7/20. The House passed HR 3574, the "Stock Option Accounting Reform Act" by a vote of 312-111. See, Roll Call No. 397.

This bill, which is supported by many technology companies, and the groups that represent them, requires public companies to expense only those stock options granted to the CEO and the next four highest paid officers. It also provides an exemption for small businesses. As for the top five employees, the bill requires companies to follow the FASB standards, but with a zero volatility assumption.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) (at right), who represents a Silicon Valley district, stated that "this is the most important technology vote we will take this year".

Background on Stock Options Accounting and FASB. On March 31, 2004, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) released a document titled "Exposure Draft, Share-Based Payment, an Amendment of FASB Statements No. 123 and 95" that proposes that companies must expense stock option plans for all employees.

The FASB stated that "The exposure draft covers a wide range of equity-based compensation arrangements. Under the Board's proposal, all forms of share-based payments to employees, including employee stock options, would be treated the same as other forms of compensation by recognizing the related cost in the income statement. The expense of the award would generally be measured at fair value at the grant date. Current accounting guidance requires that the expense relating to so-called fixed plan employee stock options only be disclosed in the footnotes to the financial statements."

The FASB's comment period for the exposure draft ended on June 30, 2004. See, story titled "FASB Proposes Expensing of Stock Options" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 867, April 1, 2004.

Legislative History. Rep. Richard Baker (R-LA), the Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee's (HFSC) Subcommittee on Capital Markets, and others introduced the bill on November 21, 2003. The Subcommittee held a hearing on March 3, 2003.

On May 12, 2004, the Subcommittee approved the bill by a voice vote. See, story titled "Capital Markets Subcommittee Approves Stock Options Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 897, May 13, 2004.

On June 15, 2004, the full Committee approved the bill by a vote of 45-13. See, story titled "House Financial Services Committee Approves Stock Options Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 919, June 16, 2004.

On July 8, 2004 the House Commerce Committee (HCC), which also sought jurisdiction, held a hearing. See, story titled "House Commerce Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Stock Options Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 934, July 9, 2004. (The HCC received a sequential referral on July 15, that expired on July 16.)

Rep. Baker (at right) stated in the House that "There is no dispute that the granting of stock options to a broad base of employees has been and remains a very strong component of job creation within our economy. Does it make sense for those who criticize what they mistakenly call a jobless recovery to take away one of the principal tools that does create jobs when they are still so badly needed? I think not."

Rep. Baker added that "Forcing companies to expense these options today would defeat the very purpose of offering them, and it’s difficult to imagine why or how many companies would continue to do so. They either wouldn't, or else they would simply hire fewer workers. And that is not an 'option' the people's representatives should accept."

Rep. Lofgren stated that "the illusion that stock options only benefit fat-cat corporate executives is just that, an illusion. 53% of companies that offer stock option plans offer them to all employees. Within the technology industry, 88% offer them to all employees. Stock options are even more important in start-ups. According to the National Venture Capital Association, more than 70% of venture-backed companies award stock options to all employees."

Amendments Considered by the House. The House considered four amendments. It approved one and rejected three others.

The House approved by voice vote an amendment [3 pages in PDF] offered by Rep. Mike Oxley (R-OH) that clarifies that a company that wants to expense stock options is not prevented by the bill from doing so. Although, the bill as reported by the HFSC contained no provision that prohibited the expensing of stock options.

Rep. Paul Kanjorsky (D-PA), the ranking Democrat on the Capital Markets Subcommittee, offered an amendment [7 pages in PDF] in the nature of a substitute bill. It was rejected by a vote of 127-293. See, Roll Call No. 396.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) offered an amendment [2 pages in PDF] that was rejected by a vote of 114-308. See, Roll Call No. 395. It would have provided that "Nothing in this Act shall be construed to impair or limit the authority of the Commission to establish accounting principles or standards on its own initiative as the Commission deems necessary in the public interest or for the protection of investors."

Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) offered an amendment [2 pages in PDF] that would have removed from the bill the requirement that an assumption of zero volatility be used when calculating the value of stock option expense for the top-five executives. It was rejected by a vote of 126-296. See, Roll Call No. 394.

Representatives Kanjorsky, Maloney and Sherman are all members of the HFSC, and had unsuccessfully advanced similar arguments and amendments during committee consideration.

Analysis of the Vote. The vote on this bill reflected a pattern of voting on many bills of importance to the tech sector. Republicans were more supportive than Democrats, and Westerners were more supportive than Representatives from other parts of the U.S.

Of all House members, 73.8% voted for passage. While a majority of the members from both parties voted for the bill, Republicans were more likely to vote for the bill. Republicans voted in favor of the bill by 198-22. That is, 90% votes yes. Democrats voted for the bill by a margin of 114-88. 56.4% voted yes. Thus, party affiliation was a determinant of a member's vote.

Region of the country was also a determinant of a member's vote. For example, being from one of the three west coast states (California, Washington or Oregon) made a member more likely to vote for the bill.

While a majority of the House members are Republicans, the overwhelming majority of the members of the west coast delegation are Democrats (43 out of 67). The regional effect of a member's vote becomes apparent when one controls for party affiliation.

West coast Democrats voted for the bill 30-13 -- 70% in favor. Democrats from all other states voted for the bill 84-75 -- 53% in favor. West coast Republicans voted for the bill 22-2 --92% in favor. Republicans from all other states voted for the bill 176-20 -- 90% in favor.

Similarly, the representatives from the other mountain states of the west voted for the bill 25-4 -- 86% in favor. The state by state breakdown was as follows: Utah (3-0), Nevada (3-0), Idaho (2-0), Montana (1-0), Wyoming (1-0), New Mexico (3-0), Arizona (5-3), Colorado (6-1), and Alaska (1-0).

It may also be notable that the majority of the 19 no votes cast by Representatives from west coast states and mountain states, a majority were cast by members from the Los Angeles area. Members from the more technology oriented metropolitan areas of Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Seattle, San Diego, and Salt Lake City voted overwhelmingly for the bill.

Members of the House Commerce Committee (HCC) were less likely than other members of the House to vote for this bill. The vote by HCC members was 36-20 -- 64% in favor -- which was less than the overall support of 74%. 7 of the 22 no votes cast in the House by Republicans were cast by HCC Republicans. The HCC aggressively defends its jurisdiction, and sometimes infringes upon the jurisdiction of other committees. It had sought jurisdiction over this bill. The bill, however, was a product of the HFSC, not the HCC. The HCC held no markup.

(Readers may note that some of the above numbers do not add up to 435. This is because of members who did not vote, and vacancies. Percentages are based on those who cast votes. The party breakdowns and percentages are based on members with party affiliation; the one independent was not factored in.)

Technology Sector. Representatives from districts that are home to tech companies and workers, and groups that represent tech companies, heaped praise upon the House for passing this bill.

Robert Holleyman, P/CEO of the Business Software Alliance (BSA), stated in a release that "Stock options have proven to be an invaluable instrument for companies large and small, established and entrepreneurial, to recruit and retain the best employees" He added that "At a time when other countries are encouraging the use of stock options by their companies, we need to ensure that American corporations have access to the same tools and incentives as their global competitors. In an increasingly borderless global economy, U.S. businesses must be able to attract talented employees who are the backbone of American innovation and entrepreneurial spirit".

John Palafoutas, of the American Electronics Association (AeA), stated in a release that "Today’s House action on stock options is a wake-up call for the US Senate ... The overwhelming bipartisan vote shows that the House understands the serious economic implications of expensing options and the negative impact expensing will have on American workers who are granted stock options by their companies. ... The FASB rule was a solution in search of a problem. And this rule would have grave consequences on a crucial incentive for high-tech companies and their workers."

He added that "We believe that the Senate Banking Committee should conduct immediate hearings on this bill. This is not a philosophical issue but a very practical problem facing the US economy. FASB has refused to look at the economic implications of expensing; Congress has the ultimate responsibility to examine the impact the FASB standard will have on American business, the American economy, and the American worker."

7/20. The House passed HR 4600, the "Junk Fax Prevention Act of 2004", by voice vote. This bill would amend 47 U.S.C. § 227 to preserve the "established business relationship" exception to the general ban on unsolicited faxes.

Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), and others introduced this bill on June 16, 2004. The House Commerce Committee amended and approved it on June 24, 2004. See, story titled "House Commerce Committee Approves Junk Fax Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 927, June 28, 2004.

The Senate has yet to pass this bill. On June 23, Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) introduced a related bill in the Senate, S 2569, the "Junk Fax Prevention Act of 2004", in the Senate. Also, on June 24, Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR) and others introduced S 2603, also titled the "Junk Fax Prevention Act of 2004".

7/20. Microsoft announced that it plans to "buy back up to $30 billion of the company's stock over the next four years" and make "a special one-time dividend of $3 per share". See, Microsoft release.

In addition, Microsoft executives held a teleconference in which they discussed these and other plans. See, transcript of teleconference held by Steve Ballmer (CEO), Bill Gates (Chairman and Chief Software Architect), John Connors (SVP and CFO), and Brad Smith (SVP and General Counsel).

John Connors (at right) stated that "taken together, these steps represent a combined total value to shareholders of up to 75 billion over the next four years, if our regular quarterly dividend remains at this current level."

The Microsoft release states that the stock buy back and dividend plans "will not affect Microsoft's commitment to research and development".

Gates added that "And so you might say, what's next for us, and the answer is record investment in innovation. One way to look at that is over the next year we'll file for over 3,000 patents and that's up very dramatically and would put us certainly in one of the top companies in the world in terms of innovative activities."

Gates also said that "our online properties, including our search properties, will be improving in a pretty dramatic way."

7/20. Microsoft's announcements regarding stock buy back and dividends also addressed Microsoft's handling of various legal proceedings.

Microsoft stated in its July 20 release that "In the past two years, Microsoft has made significant progress in resolving many of the legal issues facing the company -- including the recent U.S. Court of Appeals decision reaffirming its settlement with the Department of Justice, most of the state class-action lawsuits, and the AOL and Sun Microsystems cases -- along with patent claims such as the InterTrust litigation. Resolving these issues marks an important step forward in clarifying Microsoft's legal and related business risk."

In addition, Microsoft's General Counsel, Brad Smith, stated in a teleconference that "over the past two years or so, we've been focused on resolving our legal issues from the past, on developing stronger relationships with the industry and with government, and focusing on the future. For example, we resolved the major antitrust case here in the United States, and the recent Court of Appeals ruling sent a clear and emphatic message that our settlement is a fair and appropriate resolution of those issues." See, transcript.

Smith (at right) continued that "We've resolved three-quarters of the state class action cases in the United States, either through settlement or by winning in the courts." He added that "We've resolved the largest private lawsuits pending against the company, such as AOL-Time Warner, Sun Microsystems and Intertrust."

He also said that "While we still face several legal issues and we take them seriously, we have significantly reduced the legal risks facing the company. We also have a much clearer understanding of the potential risks involved in the cases that remain, such as the European Commission case, which has moved into the appeals process.

Smith responded to a question about the EU antitrust case. "We anticipate that the hearing will take place perhaps in September, certainly this fall, on interim measures. That will decide whether the sanctions take effect while the case is litigated or whether they're suspended until later. Typically a case takes two to three years to go through the Court of First Instance. If there is an appeal, it can add another couple of years to the process. So it could be quite a long road."

He also said that "With respect to settlement, as we've always said, we're always open to an effort to explore a reasonable and amicable resolution. There are no discussions going on at the moment, but over the course of a number of years, obviously things can happen."

Finally, he stated that Microsoft "has always said that reducing our legal and associated business risks was a prerequisite to addressing our cash management plans. With so many of our cases resolved and the legal uncertainties so much better defined and narrowed, we are now in a position where we can return significant resources to our shareholders."

7/20. BTG plc, Teleshuttle Corporation and Teleshuttle Technologies LLC filed a complaint in U.S. District Court (NDCal) against Microsoft and Apple alleging infringement of U.S. Patent No. 6,557,054. This patent is titled "Method and system for distributing updates by presenting directory of software available for user installation that is not already installed on user station"

The abstract of this patent provides the following description. "A method for distributing information to a plurality of uncoordinated user stations each of which is configured for communications with a multiplicity of independently-operated servers via a non-proprietary network includes steps for providing a distribution service that distributes updates for a plurality of different products, and providing a transporter software component to each of the plurality of uncoordinated user stations, wherein the transporter software component at each user station automatically effects communication sessions with the distribution service via the non-proprietary network for the purpose of obtaining updates for each of at least a subset of the plurality of different products that are installed on that user station. Moreover, a user station, which includes a storage medium, a plurality of different products installed on the storage medium, and transporter software installed on the storage medium for automatically effectuating communication sessions with a distribution service via a non-proprietary network in order to obtain updates for each of the plurality of different products, and a distribution service that distributes updates for a plurality of different products to a plurality of uncoordinated user stations via a non-proprietary network, are also described."

BTG stated in a release that "BTG asserts that Microsoft’s and Apple’s operating systems, as well as Microsoft’s Office® products, incorporate the patented technologies."

7/20. Rep. Johnny Isakson (R-GA) won the Georgia Republican Senate primary. Rep. Denis Majette (D-GA) won the most votes in the Georgia Democratic Senate primary, but still faces a runoff election against Cliff Oxford. The general election in November is for the Senate seek being vacated by Sen. Zell Miller (D-GA).

7/20. Rep. Richard Burr (R-NC) won the North Carolina Republican Senate primary. He will run in November against Democrat Erskine Bowles for the seat being vacated by Sen. John Edwards (D-NC). Rep. Burr is a member of the House Commerce Committee.

7/20. President Bush released a statement in support of Bill Myers, his nominee to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. Senate Democrats are blocking a vote on his nomination. Bush said that "These tactics are unfair to Bill Myers and unfair to the American people." Myers is currently the Solicitor of the Department of the Interior.

7/20. Margaret Dailey was promoted to Legal Counsel to the Bureau Chief of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB). She had been an Attorney Advisor in the WCB's Pricing Policy Division. She will work on pricing policy and other matters. Before joining the FCC in 2000 she worked for American Cellular Corporation (CellularOne). Before that, she worked for WorldCom, and for the law firm of Morgan Lewis & Bockius. See, FCC release.

7/20. Vickie Robinson was promoted to Legal Counsel to the Bureau Chief of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB). She had been an Attorney Advisor in the WCB's Telecommunications Access Policy Division. She will work on on universal service, numbering, and other matters. Before joining the FCC in September of 2001 she worked for the law firm of Swidler Berlin. See, FCC release.

7/19. David Thomas was elected Chairman of the Software & Information Industry Association's (SIIA) Software Division. He is also the founder and former CEO of Intacct Corporation. See, SIIA release [PDF].

7/20. President Bush gave a speech, and answered questions, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He stated that "One of the ways we got to make sure this economy continues to grow is to make sure there is broadband technology throughout the entire country, so people like this good man, people like Mike, can do -- can work out of home if they want to; or can bring educational information into their home."

7/20. The Department of Justice's Antitrust Division published in its web site a copy of the slides [120 pages in PDF] that it used in its closing argument before the U.S. District Court (NDCal) in U.S. v. Oracle.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM. The House may take up HR 4842, the "United States-Morocco Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act". See, Republican Whip Notice.

9:00 AM. Day one of a two day meeting of the Department of Commerce's (DOC) Bureau of Industry and Standards (BXA/BIS) Information Systems Technical Advisory Committee (ISTAC). Some of the meetings will be closed to the public. The agenda includes a summary of the Wassenaar Arrangement inter-sessional meeting on semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and a presentation on computational capability of graphics processors. See, notice in the Federal Register, July 6, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 128, at Page 40601. Location: DOC, Room 3884, 14th Street between Pennsylvania Ave. and Constitution Ave., NW.

10:00 AM. The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee will hold a hearing to mark up several bills, including S 1230, a bill to provide additional responsibilities for the Chief Information Officer of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) relating to geospatial information, and S 2536, the "Homeland Security Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Protection Act of 2004". See, notice. Location: Room 342, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. Alan Greenspan, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, will testify before the House Financial Services Committee. Press contact: Peggy Peterson at 202 226-0471. Location: Room 2128, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The House Science Committee will hold a hearing titled "Cybersecurity Education -- Meeting the Needs of Technology Workers and Employers". Location: Room 2318, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The House Judiciary Committee will meet to mark up several items, including and HR 4586, the "Family Movie Act of 2004". The meeting will be webcast. Press contacts: Press contact: Jeff Lungren or Terry Shawn at 202 225-2492. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The House Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet will hold a hearing titled "The Digital Television Transition: What We Can Learn From Berlin?" The witnesses will be Mark Goldstein (Government Accounting Office), Mark Cooper (Consumer Federation of America), Greg Schmidt (LIN Television Corp.), Michael Willner (Insight Communications), John Lawson (Association of Public Television Stations), Eddy Hartenstein (DirecTV Group), Carl McGrath (Motorola), and James Snider (New America Foundation). See, notice. Press contacts: Jon Tripp (Barton) at 202-225-5735 ant Sean Bonyun (Upton) at 202-225-3761. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

POSTPONED. 10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on the nomination of Thomas Griffith to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Press contact: Margarita Tapia (Hatch) at 202 224-5225 or David Carle (Leahy) at 202 224-4242. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

10:30 AM. The House Ways and Means Committee will meet to mark up HR 2971, the "Social Security Number Privacy and Identity Theft Prevent Act of 2004". See, notice. Location: Room 1100, Longworth Building.

12:00 NOON. The Americans for a Secure Internet (ASI) will host a panel discussion titled "Phishing: The Next Challenge for E-commerce". The speakers will be Howard Beales (Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection), Dan Caprio (Chief Privacy Officer, Department of Commerce), Steve DelBianco (Executive Director, NetChoice), Ben Golub (VeriSign), and Jonathan Zuck (President of the Association for Competitive Technology). See, notice and registration page. For more information, contact Mark Blafkin at 202 331-2130 x104. Location: Room HC-7, Capitol Building.

12:00 NOON. The Heritage Foundation will host a book presentation. James Rogan, a former member of the House Judiciary Committee and a former director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), will talk about his book titled Rough Edges: My Unlikely Road from Welfare to Washington [Amazon]. See, notice. Location: 214 Massachusetts Ave., NE.

1:30 PM. The House Government Reform Committee's Subcommittee on on Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations and the Census will hold a hearing titled "Where's the CIO? The Role, Responsibility and Challenge for Federal Chief Information Officers in IT Investment Oversight and Information Management". See, notice. Location: Room 2154, Rayburn Building.

2:00 PM. The House Armed Services Committee's Tactical Air Land Forces Subcommittee will hold a hearing on "Small Business Innovation and Technology". Location: Room 2118, Rayburn Building. This hearing was previously scheduled for July 15.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM. The House may take up HR 4842, the "United States-Morocco Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act" and/or HR 4600, the "Junk Fax Prevention Act of 2004". See, Republican Whip Notice.

9:00 AM. The House Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing on the report of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack. William Graham, the Chairman of the Commission, will testify. Location: Room 2118, Rayburn Building.

9:00 AM. The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee will hold the second part of its hearing titled "Buyer Beware: The Danger of Purchasing Pharmaceuticals over the Internet". The witnesses will be Richard Stana (GAO), Robert Bonner (Bureau of Customs & Border Protection), Karen Tandy (Drug Enforcement Administration), John Potter (Postmaster General, USPS), John Taylor (Food and Drug Administration), John Scheibel (Yahoo), Sheryl Sandberg (Google), Joshua Peirez (Master Card), Steve Ruwe (Visa), Robert Bryden (Federal Express), and Daniel Silva (United Parcel Service). See, notice. Location: Room 342, Dirksen Building.

9:00 AM. Day two of a two day meeting of the Department of Commerce's (DOC) Bureau of Industry and Standards (BXA/BIS) Information Systems Technical Advisory Committee (ISTAC). Some of the meetings will be closed to the public. The agenda includes a summary of the Wassenaar Arrangement inter-sessional meeting on semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and a presentation on computational capability of graphics processors. See, notice in the Federal Register, July 6, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 128, at Page 40601. Location: DOC, Room 3884, 14th Street between Pennsylvania Ave. and Constitution Ave., NW.

9:30 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold an executive business meeting. The agenda includes consideration of S 1635, the "L-1 Visa (Intracompany Transferee) Reform Act of 2003", and HR 1417, the "Copyright Royalty and Distribution Reform Act of 2004", a bill to amend to replace copyright arbitration royalty panels with copyright royalty judges. See, notice. Press contact: Margarita Tapia (Hatch) at 202 224-5225 or David Carle (Leahy) at 202 224-4242. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

CANCELLED. 9:30 AM. The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing on media ownership.

9:30 AM. The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a meeting to mark up numerous bills, and consider several pending nominations. Several of the items on the agenda are technology related, including S 2603, the "Junk Fax Prevention Act of 2004", S 2644, the "Satellite Home Viewer Extension Act", S 2281, the "VOIP Regulatory Freedom Act of 2004", and the nominations of Deborah Majoras (to be a Federal Trade Commission Commissioner), Jonathan Liebowitz (FTC), Benjamin Wu (Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy for the Department of Commerce), and Brett Palmer (Assistant Secretary for Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs for the Department of Commerce). See, notice. Press contact: Rebecca Fisher at 202 224-2670. Location: Room 253, Russell Building.

10:30 AM. The House Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on 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". Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

12:00 NOON - 2:00 PM. The Progress and Freedom Foundation (PFF) will host a luncheon. The featured speaker will be Wayne Brunetti, Ch/CEO of Xcel Energy. His address may include many topics, including broadband internet access over power lines (BPL). The FCC issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) on BPL on February 12, 2004. See, story titled "FCC Adopts Broadband Over Powerline NPRM" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 836, February 13, 2004. Xcel has filed comments. See, April 5 comment [15 pages in PDF] on BPL, and July 14 comment [16 pages in PDF] in IP enabled services proceeding. This NPRM is FCC 04-29 in ET Docket Nos. 03-104 and 04-37. See, notice and registration page. Press contact: David Fish at 202 775-2644. Location: Rotunda Room, Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

1:00 PM. The House Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Health will hold a hearing titled "Health Information Technology: Improving Quality and Value of Patient Care". See, notice. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

LOCATION CHANGE. 1:00 PM. The House Ways and Means Committee's Subcommittee on Health will hold a hearing titled "Electronic Prescribing". See, notice. Location: Room B-318, Rayburn Building.

2:00 PM. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on S 2560, the "Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act of 2004". The witnesses will be Marybeth Peters (Register of Copyrights), Gary Shapiro (P/CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association), Robert Holleyman (P/CEO of the Business Software Alliance), Andrew Greenberg (IEEE-USA), Kevin McGuiness (NetCoalition), and Mitch Bainwol (Ch/CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America). See, story titled "Senators Introduce Bill to Amend Copyright Act to Ban Inducement of Infringement" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 925, June 24, 2004. See, notice. Press contact: Margarita Tapia (Hatch) at 202 224-5225 or David Carle (Leahy) at 202 224-4242. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

EXTENDED TO SEPTEMBER 10. Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its public notice (DA 04-1690) requesting public comments on constitutionally permissible ways for the FCC to identify and eliminate market entry barriers for small telecommunications businesses and to further opportunities in the allocation of spectrum-based services for small businesses and businesses owned by women and minorities. See, notice in the Federal Register, June 22, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 119, at Pages 34672 - 34673. See also, notice of extension [PDF].

The House may meet at 9:00 AM. See, Republican Whip Notice.

10:00 AM. The House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law will hold a hearing titled "Regulatory Aspects of Voice Over the Internet Protocol (VoIP)". The hearing will be webcast. Press contacts: Press contact: Jeff Lungren or Terry Shawn at 202 225-2492. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

12:30 PM. The Cato Institute will host a panel discussion titled "The Case for CAFTA: Promoting Freedom in our Neighborhood". The speakers will be Dan Griswold (Cato) and Mario Canahuati (Ambassador from Honduras). See, notice and registration page. Lunch will be served. Location: Room B-354, Rayburn Building.

Deadline to submit comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) regarding a national one call notification system. The FCC adopted this NPRM on May 13, 2004, and released the text [34 pages in PDF] on May 14, 2004. See, story titled "FCC Adopts NPRM Regarding One Call Notification System" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 899, May 17, 2004. This NPRM is FCC 04-111 in CC Docket No. 92-105. See, notice in the Federal Register, June 8, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 110, at Pages 31930 - 31939.

Deadline to submit comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Inquiry (NOI) [30 pages in PDF] regarding its annual report to the Congress on the status of competition in the market for the delivery of video programming. See also, story titled "FCC Adopts NOI For Annual Report to Congress on Video Programming" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 916, June 11, 2004. This NOI is FCC 04-136 in MB Docket No. 04-227. See also, notice in the Federal Register, July 1, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 126, at Pages 39930 - 39933.

The House and Senate tentatively will not meet from July 26 through September 6.

The Democratic National Convention will be held in Boston, Massachusetts on July 26 through July 30.

Deadline to submit comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) regarding the reporting requirements for U.S. providers of international telecommunications services. This NPRM is FCC 04-70 in IB Docket No. 04-112. See, notice in the Federal Register, May 25, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 101, at Pages 29676 - 29681.

9:00 AM - 1:30 PM. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will hold a public meeting on Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6). Location: Room 4830, Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue, NW. See, NTIA notice July 20, 2004, and notice in the Federal Register, July 15, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 135, at Page 42422.

10:00 AM - 3:00 PM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Technological Advisory Council will meet. See, FCC notice [PDF] and notice in the Federal Register, July 6, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 128, at Pages 40638. Location: FCC, 445 12th St., SW., Room TW-C305.

2:00 - 4:00 PM. There will be a meeting of the WRC-07 Advisory Committee, Informal Working Group 3: IMT-2000 and 2.5 GHz Sharing Issues. See, FCC notice [PDF]. Location: FCC, 445 12th Street, SW, Room 7-B516 (South Conference Room 7th Floor), Washington DC.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Auction No. 56 is scheduled to begin. This pertains to licenses in the 24 GHz Service in the 24.25-24.45 GHz and 25.05-25.25 GHz bands. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 20, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 76, at Pages 21099 - 21110.

Deadline to submit nominations to the Department of Commerce for consideration for the 2005 Medal of Technology awards. See, notice.

Deadline to submit comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) regarding unlicensed use of the 3650-3700 MHz band. The FCC adopted this NPRM on April 15, 2004. This item is FCC 04-100 in ET Docket Nos. 04-151, 02-380 and 98-237. See, notice in the Federal Register, May 14, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 94, at Pages 26790 - 26803. See also, story titled "FCC Announces NPRM Regarding Unlicensed Use in the 3650-3700 MHz Band" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 878, April 16, 2004.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) regarding changes to the FCC Form 477 local competition and broadband data gathering program. This NPRM is FCC 04-81 in WC Docket No. 04-141. See, notice in the Federal Register, May 27, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 103, at Pages 30252 - 30277.

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