8/6. In August of every year President Bush signs an executive order extending the Export Administration Act of 1979 (EAA) for one more year. On August 6, 2004 he signed another such order. See, While House release.

The EAA regulates the export of military items, including dual use items, such as computers and software. The EAA has lapsed, but contains a provision enabling the President to extend it, provided that he declares that there exists a national emergency, and that the provisions of the EAA must be continued.

The EAA was drafted with the Cold War conflict, and 1970s technologies, in mind. It is outdated in the context of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, globalization, and the development of information technologies. Many members of Congress worked diligently to pass a new EAA, particularly in 2000 and 2001.

The Senate passed S 149 (107th Congress), the Export Administration Act of 2001, sponsored by Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY), on September 6, 2001 by a vote of 85 to 14. This bill would have modernized export control laws. It would have eased restraints on most dual use products, but increased penalties for violations. It would have also repealed provisions of the 1998 National Defense Authorization Act which require the President to use million theoretical operations per second (MTOPS) to set restrictions on the export of high performance computers (HPCs).

The House International Relations Committee, but not the full House, had passed a different bill in August of 2001. President Bush supported the Senate bill.

When Al Qaeda terrorists struck five days after Senate passage of its bill, they destroyed the bill's chances for enactment. And, President Bush continually extends the provisions of the old EAA.

8/6. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) announced that it dismissed a complaint filed by David Bossie against Michael Moore and several other individuals and corporations alleging imminent violation of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) in connection with the distribution of a film titled "Fahrenheit 9/11".

Bossie is a long time partisan Republican. He wrote extensively, in an unfavorable light, about former President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore. He was also Chief Investigator for the House Government Reform Committee during Rep. Dan Burton's (R-IN) tenure as Chairman. He is now the President of Citizens United. He has just written a book titled The Many Faces of John Kerry: Why This Massachusetts Liberal Is Wrong for America [Amazon].

The respondents in the FEC proceeding are Moore, Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, Lions Gate Films Inc., Cablevision Systems Corporation, Rainbow Media Holdings LLC, The Independent Film Channel LLC, Fellowship Adventure Group LLC, Harvey Weinstein, Bob Weinstein, Showtime Network, Inc., Viacom International Inc. See, FEC notice.

In addition, Citizens United submitted a request for an advisory opinion (AOR) to the FEC requesting an opinion regarding Bossie's book about John Kerry.

It seeks an opinion on three issues. First, it asks "whether paid broadcast advertisements for" the book "would qualify as ``electioneering communications´´ if the ads are broadcast during either the 30 day period preceding the Democratic National Convention or the 60 day period preceding the presidential election on November 2, 2004".

Second, it asks "whether the broadcast of a documentary film on John Kerry and John Edwards and/or broadcast advertisements for the film would qualify as ``electioneering communications´´ if the film or ads are broadcast during the 60 day period preceding the presidential election ..."

Third, it asks "if the film or ads at issue in this advisory opinion request qualify as ``electioneering communications´´, whether the film or ads for the film or book fall within the FECA's press exemption." Citizens United argues that it is "part of the news media".

Thus, in the first matter, David Bossie, the President of Citizens United, argued that certain activities of Michael Moore and others in the advertising and distribution of an anti-Bush diatribe might violate the FECA, while in the second matter, Citizens United argues that certain of its activities in the advertising and distribution of an anti-Kerry diatribe do not violate the FECA.

The FEC has opined on the press entity exemption in other advisory opinions. Most recently, on April 1, 2004, it issued Advisory Opinion 2004-7 in which it concluded that "MTV is a press entity".

Citizens United submitted its original AOR on July 8. The FEC wrote to Citizens United on July 19 requesting further information. On July 22 Citizens United responded, and produced numerous exhibits. See, FEC documents [173 pages in PDF].

8/5. VeriSign released a paper [95 pages in PDF] titled "VeriSign's Response to the Report from the ICANN Security and Stability Committee Re ``Redirection in the Com and Net Domains´´". This responds to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers' (ICANN) Security and Stability Advisory Committee's (SSAC) paper [85 pages in PDF] of July 9, 2004 titled "Redirection in the Com and Net Domains".

These papers pertain to VeriSign's service named SiteFinder, which it launched in September of 2003, but soon after suspended. VeriSign temporarily changed the way that the .net and .com top level domain registries responded to nonexistent or uninstantiated domain names. Such requests for lookups had produced an error message. VeriSign changed this to redirection to the domain for the SiteFinder website on VeriSign servers. For example, if a person mistyped a domain name in a browser, instead of getting an error page, he would have been redirected to the SiteFinder website. However, VeriSign's change also had consequences for applications other than browers.

The SSAC found that "VeriSign introduced changes to the NET and COM registries that disturbed a set of existing services that had been functioning satisfactorily. Names that were mistyped, had lapsed, had been registered but not delegated, or had never been registered in DNS were resolved as if they existed. As a consequence, certain e-mail systems, spam filters and other services failed resulting in direct and indirect costs to third parties, either in the form of increased network charges for some classes of users, a reduction in performance, or the creation of work required to compensate for the consequent failure."

The SSAC also found that "The changes violated fundamental Internet engineering principles by blurring the well-defined boundary between architectural layers. VeriSign targeted the Site Finder service at Web browsers, using the HTTP protocol, whereas the DNS protocol, in fact, makes no assumptions – and is neutral – regarding the protocols of the queries to it. As a consequence, VeriSign directed traffic operating under many protocols to the Site Finder service for further action, and thus, more control was moved toward the center and away from the periphery, violating the long-held end-to-end design principle."

VeriSign argued in rebuttal that the ICANN's paper is "fundamentally flawed in its process, analysis and recommendations. It wrote that "SSAC had a single, limited mandate with respect to Site Finder -- to assess quantitatively the technical effect of Site Finder on the stability and security of the DNS and the Internet. SSAC mustered no evidence that Site Finder adversely impacted the security of the DNS or Internet. SSAC found no evidence that Site Finder adversely impacted the stability of the DNS or Internet. SSAC was forced to acknowledge that Site Finder did not cause DNS or Internet failures or outages. These facts should have ended SSAC's Site Finder process."

8/6. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released the text [256 pages in PDF] of its report and order regarding interference in the 800 MHz band, which is also known as the Nextel order. The FCC adopted, but did not release, this item at its meeting on July 8, 2004. See, story titled "FCC Adopts Report and Order Regarding Interference in the 800 MHz Band" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 936, July 13, 2004.

8/6. BellSouth announced in a release that it has reached a tentative agreement with the Communications Workers of America (CWA) to enter into a collective bargaining agreement with the union that would affect about 45,000 employees and have a duration of five years. See also, CWA release.

8/6. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) published a notice in the Federal Register announcing and describing its final rule extending mandatory electronic filing to all satellite and earth station applications. This is the Fourth Report and Order, numbered FCC 04-92, in IB Docket No. 02-34. The FCC adopted this item on April 9, 2004, and released on April 16, 2004. See, Federal Register, August 6, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 151, at Pages 47790 - 47795.

8/5. Hewlett Packard and Philips announced that they will offer their Video Content Protection System (VCPS) to manufacturers through a license program. See, HP release. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted a Report and Order (R&O) approving 13 applications for certification of digital output protection technologies and recording methods under the FCC's broadcast flag rule. The FCC approved the application of Hewlett Packard Company and Philips Electronics North America. See, FCC release. See also, story titled "FCC Adopts R&O Approving Digital Protection Technologies and Recording Methods" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 954, August 6, 2004. See also, Real Networks' release on the FCC's approval of its application for its Helix DRM Trusted Recorder.

8/5. The Copyright Office (CO) published a notice in the Federal Register announcing, describing and setting the comment deadline for it notice of proposed rule making regarding amendments to the CO's regulations to permit the Library of Congress to record unpublished radio and other audio and audiovisual transmission programs. The notice states that the CO regulations "already provide for the Library of Congress to obtain copies of unpublished television transmission programs, either by recording fixations or by demanding copies in the form of a transfer, loan or sale at cost. This revised regulation makes similar provisions for audio transmission programs and includes transmission programs made available by radio broadcasts and by digital communications networks such as the Internet." Comments are due by September 7, 2004. See, Federal Register, August 5, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 150, at Pages 47396 - 47399.

8/5. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Michael Copps gave yet another speech [PDF] on the topic of media consolidation. He asserted that it causes a "decline in news quality, ... and increasing corporate bias in news reporting".

The House and Senate are in recess through September 6.

10:00 AM. 2:30 PM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Business Object v. Microstrategy, No. 04-1009. Location: Courtroom 203, 717 Madison Place, NW.

Extended deadline to submit comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding its proceeding titled "In the Matter of Review of the Commission's Broadcast and Cable Equal Employment Opportunity Rules and Policies". This is MM Docket No. 98-204. See, notice of extension [PDF].

9:30 AM - 12:00 NOON. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) WRC 07 Advisory Committee, Informal Working Group 4: Broadcasting and Amateur Issues. See, notice [PDF]. Location: Shaw Pittman, 2300 N St., NW.

12:00 NOON. The House Armed Services Committee (HASC) will hold a hearing on the report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, which is also known as the 9-11 Commission. Thomas Kean (Chairman of the 9-11 Commission) and Lee Hamilton (Vice Chairman) will testify. Location: Room 2118, Rayburn Building.

3:00 PM. The House Armed Services Committee (HASC) will hold a hearing on the report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, which is also known as the 9-11 Commission. Paul Wolfowitz and others will testify. Location: Room 2118, Rayburn Building.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its further notice of proposed rulemaking (FNPRM) regarding Aviation Radio Service. This FNPRM is FCC 03-238 in WT Docket No. 01-289. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 12, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 70, at Pages 19140 - 19147.

Deadline to submit comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding reserve prices, minimum opening bids, and other auction procedures for the FCC's broadband PCS spectrum auction (Auction No. 58), which is scheduled to commence on January 12, 2005. See, FCC Public Notice [PDF] (DA 04-2451).

9:00 AM The House Armed Services Committee (HASC) will hold a hearing on the report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, which is also known as the 9-11 Commission. Stephen Cambone (Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence) and others will testify. Location: Room 2118, Rayburn Building.

2:00 PM The House Armed Services Committee (HASC) will hold a hearing on the report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, which is also known as the 9-11 Commission. Location: Room 2118, Rayburn Building.

Deadline to submit comments to the Library of Congress in response to its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) regarding amendments its regulations to provide for the reporting of uses of sound recordings performed by means of digital audio transmissions pursuant to statutory license for the period October 28, 1998, through March 31, 2004. See, notice in the Federal Register, July 13, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 133, at Pages 42007 - 42010.

9:30 AM. The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee will hold a hearing titled "Reorganizing America's Intelligence Community: A View from the Inside". Location: Room 342, Dirksen Building.

Deadline to submit comments to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau regarding informal complaints submitted to the FCC regarding slamming, or the unauthorized change of a subscriber's selection of telephone exchange or telephone toll service. See, FCC notice [PDF], and notice in the Federal Register, August 4, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 149, at Pages 47152 - 47153.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding reserve prices, minimum opening bids, and other auction procedures for the FCC's broadband PCS spectrum auction (Auction No. 58), which is scheduled to commence on January 12, 2005. See, FCC Public Notice [PDF] (DA 04-2451).

8/6. Eric Bash was named Assistant Division Chief of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Enforcement Bureau's (EB) Investigations and Hearings Division. He will be responsible for managing and supervising audits and investigations of potential violations of the FCC's competition and universal service rules for common carriers. He went to work at the FCC in 1996. See, FCC release.

8/6. Bill Gradison was reappointed, by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). See, SEC release.

8/2. Lisa Prager joined the Washington DC office of the law firm of Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich. The firm's largest offices are in San Diego and Silicon Valley, California. She will work in the firm's international trade practice. She was previously Deputy Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement in the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security. The BIS, which is also still known as the Bureau of Export Administration, regulates, among other things, the export of computers, software and communications equipment.

The e-mail address for Tech Law Journal has changed. The new address is as follows:

All previous e-mail addresses no longer operate. This new address is published as a graphic to avoid e-mail address harvesting, and the associated spam messages and malicious code messages. If your e-mail system does not display graphics, see notice in TLJ website.

Tech Law Journal publishes a free access web site and subscription e-mail alert. The basic rate for a subscription to the TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert is $250 per year. However, there are discounts for subscribers with multiple recipients. Free one month trial subscriptions are available. Also, free subscriptions are available for journalists, federal elected officials, and employees of the Congress, courts, and executive branch. The TLJ web site is free access. However, copies of the TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert are not published in the web site until one month after writing. See, subscription information page.

Contact: 202-364-8882.
P.O. Box 4851, Washington DC, 20008.

Privacy Policy
Notices & Disclaimers
Copyright 1998 - 2004 David Carney, dba Tech Law Journal. All rights reserved.