Bush Nominates Boyden Gray to be US Representative to EU

7/25. President Bush nominated Boyden Gray to be the Representative of the U.S. to the European Union. He is a partner in the Washington DC office of the law firm of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr. Gray was the White House Counsel to the elder President Bush. Before that, he worked for then Vice President Bush. See, White House release and release.

More recently, Gray has represented the interests of software companies supportive of Microsoft in antitrust related matters. The EU's antitrust regulators continue to focus their attention upon Microsoft.

For example, Gray participated in an amicus curiae brief [35 pages in PDF] filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir) in the Microsoft antitrust case. It was the brief of the Association for Competitive Technology and Computing Technology Industry Association. This brief supported Microsoft.

See also, Gray letter of March 26, 1999. See also, photograph of Gray, by Declan McCullagh.

FCC NARUC Task Force on VOIP 911 Regulation Formed

7/25. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) stated in a release [PDF] that FCC Chairman Kevin Martin "announced the creation of an FCC-NARUC Task Force on VoIP Enhanced 911 (E911) enforcement. Staff from both the FCC and State Public Utility Commissions will serve as members, working closely with representatives from the public safety community, including the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) and the National Emergency Number Association (NENA)."

The FCC release makes no mention of including representatives of VOIP service providers, software developers, equipment makers, or VOIP users in this task force, or this process. The FCC release does not name the individual members of the task force.

Martin (at right) is in Austin, Texas for a conference of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC). See, conference web site.

The FCC recently announced that it will impose the PSTN based E911/911 regulatory regime upon interconnected voice over internet protocol service providers. The FCC adopted a First Report and Order and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking at its meeting of May 19, 2005. The FCC released the text [90 pages in PDF] of this item on June 3, 2005. This proceeding is titled "In the Matter of IP-Enabled Services" and numbered WC Docket No. 04-36. This order and NPRM also assigns a second proceeding title, "E911 Requirements for IP-Enabled Service Providers", and a second number, WC Docket No. 05-196. This item is numbered FCC 05-116. The 2004 NPRM is numbered FCC 04-28.

See, story titled "FCC Releases VOIP E911 Order" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,148, June 6, 2005.

See also, stories titled "FCC Adopts Order Expanding E911 Regulation to Include Some VOIP Service Providers", "Summary of the FCC's 911 VOIP Order", "Opponents of FCC 911 VOIP Order State that the FCC Exceeded Its Statutory Authority", and "More Reaction to the FCC's 911 VOIP Order", in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,139, May 20, 2005.

The order begins with the statement, "we require providers of interconnected VoIP service to provide E911 services to all of their customers as a standard feature of the service, rather than as an optional enhancement. We further require them to provide E911 from wherever the customer is using the service, whether at home or away from home." (See, Paragraph 1.)

It also states that "We make no findings today regarding whether a VoIP service that is interconnected with the PSTN should be classified as a telecommunications service or an information service under the Act." However, this order begins a piecemeal application of telecommunications regulations to internet protocol services.

8th Circuit Permits Game Maker to Incorporate Marks of Others

7/25. The U.S. Court of Appeals (8thCir) issued its opinion [14 pages in PDF] in Frosty Treats v. Sony Computer Entertainment America, a trademark case. Sony incorporated some of Frosty Treats's marks into some of its computer games. The District Court granted summary judgment to Sony on all issues. The Court of Appeals largely affirmed. Frosty Treats recovers nothing.

Frosty Treats operates ice cream trucks. It sells ice cream products on the street. The sides of these trucks carry the "Frosty Treats" name and logo, and a "Safety Clown" graphic that cautions children about crossing the street safely. Sony Computer Entertainment America (Sony) makes video games for its Sony PlayStation. Sony made a series of games, titled "Twisted Metal", that depict ice cream trucks with Frosty Treats' name and graphics.

Sony offers this description of its game titled "Twisted Metal: Head-On": This game "puts you behind the wheel of one of 14 destructive vehicles, each equipped with machine guns, turbo boost, and a unique special attack. Once you select a vehicle, you can take out your road rage on opponents in 12 wild arenas. The game also offers multiplayer modes for up to eight players through a wireless connection."

Frosty Treats did not register trademarks with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

Frosty Treats filed a complaint in U.S. District Court (WDMO) against Sony alleging violation of state and federal laws regarding trademark infringement and dilution, and unfair competition. The District Court granted summary judgment to Sony.

Frosty Treats appealed. The Court of Appeals affirmed.

First, the Court of Appeals addressed the District Court's holdings that neither the "Frosty Treats" nor the "Safety Clown" marks are entitled to protection.

The District Court held that the "Frosty Treats" mark is not entitled to trademark protection because it is generic, or in the alternative, it is descriptive without secondary meaning. The Court of Appeals affirmed.

However, the Court of Appeals reversed the District Court's holding that the "Safety Clown" mark is not subject to protection. The District Court reasoned that because the clown serves the purpose of enhancing safety by directing children to cross at the rear, the graphic is functional and therefore not subject to protection.

The Court of Appeals explained that "the district court evaluated the issue using the colloquial meaning of ``functional´´ rather than the specialized meaning that it has in trademark law. In trademark law, "`a product feature is functional, and cannot serve as a trademark, if it is essential to the use or purpose of the article or if it affects the cost or quality of the article.´" (Citations omitted from this and other quotations.)

"The functionality doctrine serves as a buffer between patent law and trademark law by preventing a competitor from monopolizing a useful product feature in the guise of identifying itself as the source of the product." The Court of Appeals continued that "There is no evidence that the exclusive use of the Safety Clown graphic would deny Frosty Treats's competitors the ability to compete effectively or place competitors at any non-reputational disadvantage. ... We therefore conclude that the district court erred in granting summary judgment on the ground that the clown was functional."

Since the Court of Appeals held that the "Frosty Treats" mark is not protectable, it did not analyze whether Sony infringed this mark. However, since it held that the "Saftey Clown" mark is subject to protection, it proceeded with its analysis of infringement.

The Court of Appeals wrote that the trademark infringement claim hinges on whether there is a likelihood of confusion. It applied the 8th Circuit's six criteria: "(1) the strength of the owner's mark; (2) the similarity between the owner's mark and the alleged infringer's mark; (3) the degree to which the products compete with each other; (4) the alleged infringer's intent to 'pass off' its goods as those of the trademark owner; (5) incidents of actual confusion; and (6) the type of product, its costs and conditions of purchase."

It concluded that Frosty Treats "failed to present sufficient evidence to create a triable issue as to the likelihood of confusion between the trade dress of Frosty Treats's trucks or its Safety Clown on the one hand and any depictions of trucks or clowns in SCEA's Twisted Metal games on the other."

Finally, the Court of Appeals addressed the trademark dilution claims. The District Court held that the federal law claim fails because federal law requires, at 15 U.S.C. § 1125(c), that the marks and trade dress be famous, and Frosty Treats's were not famous.

As for trademark dilution under the state law of Missouri, the Court of Appeals noted that fame is not required under the state statute. It nevertheless affirmed the District Court's summary judgment for Sony on this issue "because the marks and trade dress at issue are so dissimilar that it would be clearly erroneous to hold that there was a likelihood of dilution."

There is an argument, advanced by writers such as Lawrence Lessig, that creativity is inhibited by the propertization of culture. That is, the creators of movies, documentaries, and other media, are obstructed in their work by the legal requirements of obtaining permissions from all of the holders of any intellectual property rights that may be implicated, however slightly, by their new creations. Lessig devotes a chapter to the problems faced by the maker of a documentary film on Wagner's Ring Cycle who included, in the background, a few seconds of a television broadcast of the copyrighted program titled "The Simpsons". See, Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity [Amazon].

Perhaps this case provides some small support for the argument that the free culture advocates are alarmists, and overstate the threat to creativity. In this case the intellectual property holder sued the subsequent creator, and got nothing, except a huge bill for legal services.

This case is Frosty Treats, Inc., et al. v. Sony Computer Entertainment America, Inc., U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit, App. Ct. No. 04-2502, an appeal from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, Judge Scott Wright presiding.

People and Appointments

7/25. Eric Stark was named Associate Administrator for the Office of Policy Analysis and Development at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). He previously worked for AT&T. See, NTIA release.

More News

7/25. The National Cable Telecommunications Association (NCTA) released a paper [PDF] titled "Commercial Broadcasters Want a Free Ride at Everyone Else's Expense". It is a criticism of the proposals of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) to impose dual carriage and multicast must carry requirements on all cable operators. It states that "the broadcasters hope to commandeer the digital television transition by insisting on government regulations that would expand a cable operator’s ``must-carry´´ requirement to at least six channels per broadcaster -- which in major markets translates into mandatory carriage of over 100 broadcast television channels."

GAO Finds that DHS Violated Privacy Act

7/22. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) wrote a letter [16 pages in PDF] to the Chairmen and ranking Democrats of several House and Senate committees in which it states that the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) violated the Privacy Act in connection with its use of commercial databases in its implementation of its Secure Flight program.

The report states that the "TSA did not fully disclose to the public its use of personal information in its fall 2004 privacy notices as required by the Privacy Act. In particular, the public was not made fully aware of, nor had the opportunity to comment on, TSA's use of personal information drawn from commercial sources to test aspects of the Secure Flight program."

Before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the airline companies conducted passenger screening, and administered the Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System (CAPPS), subject to federal guidelines. In late 2001, the Congress passed the Aviation and Transportation Security Act, which created the TSA as a unit of the Department of Transportation (DOT). This Act gave the TSA responsibility for airport passenger screening. In late 2002, the Congress passed the Homeland Security Act, which, among other things, created the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and transferred the TSA from the DOT to the new DHS.

The TSA then developed a new passenger screening program, which it named CAPPS II. However, this program was criticized on privacy grounds. The DHS then stated that it terminated the CAPPS II program. It also immediately reincarnated CAPPS II as the current Secure Flight program.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), the Chairman and ranking Democrat on the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, stated in a release that "We understand that, in response to GAO's assertions, TSA took corrective actions to inform the public of its actual test protocols through updated Privacy Notices. However, that action does not excuse TSA's failure to meet basic Privacy Act requirements in carrying out this program ... Given fundamental concerns surrounding the government's use of personal information and the unfortunate history of TSA's passenger prescreening program, careless missteps such as this jeopardize the public trust and DHS' ability to deploy a much-needed, new system."

Copyright Office Commences Rulemaking on Preregistration of Unpublished Works

7/22. The Copyright Office published a notice in the Federal Register that describes, recites, and sets comment deadlines for its proposed rules implementing the preregistration of unpublished works provision of the Artists' Rights and Theft Prevention Act (ART Act).

Earlier this year, the Congress enacted, and the President signed into law, the Family Entertainment and Copyright Act of 2005 (FECA). It was S 167. It is now Public Law No. 109-9. See also, story titled "House Approves Copyright Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,119, April 20, 2005.

The FECA was a large composite bill that included the ART Act. The ART Act may be best known for its ban on camcorders in movie theaters. That is, it criminalizes certain unauthorized recording of motion pictures in motion picture exhibition facilities.

However, the ART Act also contains a related provision that requires the Register of Copyrights to "establish procedures for preregistration of a work that is being prepared for commercial distribution and has not been published ... for any work that is in a class of works that the Register determines has had a history of infringement prior to authorized commercial distribution". It also provides that infringement actions may be based upon these preregistrations.

The CO's notice states that "this new law permits owners of works in certain classes that have experienced a history of infringement prior to commercial distribution to preregister a work prior to its publication during the period when the work is being prepared for commercial distribution.

Registration of copyright with the CO is a prerequisite for suit for infringement of United States works and a prerequisite for awards of attorney's fees and statutory damages. Yet, pirates often obtain, copy, and disseminate works before that are reduced to final form and released to the public. These acts can cause significant commercial harm. These acts occur before the copyright holder has obtained a certificate of registration from the CO.

Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA), the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property, explained the dilemma during floor debate in the House. He said that "Even more detrimental to copyright owners than camcording a movie in the theaters is the effect of distributing an unauthorized copy of a movie or sound recording as it is prepared for commercial distribution. Distributing a film before final edits are made can undermine artistic integrity and can also harm the film's commercial prospects because the release is typically coordinated with a marketing effort. Sections 103 and 104 provide for enhanced penalties for prerelease of a work being prepared for commercial distribution. Furthermore, it requires the Copyright Office to establish rules for preregistration of works."

The ART Act specifies that this preregistration option shall be available for "a class of works that the Register determines has had a history of infringement prior to authorized commercial distribution". The proposed rules narrowly construe this "class of works" to include only certain motion pictures, sound recordings, and nondramatic musical works.

This leaves out both software and books, although there have been instances of pre-release infringement in these media. For example, the landmark case of Harper & Row v. Nation, 471 U.S. 539 (1985), involved the theft of galleys of former President Ford's memoirs, before his publisher, Harper & Row, had published his memoirs.

The notice states that that CO "seeks comments on whether there are additional classes of works that have a history of pre-release infringement".

Comments are due by August 22, 2005. Reply comments are due by September 7, 2005. See, Federal Register, July 22, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 140, at Pages 42286 - 42292.

The House Judiciary Committee approved S 167 on March 9, 2005. See, story titled "House Judiciary Committee Approves Copyright Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,093, March 11, 2005. The Senate approved this bill on February 1, 2005. See, story titled "Senate Approves Copyright Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,069, February 3, 2005. That story contains a more detailed summary of its contents.

Bush Names Chris Israel Coordinator for International Intellectual Property Enforcement

7/22. President Bush announced his intent to appoint Christian Israel to the new position titled "Coordinator for International Intellectual Property Enforcement" at the Department of Commerce (DOC). See, White House release.

Currently, many federal departments and agencies, and their subdivisions, are involved in international IPR enforcement, including the DOC, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), Department of State, and the Department of Justice's Criminal Division. This newly created position will be tasked with attempting to coordinate the efforts of these entities.

Israel (at right) is currently Deputy Chief of Staff at the DOC. Before that he was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy. Before going to work at the DOC, he was Deputy Director of International Public Policy for Time Warner.  He has also worked as a legislative aide for former Rep. Jan Meyers (R-KS) and Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS).

Israel has worked on a variety of technology related issues, one of which has been intellectual property.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) praised President Bush's announcement. Rep. Schiff represents a Los Angeles area district that is home to many people who work in the movie and music industries. He is also a member of the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property, and a Co-Chair of the Congressional International Anti-Piracy Caucus.

Rep. Schiff stated in a release that "As a longtime advocate for a senior level administration official devoted to the protection of intellectual property I applaud today's announcement ... I look forward to working with Mr. Israel to protect the property of the hardworking, talented, and creative people in our community and country."

Rep. Schiff's release adds that "Congressman Schiff proposed the creation of an ``Intellectual Property Czar´´ in the Fortifying America's Intellectual Property Rights (FAIR) Act (H.R. 5117), introduced in September 2004. The FY 2005 Omnibus Appropriations bill (H.R. 4818) included the creation of such an office to strengthen America's intellectual property rights throughout the world."

The Business Software Alliance (BSA) also praised the announcement. The BSA wrote in a release that "Israel will work with agencies across the Administration to develop policies to address international intellectual property violations and enforce intellectual property laws overseas. In this role, he will head the international work of the National Intellectual Property Law Enforcement Coordination Council (NIPLECC) and coordinate and supervise international intellectual property protection plans among other agencies. Israel will accordingly play a significant role in the implementation of the Bush Administration’s STOP Initiative."

Thomas Donohue, P/CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce stated in a release that "Having a presidentially-appointed coordinator at a high level will greatly benefit the combined efforts of government and business in this fight."

On April 17, 2002, Israel gave a speech titled "Prometheans in Alaska -- Education and Technology, the Foundation of our Future". See also, story titled "Commerce Department Official Addresses Broadband Policy" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 415, April 22, 2002.

On October 8, 2002, he gave a speech in which he addressed the benefits of technology, the role of technology in regional competitiveness, policies that can promote regional technology development, and broadband demand. See also, story titled "Commerce Department Official Addresses Regional Technology Development" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 527, October 10, 2002.

On January 31, 2002, he gave a speech titled "Online Privacy -- Observations, Acknowledgements, Actions Taken and Challenges". On June 25, 2002, he gave a speech titled "Sharing the Promise of Technology in a Networked World".

DC Circuit Rules in FTC Competition Case

7/22. The U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir) issued its opinion [17 pages in PDF] in Polygram Holdings v. FTC, denying a petition for review of a Final Order [8 pages in PDF] of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that held that music companies illegally agreed to restrict competition for audio and video products featuring three tenors.

For the purposes of this proceeding, the three tenors are José Carreras, Placido Domingo, and Luciano Pavarotti. They sang together at several concerts. Polygram Holdings, Inc., and Warner Communications, Inc., sold recordings of these concerts. They also reached an agreement, with which they substantially complied, to restrict advertising and discounting of certain recordings featuring these the three tenors.

The FTC issued an administrative complaint alleging violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act, which is codified at 15 U.S.C. § 45. Section 5, among other things, prohibits "Unfair methods of competition in or affecting commerce". Warner consented to an order being entered against it. However, Polygram contested the allegations.

The FTC concluded that the analysis under § 5 of the FTC Act is the same in this case as it would be under § 1 of the Sherman Act, which is codified at 15 U.S.C. § 1. The FTC found that the agreement was inherently suspect because such restraints by their nature tend to raise prices and to reduce output. See also, FTC Opinion [PDF].

On September 23, 2004, Polygram, and its affiliates, Decca Music Group Limited, UMG Recordings Inc., and Universal Music & Video Distribution Corp., filed a petition for review with the Court of Appeals.

The Court of Appeals denied the petition for review.

This case is Polygram Holdings, Inc., et al. v. FTC, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, App. Ct. No. 03-1293, a petition for review of a final order of the FTC. Judge Douglas Ginsburg wrote the opinion of the Court, in which Judges Edwards and Rogers joined.

More People and Appointments

7/22. President Bush nominated Roel Campos to be a Commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the remainder of a five year term expiring on June 5, 2010. This is a reappointment. He has been an SEC Commissioner since 2002. See, White House release and release.

7/22. President Bush nominated Annette Nazareth to be to be a Commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the remainder of a five year term expiring on June 5, 2007. She is currently the Director of the SEC's Division of Market Regulation. Before that, she was Senior Counsel to former Chairman William Donaldson. Before that, she was Managing Director of Salomon Smith Barney. See, White House release and release.

7/22. The Senate Banking Committee announced that it will hold a hearing on the nominations of Rep. Christopher Cox (R-CA), Roel Campos, and Annette Nazarath to be Commissioners of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) at 10:00 AM on Tuesday, July 26. President Bush has selected Rep. Cox to be Chairman. He will replace former Chairman William Donaldson. Cynthia Glassman is the acting Chairman.

7/22. Broderick Johnson was named VP-Federal Relations for BellSouth. He was previously VP for Congressional Affairs at AT&T. Before that, he worked in the Office of Legislative Affairs during the Clinton administration. He also worked on the Kerry Edwards 2004 Presidential campaign. He has also worked as an associate in the law firm of Wiley Rein & Fielding.

7/22. The Senate confirmed David Sampson to be Deputy Secretary of Commerce. He was previously P/CEO of the Arlington Chamber of Commerce. The suburb of Arlington lies between Dallas and Ft. Worth in the state of Texas. It is home to the Texas Rangers baseball team, which President Bush once managed. Arlington is represented by Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), the Chairman of the House Commerce Committee.

7/22. The Senate confirmed John Sullivan to be General Counsel of the Department of Commerce (DOC). He was previously Deputy General Counsel of the Department of Defense. Before that, he was an attorney in the Washington DC office of the law firm of Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw. He replaces Ted Kassinger.

7/22. The Senate confirmed William Alan Jeffrey to be Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). He was Senior Director for Homeland and National Security and Assistant Director for Space and Aeronautics in the President's Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). That is, he worked for John Marburger. Previously, he was Deputy Director of the Department of Defense's (DOD) Defense Advanced Research Projects Office Agency's (DARPA) Advanced Technology Office (ATO). The ATO works on many communications and information technology related projects, including Next Generation Communications (XG).

7/22. The Senate confirmed Kathie Olsen (at right) to be Deputy Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF). She was Associate Director of Science in the President's Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). She was previously Chief Scientist at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

7/22. The Senate confirmed Edmund Hawley to be Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security, for the Transportation Security Administration. He replaces David Stone.

House Approves PATRIOT Act Extension Bill

7/21. The House amended and approved HR 3199, the "USA PATRIOT and Terrorism Prevention Reauthorization Act of 2005". This bill permanently extends 14 of the 16 sections of the PATRIOT that are scheduled to sunset at the end this year. It provides for a further 10 year sunset for § 206 (regarding roving wiretaps) and § 215 (regarding access to business records, including library records, under the FISA). See, full story.

Tether Testifies Regarding DARPA's Development of Ultraviolet Optical Communications

7/21. The House Armed Services Committee's (HASC) Subcommittee on Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities and the House Homeland Security Committee's Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Science and Technology Subcommittee held a joint hearing on counter terrorism technology sharing.

Tony Tether (at right), the Director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), discussed, among other topics, DARPA's work on machine translation of natural languages, and Semiconductor Ultraviolet Optical Sources (SUVOS).

The DARPA's SUVOS program has applications for military communications. He wrote that "Compared to conventional technologies, SUVOS will achieve a 50-fold reduction in power requirements and a 100-fold reduction in size and weight." See, Tether's prepared testimony [PDF].

Tether addressed the military and homeland security applications of SUVOS. However, the attributes of this technology for communications (light weight, low power, high bandwidth, non-line of sight, and short range) suggest possible applications for mobile consumer communications. See also, DARPA's SUVOS web page.

See also, prepared testimony [PDF] of Sue Payton (Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Advanced Systems and Concepts), prepared testimony [PDF] of John Kubricky (Acting Director, Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency), and prepared testimony [PDF] of Peter Verga (Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense.

People and Appointments

7/21. Kay King was named SVP of External Relations at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). She was previously Director of Congressional and Public Affairs at the U.S. Institute for Peace. She was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs late in the Clinton administration. See, CSIS release.

More News

7/21. The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published a notice in the Federal Register that states that it is recruiting private sector members for its six Technical Advisory Committees (TAC). One of these is the Information Systems TAC, which addresses the BIS's regulation of electronics, computers, telecommunications, and information security. The notice states that "This Notice of Recruitment will be open for one year from its date of publication in the Federal Register." See, Federal Register, July 21, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 139, at Page 42027.

7/21. The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published a notice in the Federal Register announcing that the President's Export Council Subcommittee on Export Administration (PECSEA) will meet on September 22, 2005. This notice states that "The PECSEA provides advice on matters pertinent to those portions of the Export Administration Act, as amended, that deal with United States policies of encouraging trade with all countries with which the United States has diplomatic or trading relations and of controlling trade for national security and foreign policy reasons." However, there is no Export Administration Act (EAA). It was sunsetted, and lapsed. For several Congresses the House and Senate have worked towards, but not enacted, a replacement EAA. See, Federal Register, July 21, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 139, at Pages 42027 - 42028.

7/21. Peter Mandelson, the European Commissioner for External Trade, gave a speech in London titled "Challenges for Europe" in which he addressed the Doha round of trade negotiations.

7/21. The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) met to mark up several bills. It amended and approved S 1392, the "Federal Trade Commission Reauthorization Act of 2005". This short bill authorizes the appropriation of $213 Million for FY 2006, $241 Million for FY 2007, $253 Million for FY 2008, $264 Million for FY 2009, and $276 Million for FY 2010. The SCC approved amendments pertaining to pharmaceuticals. See, SCC  release.

Go to News from July 16-20, 2005.