7/21. The House Rules Committee adopted an open rule for consideration of HR 2799, the "Commerce, Justice, State, and the Judiciary Appropriations, 2004", also known as the CJS bill. On July 16, the House Appropriations Committee (HAC) approved the CJS appropriations bill. This bill contains appropriations for most of the technology related executive branch entities.

It provides $1.24 Billion for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and continues the practice of diverting user fees to subsidize other government programs.

It provides $183 Million for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which is $6 Million above the FY 2003 appropriation.

It provides $841 Million for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which is the same as the President's request, and $95 Million above the FY 2003 appropriation.

It provides $42 Million for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR).

It provides 14.6 Million for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), $15.4 Million for information infrastructure grants, and $2.5 Million for public telecommunications facilities, planning and construction. It provides $7.8 Million for the Office of Technology Policy (OTP). It provides $357.9 for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), $62.6 for the construction of research facilities, and $39.6 Million for the NIST's Manufacturing Extension Partnership.

It provides $279 Million for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which is $2 Million below the President's request and $8 Million above the FY 2003 appropriation.

The HAC also added a rider offered by Rep. David Obey (D-WI), that prohibits the use of funds to grant licenses for a commercial TV broadcast station if the granting of that license would result in such party having an aggregate national audience reach exceeding 35%.

The bill provides, at Section 624, that "None of the funds in this Act may be used to grant, transfer or assign a license for a commercial TV broadcast station to any party (including all parties under common control) if the grant, transfer or assignment of such license would result in such party or any of its stockholders, partners, members, officers or directors, directly or indirectly, owning, operating or controlling, or having a cognizable interest in TV stations which have an aggregate national audience reach, as defined in 47 C.F.R. 73.3555, exceeding thirty-five (35) percent." (Parentheses in original.)

The amendment would have the effect of preventing the FCC from fully implementing, during FY 2004, the national TV ownership provisions of its Report and Order and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking [257 pages in PDF] amending its media ownership rules.

7/16. Members of the U.S. delegation to the International Telecommunications Union's (ITU) World Radiocommunications Conference 2003 (WRC-03) spoke about the conference at an event on July 16. Several items addressed by the conference pertain to wireless broadband internet access, including allocating spectrum in the 5 GHz band for use by unlicensed devices (including WiFi), and allocating spectrum for broadband access by passengers and crew on commercial aircraft.

The delegates spoke at a luncheon in Washington DC hosted by the Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) International Practice Committee and the Computer & Telecommunications Law Section of the D.C. Bar Association. The WRC-03 took place in Geneva, Switzerland from June 9 through July 4, 2003.

Unlicensed Devices. WRC-03 resolution pertaining to spectrum for unlicensed devices provides "that this Conference has allocated the bands 5 150-5 350 MHz and 5 470-5 725 MHz on a primary basis to the mobile service for the implementation of wireless access systems (WAS), including radio local area networks (RLANs);".

It resolves "that the use of these bands by the mobile service will be for the implementation of WAS, including RLANs, as described in Recommendation ITU‑R M.1450" and "that in the band 5 150-5 250 MHz, stations in the mobile service shall be restricted to indoor use with a maximum mean e.i.r.p. of 200 mW and a maximum mean e.i.r.p. density of 10 mW/MHz in any 1 MHz band or equivalently 0.25 mW/25 kHz in any 25 kHz band;". (Footnote omitted.)

The WRC-03 resolution also recognizes "that WAS, including RLANs, provide effective broadband solutions".

Jennifer Manner, an assistant to FCC Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy, and a member of the U.S. delegation, stated that "we see this as a potential third broadband pipe to the home".

Microsoft, which had representatives at the conference, released a statement regarding the unlicensed devices resolution. It wrote that "This decision should significantly broaden the opportunities for people to access information using unlicensed devices, such as Wi-Fi wireless LANs. It is also likely to enable faster deployment of wireless data services in locations where dial-up access is not practical."

Microsoft added that "Representatives from companies such as Microsoft, Intel, HP and Cisco worked very closely with U.S. officials in the months leading up to the WRC", and that "In the case of the radio spectrum and the U.S., Microsoft and its technology industry partners will support the Federal Communications Commission as it codifies the WRC decisions and allocates the radio spectrum in the United States."

The U.S. delegates also discussed implementation at the July 16 luncheon.

Prior to the conference, on May 15, 2003, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [28 pages in PDF] proposing to make available an additional 255 MHz of spectrum for unlicensed use. This NPRM proposed allocating the 5.470-5.725 GHz band. See also, FCC press release [PDF], and stories titled "FCC Adopts NPRM to Increase Unlicensed Spectrum" and "FCC Unlicensed Spectrum NPRM and the Jumpstart Broadband Act" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 663, May 16, 2003.

Manner stated that "We actually did issue an NPRM on the unlicensed bands on 5 GHz WiFi, in order to send a signal that we want to move forward, and we are planning to move forward as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, our rule making process is fairly slow. Even in the best of situations you are looking at a six month period, just because by the time you get comments, and things published in the Federal Register, and then you draft an order, and review the comments in the record. It just takes a while. So, I do think that there is a commitment."

She added that "The big complicating factor here was a change, I think, in our attitude on how we see WiFi in the U.S. It is an unlicensed device. Most countries don't have unlicensed services. They required a mobile allocation to be made. And then you had to have operation limits put on the operation. So that was something we had to sell. We also had an issue of our manufacturers, our commercial industry, wanted this to be used for both outdoors and indoors. And the rest of the world is still concerned about interference. And we had a lot of selling."

She elaborated on indoor versus outdoor use. "We were able to overcome the indoor outdoor use prohibition, by putting in language that gave comfort to countries that they did not have to allow outdoor use if they did not want to. It is very similar to what we did at ITU 2000 a couple of years ago. Was, we came up with an approach which basically says every country can decide for themselves. So, if you are here in the United States, if the records reflects, we may make that decision to allow outdoor use."

Broadband Services in Commercial Aircraft. The WRC-03 also approved a secondary allocation for aeronautical mobile satellite services in the 14-14.5 GHz band for the provision of internet and other data services on aircraft.

Audrey Allison of Boeing was a member of the U.S. delegation. She stated that Boeing is "going into commercial service early next year to provide real time two way broadband services to aircraft passengers and crew. Like I said, we are starting next year. We have got Lufthansa and SAS signed up. We are also on government aircraft and business jets."

She continued that "there is one little flaw in our plan. And that was the spectrum we planned to use for this service, which is an international service by definition. In the international table of frequency allocations, it says you cannot use it for aeronautical mobile satellite service. So, this is the detail that I was hired to help resolve. And that is what I am doing in my three year career so far with the Boeing company. It was my job to get the U.S. and other western hemisphere countries to approve a change of the regulatory status of the existing mobile satellite service allocation in the Ku band."

She added that "All you had to do was cross out the words in the table ``excluding aeronautical mobile satellite´´".

The other speakers at the July 16 luncheon were John Giusti (FCC's International Bureau), Cecily Holiday (State Department), Karl Nebbia (NTIA's Office of Spectrum Management), James Voorhies (NTIA International Spectrum Plans Program Manager), Jennifer Warren (Lockheed Martin), Lisa Choi (FCC's International Bureau), and Troy Tanner (Swidler Berlin).

See also, the FCC IB's WRC-03 web site.

7/19. The Department of Commerce (DOC) released a report [233 pages in PDF] titled "Education and Training for the Information Technology Workforce: Report to Congress from the Secretary of Commerce".

Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans stated in a release that "In this report, we lay out the landscape, with the hope that policymakers in government, education, and business will find this information useful as they develop education and training policies and programs designed to ensure a world-class IT workforce for the United States ... We also hope that the information will help make choices clearer for IT workers seeking skills and managing their careers, and for employers seeking training for their workforce."

The Congress required the DOC to "conduct a review of existing public and private high-tech workforce training programs in the United States", and to "submit a report to Congress setting forth the findings of the study". See, Section 115 of the American Competitiveness in the 21st Century Act of 2000. This is S 2045 (106th Congress), which became Public Law No. 106-313. President Clinton signed the bill on October 17, 2000.

The primary purpose of this bill was to temporarily increase the annual cap on the number of H1B visas, which are issued to, among others, high tech workers.

The report reviews in detail information technology (IT) training programs in four year colleges, masters programs, two year colleges, business schools, and in a variety of non-academic settings. The report also reviews in detail what employers are looking for when they hire IT workers.

The report finds that "Employers seek workers who possess a specific combination of technical skills and experience, often coupled with a college degree, soft skills, and business or industry knowledge. Typically, employers prefer job candidates with the exact skill fit who require no additional training."

"There is no single path to prepare a worker for a professional IT job", the report states. "The IT education and training infrastructure has grown significantly in size and scope over the past decade. Today, there is a vast array of IT education and training opportunities, with different types of programs and curricula serving different purposes."

Some of the report's specific findings identify weaknesses in IT training. For example, the report states that "some IT workers who participated in this review said that universities and colleges -- particularly public institutions -- often have technical curricula, equipment, and software that are out of date."

The report also states that "Another problem for IT education and training providers is getting and retaining instructors skilled in the latest or "hot" technologies who can teach these skills to students. Schools have difficulty competing for these instructors against private companies that can pay higher wages."

The report also found that "Employers can obtain the skilled IT workers they need either by hiring workers who already have the skills or by training workers in those skills. ... Surveys by the Information Technology Association of America and the WSA (a large state-wide technology trade association based in Seattle) suggest that, when faced with difficulties in finding workers with needed skills, employers often do not consider training a high priority as a coping strategy." (Parentheses in original.)

The primary authors of the report are Carol Ann Meares and John Sargent of the Office of Technology Policy at the DOC.

7/21. The U.S. Trade Representative's (USTR) interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) will hold a hearing to assist it in preparing its annual report to the Congress on the People's Republic of China's compliance with the commitments that it made in connection with its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The USTR also seeks written comments on numerous issues, including intellectual property rights, and intellectual property enforcement.

The hearing will be held on September 18, 2003 in Room 1, 1724 F Street, NW, and will continue from day to day until completed. Written comments are due by 12:00 NOON on September 10. Person wishing to testify must submit a written request, along with their written comments, by 12:00 NOON on September 5. See, notice in the Federal Register, July 21, 2003, Vol. 68, No. 139, at Pages 43247 - 43248.

The House will meet at 9:00 AM for morning hour and at 10:00 AM for legislative business. It will take up HR 2800, the "Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2004". See, Republican Whip Notice.

10:00 AM. The House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law, and Subcommittee on the Constitution, will hold a hearing on HR 338, the "Defense of Privacy Act". This bill would amend Title 5 to require that when federal agencies promulgate rules, that they take into consideration the impact of such rules on the privacy of individuals. The hearing will be webcast. Press contact: Jeff Lungren or Terry Shawn at 202 225-2492. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The House Science Committee will meet to mark up several bills, including HR 2183, the "Minority Serving Institution Digital and Wireless Technology Opportunity Act of 2003". Press contact: Heidi Tringe at 202 225-4275. Location: Room 2318, Rayburn Building.

SOLD OUT. 10:00 - 11:30 AM. The Intellectual Property Law Section of the D.C. Bar Association will host a visit to the Copyright Office. Prices vary. For more information, call 202 626-3463. Location: Copyright Office, Room 401, Madison Building, First Street and Independence Avenue, SE.

? 10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee might hold a hearing on several pending judicial nominations: Steven Colloton (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit), Henry Floyd (District of South Carolina), Brent McKnight (Western District of North Carolina), David Proctor (Northern District of Alabama), Kevin Castel (Southern District of New York), Sandra Feuerstein (Eastern District of New York), Richard Holwell (Southern District of New York), and Stephen Robinson (Southern District of New York). Press contact: Margarita Tapia at 202 224-5225. This Committee frequently changes the time and agenda of its meetings without notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The House Agriculture Committee will hold a hearing on geographical indications and the World Trade Organization's agricultural negotiations. Location: Room 1300, Longworth Building.

1:00 PM. The House Judiciary Committee and the House Homeland Security Committee will hold a joint hearing titled "The Terrorist Threat Integration Center (TTIC) and its Relationship with the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security". The witness will include John Brennan (Director of the TTIC), Larry Mefford (Federal Bureau of Investigation), and Jerry Berman (Center for Democracy and Technology). The hearing will be webcast. Location: Room 2118, Rayburn Building.

DATE & TIME CHANGE. 2:00 PM. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing "Bankruptcy and Competition Issues in relation to the WorldCom Case". Richard Thornburgh (Bankruptcy Examiner, Kirkpatrick & Lockhart), William Barr (EVP and General Counsel of Verizon), Nicholas Katzenbach (Board Member, MCI Telecommunications), Marcia Goldstein (Weil Gotshal & Manges), Morton Bahr (President of the Communications Workers of America), Douglas Baird (Vice-Chair of the National Bankruptcy Conference), and Mark Neporent (COO of Cerberus Capital Management). Press contact: Margarita Tapia (Hatch) at 202 224-5225 or David Carle (Leahy) at 202 224-4242. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

3:00 PM. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will hold a public briefing on its creation of a second level domain within the .us country code domain that is restricted to material that is not harmful to minors. This is required by the Dot Kids Implementation and Efficiency Act of 2002, HR 3833 in the 107th Congress, Public Law No. 107-317. This briefing will provide information about the domain, instructions about registering a kids.us address, content guidelines and restrictions, and an overview of the content review process. See, NTIA notice, and notice in the Federal Register, July 17, 2003, Vol. 68, No. 137, at Pages 42401 - 42402. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

4:00 PM. The House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Courts the Internet and Intellectual Property (CIIP) will meet to mark up several bills, including HR 2391, the "Cooperative Research and Technology Enhancement (CREATE) Act of 2003". The meeting will be webcast. Press contact: Jeff Lungren or Terry Shawn at 202 225-2492. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

6:30 – 9:15 PM. The Intellectual Property Law Section, and the Arts, Entertainment and Sport Section, of the D.C. Bar Association will host a CLE seminar titled "Intellectual Property Issues In New Media". Prices vary. For more information, call 202-429-0960, ext 23. Location: Williams & Connolly, 725 12th Street, NW.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. It may consider HR 2739, the "United States Singapore Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act", HR 2738, the "United States Chile Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act", and/or HR 2799, the "Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2004". See, Republican Whip Notice.

9:00 AM. Day one of a two day meeting to the Bureau of Industry and Security's (Bureau of Export Administration) Information Systems Technical Advisory Committee. Part of the meeting will be closed to the public. The agenda includes discussion of export controls on signal generators and arbitrary waveform generators, discussion of developments in micro-processors technology and export controls, discussion of proposal on encryption in network management, election of a new chairman, and secret matters. See, notice in the Federal Register, July 8, 2003, Vol. 68, No. 130, at Pages 40626 - 40627. Location: Room 3884, Hoover Building, 14th St. between Pennsylvania Ave. and Constitution Ave., NW.

9:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold an executive business meeting. Press contact: Margarita Tapia at 202 224-5225. This Committee frequently changes the time and agenda of its meetings without notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

9:30 AM. The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing to examine the "public interest and localism". The witnesses will be Robert Corn-Revere (Davis Wright Tremaine), Barry Faber (Sinclair Broadcasting Group), Dave Davis (WPVI-DT), Martin Kaplan (Annenberg School for Communication), and Brent Bozell (Media Research Center). See, notice. Press contact: Rebecca Hanks (McCain) 202 224-2670 or Andy Davis (Hollings) at 202 224-6654. Location: Room 253, Russell Building.

10:30 AM. The House Judiciary Committee will meet to mark up several bills, including HR 1417, the "Copyright Royalty and Distribution Reform Act of 2003". The meeting will be 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 the nominations of Rene Acosta to be an Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Civil Rights Division, and Daniel Bryant to be an Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Office of Legal Policy. Press contact: Margarita Tapia at 202 224-5225. This Committee frequently changes the time and agenda of its meetings without notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

2:30 PM. The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing "to examine privacy and digital rights management". Press contact: Rebecca Hanks (McCain) 202 224-2670 or Andy Davis (Hollings) at 202 224-6654. Location: Room 253, Russell Building.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. It may consider HR 2739, the "United States Singapore Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act", HR 2738, the "United States Chile Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act", and/or HR 2799, the "Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2004". See, Republican Whip Notice.

9:00 AM. Day two of a two day meeting to the Bureau of Industry and Security's (Bureau of Export Administration) Information Systems Technical Advisory Committee. Part of the meeting will be closed to the public. The agenda includes discussion of export controls on signal generators and arbitrary waveform generators, discussion of developments in micro-processors technology and export controls, discussion of proposal on encryption in network management, election of a new chairman, and secret matters. See, notice in the Federal Register, July 8, 2003, Vol. 68, No. 130, at Pages 40626 - 40627. Location: Room 3884, Hoover Building, 14th St. between Pennsylvania Ave. and Constitution Ave., NW.

10:00 AM. The House Armed Services Committee's (HASC) Subcommittee on Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee will hold a hearing titled "Cyber Terrorism: The New Asymmetric Threat". The witnesses will be Eugene Spafford (Purdue University), Robert Lentz (Information Assurance, Department of Defense), and Robert Dacey (General Accounting Office). Location: Room 2118, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Courts the Internet and Intellectual Property (CIIP) will will hold a hearing titled "Patent Quality Improvement". The hearing will be webcast. Press contact: Jeff Lungren or Terry Shawn at 202 225-2492. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Commerce Committee and the House Science Committee will hold a joint hearing on the future of commercial human space flight. See, notice. Location: Room 216, Hart Building.

10:00 AM. Status conference in U.S. v. Microsoft, No. 98-1232.

SOLD OUT. 1:45 - 3:30 PM. The Intellectual Property Law Section of the D.C. Bar Association will host a visit to the Copyright Office. Prices vary. For more information, call 202 626-3463. Location: Copyright Office, Room 401, Madison Building, First Street and Independence Avenue, SE.

2:00 PM. The The House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing titled "Antitrust Enforcement Agencies: The Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Competition of the Federal Trade Commission". The hearing will be webcast. Press contact: Jeff Lungren or Terry Shawn at 202 225-2492. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. It may consider HR 2739, the "United States Singapore Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act", HR 2738, the "United States Chile Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act", and/or HR 2799, the "Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2004". See, Republican Whip Notice.

The House is scheduled to begin its August recess.