9/17. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order [109 pages in PDF] approving SBC's Section 271 application to provide in region interLATA service in the state of Michigan. See, FCC release [PDF].

The FCC wrote in its Memorandum Opinion and Order (MOO) that "We also commend Michigan Bell for the significant progress it has made in opening its local exchange market to competition in Michigan. The Michigan Commission states that competitive LECs provide service to 21.7 percent of total lines, including 519,809 business lines and 927,367 residential lines, as of December 2002. Additionally, of the estimated 1,447,176 competitive LEC lines in Michigan, there were 58,617 resold lines, 932,667 lines served via UNE-platform, 264,600 lines served via unbundled network facilities, and an estimated 148,691 lines served over the competitive LECs' own self-provided facilities. We believe that these results reflect the extensive efforts that Michigan Bell has made to open its local exchange markets to competition."

FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein wrote in a separate statement [PDF] that he supports the MOO, but has concerns about "the processes for line splitting, the method by which competitive carriers may offer both voice and DSL services over the same local loop."

Adelstein wrote that "this Order notes concerns raised about line splitting processes in Michigan. To date, Michigan competitors have sparingly used line splitting, but I expect that decisions in the Triennial Review Order will increase demand for line splitting. If competitors are to successfully bring broadband services to the mass market, it is essential that there be effective line splitting processes that can accommodate increasing volumes. I am pleased that SBC is engaged in collaborative testing of new line splitting procedures that would address many of the concerns raised."

This was SBC's fourth application for Michigan. This is WC Docket No. 03-138 and FCC 03-228.

9/17. The House Republican High-Tech Working Group (HTWG) hosted an event in the Capitol Building to review its accomplishments, promote its agenda, and assert that when it comes to technology, the Republicans "get it".

Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), the Chairman of the HTWG, presided. The other Members of Congress who attended were House Speaker Denny Hastert (R-IL), Rep. Chris Cox (R-CA), Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA), Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA), Rep. David Dreier (R-CA), Rep. Adam Putnam (R-FL), Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), and Rep. Jerry Weller (R-IL).

Rep. Goodlatte stated that "Republicans have been working hard to benefit the high tech community" and "Republicans get it when it comes to high tech." He added that "we are the party with a record of achievement".

House Speaker Hastert (at right) spoke philosophically about how less government regulation and lower taxes are good for the economy and good for high tech.

He referenced the success of high tech companies around the country. He stated that "It happens because we haven't regulated it. It happens because we have given people the impetus. What we have also tried to do, in basic policy, is to create a tax policy that doesn't hinder -- and create capital. In the last three tax reforms that we have passed, in 2001, 2002, and 2003 have basically done three things": first, "open up ability for people to invest capital"; second, "making that capital freer, to give less taxation on dividends and less taxation on capital gains, ..."; and third, "for the people who buy these new high tech things, put money in consumers' pockets".

Rep. Boehlert, the Chairman of the House Science Committee, touted the Cybersecurity Research and Development Act, which became law last year, and the nanotechnology initiative, which passed the House. Both received wide bipartisan support in both the Science Committee and the full House.

Moreover, on most technology related issues, the House Science Committee builds bipartisan, and often unanimous, support for its initiatives. Although, the Appropriations Committee does not always fund what the Science Committee authorizes.

Rep. Cox is now the Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. However, he spoke about an issue that he has worked on since the 105th Congress -- internet taxes. The two leading proponents of the original Internet Tax Freedom Act passed in 1998, its extension in the last Congress, as well as the pending versions of the Internet Nondiscrimination Act, are Rep. Cox and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR).

Rep. Cox said that "although I credit Republican leadership for this, it has been bipartisan effort to bring the Internet Tax Freedom Act forward all of these years, and as we saw today on the House floor, it is still bipartisan."

Rep. Upton, the Chairman of the House Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, boasted about the passage of legislation enabling the creation of a second level domain within the .us country domain for material that is appropriate for children -- the dot kids bill.

This bill was moved with support from Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL), and Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), the ranking Democrat on the Telecom Subcommittee. It passed the Committee and the full House with bipartisan support.

Rep. Dreier, the Chairman of the House Rules Committee, bragged that "I am regularly criticized for being in the hip pocket of the American technology sector", citing a USA Today article on stock options.

He advocated "the continuation of broad based stock options". Rep. Dreier stated that "I happen to believe that as we look at the attempts that have been made by some to impose mandatory expensing, as far I am concerned, it is fine to have expensing for executives. I really don't care about executives at all. I don't care about high top level management at all. You know why? Because there they are strong enough that they can fend for themselves. But I am concerned about are those rank and file employees who are out there creating these marvelous new ideas. You know, none of them ever come from the top, these marvelous new ideas that come from the grassroots within so many companies. We need to make sure that broad based stock options plans are still available for those people who are able to make ends meet and do things because of the fact that they have them. As we talk to those decision makers at the top, we know that the imposition of mandatory expensing will force many companies to bring about an elimination of broad based stock option plans."

Rep. Dreier added that "we have bipartisan legislation that we are pursuing." Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), who represents a Silicon Valley district, like Rep. Dreier, is vocal on this issue. See for example, HR 1372, the "Broad-Based Stock Option Plan Transparency Act", sponsored by Rep. Dreier and Rep. Eshoo.

Rep. Lamar Smith, the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property, stated that "the high tech sector has accounted for two thirds of America's increase in productivity since 1995". Hence, "if we are going to have a healthy economy, we have to have a healthy high tech sector".

He stated that there is "the need to enforce patent and copyright law. Unfortunately, there are a lot of crimes in the country today that are trending down, there are other crimes that are growing exponentially, and they are intellectual property crimes. And, I am speaking particularly about digital piracy." He said that "we need to address that by enforcing the copyright laws".

He also addressed cyber security, and stated that it is on the agenda for the Republican HTWG.

Rep. Weller, who is a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, addressed tax issues. He stressed the "Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003" which became law in May, which has an increased bonus depreciation of 50%.

He added that, "working with the technology sector, we House Republicans have worked to bring about change in how we depreciate assets, how we provide for cost recovery, when business invests in a new asset, whether a computer, or telecommunications or security equipment, for their business or workplace". He commented that, "if you recognize the real life of an asset, the fact that a computer is depreciated over five years, and business replaces it every fourteen months, it doesn't make sense to depreciate it over five years. Well, as a result of that, we worked to put the bonus depreciation in the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003, which gives business an incentive essentially to replace their equipment. And the reason they have that incentive is they get 50% plus the normal depreciation ... And, of course, for the first $100,000 that a business invests in technology, they can fully expense it."

Rep. Weller also addressed trade, which falls within the jurisdiction of the Ways and Means Committee. He stated that "you are not pro high tech unless you are pro free trade". Legislation giving the President trade promotion authority passed in the last Congress on a largely party line vote. However, some Democrats, such as Rep. Cal Dooley (D-CA), provided key support, while some Republicans, such as Rep. Putnam, voted against the bill.

Rep. Weller stated that trade promotion authority made possible the free trade agreements with Singapore and Chile, which in turn, contain tough standards pertaining to intellectual property rights.

None of the participants at the event said anything about making the research and development tax credit permanent, a proposal with wide support from technology companies and the groups that represent them.

The speakers also addressed a number of other issues where there are partisan differences.

Rep. Goodlatte addressed the Class Action Fairness Act, which passed the House in June. He said that "this legislation will reign in frivolous class action lawsuits that threaten the high tech community".

The House passed HR 1115 on June 12, 2003 by a vote of 253-170. This was a largely party line vote, although 32 Democrats joined Republicans in voting for the bill. See, Roll Call No. 272. See also, stories titled "Reps. Goodlatte and Boucher Re-Introduce Class Action Fairness Act" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 619, March 10, 2003 and "" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 680, June 13, 2003.

Rep. Davis, the Chairman of House Government Reform Committee, discussed the Services Acquisition Reform Act.

He said that "If you want to be innovative in government, you need to look to the private sector, where we sort, sort of, the best innovative technological things that are going on. And the way we do that, of course, is by buying goods and services. And, we just recently passed in the House the Services Acquisition Reform Act, as part of the Defense Authorization Bill. It passed through our committee on a party line vote. The opposition was based on not wanting to make outsourcing easier -- trying to protect government jobs. But we are talking here about technology fields where the government does not have the in house expertise. We want to harness a lot of the innovation and technical expertise out in the private sector."

He added that "that is another innovation that comes from our party this year in the Congress, and we expect it to be made part of the full Defense Authorization Act."

TLJ spoke with Rep. Goodlatte after the event about the bipartisan support for much of the legislation discussed at this event. Goodlatte made several points.

First, he stated that on a number of issues, while Democrats have provided key support, such as Rep. Rick Boucher's (D-VA) support for class action reform legislation, most Republicans have supported the legislation, while most Democrats have opposed it.

Other examples would include Y2K legislation in the 106th Congress, and passage of legislation giving the President trade promotion authority in the 107th Congress.

Goodlatte also made the point that there is a wide divergence between the House Republican leadership and the House Democratic leadership in support for high tech. He added that if the Democrats had been in the majority, a number of technology related bills would not have been brought to the floor.

The Republican HTWG was formed by former Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) in 1996. Rep. Goodlatte stated that the group "provides a line of communication between the industry and the Congressional leadership."

Phil Bond, Under Secretary of Commerce for Technology, attended the event and spoke briefly. He praised the Republican HTWG. See also, TA release.

9/17. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee's Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property Subcommittee, stated that his subcommittee will not revisit the DMCA subpoena issue.

Internet service providers (ISPs), and especially Verizon and SBC, as well as privacy advocates, have argued that the Congress should revise the subpoena provisions of Section 512(h) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which is codified at 17 U.S.C. § 512(h). This is the subpoena provision that enables the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and its member companies to obtain the identities of ISPs' subscribers who they assert are placing copyrighted works on peer to peer file sharing systems.

Rep. Smith (at right) spoke at an event hosted by the Republican High Tech Working Group (HTWG). He stated, in response to a question from a reporter, that "I do not see my subcommittee directly getting involved. As far as DMCA goes, at this point, we don't feel that it needs to be revisited."

Rather, Rep. Smith, as well as Democratic leaders on the Judiciary Committee, are advocating legislation to further protect copyright holders from online infringement. For example, Rep. Smith and others introduced HR 2517, the "Piracy Deterrence and Education Act of 2003" on July 19, 2003. This bill would enhance the government's resources for prosecuting intellectual property crimes, and involve the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Department of Justice (DOJ) in educating and warning the public regarding internet based copyright infringement. See, TLJ story titled "House CIIP Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Piracy Deterrence and Education Act", July 17, 2003.

Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA), the ranking Democrat on the Subcommittee, was not present at the September 17 event at which Rep. Smith spoke. He represents a Southern California district, and, like Rep. Smith, has a record of being supportive of the various copyright industries on copyright issues.

See, for example, HR 2752, the "Author, Consumer, and Computer Owner Protection and Security (ACCOPS) Act of 2003", introduced on July 16, 2003 by Rep. Berman and Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee. This bill would, among other things, criminalize the unauthorized placement of copyrighted works on P2P networks, and criminalize offering certain P2P software without first giving notice of the privacy and security risks. See also, story titled "Conyers and Berman Introduce Bill to Criminalize Placing Copyrighted Works on P2P Networks" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 702, July 21, 2003.

9/17. Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) stated at a Republican event on September 17 that the House Commerce Committee and the House Judiciary Committee are close to reaching an agreement on spam legislation.

Rep. Upton (at right) stated that "we are on the very verge of seeing an agreement with the Judiciary Committee and the Energy and Commerce Committee, to have an agreement on spam, which costs industry $10 Billion per year. That legislation is very close to being marked up in our committee."

Rep. Upton elaborated that "for the past couple of years we have been in gridlock between jurisdiction between Judiciary and Energy and Commerce. And, we wanted to break that, burst that bubble, this time. We wanted to work together and with Sensenbrenner, and Lamar, and Bob, have been good partners in this, along with Boucher and myself. Burr has the lead on this. And, we are trying to get a bill that doesn't get the angst of one side or the other. And, we are very close to seeing an agreement."

Rep. Upton commented that "There were a couple of different offers on the table."

See, stories titled "House Judiciary Committee Holds Hearing on Spam Bill", "House Commerce Committee Holds Hearing on Spam", and "Spam Bills Pending in the House and Senate" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 696, July 11, 2003.

Rep. Upton continued that "we are hopeful that in the next week or two, in fact, we can come to an agreement with all of the parties, and get this bill out of both committees ... and get it up under suspension, and have everybody go for it."

"To do it right, we don't want one committee stopping the other. So, we are very, very close", said Upton. He added that markup will "probably" not take place next week in the House Commerce Committee, but "Judiciary may have mark up next week".

He concluded that "I, personally, would like to see it done, and on the floor, before we break this year." He added that there are "only 15 to 18 legislative days left" in this session of Congress.

9/17. The Senate confirmed Sandra Feuerstein to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court (EDNY) by a vote of 92-0. See, Roll Call No. 353.

9/17. The Senate confirmed David Proctor to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court (NDAla) by a vote of 92-0. See, Roll Call No. 352.

9/17. Most House and Senate events scheduled for September 18 and 19 have been postponed.

9/17. The U.S. District Court (DC) announced that it will be closed on September 18.

9/17. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced that the FCC will be closed on September 18, and that "The FCC web site, including our webcasts, e-filing and licensing applications, may be unavailable to the public intermittently on Thursday, September 18th and Friday, September 19th, depending on the severity of Hurricane Isabel's impact on the local area."

Most House and Senate events scheduled for September 18 and 19 have been postponed, due to Hurricane Isabell.

The U.S. District Court (DC) will be closed on September 18.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business.

8:00 AM - 1:45 PM. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce will host an event titled "Immigration -- Access, Security and the American Economy". See, notice. The price to attend is $95 (members) or $155 (non-members). Location: U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 1615 H Street, NW.

8:30 AM - 1:00 PM. The National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board will meet. This is the third day of a three day series of meetings. The agenda includes (1) a session on agencies customer service management work, (2) a session on the National Information Assurance Program extension activities, (3) a session on acceptable behavior of "Touching the Browser", (4) NIST information technology laboratory briefings, (5) an update by OMB on privacy and security issues, and (6) a briefing by the Department of Homeland Security Privacy Officer. See, notice in the Federal Register, August 27, 2003, Vol. 68, No. 166, at Pages 51559 - 51560. Location: Bethesda Hyatt Regency Hotel, 7400 Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda, MD.

9:00 AM. The AEI-Brookings Joint Center for Regulatory Studies will host a conference titled "Is More Regulation of Wireless Services Necessary?" See, notice. Location: American Enterprise Institute, 12th floor, 1150 17th St., NW.

POSTPONED. 9:00 AM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) host an event titled "Rural Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP) Showcase and Workshop". For more information, contact Robert Pepper (Chief, Policy Development) at Robert.Pepper@fcc.gov or 202 418-2030. See, agenda [PDF]. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room, 445 12th Street, SW.

RESCHEDULED TO SEPTEMBER 23. 9:30 AM. The House Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet will meet to mark up HR 2898, the "E-911 Implementation Act of 2003". Press contact: Ken Johnson or Vikki Riley at 202 225-5735. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

9:30 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir) will hear oral argument in American Family Association v. FCC, No. 00-1310. This case pertains to issuance of noncommercial educational broadcast licenses. Judges Sentelle, Henderson and Tatel will preside. Location: 333 Constitution Ave. NW.

10:30 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hold an executive business meeting. See, notice. Press contact: Margarita Tapia (Hatch) at 202 224-5225 or David Carle (Leahy) at 202 224-4242. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

12:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Common Carrier Practice Committee will host a brown bag lunch. The topic will be "Antitrust Law and the Telecommunications Act of 1996: Broader Implications of the Supreme Court Trinko Case". The speakers will include Donald Russell (Robbins Russell) and John Thorne (Verizon). RSVP to Cecelia Burnett 202 637-8312. Location: Hogan & Hartson, 555 13th Street, NW, lower level.

1:15 PM. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), Rep. Christopher Cox (R-CA), Sen. George Allen (R-VA), and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) will hold a news conference to discuss HR 49 and S 52, the Internet Tax Non-Discrimination Act. Press contact: Carol Guthrie (Wyden) at 202 224-5244 or Kate Whitman (Cox) at 202 225-5611. Location: Room SC-4, Capitol Building.

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). See, notice in the Federal Register, July 21, 2003, Vol. 68, No. 139, at Pages 43247 - 43248. Location: Room 1, 1724 F Street, NW.

Most House and Senate events scheduled for September 19 have been postponed, due to Hurricane Isabell.

The House will not meet. See, Republican Whip Notice.

9:00 AM - 4:00 PM. the Executive Office of the President's (EOP) Office of Science and Technology Policy's (OSTP) National Science and Technology Council's (NSTC) Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) Interagency Working Group will meet. RSVP is required in advance in order to make arrangements for a visitor's badge. For more information, contact Virginia Moore moore@nitrd.gov or 703 292-4873. Location: NSF, Stafford Building, 4201 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA.

12:00 NOON. The Cato Institute will host an panel discussion titled "Debunking Myths about the Media Ownership Debate". The speakers will be Richard Wiley (former Chairman of the FCC), James Quello (former Chairman of the FCC), and Harold Furchtgott-Roth (former Commissioner of the FCC). A luncheon will follow the program. Registration is required to attend. See, notice and registration page. For more information, contact: Krystal Brand at kbrand@cato.org. Location: Room B-369, Rayburn Building.

Day one of a three day conference titled "Telecommunications Policy Research Conference". See, conference agenda and registration form. Location: George Mason University School of Law, Arlington, VA.

Day two of a three day conference titled "Telecommunications Policy Research Conference". See, conference agenda and registration form. Location: George Mason University School of Law, Arlington, VA.

Day three of a three day conference titled "Telecommunications Policy Research Conference". See, conference agenda and registration form. Location: George Mason University School of Law, Arlington, VA.

The House will meet at 12:00 NOON.

1:00 -3:00 PM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) will sponsor a tutorial titled "Technical Challenges Associated with the Evolution to VoIP". The speakers will include Susan Spradley (Wireline Networks) and Alan Stoddard (Nortel Networks). The tutorial will cover (1) an overview of IP telephony, (2) the routing of information through the packet network, (3) provision of voice and IP communication services on a single data network, (4) network engineering rules and parameters, (5) various transition models to IP telephony, and (6) business models for service providers and end users. See, FCC release [PDF]. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room (TW-C305), 445th 12th Street SW., Washington, D.C.

6:00 - 9:15 PM. The Intellectual Property Law Section of the D.C. Bar Association will host a CLE course titled "Patent Damages: Discovery, Pre-trial and Litigation Strategies". Prices vary. For more information, call 202 626-3488. Location: D.C. Bar Conference Center, 1250 H Street, NW, B-1 level.

Day one of a two day meeting hosted by the International Trademark Association (INTA) titled "Trademarks in Cyberspace". See, conference web site. Location: The Ritz-Carlton, Pentagon City, Arlington, VA.

Deadline to submit comments to the Executive Office of the President's (EOP) Office of Science and Technology Policy's (OSTP) National Science and Technology Council's (NSTC) Subcommittee on Research Business Models regarding the relationship between federal agencies and researchers. The NSTC published a notice in the Federal Register stating that it "is undertaking a review of policies, procedures, and plans relating to the business relationship between federal agencies and research performers with the goal of improving the performance and management of federally sponsored basic and applied scientific and engineering research. As part of that effort, the Subcommittee will hold a series of regional workshops in the Fall of 2003 to solicit input and feedback from the research performer community. This notice is intended to collect data that will assist the Subcommittee in setting agendas for those regional workshops." See, Federal Register, August 6, 2003, Vol. 68, No. 151, at Pages 46631 - 46632.

Deadline to submit comments to the Copyright Office (CO) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding rates and terms for the use of sound recordings in eligible nonsubscription transmissions made by noncommercial licensees, and for the making of related ephemeral recordings. See, notice in the Federal Register, August 21, 2003, Vol. 68, No. 162, at Pages 50493 - 50495.

9:30 AM. John Muleta, Bureau Chief of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB), will hold a "briefing for members of the media". RSVP to Marybeth McCarrick at 202 418-0654. Location: FCC, 445 12th St., SW, Room TW A-402/A-442.

12:00 NOON - 12:00 PM. The Computer & Telecommunications Law Section, and the Antitrust Section, of the D.C. Bar Association will host a brown bag lunch. The topic will be "Telecommunications Access". Location: D.C. Bar Conference Center, 1250 H Street NW, B-1 level.

12:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Cable Practice Committee will host a brown bag lunch on "current cable issues". For more information, contact Frank Buono at fbuono@willkie.com. RSVP to wendy@fcba.org Location: Willkie Farr & Gallagher, 1875 K Street, NW.

1:00 PM. The House Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet will meet to mark up HR 2898, the "E-911 Implementation Act of 2003". Press contact: Ken Johnson or Vikki Riley at 202 225-5735. Location: Room 2322, Rayburn Building. This meeting was previously scheduled for September 18.

4:00 PM. House Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection and the House Judiciary Committee's (HJC) Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property will hold a hearing on HR __, the "Database and Collections of Information Misappropriation Act of 2003". Press contact: Ken Johnson or Vikki Ehrlich at 202 225-5735. Location: Room 2141 (HJC hearing room), Rayburn Building.

4:00 PM. Douglas Lichtman (University of Chicago Law School) will speak on "Prosecution History Estoppel: Empirical Evidence from Patent Prosecution". For more information, contact Robert Brauneis at 202 994-6138 or rbrauneis@law.gwu.edu. Location: George Washington University Law School, Faculty Conference Center, 5th Floor, Burns Building, 716 20th Street, NW.

Day two of a two day meeting hosted by the International Trademark Association (INTA) titled "Trademarks in Cyberspace". See, conference web site. Location: The Ritz-Carlton, Pentagon City, Arlington, VA.

Deadline to submit comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) pertaining to its rules governing the provision of air ground telecommunications services on commercial airplanes in order to enhance the options available to the public. The FCC adopted this NPRM on April 17, 2003, and released it on April 28, 2003. This is WT Docket No. 03-103. See, notice in the Federal Register, July 25, 2003, Vol. 68, No. 143, at Pages 44003 - 44011.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) regarding making more spectrum available for unlicensed devices, including WiFi, in the 5 GHz band. See, stories titled "FCC Adopts NPRM to Increase Unlicensed Spectrum" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 663, May 16, 2003; "FCC Releases NPRM Regarding Increasing Amount of Unlicensed Spectrum" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 674, June 5, 2003, and "Delegates Discuss World Radiocommunications Conference" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 703, July 22, 2003. See also, notice in the Federal Register, July 25, 2003, Vol. 68, No. 143, at Pages 44011 - 44020. This is ET Docket No. 03-122. The FCC adopted this NPRM on May 15, 2003, and released June 4, 2003.

11:00 AM. The Cato Institute will host a panel discussion titled "Telecom & Broadband Outlook After the FCC’s UNE Triennial Review Decision". The speakers will be Tom Tauke (Verizon), John Windhausen (Association for Local Telecommunications Services), Ray Gifford (Progress & Freedom Foundation), and John Malone (Eastern Management Group). To register, contact Krystal Brand at kbrand@cato.org or use the online registration page. Lunch will follow the program. Location: Cato, 1000 Massachusetts Avenue, NW.

6:00 - 8:15 PM. The Computer & Telecommunications Law Section of the D.C. Bar Association will host a CLE seminar titled "Ethics and the Internet". Prices vary. For more information, call 202 626-3488. Location: D.C. Bar Conference Center, 1250 H Street NW, B-1 level.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will hold a narrowband PCS spectrum auction. This is Auction No. 50. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 28, 2003, Vol. 68, No. 60, at Pages 15174 - 15188, for procedures, minimum opening bids, and revised inventory and start date, and other information. See also, FCC notice.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and The Instrumentation and Measurement Society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) will host an event titled "Workshop on IEEE-1588 Standard for a Precision Clock Synchronization Protocol for Networked Measurement and Control Systems". See, NIST's notice and IEEE-1588 pages. Location: NIST, Gaithersburg, MD.

Day one of a three day course hosted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and offered by MIS Training Institute, titled "Securing and Auditing Virtual Office Networks". The price to attend is $435. See, notice. Location: NIST, Gaithersburg, MD.

Deadline to submit comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) regarding telecommunication relay services (TRS) and speech-to-speech services for individuals with hearing and speech disabilities. This is CG Docket No. 03-123. See, notice in the Federal Register, August 25, 2003, Vol. 68, No. 164, at Pages 50993 - 50998.

9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Day one of a two day conference pubic workshop by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) on building secure configurations, security settings, and security checklists for information technology products widely used in the federal government. See, notice in the Federal Register, July 11, 2003, Vol. 68, No. 133, at Pages 41313 - 41314. Location: NIST, Lecture Room B, Bldg 101, Gaithersburg, MD.

9:00 AM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) North American Numbering Council (NANC) will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, September 2, 2003, Vol. 68, No. 169, at Page 52210.

Day two of a three day course hosted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and offered by MIS Training Institute, titled "Securing and Auditing Virtual Office Networks". The price to attend is $435. See, notice. Location: NIST, Gaithersburg, MD.