1/13. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a cease and desist order in its administrative proceeding titled In the Matter of Google Inc. and David C. Drummond. The order states that the two violated Section 5 of the Securities Act of 1933 by failing to register with the SEC the issuance of certain stock options to employees of Google. It also orders the two not to violate Section 5 again. The SEC imposed no fine or other penalties.

The order states that "Google, a Silicon Valley search engine technology company, issued over $80 million worth of stock options to the company's employees and consultants from 2002 to 2004 without registering the offering and without providing financial information required to be disclosed under the federal securities laws. As a result, Google employees and other persons accepted Google securities as part of their compensation without certain detailed financial information about the company. By issuing the options without registering the offering and without the legally required disclosures, Google violated the securities registration provisions of Section 5 of the Securities Act. As described below, Google's General Counsel, David C. Drummond, caused Google to violate these provisions."

The order provides that Google and Drummond must not violate Section 5 in the future. Google and Drummond cooperated with the SEC, admitted no wrongdoing, and consented to the cease and desist order.

Stephen Cutler, Director of the SEC's Enforcement Division stated in a release that "The securities laws exist to ensure full disclosure to investors, including employees accepting stock options as compensation. Companies cannot freely decide that they don't need to comply with the law."

The order and release both state the Google and Drummond violated the legal requirements regarding registration and disclosure obligations in the offer or sale of securities. However, neither the order nor the release allege that any investors or employees were harmed by the conduct of Google and Drummond.

In addition, the California Department of Corporations settled civil charges against Google for issuing certain stock options to Google's employees and consultants during 2003 without registering the offering and without providing financial information required to be disclosed under state securities laws in violation of Section 25110 of the California Corporations Code.

See also, Google's investor relations web page.

1/14. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published a notice in the Federal Register on January 14 that describes and sets the comments deadline (February 14, 2005) for a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) regarding the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). See, Federal Register, January 14, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 10, at Pages 2580 - 2582.

This NPRM proposes to permanently allow web site operators and online services to obtain verifiable parental consent for the collection of personal information from children for internal use by the web site operator through sending an e-mail message to parents coupled with additional steps.

The FTC published its final COPPA rule in a notice in the Federal Register (November 3, 1999, Vol. 64, No. 212, at Pages 59887-59915); the final rule is also codified at 16 CFR part 312.

The FTC also issued a release regarding this NPRM. It states that "The Rule currently contains a ``sliding scale´´ approach for obtaining parental consent. Operators of Web sites and online services that collect children’s personal information solely for internal use can obtain parental consent through the use of an e-mail plus an additional step to provide assurance that the person providing the consent actually is the parent. Operators that wish to disclose children’s information publicly or to third parties must employ more reliable methods of obtaining parental consent, such as using a print-and-send consent form; a credit card transaction; a toll-free telephone number staffed by trained personnel; a digital certificate using public key technology; or an e-mail with a password or PIN obtained by one of the above methods."

This release also states that "The FTC is seeking comments concerning whether: (1) current or anticipated reliable technology or infomediary services could facilitate obtaining verifiable parental consent at a reasonable cost; (2) eliminating, extending, or making permanent the sliding scale approach would affect the incentive to develop secure technology for the purpose of obtaining parental consent; (3) eliminating the sliding scale approach would have an effect on how Web site operators would use personal information collected from children; and (4) the sliding scale approach should be eliminated, extended, or made permanent."

Also, on January 12, the FTC published a notice in the Federal Register stating that it plans to request public comments on two rules as a part of its systematic review of all of its rules: (1) the COPPA rule, and (2) Deceptive Advertising as to Sizes of Viewable Pictures Shown by Television Receiving Sets Rule, which is codified at 16 CFR part 410. See, Federal Register, January 12, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 8, at Page 2074 - 2075.

1/13. The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI), a new Democratic think tank, released a paper [7 pages in PDF] titled "Hoover's Last Legacy: Time to Fix America's Tariff System". The paper finds that the US system is unfair and hopelessly outdated. Also, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) regarding the European Union's tariff system. The USTR argues the EU system is inconsistent and complex.

The PPI paper, which was written by Edward Gresser, states that "while American tariffs seem ineffective at protecting U.S. jobs, they are very good at complicating the lives of single mothers. This is because tariffs are low on industrial inputs for factories, luxury goods, and other products bought mainly by businesses and wealthy consumers, but high on cheap clothes, shoes, food, and other products important to poor families. An extreme, but not unrepresentative, case is that of cheap sneakers, which carry the highest tariff rate in the system (48 percent). This tariff then travels through the system to end as a large, hidden sales tax. Bought only by the poor, these shoes have not been made in the United States since at least the 1970s." (Parentheses in original.)

The paper also points out that these tariffs, which are mirrored in other industrialized nations, also prevent poorer nations, particularly Asian and Muslim countries, from exporting products to industrialized nations.

This paper recommends that "An appropriate opportunity to scrap the system exists in the World Trade Organization (WTO)'s Doha Round of trade policy negotiations as part of a general reform of world trade regimes."

Concurrently, the USTR announced that it has requested the World Trade Organization (WTO) to form a dispute settlement panel in the case against the European Union regarding EU customs laws and regulations.

The USTR stated in a release that "Many important aspects of customs administration in the EU are handled differently by different member State customs authorities, resulting in inconsistencies from country to country. Although the EU is a customs union, there is no single EU customs administration. Lack of uniformity, coupled with lack of procedures for prompt EU-wide review, can hinder U.S. exports, particularly for small to mid-size businesses."

1/13. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) held a monthly meeting. It received reports from the bureaus and offices of the FCC. See, agenda [PDF] and FCC web page with hyperlinks to PowerPoint and PDF copies of the reports.

1/13. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) published a notice in the Federal Register stating that it solicits comments regarding the progress made by the states in implementing E911 solutions for multi-line telephone systems (MLTSs). Comments are due by February 28, 2005. Reply comments are due by March 29, 2005. See, Federal Register, January 13, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 9, at Pages 2405 - 2406.

1/12. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture (NAL) that proposes to fine Univision Radio License Corporation, and its subsidiary, Tichenor License Corporation, $28,000 for the apparent willful broadcast of a telephone conversation between an on-air radio personality and the recipient of the call without first informing the recipient that the call was being broadcast, in violation of 47 C.F.R. § 73.1206. See also, FCC release. The FCC also released a NAL [PDF] that proposes to fine Scripps Howard Broadcasting Company, licensee of Station WEWS-TV, in Cleveland, Ohio, $6,000, and a NAL [PDF] that proposes to fine NOE Corp. LLC, licensee of Station KNOE-TV, in Monroe, Louisiana, $10,000.

1/13. John Rogovin, General Counsel of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will leave the FCC. He will become a partner at the law firm of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr. Austin Schlick will become Acting General Counsel. See, FCC release [PDF]. Schlick has been Deputy General Counsel responsible litigation. He only joined the FCC in February of 2004. Before that, he worked in Department of Justice's (DOJ) Office of the Solicitor General. Before that, he was a partner in the Washington DC communications law firm of Kellogg Huber Hansen Todd & Evans. He also previously worked for the law firm of Klein Farr Smith & Taranto.

1/13. Barbara Douglas, Director of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Office of Workplace Diversity, will leave the FCC. See, FCC release [PDF].

1/13. Wendy Wysong was named Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Enforcement in the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS). She will also be the acting Assistant Secretary, pending the nomination and confirmation of a new Assistant Secretary. The BIS stated in a release that she will work on "enforcing the export control and antiboycott provisions of the Export Administration Regulations".

1/13. Brian Dietz was named Vice President, Communications, of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA). He was previously the NCTA's Senior Director, Communications. See, NCTA release.

1/13. Amy Banse was named SVP of Content Development at Comcast Corporation, and EVP of Content Development at Comcast Cable. She has worked for Comcast since 1991. See, Comcast release.

1/12. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) published a notice in the Federal Register requesting comments regarding new or revised requirements for Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-3, which pertains to security for cryptographic modules that are utilized by federal agencies. The notice states that the NIST "plans to develop Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) 140-3, which will supersede FIPS 140-2, Security Requirements for Cryptographic Modules. FIPS 140-2, approved by the Secretary of Commerce and announced in the Federal Register (June 27, 2001, Volume 66, Number 124, Pages 34154-34155), identifies requirements for four levels of security for cryptographic modules that are utilized by Federal agencies to protect the security of Federal information systems." The deadline to submit comments is February 28, 2005. See, Federal Register, January 12, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 8, at Pages 2122 - 2123.

1/14. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) published a notice in the Federal Register that requests public comments for the USTR's Trade Policy Staff Committee on the scope of the environmental review of the multilateral negotiations of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) conducted under the auspices of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The deadline to submit comments is March 31, 2005. See, Federal Register, January 14, 2005, Vol. 70, No.10, at Pages 2695 - 2696.

The House will not meet. It will next meet on January 20, 2005.See, Republican Whip Notice.

The Senate will not meet. It will next meet on January 20, 2005.

9:30 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir) will hear oral argument in Northpoint Technology v. FCC, No. 04-1052. Judges Edwards, Henderson and Randolph will preside. Location: Prettyman Courthouse, 333 Constitution Ave., NW.

9:30 AM - 12:00 NOON. The Department of State's International Telecommunication Advisory Committee (ITAC) will meet to prepare for the International Telecommunications Union's ITU-T Study Group 2 (Service Definitions, Numbering, Routing, and Global Mobility) meeting. See, the ITU's calendar of meetings. See, notice in the Federal Register, December 30, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 250, at Pages 78515-78516. For more information, including the location, contact minardje@state.gov. Location: undisclosed.

12:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) Wireless Telecommunications Practice Committee will host a lunch. The speakers, Scott Delacourt, Cathy Seidel and Peter Tenhula of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB), will address "WTB hot topics". The price to attend is $15.00. Registrations are due 5:00 PM on Tuesday, January 11. See, registration form [PDF]. Location change: Sidley Austin, 6th Floor, 1501 K Street, NW. Wiley Rein & Fielding, 1776 K Street, NW, Ground Floor Conference Center.

Deadline to submit comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) regarding wireless services in rural areas. On September 27, 2004, the FCC released the text [137 pages in PDF] of its Report and Order and FNPRM. The FCC adopted this item at its July 8, 2004 meeting. This item is 04-166 in WT Docket Nos. 02-381, 01-14, and 03-202. See, notice in the Federal Register, December 15, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 240, at Pages 75174 - 75185.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) regarding the application of 47 U.S.C. 251(h)(2) to the reclassification of competitive local exchange carriers (LECs) to incumbent LECs. This is the Mid-Rivers Telephone Cooperative, Inc. proceeding. This NPRM is FCC 04-252 in WC Docket No. 02-78. See, notice in the Federal Register, November 30, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 229, at Pages 69573 - 69578.

EXTENDED TO FEBRUARY 28. Deadline to submit comments to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) regarding its three year Strategic Plan [73 pages in PDF]. See, ICANN's November 16, 2004 notice. See also, ICANN's web page with information about the Strategic Plan.

5:00 PM. Deadline to submit to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recommendations for focus areas in the upcoming US-China Workshop on Standards and Conformity Assessment (to be held in late August or early September 2005). See, notice in the Federal Register, December 17, 2004. Vol. 69, No. 242, at Pages 75515 - 75516.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and other federal offices will be closed in observance of Martin Luther King's birthday. See, Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) list of federal holidays.

12:00 NOON. Deadline to submit reply comments to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) regarding various trade related telecommunications issues. The USTR seeks comments on "Whether any WTO member is acting in a manner that is inconsistent with its commitments under the WTO Basic Telecommunications Agreement or with other WTO obligations", "Whether Canada or Mexico has failed to comply with their telecommunications commitments or obligations under NAFTA", "Whether Chile or Singapore or any other FTA partner with an Agreement that comes into force on or before January 1, 2005 has failed to comply with their telecommunications commitments or obligations under the respective FTAs", "Whether other countries have failed to comply with their commitments under additional telecommunications agreements", and "Whether there remain outstanding issues from previous Section 1377 reviews". See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 69, No. 226, Wednesday, November 24, 2004, at Page 68439.

9:00 AM. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a hearing on the nomination of Condi Rice to be Secretary of State. Location: Room 216, Hart Building.

Deadline to submit comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (2FNPRM) regarding reducing barriers to secondary markets for spectrum rights. See, notice in the Federal Register, December 27, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 247, at Pages 77560 - 77568. This 2FNPRM is a part of a larger item that the FCC adopted on July 8, 2004, and released on September 2, 2004. See, story titled "FCC Adopts Second Secondary Markets Report and Order" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 934, July 9, 2004; and story titled "FCC Releases Second Secondary Markets Report and Order" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 969, September 3, 2004. See also, story titled "FCC Sets Comment Deadlines on 2FNPRM Regarding Secondary Markets for Spectrum" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,045, December 28, 2004.

8:30 AM - 12:00 NOON. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will host a meeting to discuss the policy, privacy, and security issues associated with Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12, titled "Common Identification Standard for Federal Employees and Contractors".  See, agenda [PDF]. The event is free and open to the public. However, January 11 is the deadline to register. Contact Sara Caswell at Sara.caswell@nist.gov or 301 975-4634. Location: auditorium, Potomac Center Plaza, 550 12th Street, SW (near the Smithsonian and L’Enfant Plaza metro stations).

9:00 AM. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a hearing on the nomination of Condi Rice to be Secretary of State. Location: Room 216, Hart Building.

9:30 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold an executive business meeting. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) will preside. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

9:30 AM - 5:00 PM. The North American Numbering Council (NANC) will meet. See, FCC notice [PDF] and notice in the Federal Register, December 3, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 232, at Page 70259. Location: FCC, Room TWC305, 445 12th, SW.

9:30 AM - 12:30 PM. The Federal Information Systems Security Educators' Association (FISSEA) will host a workshop on NIST Special Publication 800-16, titled "Information Technology Security Training Requirements: A Role- and Performance-Based Model". See, Part 1 [845 KB in PDF], Part 2 [96 KB in PDF], and Part 3 [374 KB in PDF]. Preregistration is required. See, notice. Location: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), North Building.

12:00 NOON. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Common Carrier Practice Committee will host a brown bag lunch. The topic will be the FCC's Remand Order on unbundled network elements. The speakers will include Tom Hughes (SBC) and Praveen Goyal (Covad Communications). RSVP to cmburnett@hhlaw.com by Friday, January 7. Location: Hogan & Hartson, Moot Courtroom, 555 13th St., NW.

2:00 PM. The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing on the nomination of Michael Leavitt to be Secretary of Health and Human Services. Location: Room 215, Dirksen Building.

2:00 - 4:00 PM. The Department of State's International Telecommunication Advisory Committee (ITAC) will meet to prepare for the International Telecommunications Union's (ITU) Telecommunication Standardization Advisory Group (TSAG) meeting. See, the ITU's calendar of meetings. See, notice in the Federal Register, December 20, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 243, at Page 76027. For more information, including the location, contact Julian Minard at minardje@state.gov. Location: undisclosed.

2:00 PM. The Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) will host an event titled "Improving the Ed Tech RFP: What Works and What Doesn't". See, notice. The price to participate is $40 for non-members of the SIIA. This event will be webcast and telecast only.

2:30 PM. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing on the nomination of Samuel Bodman to be Secretary of Energy. Location: Room 366, Dirksen Building.

4:00 - 5:00 PM. The President's National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC) will meet via conference call. The NSTAC addresses issues and problems related to implementing national security and emergency preparedness communications policy. This meeting is be closed to the public. See, notice in the Federal Register, January 4, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 2, at Page 370.

The Senate will reconvene at 3:00 PM. It will begin with a period for morning business, and then proceed to consideration of cabinet nominees. See, Senate calendar. See also, Congressional Inaugural Committee web site.

Inauguration Day. This is not a federal holiday listed in the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) list of federal holidays. The OPM states that "An employee who works in the District of Columbia, Montgomery or Prince George's Counties in Maryland, Arlington or Fairfax Counties in Virginia, or the cities of Alexandria or Falls Church in Virginia, and who is regularly scheduled to perform non-overtime work on Inauguration Day, is entitled to a holiday. There is no in-lieu-of holiday for employees who are not regularly scheduled to work on Inauguration Day."

The Copyright Office will be closed. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will be closed. See, FCC calendar [PDF]. The Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a memorandum stating that its Washington DC area employees may take the day off; however, it is silent on closure of DOJ offices.

Deadline to submit to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) oppositions to petitions to deny the applications of NextWave Telecom and Cellco Partnership dba Verizon Wireless for FCC approval of their proposed transfer of control of broadband Personal Communications Services (PCS) licenses from NextWave to Cellco. See, FCC notice [4 pages in PDF]. This notice is DA 04-3873 in WT Docket No. 04-434.

EXTENDED TO JANUARY 28. Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to the FCC's public notice regarding BellSouth's petition for forbearance from certain Title II and Computer Inquiry requirements. This proceeding is WC Docket No. 04-405. See, notice of extension [PDF].

Deadline for licensees to submit responses to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to its second audit letter and notice of cancellation to certain licensees in the paging and radiotelephone service and certain licensees operating on 929-930 MHz exclusive private carrier paging channels. See, notice in the Federal Register, December 21, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 244, at Pages 76469 - 76470.

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