12/11. Alan Greenspan, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, gave a speech in Dallas, Texas, in which he addressed employment, trade, new technologies, and creative destruction.

As is usual for Chairman Greenspan, he advocated the benefits to society of free markets and free trade. He said that jobs are continually being eliminated, while new jobs are being created. Moreover, the U.S. is continually moving away from manufacturing towards information technologies. He argued that imposing protectionist barriers to imported manufactured goods would harm the U.S. economy.

Greenspan (at right) stated that "A million workers leave their jobs every week, two-fifths involuntarily, often in association with facilities that have been displaced or abandoned. A million, more or less, are also newly hired or returned from layoffs every week, in part as new facilities come on stream."

"We can thus be confident that new jobs will displace old ones as they always have, but not without a high degree of pain for those in the job-losing segment of our massive job turnover."

He continued that "In the United States, conceptual jobs, fostered by cutting-edge technologies, especially information technologies, are occupying an ever increasing share of the workforce and are gradually replacing work requiring manual skills. Those industries in which labor costs are a significant part of overall costs have been under increasing competition from foreign producers with labor costs, adjusted for productivity, less than ours."

"This process is not new", said Greenspan. "For generations American ingenuity has been creating industries and jobs that never existed before, from vehicle assemblers to computer software engineers. With those jobs come new opportunities for workers with the necessary skills. In recent years, competition from abroad has risen to a point at which our lowest skilled workers are being priced out of the global labor market."

Greenspan suggested that the appropriate policy response is not protectionism, but retraining workers "for new job skills that meet the evolving opportunities created by our economy has become so urgent in this country. A major source of such retraining has been our community colleges, which have proliferated over the past two decades."

He stated that if the U.S. imposed protectionist policies with respect to manufactured goods, "our overall standards of living would fall".

He also applied Joseph Schumpeter's theory of creative destruction. Greenspan summarized this as "the continuous scrapping of old technologies to make way for the new."

"Standards of living rise because the depreciation and other cash flows of industries employing older, increasingly obsolescent, technologies are marshaled, along with new savings, to finance the production of capital assets that almost always embody cutting-edge technologies. Workers migrate with the capital. This is the process by which wealth is created, incremental step by incremental step. It presupposes a continuous churning of an economy in which the new displaces the old, a process that brings both progress and stress", said Greenspan.

Finally, Greenspan discussed trade negotiations. He stated that the U.S. has had four decades of more or less successful trade negotiations, but that the U.S. so far has picked the "low-hanging trade agreement fruit". He added that "Current trade negotiators, accordingly, now must grapple with the remaining, more difficult issues, such as intellectual property rights".

12/9. Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN), the Senate Majority Leader, spoke in the Senate about intellectual property rights. See, Congressional Record, December 9, 2003, at page S16157-8

Sen. Frist (at left) stated that "The music community that creates these opportunities and this joy is being threatened ... by those who love it so much, who appreciate it so much; that is, the millions of people who are downloading billions of illegal music files."

"The bottom line is clear: Piracy is greatly impacting the music community. The situation is, indeed, growing worse. Online music piracy is out of control', said Sen. Frist.

He then expanded the discussion. "Piracy affects more than just the music industry. It affects that larger element of intellectual property. It includes the movie industry, it includes the software industry. Indeed, the numbers are staggering. According to a report released by the International Intellectual Property Alliance, U.S. copyright industries -- and that includes music, movies, books, and software -- contributed $535 billion to the U.S. economy in 2001. They collectively employ over 4.7 million workers. They generate almost $900 billion in foreign sales, making intellectual property one of our largest exports."

Moreover, said Sen. Frist, "Other countries often do not respect our copyright laws. They allow mass copying of music and other works. For example, it is estimated that an astounding 92 percent of business software used in China is pirated. In my travels to Asia several months ago, I directly stressed the importance of protecting our copyright laws to the leaders of China and Taiwan and Korea, the countries I visited."

He called for educating the public "that illegally downloading music or copyrighted material is stealing, straight and simple." He also said that "we can encourage consumers to download music from legitimate online fee services. There are several sites that are up and running, and I encourage the industry to continue to work hard to improve their online products to meet consumer demand."

12/11. The General Accounting Office (GAO) released a report [39 pages in PDF] titled "Satellite Communications: Strategic Approach Needed for DOD's Procurement of Commercial Satellite Bandwidth".

The report states that the "The Department of Defense (DOD) relies on a vast network of ground and space-based systems to meet its telecommunications needs -- both for military and business operations. Over the past 12 years, DOD has experienced a ten-fold increase in the demand for telecommunication bandwidth from satellites to support the war-fighting combatant commands, the military services, and defense agencies, and some experts predict another fivefold or sixfold jump in demand by 2010. Currently, DOD-owned and -operated satellites cannot satisfy all of DOD’s telecommunication requirements, and both DOD and other sources project sizeable shortfalls in bandwidth capacity needed by the year 2010. As a result, DOD has been leasing bandwidth on commercial satellites to support a variety of critical missions such as surveillance being performed by unmanned aerial vehicles and communications between commanders and field units."

The report concludes that the "DOD’s process for acquiring commercial fixed satellite bandwidth services is fair to both its vendors and their subcontractors, which are the ultimate commercial satellite bandwidth service providers."

It adds that "Some major DOD users of commercial satellite bandwidth services, however, are dissatisfied with the DOD’s process, which is managed by the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA)."

The report also identifies several management and oversight weaknesses. It states that "Little attention is paid to collecting or addressing customer complaints; business processes are inefficient; and oversight is poor. In fact, DOD does not know exactly how much it is spending on commercial satellite bandwidth services, nor does it know much about its service providers or whether customer needs are really being satisfied. Without this knowledge, DOD cannot take steps to leverage its buying power, even though it is the largest customer for commercial satellite bandwidth. Further, neither DOD nor DISA is making a concerted effort to collect forecasts of bandwidth needs from users and ensure those needs can be met by the commercial sector."

12/8. The Senate confirmed Michael Fisher to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Fischer is Attorney General of Pennsylvania.

12/8. The Senate confirmed George Miller to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims for a term of fifteen years.

12/8. The Senate confirmed James Comey (at right) to be the Deputy Attorney General, the second highest position at the Department of Justice (DOJ). He is the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. He replaces Larry Thompson, who left in August. He is a graduate of the University of Chicago School of Law.

12/8. The Senate confirmed Arnold Havens to be General Counsel of the Department of the Treasury.

12/11. Narda Jones was named Deputy Division Chief of the Telecommunications Access Policy Division of the Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB) at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). She will will oversee the policies and procedures governing the e-rate subsidy program. See, FCC release [PDF]. She has worked for the FCC since 2001.

12/11. Scott Bergmann was named Deputy Chief of the Competition Policy Division of the Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB) at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). He was previously Interim Legal Advisor to Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein. Before that, he was Legal Counsel to the Chief of the WCB, advising the Bureau Chief on competition policy and broadband issues. And before that, he was an Attorney Advisor in the Industry Analysis Division. He previously worked on, among other things, the now completed Section 271 applications to provide in region interLATA services. See, FCC release [PDF].

12/11. Jeremy Miller was named Special Counsel to the Competition Policy Division of the Wireline Competition Bureau (WTB) at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). He was previously an Attorney Advisor for the Competition Policy Division, and Acting Assistant Chief of the Competition Policy Division. He previously worked on, among other things, the now completed Section 271 applications to provide in region interLATA services. See, FCC release [PDF].

12/11. The General Accounting Office (GAO) released a report [38 pages in PDF] titled "Human Capital: Key Principles for Effective Strategic Workforce Planning". This report addresses workforce planning for the federal government.

12/11. The General Accounting Office (GAO) released a report [60 pages in PDF] titled "Law Enforcement: Better Performance Measures Needed to Assess Results of Justice’s Office of Science and Technology". The report states that "The mission of the Office of Science and Technology (OST), within the Department of Justice’s National Institute of Justice (NIJ), is to improve the safety and effectiveness of technology used by federal, state, and local law enforcement, corrections, and other public safety agencies." It concludes that the "OST has been unable to fully assess its performance in achieving its goals because it does not measure the extent to which it achieves the intended outcomes of its programs." Hence, the report recommends that "the Attorney General instruct the Director of NIJ to reassess OST’s performance measures to better focus on outcome measures." The report, which is dated November 14, 2003, was prepared for Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA).

Day two of a two day conference hosted by the Power Line Communications Association (PLCA). For more information, contact Craig Schaar. Location: Troutman Sanders, Conference Center, 401 Ninth Street, NW.

12:00 NOON. The Progress and Freedom Foundation (PFF) will host a panel discussion titled "The Next Step in Telecom: Deregulation of Retail Rates". The speakers will be Randolph May (PFF), Joseph Kraemer (LECG), Blair Levin (Legg Mason Equity Research), John Morabito (Qwest), and John Windhausen (Association for Local Telecommunications Services). Lunch will be served. To register, contact Rebecca Fuller at 202 289-8928 or rfuller@pff.org. Location: Room B-369, Rayburn Building.

Deadline to submit comments to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) regarding barriers to U.S. exports of goods, services and overseas direct investment for inclusion in the USTR's annual National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers (NTE). The USTR seeks comments on, among other issues, lack of intellectual property protection, trade restrictions affecting electronic commerce, and technology transfer requirements. See, notice in the Federal Register, October 31, 2003, Vol. 68, No. 211, at Pages 62159 - 62160.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to SBC Communications' petition requesting that the FCC forbear from applying the terms of 47 U.S.C. § 271(c)(2)(B) to the extent, if any, those provisions impose unbundling obligations on SBC that this FCC has determined should not be imposed on incumbent local exchange carriers pursuant to 47 U.S.C. § 251. See, FCC notice [PDF]. This is WC Docket No. 03-235.

Deadline to submit comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding Northland Networks' petition pursuant to 47 U.S.C. § 252(e)(5) requesting that the FCC preempt the jurisdiction of the New York Public Service Commission to resolve a dispute between Northland and Verizon regarding reciprocal compensation and change of law provisions of their interconnection agreements. This is WC Docket No. 03-242. See, FCC notice [PDF].

The Supreme Court will begin a recess. (It will return from recess on January 12, 2004.)

9:30 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir) will hear oral argument in Verizon v. FCC, No. 03-1080. Judges Randolph, Rogers and Garland will preside. Location: 333 Constitution Ave. NW.

9:30 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir) will hear oral argument in Cellco Partnership v. FCC, No. 02-1262. Judges Randolph, Rogers and Garland will preside. Location: 333 Constitution Ave. NW.

Day one of a seven day trial in USA v. First Data & Concord EFS, Inc., in the U.S. District Court (DC), D.C. No. 03-2169 (RMC). See, Scheduling and Case Management Order [9 pages in PDF] and story titled "DOJ Sues to Stop Merger of PIN Debit Networks", also published in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 765, October 24, 2003. Location: U.S. Courthouse, 333 Constitution Ave., NW.

TIME? The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency (HSARPA) will host a one-day workshop to obtain feedback from the academic community on how to work with the DHS's research and development program." See, DHS release. Location?

Deadline to register to attend the December 17 meeting of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Board of Overseers of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Contact Virginia Davis at virginia.davis@nist.gov or 301 975-2361. See, notice in the Federal Register, November 25, 2003, Vol. 68, No. 227, at Page 66075.

Deadline for federal branch agency Chief Information Officers (CIOs) to submit reports to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regarding the E-Government Act of 2002. See, November 21, 2003 memorandum from Karen Evans (Administrator for E-Government, Information and Technology Policy at the OMB) to the CIOs.

8:30 AM - 5:00 PM. Day one of a two day meeting of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board (ISPAB). The agenda includes "Overview of Program Activities of the NIST Information Technology Laboratory's Computer Security Division", "Update by OMB on Privacy and Security Issues", and "Briefing by Department of Homeland Security Office Privacy Officer Nuala Connor-Kelly". See, notice in the Federal Register, November 21, 2003, Vol. 68, No. 225, at Page 65681. Location: Gaithersburg Hilton Hotel, 620 Perry Parkway, Gaithersburg, MD.

1:30 - 4:30 AM. The Executive Office of the President's (EOP) Office of Science and Technology Policy's (OSTP) National Science and Technology Council's (NSTC) Committee on Technology and Committee on Homeland and National Security will hold a meeting that is closed to the public. For more information, contact John Hoyt at john.hoyt@dhs.gov or 202 772-9959. Location: White House Conference Center, Truman Room.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding implementation of 47 U.S.C. § 272(b)(1). This NPRM is FCC 03-272 in WC Docket No. 03-228. The FCC adopted this NPRM on November 3, 2003, and released it on November 4, 2003. For more information, contact Christi Shewman at 202 418-1686 or christi.shewman@fcc.gov. See, notice in the Federal Register, November 21, 2003, Vol. 68, No. 225 at Pages 65665 - 65667.

8:30 AM - 3:00 PM. The National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Board of Overseers of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award will hold a meeting. The deadline to register to attend is December 15. Contact Virginia Davis at virginia.davis@nist.gov or 301 975-2361. See, notice in the Federal Register, November 25, 2003, Vol. 68, No. 227, at Page 66075. Location: NIST, Administration Building, Lecture Room A, Gaithersburg, MD.

8:30 AM - 5:00 PM. Day one of a two day meeting of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board (ISPAB). The agenda includes "Overview of Program Activities of the NIST Information Technology Laboratory's Computer Security Division", "Update by OMB on Privacy and Security Issues", and "Briefing by Department of Homeland Security Office Privacy Officer Nuala Connor-Kelly". See, notice in the Federal Register, November 21, 2003, Vol. 68, No. 225, at Page 65681. Location: Gaithersburg Hilton Hotel, 620 Perry Parkway, Gaithersburg, MD.

9:30 AM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will hold a meeting. See, agenda [PDF]. Location: FCC, 445 12th Street, SW, Room TW-C05 (Commission Meeting Room).

12:15 - 1:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Wireless Committee will host a luncheon panel discussion titled "Wireless Telecommunications Bureau: Current Topics and Vision for the Future". The speakers will include John Muleta, Chief of the WTB. The price to attend is $15. For more information, contact laura.phillips@dbr.com or charla.rath@verizonwireless.com. RSVP to wendy@fcba.org. Location: Sidley Austin, 1501 K Street, NW, 6th Floor.

9:00 - 11:30 AM. The Executive Office of the President's (EOP) Office of Science and Technology Policy's (OSTP) National Science and Technology Council's (NSTC) Committee on Technology and Physical Infrastructure Working Group (formerly named the Subcommittee on Construction and Building) will hold a meeting that is closed to the public. For more information, contact Paul Domich at domich@nist.gov or 301 975-5624. Location: White House Conference Center, Jackson Room, 726 Jackson Place, NW.

12:00 NOON. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) International Telecommunications Committee will host a brown bag lunch titled "The United Nations World Summit on Information Society (WSIS): Geneva 2003 and the Road to Tunisia 2005". The speaker will be David Gross, Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Communications and Information Policy, Department of State. RSVP to julie.kearney@mci.com. Location: Wiley Rein & Fielding, 1750 K Street, NW.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding Northland Networks' petition pursuant to 47 U.S.C. § 252(e)(5) requesting that the FCC preempt the jurisdiction of the New York Public Service Commission to resolve a dispute between Northland and Verizon regarding reciprocal compensation and change of law provisions of their interconnection agreements. This is WC Docket No. 03-242. See, FCC notice [PDF].