9/20. The Senate Commerce Committee has scheduled a meeting to mark up numerous bills, including several that are technology or communications related. On Wednesday, September 22, the Committee will mark up bills pertaining to wireless number privacy, universal service, spyware, and public safety spectrum.

Wireless Privacy. The Committee is scheduled to mark up S 1963, the "Wireless 411 Privacy Act".

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) introduced this bill on November 25, 2003. The Committee has not yet held a hearing, but has scheduled one for Tuesday, September 21, 2004 at 2:30 PM, the afternoon before the markup. See, story titled "House and Senate Committees to Hold Hearings on Wireless Number Privacy" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 978, September 16, 2004.

This bill provides that "A provider of commercial mobile services ... may not include the wireless telephone number information of any current subscriber in any wireless directory assistance service database unless" it "obtains express prior authorization" from the subscriber. Also, for new subscribers, the provider would be required to give notice of the right not to be listed in a directory assistance service database, and to provide convenient mechanisms for the subscriber to decline to be listed. It also requires that service providers cannot charge for not listing phone numbers.

Companion legislation in the House has not yet been reported by the House Commerce Committee, or its Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet.

Spyware. The Committee is also scheduled to mark up S 2145, "Software Principles Yielding Better Levels of Consumer Knowledge Act", or "SPY BLOCK Act".

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) introduced this bill on March 27, 2004. The Committee held a hearing on this bill on March 23, 2004. See, story titled "Senate Communications Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Spyware Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 862, March 24, 2004.

First, this bill, as introduced, provides that "It is unlawful for any person who is not the user of a protected computer to install computer software on that computer, or to authorize, permit, or cause the installation of computer software on that computer, unless ... the user of the computer has received notice ... the user of the computer has granted consent ... and ... the computer software's uninstall procedures satisfy the requirements" of the bill. The bill also elaborates on the requirements for notice, consent and uninstall procedures.

Second, this provides that "It is unlawful for any person who is not the user of a protected computer to install computer software on that computer, or to authorize, permit, or cause the installation of computer software on that computer, if the design or operation of the computer software is intended, or may reasonably be expected, to confuse or mislead the user of the computer concerning the identity of the person or service responsible for the functions performed or content displayed by such computer software." The bill refers to this as the "red herring" prohibition.

Third, this bill provides that "It is unlawful for any person who is not the user of a protected computer to use an information collection, advertising, distributed computing, or settings modification feature of computer software installed on that computer, if ... the computer software was installed in violation of section 2 ... the use in question falls outside the scope of what was described to the user of the computer in the notice provided ... or ... in the case of an information collection feature, the person using the feature fails to establish and maintain reasonable procedures to protect the security and integrity of personal information so collected."

The bill contains several exceptions pertaining to pre-installed software, software resident in temporary memory, and other software. The bill also contains a subsection providing immunity from liability for passive transmission, web hosting, and hyperlinking.

Finally, the bill addresses enforcement and remedies. There is no private right of action under this bill. Enforcement would be left to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), other federal agencies, and the states.

There are also spyware related bills pending in the House.

The House Commerce Committee approved HR 2929, the "Safeguard Against Privacy Invasions Act" or "SPY Act", sponsored by Rep. Mary Bono (R-CA), on June 24, 2004. See, story titled "House Commerce Committee Approves Spyware Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 926, June 25, 2004.

On September 8, 2004, the House Judiciary Committee amended and approved HR 4661, the "Internet Spyware (I-SPY) Prevention Act of 2004". See, bill as introduced, and as bill as amended. See also, story titled "House Judiciary Committee Approves Spyware Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 973, September 9, 2004; and story titled "Judiciary Committee Members Introduce Spyware Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 928, June 29, 2004.

The two House bills, and the Senate bill as introduced, are different bills.

Rural Universal Service. The Committee is also scheduled to mark up S 1380, the "Rural Universal Service Equity Act of 2003".

Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR) and others introduced this bill on July 9, 2003. See, story titled "Sen. Smith Introduces Universal Service Reform Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 697, July 14, 2003.

The bill requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to amend its regulations codified at 47 CFR 54.309 and 54.311. See, Part 54 of the FCC rules.

Specifically, the bill provides that "In calculating Federal universal service support for eligible telecommunications carriers that serve rural, insular, and high cost areas, the Commission shall ... revise the Commission's support mechanism for high cost areas to provide support to each wire center in which the incumbent local exchange carrier's average cost per line for such wire center exceeds the national average cost per line by such amount as the Commission determines appropriate for the purpose of ensuring the equitable distribution of universal service support throughout the United States."

Other Items on the Agenda. The Committee's agenda also includes mark up of S ___, a public safety spectrum bill.

The agenda also includes consideration of the nominations of Deborah Majoras and Jonathan Liebowitz to be Commissioners of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). They both currently hold recess appointments. Sen. Wyden and Sen. Boxer have opposed the nomination of Majoras.

See, story titled "Bush Gives Majoras and Liebowitz Recess Appointments to the FTC" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 950, August 2, 2004; and story titled "Senate Commerce Committee Holds Hearing on FTC Nominees" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 910, June 3, 2004.

9/8. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memorandum to the chief information officers of executive branch agencies titled "Personal Use Policies and “File Sharing” Technology". It directs all agencies to adopt personal use policies by December 1, 2004, to train all employees on these personal use policies and improper uses of file sharing, and to implement security controls to prevent and detect improper file sharing.

It states that "A type of file sharing known as Peer-to-Peer (P2P) refers to any software or system allowing individual users of the Internet to connect to each other and trade files. These systems are usually highly decentralized and are designed to facilitate connections between persons who are looking for certain types of files. While there are many appropriate uses of this technology, a number of studies show, the vast majority of files traded on P2P networks are copyrighted music files and pormography. Data also suggests P2P is a common avenue for the spread of computer viruses within IT systems."

It continues that "Federal computer systems or networks (as well as those operated by contractors on the government's behalf) must not be used for the downloading of illegal and/or unauthorized copyrighted content." (Parentheses in original.)

The memorandum was signed by Karen Evans, the OMB's Administrator for IT and E-Gov. The OMB is a part of the Executive Office of the President (EOP).

9/15. Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) spoke in the Senate regarding the Senate Republican High Tech Task Force, which he has chaired in the 108th Congress. He reviewed its accomplishments, and items that remain on the group's agenda.

Sen. Ensign (at right) said that this group "remains focused on securing final passage of important priorities such as: final passage of the JOBS Bill that includes international tax reform, extension of the R&D Tax Credit and the Invest in the USA Act; preserving broad-based employee stock option plans that are threatened by FASB; class action reform to stop frivolous lawsuits that stifle innovation and drive up costs for consumers; bringing an end to patent fee diversion that harms the ability of U.S. innovators to bring their exciting products to market." See, Congressional Record, September 15, 2004, at Pages S9281-2.

He also said that "Four-year delays to obtain patents hurt innovation; final passage of the Internet Tax Moratorium legislation to keep state, local, and federal tax collectors from driving up the cost of Internet access; final passage of the Spectrum Relocation Bill which will provide additional spectrum for the wireless revolution and has the potential to yield more than $500 billion in economic and consumer benefits over the next decade, spur $50 billion or more in capital investment, and create thousands of American jobs."

9/16. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released its Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking [20 pages in PDF] regarding reducing the time interval for intermodal number porting (porting numbers between wireline and wireless carriers). The FCC adopted, but did not release, this item at its September 9, 2004 meeting. Comments will be due 30 after publication in the Federal Register, which has not yet occurred. Reply comments will be due within 60 days. This item is FCC 04-217 in CC Docket No. 95-116.

9/16. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) published a notice in the Federal Register that summarizes and sets the effective date (October 18, 2004) for its rules implementing Section 14 of the CAN SPAM Act. The Congress passed S 877, the "Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pormography and Marketing Act of 2003", also known as the "CAN-SPAM Act of 2003", late last year. On December 16, 2003, President Bush signed the bill. It became Public Law No. 108-187. Most of the rules implementing this statute are a matter of Federal Trade Commission (FTC) jurisdiction. However, Section 14 of the Act directs the FCC to write rules "to protect consumers from unwanted mobile service commercial messages". These rules include a prohibition on sending commercial messages to any address referencing an internet domain name associated with wireless subscriber messaging services. See, Federal Register, September 16, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 179, at Pages 55765 - 55780.

9/19. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) published in its web site copies of three redacted documents that is received from the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Transportation Security Administration (TSA) regarding the Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System (CAPPS II). See, April 17, 2003 memorandum [5 pages in PDF], July 29, 2003 memorandum [6 pages in PDF], and July 30, 2003 memorandum [5 pages in PDF], all of which are titled titled "Privacy Impact Statement (Preliminary)". The EPIC states that these documents "reflect a dramatic expansion over just three and a half months in the ways passenger information collected for the program would have been shared". The TSA no longer uses the term CAPPS II.

9/17. The EU and the US issued a joint statement regarding a September 17, 2004 meeting in Brussels, Belgium of the annual Information Society Dialogue.

9/14. Cynthia Fornelli, Deputy Director of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), gave a speech in New York, NY in which she discussed the SEC's hedge fund adviser registration initiative. She stated that "the Commission staff is actively reviewing the role of technology as a regulatory tool to enhance the Commission's effectiveness as a market overseer".

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Notices & Disclaimers
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On September 17, 2004 the House agreed to a resolution providing that the House will next meet on Tuesday, September 21, 2004 at 12:30 PM. See, Congressional Record, at Page H7244. The Republican Whip Notice states that on Monday, September 20, 2004 "there are no votes in the House".

The Senate will meet at 2:00 PM. It will resume consideration of HR 4837, the Military Construction Appropriations bill for FY 2005.

Day one of a three day conference titled "Biometric Consortium Conference BC2004". See, conference web site. Location: Hyatt Regency Crystal City, 2799 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA.

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. Kevin Rollins, P/CEO of Dell, will speak at a luncheon hosted by the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) titled "Corporate Ethics and Accountability". Press contact: Kyra Jennings at 202 547-0001. Location: PPI, 600 Pennsylvania Ave., SE, Suite 400.

12:30 PM. Secretary of the Treasury John Snow will give a luncheon speech. Location: National Press Club, 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor.

Deadline to submit comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to it Public Notice [PDF] requesting interested parties to provide comments on filings by AT&T and TracFone Wireless regarding eligible telecommunications carrier (ETC) designations and the Lifeline and Link-Up universal service support mechanism. This is CC Docket No. 96-45 and WC Docket No. 03-109.

The House will meet at 12:30 PM for morning hour, and at 2:00 PM for legislative business. It will consider numerous items under suspension of the rules, including HR 3632, the "Anti-Counterfeiting Amendments of 2003", sponsored by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX). The House Judiciary Committee approved this bill on June 23, 2004. The House will also consider HR 5025, the "Transportation, Treasury, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2005", pursuant to a rule. See, Republican Whip Notice.

Day two of a three day conference titled "Biometric Consortium Conference BC2004". See, conference web site. Location: Hyatt Regency Crystal City, 2799 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold an executive business meeting. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) will preside. See, notice. Press contact: Margarita Tapia (Hatch) at 202 224-5225 or David Carle (Leahy) at 202 224-4242. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

12:00 NOON. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Executive Committee will meet. Location: Wiley Rein & Fielding, 1776 K Street, NW.

2:30 PM. The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing on S 1963, the "Wireless 411 Privacy Act". The witnesses will be Dennis Strigl (P/CEO of Verizon Wireless), Steve Largent (P/CEO of the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association), Patrick Cox (CEO of Qsent, Inc.), Marc Rotenberg (Electronic Privacy Information Center), and Kathleen Pierz (The Pierz Group). Location: Room 253, Russell building.

1:00 - 4:00 PM. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) Technology Administration (TA) will host a roundtable titled "Technology Recycling: Achieving Consensus for Stakeholders: Roundtable on Electronics Recycling". See, notice. Location: DOC, Auditorium, 1401 Constitution Avenue, NW.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM. On Wednesday and Thursday, the House will consider numerous non-controversial and non-technology related items (such as HRes 761, congratulating Lance Armstrong for winning the Tour de France) under suspension of the rules. See, Republican Whip Notice.

Day three of a three day conference titled "Biometric Consortium Conference BC2004". Under Secretary of Homeland Security Asa Hutchinson will speak at 11:45 AM in Ballroom E. See, conference web site. Location: Hyatt Regency Crystal City, 2799 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA.

9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Day one of a two day conference hosted by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) titled "90th Anniversary Symposium". See, agenda. Location: FTC, 601 New Jersey Ave., NW.

9:30 AM. The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a business meeting. The agenda includes consideration several bills, including S 1963, the "Wireless 411 Privacy Act", S 1380, the "Rural Universal Service Equity Act of 2003", S 2145, "The Spy Block Act", and S ___, a public safety spectrum bill. The agenda also includes consideration of the nominations of Deborah Majoras and Jonathan Liebowitz to be Commissioners of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC); both currently hold recess appointments. Press contact: David Wonnenberg at 202 224-2670 or david_wonnenberg @commerce.senate.gov. Location: Room 253, Russell building.

9:30 AM. The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Homeland Security Advisory Council will hold a meeting, part of which will be closed to the public. The open portion will be held from 9:30 - 11:15 AM. See, notice in the Federal Register, September 8, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 173, at Pages 54299 - 54300. Location: U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters, 2100 Second Street, SW.

9:30 AM. Black Box Voting, a group opposed to the use of technology in tabulating votes in elections, will hold a press conference. For more information, contact Vickie Karp at 512 775-3737. Location: Zenger Room, National Press Club, 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor.

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". This is the third in a series of hearings. Press contact: Larry Neal at 202 225-5735. See, notice. This hearing will be webcast by the Committee. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing titled "A Review of Counter-Terrorism Legislation and Proposals, including the USA PATRIOT Act and the SAFE Act". The USA PATRIOT Act is the "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001". It was passed by the 107th Congress as HR 3162. It became Public Law 107-56 on October 26, 2001. The SAFE Act is S 1709, the "Security and Freedom Ensured Act of 2003". It was introduced by Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) on October 2, 2003. See, story titled "Senators Craig and Durbin Introduce Bill to Modify PATRIOT Act" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 753, October 6, 2003. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) will preside. See, notice. 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. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Administrative Law Judge Stephen McGuire will hear oral argument in In Re Rambus Incorporated, Docket No. 9302. Location: Room 532, FTC main building, 600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The DC Bar Association's Law Practice Management Section will host a presentation titled "50 Hot Technology Tips And Web Sites: What Lawyers Should Know". The speaker will be Reid Trautz (DC Bar Lawyer Practice Assistance Program). See, notice. Prices vary from $15 to $25. For more information, call 202 626-3463. Location: D.C. Bar Conference Center, B-1 Level, 1250 H Street, NW.

12:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Young Lawyers Committee will host a brown bag lunch. The topic will be "Universal Service Fund: A Primer". The speakers will be Paul Garnett (CTIA), Tina Pidgeon (GCI), Dan Mitchell (NTCA), Tom Buckley (FCC), and Eric Einhorn (SBC). For more information, contact Jason Friedrich at jason.friedrich@dbr.com or Pam Slipakoff at Pam.Slipakoff@fcc.gov. Location: Drinker Biddle & Reath,1500 K Street NW, 11th floor.

1:30 - 3:30 PM. The World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-07) Advisory Committee's Informal Working Group 2: Satellite Services and HAPS will meet. See, notice [PDF] Location: Leventhal Senter & Lerman, 2000 K Street, NW, 7th Floor.

2:00 PM. The House Government Reform Committee's Subcommittee on Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations and the Census will hold a hearing titled "Information Security". Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Commissioner Orson Swindle will testify. Location: Room 2167, Rayburn Building.

3:30 PM. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on judicial nominations. Sen. Mike DeWine (R-OH) will preside. See, notice. Press contact: Margarita Tapia (Hatch) at 202 224-5225 or David Carle (Leahy) at 202 224-4242. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

4:00 - 5:30 PM. The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) will host a panel discussion titled "International Trade Policy and the 2004 Presidential Campaign". The speakers will be Grant Aldonas (Under Secretary for International Trade at the Department of Commerce) and Lael Brainard (Brookings Institution). See, notice. Location: AEI, 12th floor, 1150 17th St., NW.

6:00 PM. Reception (6:00 PM) and dinner (7:00 PM) associated with the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) conference titled "90th Anniversary Symposium". The dinner speaker will be Judge Richard Posner. See, agenda. Location: JW Marriott Hotel, 1331 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

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

9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Day one of a two day conference hosted by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) titled "90th Anniversary Symposium". See, agenda. Location: FTC, 601 New Jersey Ave., NW.

9:00 AM - 4:00 PM. The Executive Office of the President's (EOP) Office of Science and Technology Policy's (OSTP) National Science and Technology Council's (NSTC) Committee on Technology's Interagency Working Group on Information Technology Research & Development (ITR&D) will hold a meeting that is closed to the public. For more information, contact Virginia Moore at moore@itrd.gov or 703 292-4873. Location: National Science Foundation (NSF), 4201 Wilson Blvd.

10:00 AM - 1:00 PM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Network Reliability and Interoperability Council (NRIC) will hold a meeting. The agenda includes E911 issues. FCC Chairman Michael Powell is scheduled to participate. See, notice and agenda [PDF] and notice in the Federal Register, September 1, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 169, at Page 53446. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room (TW-C305), 445 12th Street, SW.

10:00 AM. The House Education and Workforce Committee's Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness will hold a hearing titled "Are Current Safeguards Protecting Taxpayers Against Diploma Mills". The hearing will be webcast by the Committee. Location: Room 2175, Rayburn Building.

TIME? The Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) will hold a public hearing to assist the USTR in preparing its annual report to the Congress on China's compliance with the commitments that it made in connection with its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Persons wishing to testify orally at the hearing must provide written notification and a copy of their written testimony by 12:00 NOON on September 10, 2004. Written comments are due by 12:00 NOON on September 15, 2004. See, notice in the Federal Register, July 29, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 145, at Pages 45369 - 45370. Location: ?

12:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) will host a luncheon. The speaker will be Michael Gallagher, Director of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). Prices to attend vary. See, registration form [PDF]. Registrations and cancellations are due by 5:00 PM on September 20. Location: J.W. Marriot Hotel, 1331 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its further notice of proposed rulemaking (FNPRM) to determine whether mobile satellite service (MSS) operators using different technologies could share additional spectrum in the 1610-1626.5 MHz band (L-band). This FNPRM is FCC 04-134 in IB Docket No. 02-364 and ET Docket No. 00-258. See, notice in the Federal Register, August 9, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 152, at Pages 48192 - 48194.

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

10:00 AM -12:00 PM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) will host a tutorial titled "Optical Network Interoperability". Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room (TWC-305), 445 12th Street, SW.

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