| Rep. Stearns Introduces
Information Privacy Bill |
5/8. Rep. Cliff
Stearns (R-FL), Chairman of the House Commerce Committee's
Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade & Consumer Protection, and
others, introduced HR 4678,
the Consumer Privacy Protection Act of 2002.
The bill, which is 33 pages long on paper, would require both
online and offline "data collection organizations"
to provide a clear notice of what information about consumers
is collected, and how that information will be used. The bill
also contains opt out language. It would also mandate
information security policies. Enforcement would be handled by
self regulatory programs, backed up by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
The bill creates no private right of action, or state right of
action. The bill would also preempt state laws. The bill
exempts government entities and certain non profits and small
businesses.
A bipartisan group of Representatives held a joint press
conference in the Capitol Building to announce the
introduction of the bill. The participants included, in
addition to Rep. Stearns, Rep. Billy Tauzin
(R-LA), Rep. Rick
Boucher (D-VA), Rep.
Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Rep.
Lee Terry (R-NE), and Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA).
Rep. Tauzin is the Chairman of the House Commerce Committee,
which has jurisdiction over the bill.
Rep. Stearns said that the "underlying principal that
anchors this bill is DO NO HARM. Our economy is a consumer
based economy, where some two thirds of all economic activity
is driven by consumer spending. Historically, consumer
information has played an important role in our economic
growth. The free flow of consumer information has served all
of us, as American consumers, well throughout our modern
economic history. Any federal law or regulation that unduly
burdens such information sharing activity, may bring about a
substantial and negative impact upon our economy."
Rep. Eshoo said that "privacy is a right that the
American people really cherish. ... We don't want anyone --
either big browser, or big government -- coming after
it." Rep. Moran said that "this is responsible
balanced legislation that goes a long way towards protecting
people's privacy" while also protecting technology
companies.
Rep. Boucher said that "many companies will offer higher
level of protection than the statute provides". He added
that "this measure serves as a floor, not a
ceiling."
The bill's backers touted its chances for passage. Rep. Eshoo
stated that "I think that because this is so bipartisan
that we have a good shot at it." Rep. Moran said that
"it stands a good chance of enactment."
Rep. Tauzin and Rep. Stearns both stated that the next step is
for the House Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Commerce,
Trade & Consumer Protection to hold hearings on the bill.
Rep. Tauzin added that the bill is "a good statement of
the consensus" on privacy, but it is still a work in
progress.
Notice. The bill requires that a "data collection
organization shall establish a privacy policy with respect to
the collection, sale, disclosure for consideration, or use of
the personally identifiable information of consumers".
This privacy policy must be "clear and conspicuous and
written in plain language" and "accessible". It
must disclose, among other things, "The identity of each
data collection organization, or a description of each class
or type of data collection organization, that may collect or
use the information", "The types of information that
may be collected, sold, disclosed for consideration, or
used", "How the information may be used", and
"Whether the consumer is required to provide the
information in order to do business with the data collection
organization". See, Section
102.
Moreover, the data collection organization must provide notice
to consumers, which, in the case of a website, may be a
hyperlink to another page. See, Section
101.
Opt Out Provision. The bill provides that "A data
collection organization shall provide to the consumer, without
charge, the opportunity to preclude any sale or disclosure for
consideration of the consumer’s personally identifiable
information, that may be used for a purpose unrelated to a
transaction with the consumer, to any data collection
organization that is not an information- sharing partner of
the data collection organization providing such
opportunity." See, Section
103.
Information Security Policy. The bill also requires
data collection organizations to maintain security policies.
It states that "A data collection organization shall
prepare, revise as necessary, and implement an information
security policy that is applicable to the information security
practices and treatment of personally identifiable information
maintained by the data collection organization, in order to
prevent the unauthorized disclosure or release of such
information." See, Section
105.
FTC Civil Enforcement. The bill provides that violation
of the provisions of the bill would constitute an unfair or
deceptive act or practice in violation of Section 5 of the FTC
Act, 15
U.S.C. § 45(a)(1). Civil penalties under the FTC Act
would be limited to $500,000 for all related violations by a
single violator. See, Section
107.
Self Regulatory Programs. The bill also contemplates
that the much of the enforcement would be conducted by private
self regulatory programs that are approved by the FTC. To give
companies an incentive to join such programs, the bill
provides that "A data collection organization that
participates in a self-regulatory program ... shall not be
liable for a civil penalty arising out of a violation ...
unless such violation results from willful noncompliance with
the guidelines, procedures, requirements, or restrictions of
the program." See, Section
106.
Existing Federal Privacy Laws. The provides that
"To the extent that personally identifiable information
protected under this title is also protected under a provision
of Federal privacy law", such as the Gramm Leach Bliley
act, a "data collection organization that complies with
the relevant provision of such other Federal privacy law shall
be deemed to have complied with the corresponding provision of
this title." See, Section
109.
Preemption of State Laws. The bill provides that it
"preempts any statutory law, common law, rule, or
regulation of a State, or a political subdivision of a State,
to the extent such law, rule, or regulation relates to or
affects the collection, use, sale, disclosure, or
dissemination of personally identifiable information in
commerce. " See, Section
109.
No State Right of Action. States could not bring
actions to enforce this bill. It states that "No State,
or political subdivision of a State, may take any action to
enforce this title." See, Section
109.
No Private Right of Action. The bill does not provide
any private right of action. "No private civil action
relating to any act or practice governed under this title may
be commenced or maintained in any State court or under State
law (including a pendent State claim to an action under
Federal law)." (Parentheses in original.) See, Section
108.
Entities Not Covered by the Bill. The bill would exempt
government entities, non-profit entities ("to the extent
that personally identifiable information is not used for a
commercial purpose"), and certain small businesses (a
business which has fewer than 25 employees, which has annual
gross revenue less than $1,000,000, which "collects or
uses personally identifiable information from fewer than 1,000
consumers for a purpose unrelated to a transaction with the
consumer", which "does not process personally
identifiable information of consumers", and which
"does not sell or disclose for consideration such
information to another person"). See, Section
401.
Identity Theft. The bill also addresses identity theft,
such as through requiring the FTC "to take such action as
necessary to solicit the acceptance and acknowledgement of
standardized Identity Theft Affidavit ..." (See, Title
II.)
Bruce Josten of the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce stated in a release
that "Business has heard the call from consumers that
security and privacy are high priorities, and they have
responded", and business "has taken the lead in
developing transparent ways to empower and protect
consumers." Hence, said Bruce Josten, "The Chamber
strongly cautions Congress to think twice before enacting
unnecessary laws that could stifle the emerging Internet
economy."
Jonathan Zuck, President of the Association for Competitive
Technology (ACT) stated in a release that "While this
is great step forward from previous proposals, it just isn't
'there' yet. ... On privacy policies, the bill only seems to
codify existing business practices. This could prevent
ebusinesses from changing their privacy policies to meet
consumer demands while imposing costs on those businesses as
they try to meet the letter of the law from the new
regulations." |
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| EU Investigates Deutsche
Telekom for Antitrust Violations |
5/8. The European
Commission (EC) announced that it sent Deutsche Telekom (DT)
"a statement of objections setting out the preliminary
conclusion that the German incumbent telecommunications
operator has abused its dominant position through unfair
pricing regarding the provision of local access to its fixed
telecommunications network (local loop)." (Parentheses in
original.)
The EC further stated that it "is concerned about DT's
practice of charging new entrants higher fees for wholesale
access to the local loop than what DT's subscribers pay for
retail access. This discourages new companies from entering
the market and, therefore, creating new jobs, and reduces the
choice of suppliers of telecoms services as well as price
competition for consumers."
Competition Commissioner Mario
Monti stated that "After four years of complete
liberalisation of the telecommunications markets in Europe,
competition has come to a critical stage. This is particularly
acute in the local loop where many very promising new entrants
have already been forced to give up their business. I believe
that much can still be done to foster competition in this
field and that is clearly one of our priorities now. We have
already acted in Italy and Spain to ensure a proper balance
between the monthly telephone subscription fees and the call
charges, allowing the new entrants in both countries to better
compete with the incumbent operators." See, EC
release. |
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| Senate Committee Holds
Hearing on Cyber Security Information Sharing |
5/8. The Senate
Governmental Affairs Committee held a hearing on S 1456,
the Critical Infrastructure Information Security Act of
2001, sponsored by Sen.
Bob Bennett (R-UT). The bill contains a Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) exemption to encourage the sharing of
information regarding cyber security with the federal
government, and an antitrust exemption to encourage
cooperative efforts.
Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Malcolm stated that
"The Justice Department believes that the sharing of
private sector security information on critical infrastructure
between private sector entities and with the federal
government to avert acts that harm, or threaten to harm, our
national security is of the utmost importance."
Malcolm also reviewed existing FOIA law in his written
testimony. He stated that "Exemption 4 of FOIA protects
``trade secrets and commercial or financial information
obtained from a person [that is] privileged or confidential.´´
The exemption affords protection to those business submitters
who are required to furnish commercial or financial
information to the government, either directly or indirectly,
by safeguarding them from the competitive disadvantages that
could result from disclosure."
Malcolm added that "It is important to recognize that the
courts have regularly rejected any notion that either an
information submitter's request for confidentiality, or an
agency's promise that submitted information would not be
released, by itself, suffices to insulate such information
from disclosure under FOIA."
He continued that the U.S.
Court of Appeals (DCCir) interpreted Exemption 4 in Critical
Mass Energy Project v. NRC, 975 F.2d 871 (1992) (en banc),
cert. denied, 113 S. Ct. 1579 (1993). He stated that this case
held that "commercial information information that is
required to be furnished to the Government can be withheld
primarily to the extent that the Government can demonstrate
that its disclosure would result in ``substantial competitive
harm.´´ However, where information is ``voluntarily´´
submitted to the government, such information is protected to
the extent that it is not ``customarily´´ disclosed to the
public by the submitter, a considerably easier standard to
satisfy. It is our expectation that most information regarding
critical infrastructure vulnerabilities will fall into the
``voluntarily´´ submitted category and will, therefore,
readily qualify for Exemption 4 protection under the DC
Circuit’s Critical Mass decision."
However, Malcolm added that "business submitters are
aware that this D.C. Circuit Court precedent might not come to
be accepted in all other judicial circuits, which gives rise
to reasonable concerns. ... Were the decision in Critical
Mass a definitive legal principle decided by the United
States Supreme Court, concerns regarding protection of this
information would be greatly reduced. Since that is not
the case, the Department recognizes that the broad protection
afforded such information by the District of Columbia
appellate court does not provide the complete assurances to
the submitters of private sector infrastructure that they
seek."
Harris Miller of the Information
Technology Association of America (ITAA) endorsed S 1456.
He stated that "corporate counsels advise their clients
not to share voluntarily the details of computer attacks with
government agencies because the risk that such data could
ultimately be divulged through the Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA) -- even over the agency's objections -- is unacceptably
high."
David Sobel of the Electronic
Privacy Information Center (EPIC) testified in opposition
to creating a new cyber security information FOIA exemption.
He said in his prepared testimony that "this exemption
approach is fundamentally inconsistent with the basic premise
of the FOIA ... the Freedom of Information Act has worked
extremely well over the last 25 years, ensuring public access
to important information while protecting against specific
harms that could result from certain disclosures. After
monitoring the development of critical infrastructure
protection policy for the last several years, I have heard no
scenario put forth that would result in the detrimental
disclosure of information under the current provisions of the
FOIA."
See, prepared testimony of witnesses: Ronald
Dick (Director, FBI's National Infrastructure Protection
Center), John
Malcolm (Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Criminal
Division, U.S. Department of Justice), John
Tritak (Director, Critical Infrastructure Assurance
Office), Michehl
Gent (P/CEO, North American Electric Reliability Council),
Harris
Miller (President, ITAA), Alan
Paller (Director of Research, The SANS Institute), Ty
Sagalow (Board Member, Financial Services ISAC), David
Sobel (General Counsel, EPIC), Rena
Steinzor (Professor, University of Maryland School
of Law). |
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| House Committee to Hold
Hearing and Mark Up of Tech Crime Bills |
5/9. The House
Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime is scheduled
to hold a hearing, and then a mark up session, for three
technology related crime bills, on Thursday, May 9. See, HJC
schedule.
HR 4640,
a bill to provide criminal penalties for providing false
information in registering a domain name on the internet, was
introduced by Rep.
Howard Coble (R-NC) and Rep. Howard Berman
(D-CA) on May 2. It would provide that "Whoever knowingly
and with intent to defraud provides material and misleading
false contact information to a domain name registrar, domain
name registry, or other domain name registration authority in
registering a domain name shall be fined under this title or
imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both."
HR 4658,
the Truth in Domain Names Act, was introduced by Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN),
Rep. Sheila Lee
(D-TX), and Rep.
Robert Simmons (R-CT) on May 2. It would provide that
"Whoever knowingly uses a misleading domain name with the
intent to attract a minor into viewing a visual depiction of
sexually explicit conduct on the Internet shall be fined under
this title or imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both."
Finally, HR 4623,
the Child Obscenity and Pormography Prevention Act of 2002,
pertains to computer generated images. |
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| Local Radio Ownership Rules
and the Internet |
5/8. The Minority Media and Telecommunications Council
(MMTC) submitted a reply
comment [61 pages in PDF] to the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) in its proceeding titled "In the Matter of Rules
and Policies Concerning Multiple Ownership of Radio Broadcast
Stations in Local Markets" (MM Docket No. 01-317). The
MMTC argued that "Some commenters urged that the Internet
has already obviated the need for multiple radio ownership.
Perhaps that will happen someday, but Internet radio has
hardly become a substitute for the real thing. ... At some
level, the Internet is a substitute for radio. But it is a
poor substitute."
In contrast, Viacom
submitted a reply
comment [PDF] in which it stated that the FCC "has
maintained a local radio ownership rule in one form or another
for over 60 years based on the hypothesis that the rule is
necessary to promote public access to diverse viewpoints. ...
The average American suffers not from a lack of access to
media outlets, but from news and information overload." |
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| People and Appointments |
5/8. President Bush announced his intent to nominate Ben Bernanke
to be a Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
He is Chairman of the Department
of Economics at Princeton University. He has been picked
for a seat which has only two years remaining in its term.
See, WH
release.
5/8. President Bush announced his intent to nominate Donald
Kohn to be a Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
Kohn is a long time advisor to Alan Greenspan. He will serve
the remainder of a fourteen year term expiring on January 31,
2016. See, WH
release.
5/8. Lisa Nelson was named Co-Chair of CapNet. She is VP of
External Relations for AOL Time Warner. She replaces George
Vradenburg, who is an advisor to AOL Time Warner. The other
Co-Chair remains former Congressman Vic Fazio of Clark & Weinstock.
See, CapNet
release.
5/8. Michael Willner, P/CEO of Insight Communications,
was re-elected for a second term as Chairman of the Board of
Directors of the National Cable
& Telecommunications Association (NCTA). See, NCTA
release. |
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| More News |
5/1. Phillip Bond, Under Secretary of Commerce for
Technology, gave a speech
titled "Convergence: Digital, Global, and Policy" to
the Utah Information Technology Association in Salt Lake City,
Utah. He stated that information technology has "a
history of minimal regulation, robust competition, rapid
innovation, market driven economics and falling prices.
Telecom has traditionally been heavily regulated,
monopolistic, slow to change, heavily subsidized and often
marked by high prices. While convergence of information
technology and telecom creates wonderful innovations & new
services for consumers, it's hardly frictionless -- ask any
legislator in Washington about the last mile -- or about
privacy or about digital rights management or about spectrum.
And they have to know how to handle these issues along with
environmental law, education reform, agriculture policy,
national security, corporate governance, ad infinitum ad
nauseum."
5/8. The Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) announced that it "approved proposed
changes to the rules of the National Association of Securities
Dealers and the New York Stock Exchange to address conflicts
of interest that are raised when research analysts recommend
securities in public communications. These conflicts can arise
when analysts work for firms that have investment banking
relationships with the issuers of the recommended securities,
or when the analyst or firm owns securities of the recommended
issuer." See, SEC release.
5/8. The Federal Election
Commission (FEC) fined the Friends of Jane Harman $12,000
for failure to file 48 hour reports. Rep. Jane Harman
(D-CA) is a member of the House Commerce Committee
and its Telecom and Internet Subcommittee. See, FEC release. |
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| About Tech Law Journal |
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Contact: 202-364-8882; E-mail.
P.O. Box 4851, Washington DC, 20008.
Privacy
Policy
Notices
& Disclaimers
Copyright 1998 - 2002 David Carney, dba Tech Law Journal. All
rights reserved. |
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| Thursday, May 9 |
The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business.
The Supreme Court is on recess until May 13.
10:00 AM. The House
Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime will meet to
conduct a hearing on several bills, including HR 4640,
a bill to provide criminal penalties for providing false
information in registering a domain name on the internet, HR 4658,
the Truth in Domain Names Act, and HR 4623,
the Child Obscenity and Pormography Prevention Act of 2002.
Webcast. Press contact: Jeff Lungren or Terry Shawn at 202
225-2492. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.
10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The House Science Committee's
Subcommittee on Research will hold a hearing on HR 4664,
the National Science Foundation Reauthorization Act of 2002.
Press contact: Heidi Tringe Heidi.Tringe
@mail.house.gov or 202 225-4275. Webcast. Location: Room
2318, Rayburn Building.
10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The House Science Committee's
Subcommittee on Research will meet to mark up HR 3130,
the Technology Talent Act of 2001 (immediately
following the hearing on the NSF reauthorization bill). This
bill would authorized grants to be awarded on a competitive
basis to institutions of higher education to increase the
number of students studying and receiving associates or
bachelor's degrees in science, mathematics, engineering, and
technology. Press contact: Heidi Tringe Heidi.Tringe
@mail.house.gov or 202 225-4275. Webcast. Location: Room
2318, Rayburn Building.
10:15 AM. Sen. Charles
Grassley (R-IA), the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance
Committee, and USTR Robert Zoellick
will hold a press conference to announce their opposition to
the Dayton Craig amendment to the trade promotion authority
bill, HR 3005.
Location: Room SC-4, Capitol Building.
2:00 PM. The House
Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime will meet to
mark up several bills, including HR 4640,
a bill to provide criminal penalties for providing false
information in registering a domain name on the internet, HR 4658,
the Truth in Domain Names Act, and HR 4623,
the Child Obscenity and Pormography Prevention Act of 2002.
Webcast. Press contact: Jeff Lungren or Terry Shawn at 202
225-2492. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.
2:00 PM. The Senate
Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on pending judicial
nominations, including Richard Clifton (U.S. Court
of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit), Christopher Conner (U.S.
District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania), Joy
Conti (U.S.D.C., Western District of Pennsylvania), and John
Jones (U.S.D.C., Middle District of Pennsylvania). See, agenda.
Press contact: Mimi Devlin at 202 224-9437. Location: Room
226, Dirksen Building.
2:00 PM. The House
Ways and Means Committee's Subcommittee on Select Revenue
Measures will hold another hearing on the Extraterritorial
Income Regime. Location: Room 1100, Longworth Building.
Deadline to pre-register to attend the National Institute of Standards
and Technology's (NIST) Advanced
Technology Program (ATP) Advisory Committee meeting on May
14. The agenda includes a discussion on universities and
R&D technology issues, a presentation on In-Q-Tel (the CIA's
Silicon Valley venture capital group), an update on the ATP
competition, and a presentation on the ATP Computer Based
Software Focus Program. Submit your name, time of arrival,
e-mail address and phone number to Carolyn Stull at carolyn.stull @nist.gov
or 301 975-5607. See, notice
in Federal Register. |
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| Friday, May 10 |
The House will meet at 9:00 AM for legislative business. No
votes are expected after 2:00 PM.
8:30 AM - 4:30 PM. The New
America Foundation and Public Knowledge
will co-host a conference titled "Protecting the
Information Commons: Asserting the Public Interest In
Copyright Law and Digital Infrastructure". The scheduled
speakers include Rep.
Rick Boucher (D-VA). RSVP to Tina Sherman at 202 986-2700
or sherman
@newamerica.net. Location: National Guard Association, One
Massachusetts Ave. NW.
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. The Copyright
Office will hold "a public roundtable discussion
concerning issues raised in the course of an ongoing
rulemaking proceeding to adopt requirements for giving
copyright owners reasonable notice of the use of their works
for sound recordings under the section 114 and 112 statutory
licenses and for how records of such use shall be kept and
made available to copyright owners." See, notice
in Federal Register. Requests to attend or participate must be
submitted by the close of business on Monday, May 6, 2002.
Location: Room LM620 (Dining Room A), Madison Building, 1st
and Independence Ave., SE.
9:30 AM. The U.S.
Court of Appeals (DCCir) will hear oral argument in AT&T
v. FCC, No. 01-1467, and Verizon v. FCC, No.
01-1371. Judges Ginsburg, Randolph and Tatel will preside.
Location: 333 Constitution Ave. NW.
9:30 AM - 1:00 PM. The SEC will hold
an event titled "Investor Summit" which will also be
webcast. See, SEC release.
Location: WOD Room, basement, SEC, 450 5th Street NW.
10:00 AM. The House
Government Reform Committee's Subcommittee on Technology
and Procurement Policy will hold a hearing titled
"Intellectual Property and Government R&D for
Homeland Security". Location: Room 2154, Rayburn
Building.
10:00 AM. The U.S.
Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in ULead
Systems v. Lex Computer, No. 01-1320, an appeal from the U.S. District Court
(CDCal). The lower court held that U.S.
Patent No. 4,538,188 is unenforceable due to the owner's
inequitable conduct in fraudulently paying reduced small
entity maintenance fees to the USPTO when it
was not a small entity. Location: LaFayette Square, at 717
Madison Place, NW.
11:30 AM. The American
Electronics Association (AEA) will hold a press briefing
regarding the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) proposal to
impose payroll taxes on certain broad based stock options
beginning January 1, 2003. To participate by telephone, call
703 871-3016. See, AEA
notice. RSVP to Deanna Keim at 202 289-6700 or djkeim @abcstaff.org.
Location: AEA, 601 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 6th Floor. (The
entrance is on Indiana Ave. between 6th and 7th Streets.)
12:15 PM. The The FCBA's
Wireless Committee will host a luncheon.
1:00 PM. The House
Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Telecommunications
and the Internet will hold a field hearing titled
"Chatting On Line: A Dangerous Proposition for
Children." Rep.
Fred Upton (R-MI) will preside. Press contact: Ken Johnson
or Jon Tripp at 202-225-5735. Location: Kalamazoo Valley
Community College M-Tec Facility, Oshtemo, Michigan. |
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| Monday, May 13. |
| The Supreme Court of the U.S. will return from recess. |
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| Tuesday, May 14 |
8:45 AM - 3:45 PM. The NIST's
Advanced Technology Program
(ATP) Advisory Committee will hold a meeting that will be open
in part, and closed in part. The agenda includes a discussion
on universities and R&D technology issues, a presentation
on In-Q-Tel (the CIA's
Silicon Valley venture capital group), an update on the ATP
competition, and a presentation on a study on the ATP Computer
Based Software Focus Program. Pre-registration by May 9 is
required for attendance; submit your name, time of arrival,
e-mail address and phone number to Carolyn Stull at carolyn.stull @nist.gov
or 301 975-5607. See, notice
in Federal Register. Location: NIST, Administration Building,
Lecture Room A, Gaithersburg, MD.
9:00 - 11:00 AM. The U.S.
Chamber of Commerce (USCC), Ernst & Young, and the
Internet Education Foundation (IEF) will co-host forum on
online privacy and the Platform
for Privacy Preferences (P3P) created by the World Wide
Web Consortium (W3C). Rep. Adam Smith
(D-WA) will make opening remarks. There will be two panels.
The first panel will address online privacy issues; the
speakers will be Joe Rubin (USCC), Shane Ham (Progressive Policy Institute),
and Ari Schwartz (Center for
Democracy and Technology). The second panel will address
P3P; the speakers will be Martin Marshall (IBM), Marc Berejka (Microsoft), Brian Tretick
(Ernst & Young), and
Brian Zwit (AOL). RSVP by e-mail to rsvp @p3ptoolbox.org, or
call Joshua Freed (IEF) at 202 638-4370. Coffee and snacks
will be provided. Location: Herman Lay Room, USCC, 1615 H
Street, NW.
TIME CHANGE. 9:00 AM. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
will hold a hearing on proposed regulations relating to tax
treatment of incentive stock options and options granted
under employee stock purchase plan. See, original
notice in the Federal Register. See also, supplemental notice
rescheduling hearing time, Federal Register. Location:
Auditorium, Internal Revenue Building, 1111 Constitution
Avenue, NW.
9:30 AM - 4:00 PM. The Antitrust
Division of the Department of Justice and the FTC
will hold another in their series of hearings on antitrust and
intellectual property. This event is titled "Antitrust
Analysis of Licensing Practices". At 9:00 AM there will
be a panel titled "Antitrust Analysis of Specific
Intellectual Property Licensing Practices". At 1:30 PM
there will be a panel titled "Practical Issues
Encountered in Antitrust Analysis of Licensing
Practices". The DOJ requires that attendees provide their
name and date of birth 24 hours in advance to Kathleen Leicht
at kathleen.leicht
@usdoj.gov or 202 514-7018. For more information, contact
Gina Talamona in the Office of Public Affairs at 202 514-2007,
or Frances Marshall in the Antitrust Division at 202 305-2520.
Location: Great Hall, DOJ, Main Building, 950 Pennsylvania
Ave., NW.
10:00 AM. The Senate Indian Affairs Committee and the Senate Commerce
Committee will hold a joint hearings on telecommunications
issues in Indian country.
10:00 AM. The Senate
Banking Committee will hold a hearing on the Annual
National Export Strategy Report of the Trade Promotion
Coordinating Committee (TPCC). The scheduled witnesses
include: Donald Evans (Secretary of Commerce), Eduardo Aguirre
(Export Import Bank), Hector Barreto (SBA), Peter Watson
(Overseas Private Investment Corp.), and Thelma Askey (U.S.
Trade and Development Agency). Location: Room 538, Dirksen
Building.
Deadline to submit oppositions and responses to the FCC in its
AT&T Comcast merger review proceeding. This proceeding is
titled "In the Matter of Applications for Consent to the
Transfer of Control of Licenses, Comcast Corporation and
AT&T Corp., Transferors, To AT&T Comcast Corporation,
Transferee". See, FCC
notice. |
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| Wednesday, May 15 |
8:45 - 9:30 AM. FTC Commissioner Orson
Swindle will give the opening keynote address titled "The
Urgency of Security In A Networked World" at the
Information Integrity World Summit. See, notice.
Location: Wyndham Washington, 1400 M Street NW.
9:30 AM - 12:00 NOON. The U.S. International
Telecommunication Advisory Committee, which advises the Department of State on policy
and technical issues with respect to the International Telecommunication
Union, will meet to prepare for the June 2002 meeting of
the Telecommunication Sector Advisory Group. Location: TIA, 1300 Pennsylvania
Ave., NW., Suite 350.
11:00 AM. The Cato Institute
will host a panel discussion titled "Digital Copy
Protection: Mandate It? Ban It? Or Let the Market
Decide?" The speakers will be Rick Lane (News
Corporation), Jonathan Potter (Digital Media Association),
Sarah Deutsch (Verizon), and Steve DelBianco (Association for
Competitive Technology). See, online
registration page. Webcast. Location: Cato, 1000
Massachusetts Avenue, NW.
12:30 PM? The Association of
Federal Communications Consulting Engineers will hold a
luncheon meeting. For more information, contact Noel Luddy at luddyen @aol.com or 301
299-2270.
7:30 PM. There will be a panel discussion titled "Tech
Talk: Information Security and Information Warfare". The
panelists will be Robert Norris (National Defense University),
Daniel Kuehl (National Defense University), and Lance Hoffman
(George Washington University). The event is free, but
reservations are required. Call 202 662-7501 or email pnelson @press.org for
reservations. For more information, contact Laura Falacienski
at 202 662-7564 or lauraf
@press.org. Location: National
Press Club, Murrow Room, 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor.
Deadline to submit comments to the USTR
regarding the requests of 23 nations to join the WTO.
See, notice
in Federal Register.
Deadline to submit comments to the USPTO regarding
its plan to disseminate all future editions of the Trademark
Manual of Examining Procedure (TMEP) solely in electronic
format. See, notice
in Federal Register. |
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