5/19. The House Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet held a hearing titled "Competition in the Communications Marketplace: How Convergence Is Blurring the Lines Between Voice, Video, and Data Services". This hearing focused on new technologies, rather than policy. The witnesses largely addressed their companies' products and services. However, several Representatives addressed policy.

See, prepared testimony of witnesses: Jay Birnbaum (Current Communications, which is involved in broadband over poweline), John Burris (Sprint), Jack Jachner (Alcatel), Kevin Leddy (Time Warner Cable), Jonas Neihardt (Qualcomm), and Adriana Rizzo (Verizon).

Verizon's Rizzo talked about Verizon's new iobi service. She also addressed Verizon's deployment of fiber to the premises in the town of Keller, Texas. See, also Verizon release.

Keller is located in the district of Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), the Chairman of the full Committee. Rep. Barton attended part of the hearing, and submitted a statement for the record. He wrote that the hearing testimony demonstrates that "facilities based competition is here to stay. This competition will greatly benefit consumers through lower prices, more choices and better service".

Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) (at right), the Chairman of the Subcommittee, presided. He said in his opening statement that "In subsequent hearings, we will have a policy discussion about how this convergence -- this blurring of the lines -- should impact our regulatory approach to the marketplace. I, for one, have made no secret of my belief that the legacy stove-pipe regulation perpetrated by the Telecommunications Act of 1996 needs to be revisited given the evolution in technology and the marketplace that was virtually unforeseen at the time of the Act's creation."

Rep. Chip Pickering (R-MS) used his opening statement to advocate HR 4129, the "VOIP Regulatory Freedom Act of 2004". He introduced this bill on April 2, 2004. See, story titled "Sununu and Pickering Introduce VOIP Regulatory Freedom Bills" and story titled "Summary of VOIP Regulatory Freedom Bills", both published in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 872, April 8, 2004.

Rep. Chris Cox (R-CA) argued that it may be time to terminate the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). See, following story, titled "Rep. Cox Suggests Shutting Down the FCC".

Rep. Greg Walton (R-OR) discussed broadband over powerline and interference with ham radio and aircraft communications. Current Communications' Jay Birnbaum argued that the power levels are very low, so the portion that leaks off the wire is low, and attenuates quickly. He asserted that interference concerns are unfounded.

He also said that Current's technology involves notching, and that it does not use ham radio frequency. He also argued that Current's technology does not pose the hazards that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) raised in its BPL Phase 1 Report, released on April 27, 2004. The full title of this report is "Potential Interference from Broadband over Power Line (BPL) Systems to Federal Government Radio Communications at 1.7 - 80 MHz - Phase I Study".

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted a NPRM regarding broadband over powerline systems on February 12, 2004. The deadline to submit reply comments is June 1. Current has participated in this proceeding. See, comment [32 pages in PDF] filed on May 3, 2004.

The FCC adopted this NPRM on February 12, 2004. See, story titled "FCC Adopts Broadband Over Powerline NPRM" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 836, February 13, 2004. The FCC released the text of this NPRM on February 23, 2004. This NPRM is FCC 04-29 in ET Docket Nos. 03-104 and 04-37. See also, notice in the Federal Register, March 17, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 52, at Pages 12612-12618.

Walter McCormick, P/CEO of the U.S. Telecom Association (USTA), did not testify at the hearing, but released a statement afterwards. He stated that "There is abundant evidence that heavy regulations cannot keep pace with rapid innovation. This hearing was an important foundation for efforts to catch the laws up with our lives and to unleash the full potential of American innovation and free markets in the new communications marketplace."

5/19. Rep. Chris Cox (R-CA) suggested abolishing the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) because it was created to regulate communications markets characterized by scarcity and lack of competition -- conditions which no longer exist.

Rep. Cox (at right) said that rather than rewriting the Communications Act, the Congress should recognize that there is now competition in communications, declare victory, and shut down the FCC. He spoke at the House Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet's May 19 hearing titled "Competition in the Communications Marketplace: How Convergence Is Blurring the Lines Between Voice, Video, and Data Services".

Rep. Cox is a senior member of the House Commerce Committee, and its Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. He is also the Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.

Rep. Cox's Comments. "Given the pace of technological change, it is important to have an almost daily reality check, to ensure that we ensure that we retain [?] the products, the markets, the consumers and the producers who have to live under laws that we write. And with all of the options for consumers today, and all of the competing platforms that are now able to offer video, voice and everything else that can be converted into digital data, we might wonder whether our laws can possibly keep up."

"Seven years ago, Peter Huber published a book arguing that it is time to shut down the FCC, and let common law and the courts settle any disputes that arise when there has got to be change in the high tech market because anything else would fall through."

"Given that the premise of our legislation and regulation over the last century is to regulate communications, based upon the apparent scarcity of communications, today's hearing gives us an opportunity to step back and ponder these big questions -- whether we still need the kinds of regulators that we presuppose, when cable companies, phone companies, wireless companies, or even satellite companies are all competing to provide a package of digital services."

"This seems to be the competition that we have all sought for a long time. And so, perhaps we should declare victory. perhaps, even envision the Peter Huber future, and if we shut down the FCC, and [inaudible phrase]."

"As we look at all of the products to be demonstrated, all of them enabled by the internet, and driven by the advances in computer hardware and software markets, it is useful to remember that these largely unregulated markets have a history of innovation that the highly regulated telephone market cannot match. I think that it is not because of the lack of innovative creativity in telephony, but rather the difference in the regulatory environment. We should be weary about 1930s era telecom regulation into these high tech industries, and we should be seeking ways to liberate telephony from the heavy regulation that began so long ago in the age of analog scarcity and dominate carriers."

"There is much talk in Washington now of Congress gearing up for a rewrite of America's communications law. And, that possibly what we will learn today is that retirement would be a better option."

Peter Huber. Peter Huber wrote Law and Disorder in Cyberspace: Abolish the FCC and Let Common Law Rule the Telecosm [Amazon] in 1997.

He wrote that "It is time for fundamental change. It is time for the Federal Communications Commission to go." He elaborated that "Until 1996 the telecosm was governed by laws written half a century ago. The rules for the telephone industry dated back to 1887. They had been written at a time when land, air, water and energy all seemed abundant, while the telecosm seemed small and crowded, a place of scarcity, cartel, and monopoly, one that required strict rationing and tight, central control."

"In the last decade, however, glass and silicon have amplified beyond all prior recognition our power to communicate", wrote Huber. "New technology has replaced scarcity with abundance and cartels with competition."

Huber also points out that "We never did create a Federal Computer Commission. The computer industry has nonetheless developed interconnection rules and open systems, set reasonable prices, and delivered more hardware and more services to more people faster than any other industry in history."

"Now, in the 1990s, with the telecosm growing explosively all around us, with the cacophony of free markets already drowning out the reedy proclamations of a senescent Commission, the only outlandish proposal is that we should keep it."

"The Commission must go", said Huber.

See also, prepared testimony of Peter Huber for a Senate Commerce Committee hearing of October 1, 2002.

At a hearing of the Telecommunications Subcommittee six years ago Rep. Cox accused the FCC of "sucking the internet into the vast web of the Federal Computer Commission." See, TLJ story titled "Congressmen Decry the ``Federal Computer Commission´´", March 31, 1998. At that time, Rep. Cox was arguing against the FCC's newly created e-rate subsidy program. The program still exists.

5/19. The U.S. Court of Appeals (6thCir) issued its opinion in US v. Traficant, affirming the criminal conviction of former Rep. James Traficant (D-OH). He was a member of the House of Representatives from 1985 through 2002.

5/19. The House Government Reform Committee's Subcommittee on Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations and the Census held a hearing titled "Federal Enterprise Architecture: A Blueprint for Improved Federal IT Investment & Cross-Agency Collaboration and Information Sharing".

5/19. The Senate Commerce Committee postponed its hearing titled "From Public Service to Private Sector: Spinning the Revolving Door for Personal Gain". The hearing has not yet been rescheduled.

5/19. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) held a day long event titled "Wireless Broadband Forum". See, notice and agenda [PDF].

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. See, Republican Whip Notice.

The Senate will meet at 10:00 AM for morning business. It will then resume consideration of S 2400, the FY 2005 Department of Defense Authorization bill.

TIME CHANGE. 10:15 AM. The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing regarding the CAN SPAM Act. The witnesses will be Timothy Muris (Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission), Jana Monroe (FBI Cyber Division), Ted Leonsis (Vice Chairman of AOL), Shinya Akamine (P/CEO of Postini), Hans Peter Brondmo (Digital Impact, Inc.), James Guest (Consumers Union), and Ronald Scelson (Scelson Online Marketing). The hearing will be webcast by the Committee. Press contact: Rebecca Fisher at 202 224-2670. See, notice. Location: Room 253, Russell Building. This hearing was previously scheduled for 9:30 AM.

9:30 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold an executive business meeting to mark up bills. The agenda includes consideration of S 1933, the "Enhancing Federal Obscemity Reporting and Copyright Enforcement (ENFORCE) Act of 2003", S 1635, the "L-1 Visa (Intracompany Transferee) Reform Act of 2003", and S 2013, the "Satellite Home Viewer Extension Act of 2004". It also includes consideration of the nomination of Jon Dudas to be Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The Committee will then hold a hearing titled "FBI Oversight: Terrorism and Other Topics". The witness will be Robert Mueller, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). See, notice of business meeting and notice of hearing. Press contact: Margarita Tapia (Hatch) at 202 224-5225 or David Carle (Leahy) at 202 224-4242. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

9:30 - 10:00 AM. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein will host an event titled "press breakfast". RSVP to Anne Perkins (Adelstein's Special Assistant for Legislative and Media Affairs) at 202 418-2314 by May 19. Location: FCC, 8th Floor Conference Room 1, 445 12th St., SW.

10:00 AM. The House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property will hold a hearing titled "Derivative Rights, Moral Rights, and Movie Filtering Technology". The hearing will be webcast by the Committee. Press contact: Jeff Lungren or Terry Shawn at 202 225-2492. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State, and the Judiciary will hold another hearing on intellectual property. Location: Room 138, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The World RadioCommunication 2007 (WRC-07) Advisory Committee's Informal Working Group 5: Regulatory Issues will meet. Location: Boeing, Arlington, VA.

12:00 NOON. The Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee will host a panel discussion titled "Wiretapping the Internet: Is VOIP Different?" The speakers will be James Dempsey (Center for Democracy & Technology), Anthony Rutkowski (VeriSign), Mike Warren (Fiducianet), and Stewart Baker (Steptoe & Johnson). RSVP to rsvp@netcaucus.org or 202 638-4370. Lunch will be served. Location: Reserve Officers Association, 1st and Constitution, NE (between the Dirksen Building and the Supreme Court).

1:00 PM. Don Abelson, Chief of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) International Bureau (IB) will hold an event titled "Media briefing on international issues before the FCC". RSVP to Meribeth McCarrick 202 418-0654 or Meribeth.Mccarrick@fcc.gov. Location: FCC, Room 6-B516 (6 South), 445 12th St., SW.

2:00 - 4:00 PM. Several groups will hold a workshop on the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA). The speakers will include Glenn Schlarman (OMB), Drew Arenas (Verizon), Stuart Katzke (NIST), Bob Dix (House Government Reform Committee), Mike Jacobs (SRA), Lance Hoffman (George Washington University), Allen Paller (SANS Institute), and Werner Lippuner (Ernst & Young). The hosting groups are the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), the Council for Excellence in Government (CEG), the Cyber Security and Policy Research Institute of George Washington University, and the American Council for Technology. RSVP to Danielle Wiblemo at dani@cdt.org. Location: Mayflower Hotel, Connecticut Ave.

Deadline to submit comments to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regarding its interim rule pertaining to receiving and protecting critical infrastructure information (CII). This rule pertains to the Homeland Security Act's exemption to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for certain information about critical infrastructures, such as cyber security, that is voluntarily provided to the federal government. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 20, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 34, at Pages 8073 - 8089. See also, story titled "DHS Announces Adoption of Rules Implementing the Critical Infrastructure Information Act" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 840, February 19, 2004.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. See, Republican Whip Notice.

Day one of a two day conference hosted by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) titled "Freedom 2.0: Distributed Democracy". The topics to be addressed include the reliability of electronic voting systems, enabling public participation, government accountability, secrecy and surveillance, Freedom of Information Act, open government initiatives, privacy enhancing technologies, anonymity and identity, trans border data flows, radio frequency identification (RFID), biometrics, Civil Society, World Summit on the Information Society, United Nations Information and Communications Technology Task Force, ICANN, and UNESCO. See, conference web site. Location: Washington Club, 15 Dupont Circle.

Deadline to submit comments to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for its June 21, 2004 workshop on the uses, efficiencies, and implications for consumers associated with radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. See, FTC web page for this workshop, and notice in the Federal Register, April 15, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 73, at Pages 20523 - 20525.

Extended deadline to submit comments to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding its April 19, 2004 workshop titled "Monitoring Software on Your PC: Spyware, Adware, and Other Software". See, notice in the Federal Register, April 1, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 63 at Pages 17155 - 17156.

The House and Senate will not meet on May 24 through May 31.

Day two of a two day conference hosted by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) titled "Freedom 2.0: Distributed Democracy". The topics to be addressed include the reliability of electronic voting systems, enabling public participation, government accountability, secrecy and surveillance, Freedom of Information Act, open government initiatives, privacy enhancing technologies, anonymity and identity, trans border data flows, radio frequency identification (RFID), biometrics, Civil Society, World Summit on the Information Society, United Nations Information and Communications Technology Task Force, ICANN, and UNESCO. See, conference web site. Location: Washington Club, 15 Dupont Circle.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Inquiry (NOI) regarding deployment of advanced telecommunications capability to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion, and possible steps to accelerate such deployment. The FCC is required by Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to provide an annual report to the Congress on this subject. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 8, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 68, at Pages 18508 - 18515. This is GN Docket No. 04-54.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) regarding the Emergency Alert System (EAS). See, notice in the Federal Register, April 9, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 69, at Pages 18857 - 18859.

Deadline to submit comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its notice of proposed rule making (NPRM) regarding expanding the disruption reporting requirements beyond wireline carriers. See, notice in the March 26, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 59, at Pages 15761 - 15774.

11:45 AM - 2:00 PM. The DC Bar Association's Intellectual Property Law Section will host a lunch. The speaker will be Nicholas Godici, Commissioner for Patents at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Prices range from $35 to $65. See, notice. Location: The Westin Grand, 2350 M Street, NW.

The Cato Institute will host a debate titled "The FCC’s Media Ownership Decision One Year Later". The speakers will be Adam Thierer (Cato) and Andrew Schwartzman (Media Access Project). Lunch will be served. See, notice and registration page. Location: Room B-339, Rayburn Building, Capitol Hill.

5:30 - 9:00 PM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Localism Task Force will hold a field meeting in Rapid City, South Dakota. The FCC states in its notice [PDF] that "A live audiocast of the hearing will be available at the FCC’s website at www.fcc.gov on a first-come, first-served basis" and "The public may also file comments or other documents with the Commission and should reference RM-10803".

Deadline to submit comments to the European Commission regarding its draft regulation [16 pages in PDF] implementing the EC's January 20, 2004 merger regulation [22 pages in PDF]. The merger regulation is No. 139/2004.