| Supreme Court Denies
Certiorari in Spam Case |
10/29. The Supreme
Court of the United States denied certiorari in Heckel
v. Washington, No. 01-469. This is a petition for writ of
certiorari seeking review of a Supreme Court of Washington
opinion upholding Washington's anti spam statute against a
Commerce Clause challenge.
At issue is Washington State's Commercial Electronic Mail Act,
Chapter 19.190 Revised Code of Washington. RCW
19.190.020 provides, in part: "(1) No person may
initiate the transmission, conspire with another to initiate
the transmission, or assist the transmission, of a commercial
electronic mail message from a computer located in Washington
or to an electronic mail address that the sender knows, or has
reason to know, is held by a Washington resident that: (a)
Uses a third party's internet domain name without permission
of the third party, or otherwise misrepresents or obscures any
information in identifying the point of origin or the
transmission path of a commercial electronic mail message; or
(b) Contains false or misleading information in the subject
line."
Jason Heckel is a spammer who repeatedly sent unsolicited
commercial e-mail to Washington state residents that contained
false subject line and transmission information. Washington
filed a complaint
against him in King County Superior Court, in Washington. The
Superior Court ruled on summary judgment that the statute
violates the dormant Commerce
Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The Supreme Court
of Washington reversed on June 7, 2002, holding the statute
does not unconstitutionally burden interstate commerce. The
Supreme Court of the U.S. declined to hear the case, without
opinion, on October 29, 2001. |
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| NTIA Awards Contracts for
Management of .us and .edu Domains |
10/29. The National
Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)
awarded a four year contract to NeuStar to manage the .us
top level domain. See, NTIA
release and NeuStar
release.
The NTIA also announced a five year agreement with Educause to manage the .edu
top level domain. VeriSign currently manages the .edu domain;
that contract expires on November 10, 2001. Educause will
operate the registry and registrar services at no cost to the
government. It will not charge a registration fee for its
services, but may propose a fee in the future to recover
costs, subject to government approval. See, NTIA
release and Educause
release. |
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| More Broadband Debate |
10/26. Bruce Mehlman gave a speech
titled "Building Our Broadband Future". He is
Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy at the Department of Commerce. He
spoke at a National
Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC)
convention.
Regulatory Barriers. He cited a number of state, local
and federal government obstacles to broadband deployment,
including the expense of obtaining access to rights of way,
licensing fees, tower siting restrictions, building codes and
zoning regulations. He also cited government regulatory
barriers to broadband content, such as local licensing laws
and prohibitions on interstate practice of medicine.
Copyright and Broadband. Mehlman stated that
"Until industry can resolve concerns over digital rights
management and copyright protection for movies, music and
games, the biggest drivers of commercial broadband adoption
will remain on the sidelines."
Spectrum Management. He also identified spectrum
management as an issue, but merely stated that "the FCC
and NTIA can lead careful examinations of federal spectrum
policies to maximize the efficiency with which we manage this
precious resource."
Mehlman also stated that "Government efforts to support
broadband deployment are complicated by industry infighting
and competing policy considerations." He cited the fight
over the Tauzin Dingell bill. He said that "Both sides
insist they support competition, and both sides purport to
seek deregulatory conclusions, and as a result, neither seems
likely to make progress."
Mehlman concluded that "I look to technology solutions
more than policy fixes to get broadband to all
Americans." |
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| FCC Creates Media Ownership
Working Group |
| 10/29. FCC Chairman Michael Powell
announced the creation of a Media Ownership Working Group at
the FCC. Its members will include Kenneth Ferree (Chief of the
Cable Services Bureau),
Paul Gallant (Special Advisor to the Chief of the Cable
Services Bureau), Nandan Joshi (Attorney Advisor in the Office of General Counsel),
Jonathan Levy (Deputy Chief of the Office of Plans and Policy),
Robert Ratcliffe (Deputy Chief of the Mass Media Bureau), David
Sappington (Chief Economist), Royce Sherlock (Deputy Chief of
the Policy Division of the Cable Services Bureau). See, FCC
release. |
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| Representatives Seek Tax
Credits for Broadband Deployment |
10/29. House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt
(D-MO), Rep. Anna Eshoo
(D-CA), and others sent a letter
to Senate Majority Leader Tom
Daschle (D-SD) and Sen.
Max Baucus (D-MT) urging them to include language from HR 267
and S
88, the Broadband Internet Access Act, in the economic
stimulus package. The House has already passed an economic
stimulus bill, without the Broadband Internet Access Act. The
Senate has yet to pass its version of the bill.
HR 267 is sponsored by Rep.
Phil English (R-PA), Rep. Bob Matsui
(D-CA), and almost 200 other Representatives. S 88 is
sponsored by Sen. Jay
Rockefeller (D-WV), and 62 other Senators. These companion
bills would provide tax credits for deployment of broadband
facilities in rural and underserved areas. Specifically, they
provide a credit of 10% of the qualified expenditures incurred
by the taxpayer with respect to qualified equipment with which
"current generation" broadband services are
delivered to subscribers in rural and underserved areas. They
also provide a credit of 20% of the qualified expenditures
incurred by the taxpayer with respect to qualified equipment
with which "next generation" broadband services are
delivered to subscribers in rural areas, underserved areas,
and to residential subscribers.
"Current generation" broadband services is defined
in the bills as the transmission of signals at a rate of at
least 1.5 Million bits per second (Mbps) downstream, and at
least 200,000 bits per second upstream. "Next
generation" broadband services is defined as at least 22
Mbps downstream and 5 Mbps upstream.
Reps. Gephardt, Eshoo, and others, argued in their letter that
these bills would increase productivity, spur new investment
in telecom infrastructure, increase U.S. global
competitiveness, and increase socially beneficially services,
such as telecommuting, telemedicine, and distance learning.
In addition to these traditional arguments for spurring
broadband deployment, they also added the post September 11
argument that "As the U.S. Postal System has become the
target of terrorist attacks, electronic mail has become
increasingly important. To quickly deliver large documents and
images, however, more bandwidth is necessary." |
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| More Anti Terrorism Act
News |
| 10/26. The Department of
Justice released a redacted copy of a document
[PDF] titled "Field Guidance on New Authorities: Enacted
in the 2001 Anti Terrorism Legislation". This is a
detailed summary of HR 3162,
the USA
PATRIOT Act, which was signed into law by
President Bush on October 26. |
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| People |
10/29. Nokia's Board of Directors extended the contract of Jorma
Ollilaas as Chairman and CEO through 2006. See, Nokia
release.
10/22. Patrick Pohlen joined the Silicon Valley office
of the law firm of Latham &
Watkins as a partner in its Venture and Technology
Practice Group. He was previously Chief Operating Officer of 12 Entrepreneuring. Prior to
that he was a partner at the law firm of Cooley Godward. See, release.
10/25. Steven Goldberg was named of counsel at the New
York office of the law firm of Morgan Lewis.
He focuses on transactional matters, with a concentration in
mergers and acquisitions, private equity and strategic
investments. He has represented clients in multimedia, optical
networking, e-commerce, telecommunications and venture
capital. See, release.
10/22. Covington & Burling
announced that seven attorneys have joined its London office
as associates, including Sinan
Utku, who focuses on intellectual property licensing,
copyright policy and enforcement for the software industry,
the drafting of original patent applications, patent
prosecution, drafting patent opinions, technology transfers
and U.S. export controls, and client counseling, especially in
the areas of Internet law and U.S. patent law. See, release
[PDF]. |
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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: 2,233.
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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| Tuesday, Oct 30 |
The House will meet at 12:30 PM for morning hour and 2:00 PM
for legislative business. No recorded votes are expected
before 6:00 PM. The House will consider measures under
suspension of the rules. The Senate will meet at 10:00 AM. It
will likely consider HR
3061, the Labor HHS Appropriations bill.
10:00 AM - 1:00 PM. The FCC's Network Reliability and
Interoperability Council will hold a meeting. See, FCC
release. Location: FCC, Room TW-C305, 445 12th Street, SW.
12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The National
Telephone Cooperative Association (NTCA) will host a press
luncheon to release and discuss its 2001 Wireless Survey. The
speakers will be Michael Brunner (NTCA CEO), Jill Canfield (NTCA
regulatory counsel), and Rick Schadelbauer (NTCA economic
analyst). RSVP to Contact Donna L. Taylor at 703 351-2086 or dtaylor@ntca.org. Location:
Hyatt Regency Washington, Lobby Level, Congressional A, 400
New Jersey Avenue, NW.
12:15 PM. The Federal
Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Cable Practice
Committee will host a luncheon. The speakers will be Susanna
Zwerling, the Mass Media and Cable legal advisor to FCC
Commissioner Michael Copps. The price to attend is $15. RSVP
to wendy@fcba.org. NCTA,
1724 Massachusetts Ave., NW.
1:30 - 3:00 PM. The U.S. International
Telecommunication Advisory Committee (ITAC) will hold a
meeting. The purpose of this meeting is to prepare the State
Department for the 2002 Plenipotentiary Conference and the
2002 World Telecommunication Development Conference. See, notice.
Location: FCC, Room 6-B516.
2:30 - 4:30 PM. The FCC will host a tutorial on developments
in wireless networks and technology, including wireless data,
CDMA, TDMA, GSM, IDEN, wireless content, applications and
market growth. The speakers will be Mark Desautels (CTIA) and
representatives of TBD, Verizon, Voicestream, Nextel, NextBus,
Nokia, Qualcomm, OnStar, Aether Technologies, Openwave,
Telephia and others. See, FCC
notice. Location: FCC, Commission meeting room, 445
12th Street SW. |
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| Wednesday, Oct 31 |
9:30 AM. Rep.
Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), Chairman of the House Science Committee,
will moderate a "webchat" with representatives of computer
security companies. The participants will include John
Conlin (Vericept), Peter Tippett (TruSecure Corp.), Bob
Brennan (Connected Corp.), Randy Sandone (Argus Systems
Group), Buky Carmeli (SpearHead Security Technologies), Joe
Magee (Top Layer Networks). For more information, contact Fred
Balboni or Ben Conrad at 781 684-0770.
10:00 AM. The House Financial
Services Committee is scheduled to mark up several bills,
including HR
556, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Funding Prohibition
Act. See, release.
Location: Room 2128, Rayburn Building.
POSTPONED. 10:00
AM. The House
Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Telecommunications
and the Internet will hold a hearing titled "An
Examination of How the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
Uses Federal Funds for National Public Television
Programming." |
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| Thursday, Nov 1 |
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. National
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will hold
first session of a two day workshop to discuss the development
of cryptographic key management guidance for federal
government applications. Location: Administration Building
(Bldg. 101), Lecture Room A, NIST, Gaithersburg, MD. See, notice.
9:30 AM. The U.S.
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit will
hear oral argument in MCI WorldCom v. FCC, No. 00-1406.
Judges Edwards, Williams and Randolph will preside. Location:
333 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington DC.
10:00 AM. The House
Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Telecommunications
and the Internet is scheduled to hold a legislative hearing on
HR
2417, the Dot Kids Domain Name Act of 2001. Location: Room
2123, Rayburn Building.
10:00 AM. The Senate
Judiciary Committee has scheduled an executive business
meeting. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.
2:00 - 4:00 PM. The U.S. International Telecommunication
Advisory Committee (ITAC) will hold a meeting regarding
preparations for the 2002 World Telecommunication Development
Conference (WTDC). See, notice.
Location: State Department, Room 1408.
2:00 PM. The Senate
Committee on Environment and Public Works will hold a
hearings to examine infrastructure security, chemical site
security, and economic recovery. Location: Room 406, Dirksen
Building.
4:00 PM. The Cato Institute
will host a forum on the book Rebels
on the Air: An Alternative History of Radio in America.
The speaker will be Jesse Walker (author) and Tom Hazlett (AEI).
Reception to follow. See, Cato notice.
Location: The Cato Institute, 1000 Massachusetts Avenue, NW,
Washington DC. |
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| Friday, Nov 2 |
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. National
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will hold
second session of a two day workshop to discuss the
development of cryptographic key management guidance for
federal government applications. Location: Administration
Building (Bldg. 101), Lecture Room A, NIST, Gaithersburg, MD.
See, notice.
9:30 AM. The U.S.
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit will
hear oral argument in COMSAT v. FCC, No. 00-1458.
Judges Edwards, Williams and Randolph will preside. Location:
333 Constitution Ave., NW.
12:15 PM. The FCBA's
Wireless Telecommunications Practice Committee will host a
luncheon titled "Secondary Markets: FCC Initiatives on
Promoting the Lease of Spectrum." The speaker will be
William Kunze, Chief of the Commercial Wireless Division. The
price to attend is $15. RSVP to Wendy Parish no later than
Tuesday, October 30. Location: Sidley & Austin, 1501 K
Street, NW, Rm 6-E. |
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