| HP Settles Pitney Bowes
Patent Suit for $400M |
| 6/4. Hewlett-Packard and Pitney Bowes settled
litigation between the two companies. Pitney Bowes filed a
complaint in U.S. District Court (DConn) against
HP in 1995 alleging infringement of a patent involving print
technology. Trial of the case had been scheduled to begin on
June 5. Under the terms of the settlement HP will pay Pitney
Bowes $400 Million in cash, and the two companies will enter
into a technology licensing agreement. The two companies
issued substantially identical releases. See, HP
release and Pitney
Bowes release. |
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| Nevada Legislature Passes
Internet Gambling Bill |
| 6/4. The Nevada State Senate approved Assembly
Bill 466, a bill to authorize the licensing and operation
of Internet gambling, by a vote of 17 to 4. The State Assembly
approved the bill on April 25. |
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| People and Appointments |
6/4. Thomas Horan replaced Clint Odom as
Senior Legal Advisor for the FCC's Cable Services Bureau.
Horan was previously an attorney in the Consumer Protection
and Competition Division. Odom left the FCC. See, FCC
release [PDF].
6/4. Onnig Dombalagian was named as an attorney fellow
in the SEC's Division
of Market Regulation, Office of Market Supervision.
Dombalagian was previously an associate in the Washington DC
office of the law firm of Cleary
Gottlieb. Annette Nazareth, Director of the Division of
Market Regulation, said that Dombalagian "will be a
significant asset as the Commission works to update its
regulation of the markets in light of recent innovations in
technology and new trading instruments." See, SEC release.
6/4. The Cellular
Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA) named
Kimberly Kuo as its VP for Communications. She
previously worked for enfoTrust
networks as SVP for Marketing and Corporate
Communications. Prior to that, she was SVP for Investor
Relations at Value America. She has also worked as Director of
Communications for America Online, and as VP of Marketing and
PR for The American Compass. She was also press secretary to
former Sen. Bob Dole (R-KS). She also worked on his 1996
presidential campaign, and as Deputy Press Secretary for Vice
Presidential Candidate Jack Kemp. See, release. |
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| About Tech Law Journal |
Tech Law Journal is a free access web site
and e-mail alert that provides news, records, and analysis of
legislation, litigation, and regulation affecting the computer
and Internet industry. This e-mail service is offered free of
charge to anyone who requests it. Just provide TLJ an e-mail
address.
Number of subscribers: 1,635.
Contact: 202-364-8882; E-mail.
P.O. Box 15186, Washington DC, 20003.
Privacy
Policy
Notices
& Disclaimers
Copyright 1998 - 2001 David Carney, dba Tech Law Journal. All
rights reserved. |
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| AT&T Sues Microsoft for
Patent Infringement |
| 6/4. AT&T filed a
complaint in the U.S. District Court (SDNY)
against Microsoft
alleging patent infringement. The patent in suit is U.S.
Patent No. RE 32,580, a reissue of U.S.
Patent No. 4,472,832. The AT&T web site states that
"This patent revolutionized speech coding by dramatically
reducing transmission rates for high-quality speech." It
further states that "The patent for the digital speech
coder was issued in 1984 and reissued in 1988 to Bishnu Atal,
an AT&T Labs technology director and AT&T Fellow.
Widely used by digital cellular systems today, Atal's
invention revolutionized speech coding by dramatically
reducing transmission rates for high-quality speech."
See, AT&T
summary. |
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| FEC Annual Report Addresses
Regulation of Internet Speech |
6/4. The Federal Election
Commission (FEC) issued its Annual Report 2000
[99 pages in PDF]. The report addresses Internet issues at
page 26-28. The report reviews seven previously published
advisory opinions issued during 2000. It also contains a brief
statement that the FEC has not ruled out conducting a rule
making proceeding regarding regulation of speech on the
Internet.
The FEC issued a Notice
of Inquiry (NOI) on November 1, 1999 stating that it was
examining many questions regarding application of the Federal
Election Campaign Act (FECA) to activity on the Internet. This
NOI revealed that the FEC was considering treating common
activities such as email and hyperlinking as political
contributions or expenditures under the FECA, and hence
subject to FEC regulation, reporting requirements, and/or
contribution limits. The FEC received over 1,000 comments in
response to its NOI. Almost all opposed any FEC action.
Following this response, the FEC took no further action. In
particular, it did not commence a rule making proceeding. See,
TLJ stories: FEC
to Review Campaign Activity on the Internet (November 8,
1999), Citizens
Urge FEC to Stay Away from the Internet (January 12,
2000), Parties,
Corporations, and Unions File Comments with the FEC
(January 13, 2000), and Groups
File Comments with FEC about Campaign Activity on the Internet
(January 13, 2000).
The FEC's just released Annual Report 2000 comments on this
proceeding. It states as follows: "Status of Rulemaking.
Although the Commission has issued a number of advisory
opinions on the application of the law to Internet activity,
many issues remain unanswered. In 2000, the Commission
reviewed and analyzed some 1,200 comments that it received in
response to a 1999 Notice of Inquiry on the use of the
Internet in campaigning. These comments will help the agency
decide whether to proceed with further rulemaking on this
subject." |
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| Antitrust News |
| 6/4. The U.S. Court
of Appeals (4thCir) issued its opinion
in Microbix
v. Biowhittaker, a private antitrust action. Microbix filed a complaint
against Biowhittaker
in U.S. District Court (DMd)
in 1997 alleging violation of §§ 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act,
and asserting various state law claims. The District Court
granted summary judgment to the defendants on all claims. The
Appeals Court affirmed in an "unpublished" opinion. |
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| Today |
The House will meet at 2:00 PM for legislative business. The
House is likely to consider several non technology related
matters under suspension of the rules. The Senate will
reconvene at 12:00 NOON.
11:00 AM. Sen. Charles
Schumer (D-NY) and Sen.
Charles Grassley (R-IA) will hold a press conference to
announce their introduction of the Sunshine in the Courtroom
Act, a bill that would allow federal trial and appellate
judges to permit cameras in courtrooms. The bill would
also direct the Judicial Conference, the federal courts'
principal policy making body, to draft non-binding guidelines
that judges can refer to in making a decision pertaining to
the coverage of a particular case. Location: West Entrance,
Perimeter Sidewalk of the Supreme Court, Washington DC.
1:00 - 3:00 PM. The American
Enterprise Institute will host a book event titled Privacy
in Perspective. The author and speaker will be Fred Cate,
an AEI Visiting Scholar and Indiana University Law School
professor. Location: American Enterprise Institute,
Wohlstetter Conference Center, Twelfth Floor, 1150 17th
Street, NW, Washington DC.
2:00 PM. The House
Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on HR
1542, the Tauzin Dingell bill. Location: Room 2141,
Rayburn Building.
Evening. The Intellectual
Property Owners Association (IPO) will hold its 28th
annual National Inventor of the Year Award ceremony on
Capitol Hill. The award will be presented by Rep. Howard Coble
(R-NC), chairman of the House Courts, Internet and
Intellectual Property Subcommittee. For information call the
IPO office at 202-466-2396. |
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| Wednesday, June 6 |
The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business.
The IPO will
hold a day long conference on Corporate IP Management.
Location: the new Ritz-Carlton in Washington DC. For
information call the IPO office at 202-466-2396.
9:00 - 11:30 AM. The President's National Security
Telecommunications Advisory Committee will hold a closed
meeting. Location: Department of State, Washington DC. See, notice
in Federal Register, April 20, 2001, Vol. 66, No. 77, at Pages
20336 - 20337.
10:00 AM. The Senate
Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on VA, HUD, and
Independent Agencies will hold a hearing on proposed budget
estimates for FY 2002 for the National
Science Foundation and the Office of Science Technology
Policy. Location: Room 138, Dirksen Building.
2:00 PM. The House
Judiciary Committee will hold an oversight hearing on the
Justice Department. Attorney General John Ashcroft will
testify. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.
2:00 - 4:00 PM. The House
Science Committee will hold a hearing titled NSF FY02
Budget Request: Research and Related Activities. Location:
Room 2318, Rayburn Building. |
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