4/30. The U.S.
District Court (DDC) issued its order and opinion [PDF] in IRSG
v. FTC upholding the FTC's regulations that require information
brokers and credit reporting agencies to offer individuals notice and an
opportunity to opt-out before selling their names, addresses, and Social
Security numbers. Individual Reference Services
Group, a trade association that represents credit reporting agencies and
others, and Trans Union, a credit reporting
agency, filed a complaint in U.S. District Court against the FTC and other
financial regulatory agencies seeking judicial review of the regulations
promulgated by the FTC pursuant to Title V [PDF] of the Gramm
Leach Bliley Act (GLBA). Title V pertains to the disclosure on
nonpublic personal information, and authorizes the FTC to promulgate
implementing regulations. Plaintiffs argued that the FTC's regulations were
illegal under the GLBA, arbitrary and capricious, and unconstitutional (speech,
due process, Fifth Amendment equal protection). The District Court, in ruling on
cross motions for summary judgment, rejected all of plaintiffs' arguments.
4/30. The U.S.
Court of Appeals (FedCir) issued its opinion in Lockheed
Martin v. Space Systems/Loral, a patent infringement case. Lockheed is the assignee of U.S.
Patent No. 4,084,772, which discloses an apparatus and method for steering a
satellite. Lockheed filed a complaint in U.S. District Court (NDCal)
against Space Systems/Loral (SSL) alleging
that SSL satellites infringe the '772 patent. The District Court determined that
certain limitations required by claim 1 of the '772 Patent are not present in
SSL's Intelsat VII satellites either literally or under the doctrine of
equivalents, and granted SSL's motion for summary judgment. The Court of Appeals
affirmed.
4/30. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA)
gave a speech in
Washington DC to the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce in which he addressed a wide range of tax and trade issues. He
advocated giving the President fast track trade negotiating authority.
"On trade promotion authority, I want to see the Finance Committee mark up
and approve a bill this summer. Then Congress could approve final legislation by
the year's end. Action this year is critical. We'd have trouble taking up a
political hot potato like this in an election year. This year is our best chance
until 2003. The Finance Committee has a unique opportunity to mark up this trade
bill in June. We hope to finish our work on taxes in May. In July, we plan to
take up prescription drugs and other issues. That means June is our ideal trade
month."
He also stated that "I'm opposed to requiring sanctions to enforce labor
and environmental provisions in trade agreements. However, there are several
options worth considering. On renewing trade promotion authority, the 1988 Act
is a good model. The 1988 Act set out a series of key negotiating objectives,
including one relating to worker rights. It required the President to tell
Congress how the implementing bill he submitted makes progress on achieving
these objectives."
Sen. Grassley also touched on depreciation, the R&D tax credit,
and the Internet tax moratorium. He stated that "We also need to
update our depreciation rules". However, he offered no elaboration. There
is a bill in the House, HR 1411,
sponsored by Rep. Jerry Weller
(R-IL), that would allow expensing, rather than depreciation, of certain
computer and software purchases. Sen. Grassley also stated that "The
President wants to make permanent the Research and Experimentation Credit."
However, he did not state his view, or predict what the Senate Finance Committee
would do. Finally, he stated that "The tax moratorium on electronic
commerce expires this fall." Again, he offered no further comment.
4/30. Robert Pitofsky, President Clinton's Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, will soon leave the FTC
to return to his former law firm, Arnold
& Porter, and to teach at Georgetown
University Law Center. The FTC released the following statement: "Chairman
Robert Pitofsky today reiterated his intention to resign as Chairman of the
Federal Trade Commission upon confirmation of his successor, but announced his
intention to depart regardless of the timing of confirmation of a successor in
early June of this year. Chairman Pitofsky will return to his position as a
member of the faculty at Georgetown University Law Center, and also will resume
as "Counsel" to the Washington law firm of Arnold & Porter."
See also, Arnold & Porter release.
President Bush has already nominated Timothy Muris to be the new FTC Chairman.
Muris is currently a professor at George Mason
University School of Law. He held several top positions at the FTC during
the Reagan administration.
4/30. Roll Call, a Capitol Hill daily,
published a story
that states that President Bush will nominate former Rep. James Rogan (R-CA) to
be head of the USPTO. Rogan lost his bid for
re-election last November. Rogan has also considered a run for Congress in the
47th District, which is currently represented by Rep. Chris Cox (R-CA). Cox is being
considered by President Bush for nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals
(9thCir).
Rogan was a key player in the Congress in protecting the economic interests of
the entertainment industry. He had been a member of the House Judiciary Committee, and its
Courts and Intellectual Property Subcommittee, and the House Commerce Committee,
and its Telecom Subcommittee. In the 106th Congress (1999-2000) he sponsored HR 1761, the Copyright
Damages Improvement Act of 1999, which became law. He was also involved in the
passage of anti cybersquatting legislation. See also, TLJ 1999 Biography of Rogan.
4/30. The Commerce Department announced that
it would create a privacy advisor position. House
Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX) praised the action. "For too long,
our government has ignored the privacy problems in its own backyard. This key
agency recognizes that fixing these problems is something the American people
expect and deserve. Government has an obligation to set the best example on
privacy. I hope other agencies will follow Secretary Evans' lead."
4/30. The Electronic Privacy Information Center
(EPIC) submitted Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to
five federal departments and agencies. The EPIC stated in its web site that this
is part of an "effort to determine the Bush Administration's commitment to
privacy protection within its first 100 days." The requests were submitted
to the FTC, FCC, Commerce Department, Treasury Department, and Health and Human
Services Department. However, no requests were submitted to the Justice
Department, or any of its divisions or bureaus. The DOJ is central to the debate
over many privacy issues, including CALEA, the proposed EC Cyber Crime treaty,
and legislative proposals regarding search and seizure in the context of
electronic communications. Two requests were sent to each of the five
departments and agencies. One requests "all appointment books, calendars,
and other scheduling records" for certain named top officials at each
department or agency. The other requests "all Bush administration
transition team memoranda and all documents implementing policy recommendations
from transition team memoranda." Hence, the requests are broad. And
notably, none of the FOIA requests asks for documents pertaining to privacy. The
requests were submitted by Chris Hoofnagle, Staff Counsel for EPIC. See also, EPIC release.
4/30. President Bush formally nominated several persons, including Kevin
Martin and Kathleen Abernathy to be FCC Commissioners, Bruce
Mehlman to be Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Technology Policy, and James
Jochum to be an Assistant Secretary of Commerce. Bush had previously
announced that he would make each of these nominations. See, White House release.
4/30. Randolph Moss rejoined the Washington DC office of the law firm of Wilmer Cutler & Pickering as a partner.
Moss was Assistant Attorney General for the Office
of Legal Counsel. See, WCP
release.
4/30. Cinnamon Rogers will join the NCTA as Legislative
Counsel in the Government Relations Department. She was previously Senior Policy
Advisor to Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA).
Prior to that, she was Director of Congressional Affairs for the NTIA.
And before that, she was an associate at the law firm of Sher & Blackwell in
the firm's Legislative Affairs practice. She also worked for former Rep. Thomas
Manton (D-NY), who was a member of the House
Commerce Committee. See, NCTA release.
4/30. Cliff Riccio will join the NCTA as Manager of Government Relations.
He was previously a Legislative Analyst for the House Commerce Committee. See, NCTA release.
4/30. Robert Fore joined the law firm of Wilson Sonsini as a partner in
the Fund Services Group, which provides legal services and counsel to venture
capital and other private equity funds. He previously worked for Bank of America
companies as general counsel to their worldwide private equity businesses. See, WSGR
release.
4/30. The U.S.
Court of Appeals (4thCir) issued its unpublished opinion
in System
4 v. Landis & Gyr, a case involving the Maryland Uniform
Trade Secrets Act. Both System 4 and Landis and Gyr (LG) make and install
software based building automation systems to control heating, ventilation, air
conditioning, lighting and access systems. The National Gallery of Art in
Washington DC solicited bids for renovation of its systems. Both System 4 and LG
submitted bids and supporting documents. The Gallery then withdrew its
solicitation. It returned System 4's bid documents to LG, which read the
contents. System 4 then filed a complaint against LG. The District Court granted
LG's motion for summary judgment. The Appeals Court affirmed on the basis that
LG's acquisition of the documents was inadvertent, and it had not made use any
trade secrets.
4/30. Novell and Cambridge Technology Partners announced that early termination
of the waiting period under the Hart Scott Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act has
been granted. The two companies previously announced their proposed merger. See,
Novell release.
4/30. The U.S.
Court of Appeals (DCCir) issued its opinion
in FTC
v. Heinz, a baby food industry antitrust merger review
case. In early 2000 Heinz and Beech-Nut, the second and third largest baby food
companies in the U.S., entered into a merger agreement. Gerber holds a 65%
market share. The FTC sought a preliminary injunction
pursuant to § 13(b) of the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. §
53(b), to enjoin the merger. The U.S. District Court (DDC) denied the
preliminary injunction. The FTC appealed. The Appeals Court reversed and
remanded for entry of a preliminary injunction against Heinz and Beech-Nut.
4/30. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative
(USTR) said that it released its annual Super 301, Special 301 and Title VII
reports. See, USTR release
and executive summary.
See also, reaction from the IIPA [PDF] and RIAA.
4/30. Edwin Saleh plead guilty in U.S. District Court (CDCal)
to one count of using the Internet to attempt to induce a minor to engage in
criminal sezual activity, and one count of possession of child pormography.
Saleh was arrested following IRC and e-mail communications with an undercover
officer posing as a teenage girl. Law enforcement authorities then obtained and
executed a search warrant at Saleh's residence. They found computer discs that
contained pictures of minors. See, release.
4/29. The ICANN published
in its web site a preliminary agenda
for the ICANN Board meeting in Stockholm, Sweden on June 4, 2001.
4/27. President Bush announced his intent to renominate Michael Powell
for another five year term as FCC Commissioner. This is a five year term
commencing on July 2, 2002 and expiring on June 30, 2007. See, White
House release and Powell
reaction.
4/27. The FCC released its order
[72 pages in PDF] that adopts rules setting prices for intercarrier
compensation for ISP bound traffic. § 251(b)(5) of
the 1996 Telecom Act provides that local phone companies must compensate each
other for handling each other's local calls. One telephone company pays a second
telephone company for each local call the second company completes to one
of its customers. ILECs, such as BellSouth,
Verizon, and SBC, complain that some CLECs
are abusing the system by concentrating on serving ISPs, but not residential
customers, and making the money off of reciprocal compensation payments that are
not in fact reciprocal, and involve little cost to provide. They want to end
reciprocal compensation for ISP bound traffic. The FCC order does not eliminate
intercarrier compensation for ISP bound traffic. Rather, it regulates the rates
for three years. The argument advanced by the FCC in the order is that
telecommunications traffic delivered to an ISP is interstate access
traffic under § 201
of the Communications Act, specifically "information access," thus not
subject to reciprocal compensation. See, CC Docket Nos. 96-98 and 99-68, Order
on Remand and Report and Order, FCC 01-131.
FCC Commissioner Furchtgott-Roth issued a lengthy dissent.
He wrote: "There is, however, one solution that is not respectful of other
governmental institutions. It is a solution that places under exclusive federal
jurisdiction broad expanses of telecommunications. It is a solution that does
not directly solve the problem at hand. It is a solution that can be reached
only through a twisted interpretation of the law and a vitiation of economic
reasoning and general common sense. That solution is nationwide price
regulation. That is the regrettable solution the Commission has adopted."
He added that "The result will be another round of litigation, and, in all
likelihood, this issue will be back at the agency in another couple of
years."
4/27. The FCC also released its Notice
of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [70 pages in PDF] regarding reciprocal
compensation specifically, and all intercarrier compensation generally. The NPRM
states that it begins "a fundamental re-examination of all currently
regulated forms of intercarrier compensation." It adds that this is
"in light of increasing competition and new technologies, such as the
Internet and Internet-based services, and commercial mobile radio services
..." See, In the Matter of Developing a Unified Intercarrier Compensation
Regime, CC Docket No. 01-92.
The FCC seeks public comments "on our proposal to adopt a bill-and-keep
rule to govern local exchange carrier ("LEC") recovery of costs
associated with the delivery of ISP-bound traffic after the three-year interim
period. We also seek comment on the potential adoption of a bill-and-keep
approach to reciprocal compensation payments governed by section 251 ..., and
the eventual application of bill and keep to interstate access charges regulated
under section 201 ..."
The NPRM and Order were both announced by the FCC on April 19, but not released
until April 27. This is common FCC practice. Public comments in response to the
NPRM will be due within 90 days after publication in the Federal Register, which
has not yet occurred. Reply comments will be due within another 45 days.
4/27. The U.S.
Court of Appeals (5thCir) issued its opinion
in Lycon
v. EVI, an oil industry antitrust case. Lycon sued EVI
alleging that EVI had violated federal antitrust laws by engaging in price
discrimination in violation of 15 U.S.C. § 13. The District Court granted
summary judgment for EVI reasoning that "Lycon cannot prove that EVI's
alleged price discrimination had a prohibited effect on competition ..."
The Appeals Court affirmed.
4/27. The U.S.
Court of Appeals (7thCir) issued its opinion
in Freedom
From Religion Foundation v. Bugher, a constitutional challenge to
a Wisconsin program that subsidizes Internet and telecommunications service for
both public and private, sectarian and nonsectarian, schools. The FFFR and
several individuals filed a complaint in U.S. District Court (WDWisc)
pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging that Wisconsin's TEACH program
is unconstitutional. The District Court granted summary judgment in part in
favor of the Wisconsin defendants, finding the access portion of the program was
constitutional. However, it also granted summary judgment in part in favor of
the FFFR plaintiffs, finding that the grant aspect of the program was
unconstitutional under the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
Wisconsin appealed the later portion. The Court of Appeals affirmed.
4/27. The U.S.
Court of Appeals (4thCir) issued it unpublished opinion
in Repede
v. Course Technology. Repede entered into a publishing agreement
with Course Technology (CT) to contribute material to a computer programming
textbook. After Repede contributed several sections, CT hired another writer to
replace him. Repede filed a complaint against Course Technology (CT) in U.S.
District Court (DSC) alleging breached the contract by denying him a
right of first refusal to draft subsequent versions of the textbook, and
alleging fraud for underestimating royalties. The District Court found that
there was no right of first refusal in the contract, and no fraud. The Appeals
Court affirmed without explanation.
4/27. Secretary of State Colin Powell gave a speech
in Washington DC regarding trade, the WTO, World Bank, and IMF. He stated that
"We must acknowledge first that engagement with the global economy, opening
up to trade and investment, is the engine of poverty-easing growth. The last
thing nations should do in response to the desperate needs of the ill-housed,
ill-fed, uneducated and unhealthy is to adopt policies that have the effect of
slowing growth. That is why the President supports the launch of a new round of
multilateral trade negotiations in the WTO."
4/27. The U.S.
Court of Appeals (DCCir) issued its opinion
in Global
NAPs v. FCC a petition for review of an FCC Order (FCC 99-381) that Globals Naps' tariff for Internet-bound
traffic was facially invalid under FCC regulations. Upheld.
4/26. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) gave a
speech in the Senate regarding S 450, the Financial
Institution Privacy Protection Act of 2001, which he introduced on March 1,
2001. He condemned the practice of pretext calling, in which a caller
"contacts a business or government entity and uses a person's social
security number or other personal identifier to trick an unsuspecting clerk to
provide confidential information ..." He added that these "Information
brokers with little regard for people's privacy are doing the dirty work for
organizations that otherwise portray themselves as privacy proponents",
such as banks, insurance companies and law firms.
4/26. Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-SC)
introduced S 791,
the Video Teleconferencing Improvements Act of 2001, a bill amend the
Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure to provide that video teleconferencing may
be used to arraign defendants, and for certain other criminal proceedings.
4/26. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) gave a
speech in the Senate on World Intellectual Property Day. He stated that
"Our country's technological prowess and our high standard of living stem
from the creativity, determination, and entrepreneurial drive of our citizens
and the protection we provide for their creations."
4/26. The Senate Judiciary Committee,
which had scheduled a business meeting for April 26 to consider the nominations
of of Larry Thompson to be Deputy Attorney General and Ted Olson
to be Solicitor General, held over the meeting for one week.
4/26. The House Commerce Committee's
Telecom and Internet Subcommittee approved HR 1542, with several
amendments that do not alter the nature of the bill, by a roll call vote of
19-14. The bill is titled "The Internet Freedom and Broadband Deployment
Act of 2001". It is sponsored by Rep. Billy Tauzin
(R-LA) and Rep. John Dingell (D-MI),
the Chairman and ranking Democrat of the full committee, and by many other
members. It was also introduced in the 106th Congress as HR 2420. It would,
among other things, exempt interLATA data from Section 271 requirements.
Telecom Subcommittee Chairman Fred Upton
(R-MI) stated that the full committee mark up will take place next week.
The bill was approved after a five hour continuous and contentious markup
session at which 20 amendments were considered. The subcommittee approved
amendments pertaining to FCC imposed penalties.
The Commerce Committee often operates by consensus, or near consensus. However,
the committee was sharply divided on this bill. The division was not partisan.
Six Republicans and eight Democrats voted against passage. See, roll call vote
of April 26. Members from the California and the west, as well as members from
districts with technology companies, tended to oppose the bill. Reps. Tauzin and
Dingell sat through the markup, and led the debate in support of the bill. They
had the votes necessary for passage, and to stop significant amendments. They
argued that by exempting data, but not voice, traffic from the requirements of Section 271,
the Bell companies would be incented to widely deploy DSL service.
Opponents and critics of the bill lacked the votes to stop it. So, they used the
hearing to demonstrate strong opposition to the bill, and weaknesses in the
bill. Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL), who
represents an inner city district, and Rep.
Tom Sawyer (D-OH), who represents a partly rural Ohio district, offered a
hastily drafted amendment
that would mandate that the phone companies deploy broadband services in
underserved urban and rural districts. Tauzin and Dingell quickly endorsed the
concept of the amendment, but asked that it be withdraw for further redrafting.
The amendment was withdrawn. Rush and Sawyer then voted for passage. But, Tauzin
and Dingell's endorsement gave opponents of the bill the argument that if
mandates are necessary to make the Bells deploy broadband, then the rationale
for the bill -- that it will incent the Bells to deploy broadband -- is a sham.
Rep. Chip Pickering (R-MS) offered
an amendment that would require ILECs to "obtain an outside, independent
certification that such carrier can separate voice traffic from data traffic
carried over its network and that it is capable of blocking interLATA voice
traffic." Rep. Tauzin responded that the bill, which is based upon creating
separate regulatory treatment for voice and data traffic, would not take effect
if this amendment were adopted. He stated that voice and data cannot be
distinguished, and therefore, if the amendment were adopted, ILECs would not be
able to comply. Pickering introduced the amendment for the purpose of forcing
Rep. Tauzin to make this admission. Rep.
Ed Markey (D-MA) also threw a jab at the bill's data voice dichotomy by
offering a comic
amendment that would require Bell companies to appoint a senior employee to
watch every digital bit that moves on its networks, and identify whether it is a
voice bit or a data bit. The Pickering amendment failed 10 to 21, and Chairman
Upton ruled the Markey amendment out of order.
Opponents of the bill also attacked the procedure used to rush the bill through
the committee. Chairman Tauzin gave members a less than one week notice of the
April 25 hearing and April 26 markup. Moreover, most members were out of town
for the Easter recess when the notice was issued. A motion to postpone the
markup for one week was tabled by a vote of 17 to 10. It would have passed, had
not all of the Republican opponents of the bill voted to table.
Five members fervently opposed the bill throughout the five hour debate: Markey
(D-MA), Davis (R-VA), Pickering (R-MS), Largent (R-OK), and Wilson (R-NM).
Several others also joined in the debate against the bill, including Eshoo
(D-CA), Cox (R-CA), Harmon (D-CA), and Stupak (D-MI). Tauzin and Dingell lead
the debate in favor of the bill, and were sometimes joined by Green (D-TX) and
Engel (D-NY). Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA), who is also Co-Chair of the Internet
Caucus, voted with Tauzin and Dingell throughout, but otherwise sat silently.
4/26. The FBI's National Infrastructure
Protection Center (NIPC) issued an advisory that
warns of increased attacks from hackers in the People's Republic of China.
The advisory states "malicious hackers have escalated web page defacements
over the Internet. This communication is to advise network administrators of the
potential for increased hacker activity directed at U.S. systems during the
period of April 30, 2001 to May 7, 2001. Chinese hackers have publicly discussed
increasing their activity during this period, which coincides with dates of
historic significance in the PRC: May 1 is May Day; May 4 is Youth Day; and, May
7 is the anniversary of the accidental bombing of the Chinese Embassy in
Belgrade." See, Advisory 01-009.
4/26. Junsheng Wang and Bell Imaging Technology Corp. plead guilty in U.S.
District Court (NDCal)
to theft and copying of the trade secrets of Acuson Corporation. Wang obtained documents
providing the architecture for the Sequoia ultrasound machine that contained the
trade secrets of Acuson from his wife, who worked for Acuson. Wang was arrested
last August while carrying the trade secret documents at San Francisco
International Airport as he was about to board a flight for Shanghai, PRC. Wang
and Bell Imaging were charged in a criminal information
[PDF] filed in U.S. District Court on April 19, 2001. Wang was charged with
theft of trade secrets in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1832(a)(1); Bell Imaging was
charged with copying of trade secrets in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1832(a)(2).
Charges against a PRC company are pending. Joseph Sullivan is the Assistant U.S.
Attorney who prosecuted the case. See, release.
4/25. A grand jury of the U.S. District Court (CDCal) returned an
indictment against Steven Hevell charging him with running an investment scam
involving securities in purported high tech companies. He was arrested on April
26. The indictment alleges that Hevell solicited and sold securities in three
high technology companies that he controlled -- MicroWest Industries, Advanced
Identification Technology, and Consolidated Imaging Centers Radiology Network.
He falsely asserted that the three companies were engaged in acquiring and
selling computer components and had developed a system to electronically
transmit radiological images and fingerprints.
4/26. The Senate Appropriations
Committee's Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State, and the Judiciary held
a hearing on the Department of Justice FY 2002 budget. See, prepared
testimony of Attorney General John Aschcroft. His statement addresses
increased funding for cyber threats. "The nation's growing dependency on
technology systems has resulted in a heightened vulnerability of our banking
system, critical transportation networks, and vital government services, while
also significantly increasing the incidence and complexity of crime. To address
the emerging cyber threat, the FY 2002 budget includes $33 million in increased
resources. Within this amount, $28.14 million will support the FBI's
counter-encryption capabilities, and the development of cyber technologies for
the interception and management of digital evidence. For the U.S. Attorneys,
$2.95 million is included to support 24 new positions for the prosecution of
crimes committed using the Internet. And, $1.9 million is included for the
Criminal Division for 14 new positions to continue coordinating the rising
number of investigations and prosecutions of multi-jurisdictional national and
international intrusion; denial of service attacks and virus cases; and to
provide increased network security and encryption capabilities for its automated
infrastructure."
4/26. FCC Commissioner Susan Ness stated in a release
that "Although I do not know when the President will formally nominate or
the Senate will confirm these excellent choices, I believe that an orderly
transition is best accomplished by announcing when my time with the Commission
will end. My departure will be no later than June 1st." See also, Powell
reaction and Furchtgott-Roth
reaction.
4/26. Douglas Melamed rejoined the Washington DC office of the law firm
of Wilmer Cutler & Pickering as a
partner in the firm's Antitrust and Competition Practice Group. He was
previously briefly the Acting Assistant Attorney General in charge of the
Justice Department's Antitrust Division.
Before that he was the Principle Deputy Assistant Attorney General. His
responsibilities included the Microsoft cases. See, release. [PDF]
4/26. Margarita Tapia will be the Press Secretary for the Senate Judiciary Committee. She
will replace Jeanne Lopato, who is now Director of Public Relations for
the Energy Department. See, Sen. Hatch's release.
4/26. The Senate Commerce Committee's
Communications Subcommittee held a hearing on unsolicited commercial e-mail,
and legislative options to deter it. Sen.
Conrad Burns (R-MT) presided. See, prepared testimony of witnesses in PDF: Eileen Harrington
(FTC), Jerry
Cerasale (Direct Marketing Ass.), Jeremiah Buckley
(Electronic Financial Services Council), David Moore
(24/7 Media), Jason
Catlett (Junkbusters), David McClure
(US Internet Industry Association).
4/26. InterTrust filed a complaint in
U.S. District Court (NDCal)
against Microsoft alleging patent infringement. InterTrust's recently
issued U.S.
Patent No. 6,185,683 discloses systems and techniques for the secure
delivery of electronic documents, execution of legal documents, and electronic
data interchange. InterTrust alleges that Microsoft's Windows Media Player and
other products implementing rights management functions directly and
contributorily infringe this patent. See, InterTrust
release.
4/26. The Copyright Office published
in the Federal Register a notice of
proposed rulemaking regarding the requirements for the submission of claims for
royalties under the cable statutory license, 17 U.S.C. 111, and the satellite
statutory license, 17 U.S.C. 119. Comments are due by May 21, 2001. See, Federal
Register, April 26, 2001, Vol. 66, No. 81, at Pages 20958 - 20962.