H1B bills HR 3983 and S 2045. See, SIIA release. 9/6. The FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau rescheduled the next auction (No. 35) of C and F block broadband Personal Communications Service (PCS) licenses from Nov. 29 to Dec. 12. See, FCC release [MS Word]. 9/6. The FCC named Linda Paris acting Director of the Office of Media Relations (OMR), and Jay Heimbach as acting Director of the Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs (OLIA). They replace Joy Howell and Sheryl Wilkerson, who had been criticized by Members of Congress for violating a statutory ban on lobbying the Congress. Both Howell and Wilkerson went to work for the Gore campaign. See, FCC release [MS Word]. 9/6. The Senate continued its debate on HR 4444, a bill to extend PNTR status to China. Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) stated: "During the Senate debate this month, we will hear a lot about other issues, with Senators offering a plethora of amendments. The list will probably include human rights, worker rights, religious freedom, prison labor, Taiwan security, arms proliferation, and export of American jobs, among others. ... I urge all my colleagues to support this PNTR legislation without amendments." Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-MN) stated that "it is commonly assumed the Senate is going to pass PNTR." 9/6. U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff released his ruling in which found that MP3.com willfully infringed Universal Music Group's copyrights, and set damages at $25,000 for each compact disk that it digitally copied. The number of such disks has not yet been determined. MP3.com CEO Michael Robertson promised to appeal. RIAA SVP and General Counsel Cary Sherman stated in a release that "This should send a message that there are consequences when a business recklessly disregards the copyright law. We trust this will encourage those who want to build a business using other people's copyrighted works to seek permission to do so in advance." See also, MP3.com release. 9/6. Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the FBI's Carnivore e-mail surveillance system. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Sen. Pat Leahy (D-VT) conducted the hearing, along with a brief appearance by Sen. Specter. These Senators did not criticize the Carnivore system as did many members of the House Judiciary Committee at their July 24 hearing. Vint Cerf of WorldCom testified that he is satisfied with Carnivore. See, prepared statements: Sen. Hatch, Sen. Leahy, Donald Kerr (FBI), Kevin DiGregory (DOJ), Vint Cerf (WorldCom), Jeffrey Rosen (GWU), James Dempsey (CDT). 9/6. The House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution held a hearing on HR 5018, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 2000, HR 4987, the Digital Privacy Act of 2000, HR 4908, the Notice of Electronic Monitoring Act. See, prepared statements of witnesses: Kevin DiGregory (DOJ), James Dempsey (CDT), Gregory Nojeim (ACLU), Robert Corn-Revere, (Hogan & Hartson), Marc Rotenberg, (EPIC), Lewis Maltby, (NWI), Kenneth Segarnick (United Messaging), and Michael Overly (Foley & Lardner). 9/6. Rep. Dick Armey (R-TX) released a statement reaffirming his opposition to the Carnivore system. 9/6. The SEC announced 15 enforcement actions against 33 people and companies for Internet securities fraud. All actions involve pump-and-dump stock manipulations in which the defendants spread false information through electronic newsletters, web sites, e-mail messages, and posts on message boards. Previous SEC actions have targeted illegal touting and sale of bogus securities. SEC Director of Enforcement Richard Walker said that "What used to require a network of professional promoters and brokers, banks of telephones and months to accomplish can now be done in minutes by a single person using the Internet and a home computer. Thinly traded microcap stocks are particularly susceptible to online manipulations." See, SEC release. 9/6. The EIA sent a letter to Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-MO) in support of passage of an H1B bill. The TIA sent a letter to Members of Congress and others in support of passage of H1B bills HR 3983 and S 2045. 9/6. RSA Security released the RSA public key encryption algorithm patent into the public domain two weeks before the Sept. 20 expiration of its 17 year term. U.S. Patent No. 4,405,829 is the standard for encryption that secures the majority of the e-business conducted on the Internet. See, RSA release. 9/6. The FTC's Bureau Consumer Protection released a report titled "Consumer Protection in the Global Electronic Marketplace: Looking Ahead." The report's recommendations include convergence of national consumer protection laws, and development of arrangements for cross-border judgment recognition and enforcement. The report discusses, but takes no position on, jurisdiction or choice of law in international consumer e-commerce disputes (i.e., country of origin v. country of destination). See, FTC release. 9/6. The FTC approved the publication of a Federal Register notice describing the submission of proposed self-regulatory guidelines by TRUSTe. The notice addresses the safe harbor requirements of §312.10 of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), and requests public comments. See, TRUSTe submission [PDF]. 9/5. The Senate began debate on HR 4444, a bill to extend Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status to China. The House has passed the bill, and Bill Clinton supports it. 9/5. Broadcom President/CEO Henry Nicholas released a statement in response to Intel's filing of a complaint for patent infringement on Aug. 30. He said that "the notion that we need to misappropriate Intel's technology to compete is nonsense. It is widely recognized in the industry and investment community that Broadcom, not Intel, is the leader in digital cable TV, cable modem, Gigabit Ethernet, home networking, and other key 21st Century communications IC technologies." He added that "we view this lawsuit as just the latest in a troubling practice by Intel to rely on litigation as a standard business tactic to slow not only Broadcom but any competitor who poses a serious threat to Intel in the marketplace." 9/5. U.S. District Court Judge Richard Berman (SDNY) denied defendants' motion to dismiss in Swedenburg v. Kelly, a constitutional challenge to N.Y. State's statute affecting Internet alcohol sales. Plaintiffs, two owners of small wineries, and several wine snobs, are represented by the Institute for Justice. They argue that N.Y.'s restrictions on interstate wine shipping and communication of such transactions violate the First Amendment, the Interstate Commerce Clause, and the Privileges and Immunities Clause. See, IJ release. See also, Complaint and TLJ case summary. 9/5. The FCC reported the results of its 800 MHz Specialized Mobile Radio Service (SMR) auction, which was conducted Aug. 16 through Sept. 1. SMR licenses may be used for mobile wireless data services, remote database access, mobile telephony, dispatch, inventory tracking, credit card authorization, vehicle location, two-way paging, and other purposes. 1,030 licenses in 72 economic areas were sold to 14 bidders for a total of $319 Million. A second 800 MHz SMR auction will commence on Nov. 1. See, FCC release and WTB's Auction Fact Sheet. 9/5. The NTIA released a report on its TOP grant program (formerly called TIIAP), titled "Community Connections: Preserving Local Values in the Information Age." The TOP program is funded by the Congress at $15.5M for FY2000. Since Greg Rohde became head of the NTIA in Nov. 1999, the focus of the TOP program has been the "digital divide". The report reviews on a grant by grant basis how TOP grants are helping to connect under served populations, enhance work skills, and increase the capacity of community-based organizations. See also, NTIA release. 9/4. ICANN published an announcement in its web site that "its agreements with the United States Government will be extended for up to one year." See, release. 9/1. The SEC filed a civil complaint against a former Intel employee named Brian Pridgeon, and others, for illegal insider trading. The U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles filed a parallel criminal action. The defendants traded in the securities of Ancor Communications before the Dec. 7, 1999 public announcement that Ancor was entering into two significant business transactions with Intel. The SEC's complaint alleges §10(b) fraud based on insider trading, and seeks an injunction, disgorgement, and civil penalties. The criminal complaint charges conspiracy and securities fraud. See, SEC release. 9/1. A complaint was filed in U.S. District Court (SDNY) against Internet Wire and Bloomberg News alleging §10(b) fraud in connection with their publishing a fake press release with false information about Emulex. Plaintiff, Ron Hart, an Emulex investor who is represented by the law firm of Schatz & Nobel, seeks class action status. The individual who perpetrated the press release fraud, Mark Jakob, has been arrested by the FBI, and charged with securities fraud by the SEC. A second complaint was filed in California against Internet Wire and Mark Jacob by a San Diego investor named Brian Robbins alleging for fraud and negligence. See, TLJ story. 9/1. The FCC released a request for comments [MS Word] on the CTIA Petition to Suspend Compliance Date in the FCC's CALEA proceeding (CC Docket No. 97-213). In 1994 Congress passed the CALEA to allow LEAs to maintain wiretap capabilities in new telecom devices, by requiring carriers to make their wireline, cellular, and broadband PCS equipment capable of certain surveillance functions. In Aug. 1999 the FCC issued an Order [huge WP file] implementing and expanding the requirements. The CTIA on others filed Petitions for Review. On Aug. 15 The U.S. Court of Appeals (DC) released its opinion vacating parts of the FCC order. However, the binding deadline of the order (Sept. 30, 2001) remains in place. 9/1. The House Commerce Committee's Telecom Subcommittee released the witness list for its Sept. 7 hearing on "Foreign Government Ownership of American Telecommunications Companies." Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-SC) Rep. Jennifer Dunn (R-WA) Kevin DiGregory (DOJ) Larry Parkinson (FBI) William Kennard (FCC) Richard Fisher (Asst. USTR) John Stanton (VoiceStream) Morton Bahr (CWA) Gregory Sidak (AEI) Andrew Lipman (Swidler Berlin) Michael Noll (Annenberg Sch.) Thomas Donahue (US Chamber) |
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