6/4. Rep. Christopher Cox (R-CA) gave a speech at the McGraw-Hill Homeland Security Summit. He discussed several topics, including the role of technology in homeland security.

He said that "The federal-wide research and development program to support homeland security in fiscal year 2005 is nothing short of astounding. R&D investment across key federal partners has seen a 44% increase since September 11, to $132 billion. Department of Homeland Security R&D will see the greatest increase of any Federal Department -- 15.5% in the coming year. This increase in investment recognizes the key role that the private sector plays in protecting our critical infrastructure. It's also a recognition of the importance of technological innovation to the mission of the Department of Homeland Security."

"I'm a firm strong believer in the power of technology -- perhaps because after long experience, I've found that artificial intelligence beats real stupidity. But in all seriousness, technology will be an important key to success in the war on terrorism. At the same time, however, there is a dark side to the astounding progress of science and technology. The rapid pace of technological development is the greatest single reason that terrorists must be taken more seriously than ever before", said Rep. Cox.

Rep. Cox (at left) elaborated that "Technology, as has been so often noted by commentators, is a great equalizer. The same technology that empowers multinational corporations and the most sophisticated national security forces in the world, inevitably becomes available to entrepreneurial organizations and groups of all sizes and types -- including terrorists. And the time that it takes for technology to move from invention, to deployment, to widespread global availability -- is shrinking every year."

He also discussed investments in technology that both increase security, and economic performance. He said that "We know that these significant increases in private sector security spending represent a quantifiable drag on GDP. But the good news is that this has hardly brought the economy to its knees. Our economy is still growing. In fact, we’re experiencing the fastest economic growth in 20 years."

He offered a few examples. First, "let's say that in the future, a power company wishes to improve its security system to prevent it from being accessed by terrorists. Let's say that one means of accomplishing this objective was to wall off the computer system against a breach by terrorists. Why couldn’t this same investment help prevent a rolling blackout? In that case, better security measures would also mean more reliable power -- preventing the kinds of enormous economic costs that ensued after the blackout in Ohio."

Secondly, he asked "Why can't technology that tracks and inspects containers for security purposes also improve throughput at the ports and satisfy commercial demand for better real-time tracking of shipments?"

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

6/4. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) introduced S 2505, an untitled bill pertaining to low power FM radio licensing.

The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) adopted a LPFM Report and Order [77 pages in PDF] on January 20, 2000. (This item is FCC 00-19 in MM Docket No. 99-25.) Commercial broadcasters and National Public Radio opposed the order, as did many members of Congress.

The Congress responded by passing the Radio Broadcasting Preservation Act of 2000, over the objections of the FCC, which was then led by former Chairman William Kennard. This Act was first passed as a stand alone bill by the House, and then passed by both the House and Senate as part of the Commerce State Justice (CJS) appropriations bill for FY 2001.

This Act limited the FCC's ability to issue LPFM licenses. It provided, in part, that the FCC "shall modify the rules authorizing the operation of low-power FM radio stations, as proposed in MM Docket No. 99-25, to -- (A) prescribe minimum distance separations for third-adjacent channels (as well as for co-channels and first- and second-adjacent channels) ..." (Parentheses in original.)

S 2505 revisits this issue. The bill contains three substantive provisions.

First, it would repeal the Radio Broadcasting Preservation Act of 2000. S 2505 provides that "Section 632 of the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2001, (Pub. Law 106-553; 114 Stat. 2762A-111) is repealed."

Second, S 2505 would provide that the FCC "shall modify its rules to eliminate third-adjacent minimum distance separation requirements between (1) low-power FM stations; and (2) full-service FM stations, FM translator stations, and FM booster stations."

Third, it would provide that the FCC "shall retain its rules that provide third-adjacent channel protection for full-power non-commercial FM stations that broadcast radio reading services via a subcarrier frequency from potential low-power FM station interference."

Section 632 of the Commerce State Justice (CJS) appropriations bill for FY 2001 is also known as the "Radio Broadcasting Preservation Act of 2000". The House passed an earlier version as a stand alone bill, HR 3439, by a vote of 274-110 on April 13, 2000. See, story titled "House Passes Bill to Restrain FCC on Low Power FM", April 13, 2000.

Another version of this bill was then passed by both the House and Senate as a part of the CJS appropriations bill for FY 2001.

There was an intense conflict between members of the House and the FCC in early 2000 on this issue. For example, Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-LA), the former Chairman of the House Commerce Committee, was the floor manager of the Radio Broadcasting Preservation Act of 2000, and one of the most adamant opponents of the FCC's LPFM program in the 106th Congress. He stated during the floor debate that he would ask the Department of Justice to conduct a criminal investigation of the FCC's use of public funds to lobby Members of Congress in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1913.

Rep. Tauzin resigned as Chairman of the Committee, effective February 16, 2004. See, story titled "Rep. Tauzin to Retire from Congress" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 830, February 5, 2004.

Section 632 required the FCC to complete a report "not later than February 1, 2001". The FCC released its report [6 pages in PDF] on February 19, 2004.

The report concluded that "Existing third-adjacent minimum distance separation requirements between LPFM stations and existing full-service FM stations and FM translator and booster stations should be eliminated." It added that "Congress should re-address this issue and modify the statute to eliminate the third-adjacent channel distant separation requirements for LPFM stations."

Both Sen. McCain and Sen. Leahy referenced this report in their floor speeches in support of S 2505.

Sen. McCain (at right) stated that "Due to the broadcasters' subterfuge, Congress added language to a 2000 appropriations bill requiring the FCC to hire an independent engineering firm to further study broadcasters' claims of interference. Well, the results are in! I am not happy to report that after spending almost two years and over two million dollars, the independent study revealed what the FCC and community groups had said all along: LPFM will do no harm to other broadcasters. The study has stripped the broadcasters of their veiled claims by concluding that Low Power FM stations on third adjacent channels would cause virtually no interference to other broadcast stations."

"This bill simply follows the FCC's recommendation: begin licensing Low Power FM stations on third adjacent channels to full power stations without limitations", said Sen. McCain. "The enactment of this bill will immediately make available a number of Low Power FM frequencies."

He also elaborated that "Localism is increasingly important in today's changing media landscape. Rampant ownership consolidation has taken place in the radio industry since passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Since that time, many Americans have complained that the large media conglomerates fail to serve local communities' interests and seem to use their local station license as a conduit to air national programming. Low Power FM was introduced, in part, to respond to such complaints."

Sen. Leahy stated that "Unfortunately, for many years now, the number of low power FM stations the FCC could license has been limited by unrealistic and unnecessary rules requiring these small stations to find available frequencies far from any full power broadcaster. Interference must be avoided if we are to make use of the airwaves. The current rules, however, go beyond what is necessary to protect full power stations from interference, and instead protect them from competition. The focus of today's legislation is the so-called ``third-adjacent rule,´´ which requires that a low power station not broadcast within three frequency intervals of a full power station."

The bill was referred to the Senate Commerce Committee. Sen. McCain is the Chairman. Sen. Leahy is the rankiing Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

6/4. The General Accounting Office (GAO) released a report [44 pages in PDF] titled "File Sharing: Selected Universities Report Taking Action to Reduce Copyright Infringement".

The report finds that university officials are taking steps to reduce the use of peer-to-peer technologies, because they are concerned about the bandwidth being consumed by these technologies, and about security risks.

The report states that "most of the officials interviewed stated that their institutions had experienced either network performance problems or security incidents as a result of the use of the file-sharing applications on their networks, and almost all indicated that they had spent additional funds to deal with the problems associated with the use of these applications ..."

The report also states that "Federal law enforcement officials are taking actions to investigate and prosecute organized software-piracy groups that use a wide range of Internet technologies -- including file sharing over peer-to-peer networks -- to illegally distribute copyrighted materials over the Internet."

The GAO is an arm of the Congress.

6/1. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) introduced S 2481, the "Increasing Notice of Foreign Outsourcing Act", a bill to regulate the transfer of medical or financial information to a business outside of the U.S., and to regulate the use of foreign call centers. The bill would mandate various notices to consumers, and require notices and periodic certifications to regulators. The bill was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee, of which Sen. Feinstein is a member.

Sen. Nelson stated in the Senate that "When U.S. companies outsource sensitive customer information for processing overseas, they may be outsourcing our privacy rights along with it." See, Congressional Record, June 1, 2004 at Pages S6275-6.

He continued that "When a U.S. company allows a foreign company to process customer data, the foreign company may be given access to the most sensitive types of customer information. Our health records, bank account numbers, social security numbers, tax forms, and credit card numbers are now being shipped abroad -- without the knowledge of the customer and beyond the reach of U.S. privacy laws."

See also, S 2472, introduced by Sen. Nelson on May 20, 2004, and also titled the "Increasing Notice of Foreign Outsourcing Act".

This bill joins several other bills that would impose protectionist regulatory regimes on the foreign outsourcing of services. See, for example:

 • HR 3820, the "United States Workers Protection Act of 2004", and story titled "Rep. DeLauro and Rep. Dingell Introduce Outsourcing Protectionism Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 845, February 27, 2004.

 • HR 4366, the "Personal Data Offshoring Protection Act of 2004", and story titled "Rep. Markey Introduces Data Protectionism Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 899, May 17, 2004.

 • S 2312, the "SAFE-ID Act". See, story titled "Sen. Clinton Introduces Bill That Mixes Trade Protectionism and Data Privacy" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 876, April 14, 2003.

6/4. Computer Associates announced in a release that "Chief Software Architect Sanjay Kumar has decided to leave the Company. Kumar will cease all involvement with the Company's business effective immediately." It added that "the United States Attorney's Office and SEC investigations are continuing and the Company cannot predict the scope, outcome or timing of those investigations, which may include the institution of administrative, civil injunctive or criminal proceedings against the Company and/or other Company officers or employees, the imposition of fines and penalties, suspensions or debarments from government contracting, and/or other remedies and sanctions. The Company also cannot predict what impact, if any, the investigation may have on its results of operations or financial condition, its ability to retain and attract key employees, its credit ratings and ability to finance operations, and its ability to market its products and services."

6/3. The Senate confirmed Judith Herrera to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico by a vote of 93-0. See, Roll Call No. 110.

6/3. The Senate confirmed Kenneth Karas to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, by a vote of 95-0. See, Roll Call No. 109.

6/3. The Senate confirmed Sandra Townes to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for Eastern District of New York by a vote of 95-0. See, Roll Call No. 108.

6/1. The Senate confirmed Dennis Saylor to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts by a vote a 89-0. See, Roll Call No. 104.

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

The Senate will meet at 1:30 PM for morning business. It will then resume consideration of S 2400, the Department of Defense authorization bill for FY 2005.

The Supreme Court will return from a one week recess.

12:00 NOON. The Cato Institute will host a panel discussion titled "Kids, Cartoons, and Cookies: Should We Restrict the Marketing of Food to Children?". The speakers will be Todd Zywicki (Director of the Federal Trade Commission's Office of Policy Planning), Dale Kunkel (University of California -- Santa Barbara), and Daniel Jaffe (EVP of the Association of National Advertisers). Lunch will follow the program. The event will be webcast by Cato. See, notice. Location: Cato, 1000 Massachusetts Ave., NW.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) regarding the provision of international telecommunications service. This NPRM is FCC 04-40 in IB Docket No. 04-47. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 22, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 55, at Pages 13276 - 13278.

The House will meet at 12:30 PM for morning hour and at 2:00 PM for legislative business. The House will consider numerous items under suspension of the rules. Votes will be postponed until 6:30 PM. See, Republican Whip Notice.

8:15 AM - 5:00 PM. The National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology will hold a partially closed meeting. See, notice in the Federal Register, May 24, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 100, at Page 29520. Location: NIST, Employees Lounge, Administration Building, Gaithersburg, MD.

9:30 AM. William Maher, Chief of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB) will hold "a briefing for members of the media". RSVP to Michael Balmoris Michael.Balmoris@fcc.gov or 202 418-0253. Location: FCC, Hearing Room B, TW A-402, 445 12th Street, SW.

? 10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold an oversight hearing "on activities of the Department of Justice, focusing on terrorism and other related topics". Press contact: Margarita Tapia (Hatch) at 202 224-5225 or David Carle (Leahy) at 202 224-4242. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State, and the Judiciary will hold a hearing on intellectual property rights. Location: Room 124, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The Advisory Committee for the 2007 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-07) will meet. See, notice [PDF]. Location: Federal Communications Commission (FCC), 445 12th Street, SW, Room TW-C305 (Commission Meeting Room).

The House will meet at 10:00 AM. It will consider several non technology related items under suspension of the rules. See, Republican Whip Notice.

7:30 - 10:30 AM. Washington Technology will host an event titled "Solutions Series: Building Trust Services (The Department of Homeland Security)". At 9:30 AM Under Secretary of Homeland Security Asa Hutchinson will speak. See, notice and registration page. This event is free. For more information, contact Bridgit Kearns at 202 772-5749 or bkearns@postnewsweektech.com. Location: Sheraton Reston Hotel, 11810 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston, VA.

9:30 AM. The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing titled "Completing the Digital Television Transition". See, notice. The hearing will be webcast by the Committee. Location: Room 253, Russell Building.

9:30 AM. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a hearing titled "Evaluating International Intellectual Property Piracy". The witnesses will be Jack Valenti (Motion Picture Association of America), Mitch Bainwol (Recording Industry Association of America), Robert Holleyman (Business Software Alliance), and Douglas Lowenstein (Entertainment Software Association). See, notice. Location: Room 419, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The House Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold a hearing titled "Problems with the E-rate Program: Waste, Fraud, and Abuse Concerns in the Wiring of Our Nation's Schools to the Internet". The hearing will be webcast. See, notice. Location: Room 2322, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold an oversight hearing "on activities of the Department of Homeland Security, focusing on terrorism and other related topics". Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge will testify. 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) Young Lawyers Committee will host a brown bag lunch. This is an election and organizational meeting. Person interested in running for office should contact either Ryan Wallach at rwallach@willkie.com or 202-303-1159, or Pam Slipakoff at Pam.Slipakoff@fcc.gov or 202-418-7705. Location: Willkie Farr & Gallagher, 1875 K Street, NW, second floor.

12:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Mass Media Practice Committee will host a brown bag lunch. The speaker will be Ken Ferree, Chief of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Media Bureau. The topic will be "Current Issues at the Media Bureau". Location: National Association of Broadcasters, 1771 N Street, NW.

12:15 - 1:45 PM. The New America Foundation (NAF) will host a brown bag lunch program titled "The U.S. Science and Technology Enterprise: Are We Making the Right Choices?". The speaker will be John Marburger, Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in the Executive Office of the President. RSVP to Jennifer Buntman at 202 986-4901 or to buntman@newamerica.net. See, notice. Location: NAF, 1630 Connecticut Ave., NW, 7th Floor.

2:00 PM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Neomagic v. Trident Microsystems. Location: Courtroom 402, 717 Madison Place, NW.

Deadline to submit comments to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) regarding its proposed rules changes to adjust certain patent fee amounts to reflect fluctuations in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). See, notice in the Federal Register, May 10, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 90, at Pages 25861 - 25864.

Deadline to submit comments to the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) regarding its proposed rules changes regarding accounting policies and procedures for RUS Telecommunications Borrowers. See, notice in the Federal Register: May 10, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 90, at Pages 25848 - 25856.

Deadline to submit requests for grant applications to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) for grants under the Pan-Pacific Education and Communications Experiments by Satellite (PEACESAT) program. See, notice in the Federal Register, May 10, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 90, at Pages 25883 - 25885.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM. It will consider several non technology related items under suspension of the rules. See, Republican Whip Notice.

Day one of a two day conference titled "SecurE-biz.net Security Summit". At 8:30 AM, Amit Yoran, the Director of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) National Cyber Security Division, will speak. Prices to attend vary. For more information, contact John Weiler at 703 768-0400 or john@ICHnet.org. Location: Marriott Metro Center, 775 12th St., NW.

The Department of Commerce (DOC) will host a one day event titled "International Travel to the U.S.: Dialogue on the Current State of Play". See, agenda. Location: DOC, Main Auditorium, 1401 Constitution Ave., NW.

9:30 AM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will hold a meeting. See, agenda [PDF] and story titled "FCC Announces Agenda for June 10 Meeting" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 911, June 4, 2004. The event will be webcast. Location: FCC, 445 12th Street, SW, Room TW-C05 (Commission Meeting Room).

10:00 AM. The House Ways and Means Committee will meet to mark up HR 4520, the "American Jobs Creation Act of 2004". This bill would, among other things, replace the ETI/FSC tax regimes. Press contact: 202-225-8933. Location: Room 1100, Longworth Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing on the nomination of Alan Greenspan to be Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. See, notice. Location: undisclosed.

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee will host a luncheon titled "The DMCA Revisited: What's Fair?" RSVP to rsvp@netcaucus.org or 202 638-4370. See, notice. Location: Room HC-5, Capitol Building.

12:15 PM. The DC Bar Association and the Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Transactional Practice Committee will host a brown bag lunch. The topic will be "The Nuts and Bolts of Transfers of Control at the FCC". The speakers will be Neil Dellar (FCC's Office of the General Counsel), William Dever (Wireline Competition Bureau), William Freedman (Enforcement Bureau), Susan O'Connell (International Bureau), Royce Sherlock (Media Bureau), Jeff Tobias (Wireless Telecommunications Bureau), and Julie Veach (Wireline Competition Bureau). Prices vary. See, notice. Location: DC Bar Conference Center, B-1 Level, 1250 H St.

1:00 - 4:00 PM. The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) will host a panel discussion titled "Market Shock and Trading Efficiency: A Comparison of Electronic and Non-Electronic Markets". The speakers will be Peter Wallison (AEI), Kenneth Lehn (University of Pittsburgh), Sukesh Patro (UPitt), Kuldeep Shastri (UPitt), Paul Bennett (New York Stock Exchange), Lawrence Harris (Securities and Exchange Commission), Frank Hatheway (Nasdaq), Mike Plunkett (Instinet), Benn Steil (Council on Foreign Relations). See, notice. Location: AEI, 12th floor, 1150 17th St., NW.

8:30 AM - 3:00 PM. George Mason University Law School (GMULS) will host a conference titled "The Law and Economics of Cyber Security". The speakers (and their affiliations and topics), include Bruce Kobayashi (GMULS, The Law & Economics of Cybersecurity), Yochai Benkler (Yale LS, Distributed Social Provisioning of Redundant Critical Infrastructures), Randy Picker (University of Chicago LS, Raising Transaction Costs and Network Security: Of Heterogeneity and Autarchy), Jack Goldsmith and Tim Wu (University of Virginia LS, Internet Jurisdiction over Crime and Terrorism). Joel Trachtman (Tufts LS, Global Cybersecurity, Jurisdiction, and International Organization), Amitai Aviram (Florida State University, A Paradox of Spontaneous Formation), Eric Posner and Doug Lichtman (University of Chicago LS, National versus International Regulation), and Neal Katyal (Georgetown LS, The Dark Side of Private Ordering for Cybersecurity). See, conference brochure [PDF]. Location: GMULS, 3301 North Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA.

Day one of a two day conference titled "SecurE-biz.net Security Summit". Prices to attend vary. For more information, contact John Weiler at 703 768-0400 or john@ICHnet.org. Location: Marriott Metro Center, 775 12th St., NW.

6/4. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Timothy Muris issued a statement regarding the National Do Not Call Registry: "As in the earlier Harris Interactive® survey, the recent survey by Customer Care Alliance demonstrates the overwhelming success of the National Do Not Call Registry. Among those surveyed, 92 percent are aware of the list, and 87 percent of those who signed up have received fewer calls. On average, the survey shows, they no longer receive 80 percent of the calls they received before they signed up – exactly what the FTC predicted when it defended the rule in court. Those on the registry average 6 calls a month; those who are not on the registry receive 22 calls per month. There are, of course, violations, and the FTC is committed to aggressive enforcement, as are our partners at the FCC and in the states."

6/4. Rep. Judy Biggert (R-IL) and Rep. Lincoln Davis (D-TN) introduced HR 4516, the "Department of Energy High-End Computing Revitalization Act of 2004". The bill would authorize the appropriation of $165 Million over three years for "a program of research and development (involving software and hardware) to advance high-end computing systems" at the Department of Energy. The bill states that "without government support, market forces are unlikely to drive sufficient innovation in high-end computing because the private sector would not capture the full value of its innovations on a short enough time frame". The bill was referred to the House Science Committee.