3/7. The Supreme Court denied certiorari in Covad v. BellSouth. See, Order List [14 pages in PDF] at page 7. This is a case with a long history. It involves the Communications Act, the Sherman Antitrust Act, and the Supreme Court's January 13, 2004 opinion [22 pages in PDF] in Verizon v. Trinko.

This denial of certiorari lets stand the judgment of the U.S. Court of Appeals (11thCir). The Court of Appeals issued its opinion [18 pages in PDF] on June 25, 2004. It held that most, but not all, of Covad's claims are barred by the holding in the Trinko case.

This is the second petition for writ of certiorari in this case. The Supreme Court, citing Trinko, granted several petitions for writ of certiorari in January of 2004 in several related cases, vacating, and remanding for further consideration in light of Trinko.

The Supreme Court held in Trinko that a claim alleging a breach of an incumbent local exchange carrier's (ILEC) duty under the 1996 Telecom Act to share its network with competitors does not state a violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act. See, story titled "Supreme Court Holds That There is No Sherman Act Claim in Verizon v. Trinko" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 815, January 14, 2004.

However, the plaintiffs in the Trinko case and in the present case did not allege identical conduct by the defendant ILECs. Hence, the Court of Appeals addressed in its July 2004 opinion which antitrust claims are barred by the holding in Trinko.

Covad is sells DSL service, using BellSouth telephone lines. BellSouth is an ILEC that also sells DSL service.

Covad filed a complaint in U.S. District Court (NDGa) against BellSouth alleging conduct that violates the Sherman Antitrust Act (refusal to deal, essential facilities, and price squeezing), violation of the Communications Act (misappropriation of confidential customer information), violation of state anti-monopoly statutes, breach of contract, and tortious interference with business relations.

The relevant language in Covad's complaint regarding price squeezing alleges that "The wholesale prices BellSouth offers to ISPs for DSL service, as well as its retail prices for combined DSL and Internet access service, are set so low relative to its unbundled wholesale loop prices that Covad cannot meet BellSouth’s wholesale or retail prices and still make a reasonable return on its investment. If Covad charged retail DSL/Internet access customers the same price as BellSouth does, or charged comparable wholesale DSL prices, Covad could not recover the cost of providing the service, e.g., loop costs, collocation costs, transport costs, corporate overhead and sales and market costs."

In its July 2004 opinion on remand the Court of Appeals held that Covad's refusal to deal claims do not survive Trinko and must be dismissed. It also held that Covad's allegations under the essential facilities doctrine fail to survive Trinko.

However, it wrote that "We believe Covad's price squeezing claim survives because it is based on traditional antitrust doctrine and is not specifically barred by Trinko."

The Court of Appeals also affirmed the District Court's dismissal of Covad's Communications Act and state law breach of contract claims. And, it reversed the District Court's dismissal of Covad's tortious interference with business relations claim. The Court of Appeals held that this claim is not based upon the interconnection agreement, and hence, is unaffected by the Trinko case.

The case now goes back to the District Court. Covad's price squeezing claim survives a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, but the other antitrust claims do not. Of course, whether Covad will prevail on this claim, or on the tortious interference claim, at trial is another question.

This case is Covad Communications Company, et al. v. BellSouth Corporation, et al., Sup. Ct. No. 04-727, a petition for writ of certiorari to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. The Court of Appeals No. is 01-16064. The Docket No. in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia is D.C. No. is 00-03414-CV-BBM-1.

3/7. The U.S. Court of Appeals (9thCir) issued its opinion [42 pages in PDF] in MetroPCS v. San Francisco, a case involving a local government's refusal to permit the construction and operation of a wireless telecommunications tower.

MetroPCS, a wireless service provider, sought license to build and operate a communications tower. It merely sought permission to put six antennas on an existing light pole on the top of a parking garage. But, San Francisco refused.

MetroPCS filed a complaint in U.S. District Court (NDCal) against San Francisco alleging several separate violations of 47 U.S.C. § 332(c)(7). MetroPCS alleged that San Francisco failed to issue a written denial, that its denial was not supported by substantial evidence, that its denial constituted unreasonable discrimination among providers of functionally equivalent wireless services, that its denial was based upon environmental concerns about radio frequency emission, and the it denial prohibited or had the effect of prohibiting the provision of wireless services.

The District Court granted summary judgment to San Francisco on all issues except MetroPCS's claim that San Francisco's denial violated Section 332(c)(7)(B)(i)(II). This provides that "The regulation of the placement, construction, and modification of personal wireless service facilities by any State or local government or instrumentality thereof ... shall not prohibit or have the effect of prohibiting the provision of personal wireless services." The District Court held that there were material facts in dispute on this claim, and denied San Francisco's motion for summary judgment. Both sides appealed.

The Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court on all items except the granting of summary judgment on the claim that San Francisco's denial constituted unreasonable discrimination among providers of functionally equivalent wireless services. Hence, the case is remanded, and there will be two issues for trial, unreasonable discrimination among providers, and prohibiting the provision of wireless services.

This case is MetroPCS, Inc. v. City and County of San Francisco, et al., U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, App. Ct. Nos. 03-16759 and 03-16760, appeals from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, D.C. No. CV-02-3442 PJH, Judge Phyllis Hamilton presiding.

2/23. The U.S. Court of Appeals (10thCir) issued its opinion in Qwest v. FCC, a case regarding the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) mechanism for providing universal service support subsidies to non-rural telecommunications carriers under 47 U.S.C. § 254.

Petitioners filed petitions for review of the FCC's order on remand, which followed the Court of Appeals' July 31, 2001 opinion in Qwest v. FCC, reported at 258 F.3d 1191, which vacated the FCC's previous order.

In the present opinion, the Court of Appeals wrote that "In the Order on Remand the Commission sought to address the issues we identified in our previous decision. Today, we grant in part and deny in part the petitions for review.  We hold that the FCC relied on an erroneous, or incomplete, construction of 47 U.S.C. § 254 in defining statutory terms and crafting the funding mechanism for non-rural, high-cost support. That construction of the statute is fatal to the cost support mechanism at issue in this case. However, we affirm that portion of the Order on Remand creating a mechanism to induce state action to assist in implementing the goals of universal service."

This case is Qwest Communications, Inc. v. FCC and USA, et al., U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, App. Ct. Nos. 03-9617, 04-9518, and 04-9519, petitions for review of a final order of the FCC.

3/4. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) released a report titled "Privacy Self Regulation: A Decade of Disappointment". It argues that reliance upon free markets, and industry self-regulation of privacy related practices, has failed to protect individuals from threats to privacy presented by private sector entities.

Most, but not all, of the privacy related issues discussed in the report pertain to online activities and/or electronic databases. This report does not address threats to privacy posed by governmental entities. The report urges the Congress and/or the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to impose a data regulation framework that addresses consumer access to information about them, choice, security, and accountability.

The report reviews the history of the FTC's study of privacy issues. It provides a discussion of existing technologies and business practices that affect privacy. It also offers predictions as to how several emerging technologies may impact individual privacy. Finally, it offers recommendations for new regulation.

The report identifies as culpable entities certain web site operators, data aggregators, retailers and marketers. The EPIC and others have long highlighted the activities of these groups.

The report also identifies the privacy invasive practices of newspaper publishers. It states that the web sites of thirteen of the top twenty-five newspapers, by circulation, require disclosure of some personal information in order to access content. The report concludes that "Compulsory site registration is likely to become a ``vicious cycle´´ of privacy violations -- increasing prevalence of privacy self-defense through providing ``bad´´ or incorrect information might result in an increased tendency on the part of newspapers to require more invasive information from users, and to compare this information to commercial databases to ensure accuracy."

This report also identifies digital rights management (DRM) technologies that are being developed for transactions involving intellectual property. The EPIC report states that "Some DRM technologies are being developed with little regard for privacy protection. These systems require the user to reveal his or her identity in order to access protected content. Upon authentication of identity and valid rights to the content, the user can access the content. Widespread use of DRM systems could lead to an eradication of anonymous consumption of content."

The report was written by Chris Hoofnagle, Director of the EPIC's San Francisco office.

3/7. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a notice of proposed rule making (NPRM) [19 pages in PDF] in a proceeding titled "In the Matter of: Implementation of Section 207 of the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act of 2004 Reciprocal Bargaining Obligations".

This NPRM is FCC 05-49 in MB Docket No. 05-89. The FCC adopted this NPRM on March 2, 2005.

The SHREVA was enacted late last year as a part of the huge omnibus appropriations bill. Section 207 extends 47 U.S.C. § 325(b)(3)(C) of the Communications Act until 2010 and amends that section to impose reciprocal good faith retransmission consent bargaining obligations on multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs). This section alters the bargaining obligations created by the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act of 1999 (SHVIA) which imposed a good faith bargaining obligation only on broadcasters. See, Section 207 of Public Law No. 108-447.

Initial comments will be due 30 after publication of a notice in the Federal Register. Reply comments will be due 45 days after publication.

3/7. Gardner Foster was named Legal Advisor to the Chief of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) International Bureau (IB). He will provide legal and policy counsel for all Satellite Division matters. Foster has worked in the IB for three years as an Attorney Advisor in the Policy Division. See, FCC release.

3/7. Brad Lerner was named Legal Advisor to the Chief of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) International Bureau (IB). He will provide legal and policy counsel for all Policy Division matters. He was previously an Attorney Advisor in the IB's Multilateral Negotiations and Industry Analysis Branch. Before that, he was an Attorney Advisor in the FCC's Media Bureau's (MB) Video Division. Before going to work for the FCC, he worked for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. See, FCC release.

3/2. John Trewin was named SVP and CFO of Covad, effective March 16, 2005. See, Covad release.

3/7. The Supreme Court issued three opinions, none of which are technology related. See, Wilkinson v. Dotson [PDF], Ballard v. Commissioner [PDF], and Shepard v. United States [PDF].

3/7. The Supreme Court issued an order in MGM Studios v. Grokster, granting the acting Solicitor General's motion for leave to participate in oral argument, and for divided argument. See, Order List [14 pages in PDF] at pages 6-7. This is Sup. Ct. No. 04-480. The Supreme Court will hear oral argument on Tuesday, March 29. See also, Solicitor General's amicus curiae brief and story titled "Supreme Court Grants Certiorari in P2P Case" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,036, December 13, 2004.

3/4. Acting U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Peter Allgeier held a news conference by telephone following the informal meeting of trade ministers in Mombassa, Kenya. See, transcript and prepared statement. See also, statement by Peter Mandelson, the EC's Trade Commissioner.

3/4. The U.S. Court of Appeals (2ndCir) issued its opinion [PDF] in Arbitron v. Tralyn Broadcasting. Arbitron is a listener demographics data provider for radio stations. Tralyn Broadcasting operates a radio station in the state of Mississippi. Arbitron licenses its copyrighted listener data to radio stations, such as the one operated by Tralyn, which then use the demographic profiles of station listeners to attract advertisers. The dispute between Arbitron and Tralyn involves application of contract law of the state of New York to the interpretation of a price escalation clause in the licensing contract. The Court of Appeals held for Arbitron, and in so doing, vacated and remanded to the District Court. This case is Arbitron, Inc. v. Tralyn Broadcasting, Inc., App. Ct. Nos. 03-9276(L) and 04-0264-cv(CON).

3/2. The House Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet held a hearing titled "Competition in the Communications Marketplace: How Technology Is Changing the Structure of the Industry". See, prepared testimony [4 pages in PDF] of Edward Whitacre (Ch/CEO of SBC), prepared testimony [14 pages in PDF] of David Dorman (Ch/CEO of AT&T), prepared testimony [6 pages in PDF] of Ivan Seidenberg (Ch/CEO of Verizon), prepared testimony [8 pages in PDF] of Michael Capellas (CEO of MCI), prepared testimony [12 pages in PDF] of Gary Forsee (Ch/CEO of Sprint), prepared testimony [11 pages in PDF] of  Timothy Donahue (P/CEO of Nextel), prepared testimony [13 pages in PDF] of Mark Cooper (CFA), prepared testimony [7 pages in PDF] of Jeff Halpern (equity research analyst at Sanford Bernstein), and prepared testimony [24 pages in PDF] of James Speta (Northwestern University School of Law), and prepared testimony [14 pages in PDF] of Phil Weiser (University of Colorado School of Law).

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Notices & Disclaimers
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The House will meet at 12:30 PM for morning business, and at 2:00 PM for legislative business. It will consider several non-technology related items under suspension of the rules. Votes will be postponed until 6:30 PM. See, Republican Whip Notice.

The Senate will meet at 9:45 AM. It will resume consideration of S 256, the "Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005".

8:00 - 9:30 AM. Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), Chairman of the House Republican Study Committee, will be the speaker at a U.S. Chamber of Commerce Policy Insiders event. The price to attend ranges from free to $55. See, notice. For more information, contact Matt Haller at mhaller at uschamber dot com or 202 463-3176. Location: Herman Lay Room, U.S. Chamber, 1615 H St., NW.

8:15 AM. Tech Net (Rick White) will hold a press conference to announce its policy agenda. For more information, contact Kirsten Vernon at 650 213-1172 or kvernon at technet dot org. Location: First Amendment Lounge, National Press Club, 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor.

9:00 AM. The Bureau of Industry and Security's (BIS) Regulations and Procedures Technical Advisory Committee (RPTAC) will meet. The meeting agenda includes an "Update on computer and microprocessor technology controls" and an "Update on encryption controls". (Emphasis added.) See, notice in the Federal Register, February 18, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 33, at Pages 8342-8343. Location: Room 3884, Herbert Hoover Building, 14th Street between Constitution and Pennsylvania Avenues, NW.

9:30 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: Blain Rethmeier (Specter) at 202 224-5225, David Carle (Leahy) at 202 224-4242 or Tracy Schmaler (Leahy) at 202 224-2154. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The Department of State's International Telecommunication Advisory Committee (ITAC) will meet to prepare for the Organization of American States' (OAS) Inter-American Telecommunication Commission's (CITEL) Permanent Consultative Committee II meeting in Guatemala to be held in April 2005. See, notice in the Federal Register, December 30, 2004, Vol. 69, No. 250, at Pages 78515-78516. For more information, including the location, contact Cecily Holiday at holidaycc@state.gov or Anne Jillson at jillsonad@state.gov. Location: undisclosed.

10:00 AM. The President's Export Council's Subcommittee on Export Administration will hold hold a partially closed meeting. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 11, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 28, at Page 7232. Location: Room 4832, Department of Commerce, 14th Street between Pennsylvania and Constitution Avenues, NW.

2:30 PM. The Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security will hold a hearing titled "Terrorism and the EMP Threat to Homeland Security". See, notice. Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) will preside. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

4:30 PM. The House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property (CIIP) will hold a hearing titled "Digital Music Licensing and Section 115 of the Copyright Act". See, 17 U.S.C. § 115 and Committee notice. Press contact: Jeff Lungren or Terry Shawn at 202 225-2492. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its notice of proposed rulemaking regarding revisions to its Schedule of Regulatory Fees. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 28, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 38, at Pages 9575-9606.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. The agenda does not include any technology related items. See, Republican Whip Notice.

RESCHEDULED FOR MARCH 3. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) will host an event titled "FCBA Biennial Congressional Reception".

8:30 AM - 5:30 PM. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will host a plenary meeting of the Technical Guidelines Development Committee. This pertains to the developing the security and usability of computer voting systems. See, NIST notice, and NIST voting web site. Location: NIST, 100 Bureau Drive, Building 101, Gaithersburg, MD.

9:00 AM - 1:00 PM. The Advisory Committee to the Congressional Internet Caucus will host an event titled "RFID Exhibition & Policy Primer". See, notice. Location: Room 902, Hart Building.

9:30 AM. Clayton Christensen, a professor at Harvard Business School, will give a speech titled "How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Communications Industry". He is the author of The Innovator's Dilemna [Amazon], The Innovator's Solution: Creating and Sustaining Successful Growth [Amazon], and Seeing What's Next: Using Theories of Innovation to Predict Industry Change [Amazon]. Breakfast will be served at 8:30 AM. RSVP to 202 380-0620 or conferences at hbsp dot harvard dot edu. Location: Ballroom, National Press Club, 529 14th St., NW.

10:00 AM. The House Judiciary Committee will meet to mark up several bills, all of which were approved by the Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property (CIIP) on Thursday, March 3. It will mark up S 167, the "Family Entertainment and Copyright Act of 2005", HR 683, the "Trade Dilution Revision Act of 2005", HR 1036, a bill to amend Title 17 to make technical corrections relating to copyright royalty judges, HR 1037, a bill to make technical corrections to the statutory license for satellite carriers under 17 U.S.C. § 119, HR 1038, the "Multidistrict Litigation Restoration Act of 2005", and HConRes 53, expressing the sense of Congress regarding the issuance of the 500,000th design patent by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Press contact: Jeff Lungren or Terry Shawn at 202 225-2492. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM -12:00 NOON. The House Science Committee's Subcommittee on Research will hold a hearing titled "National Science Foundation Budget and Management Challenges". The witnesses will be Arden Bement (Director of the National Science Foundation), Mark Wrighton (Chairman of the Audit and Oversight Committee of the National Science Board), and Christine Boesz (Inspector General of the NSF). Location: Room 2318, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on the President's budget request for FY 2006 for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). See, notice. Room 342, Dirksen Building.

Day one of a three day conference host by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) titled "IAPP National Summit". See, conference web site. Location: Omni Shoreham Hotel, 2500 Calvert St., NW.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. The agenda does not include any technology related items. See, Republican Whip Notice.

9:30 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold an executive business meeting. See, notice. Press contact: Blain Rethmeier (Specter) at 202 224-5225, David Carle (Leahy) at 202 224-4242 or Tracy Schmaler (Leahy) at 202 224-2154. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

9:30 AM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will hold a meeting. The event will be webcast by the FCC. Location: FCC, 445 12th Street, SW, Room TW-C05 (Commission Meeting Room).

9:30 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir) will hear oral argument in Luck Music Library v. Ashcroft, No. 04-5240. Judges Randolph, Roberts and Williams will preside. This is an appeal from the U.S. District Court (DC), which issued its opinion [21 pages in PDF] on June 10, 2004 holding that Section 514 of the Uraquay Round Agreements Act is not unconstitutional. Section 514, which amended 17 U.S.C. § 104A, pertains to international enforcement of copyright. The District Court proceeding is D.C. No. 01-2220. See also, story titled "District Court Upholds Constitutionality of § 514 of Uruguay Round Agreements Act" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 920, June 17, 2004. Location: Prettyman Courthouse, 333 Constitution Ave., NW.

10:00 AM. The Senate Commerce Committee will meet to mark up numerous bills, including S 268, the "Training for Realtime Writers Act of 2005" (a bill to provide competitive grants for training court reporters and closed captioners to meet requirements for realtime writers under the Telecommunications Act of 1996), and S __, a bill to reauthorize the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). See, notice. Press contact: Melanie Alvord (Stevens) at 202 224-8456 or Melanie_Alvord at commerce dot senate dot gov, or Andy Davis (Inouye) at 202 224-4546 or Andy_Davis at commerce dot senate dot gov . Location: Room 253, Russell Building.

10:00 AM. The House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution will hold an oversight hearing titled the "U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division: A Review of the Civil Rights Division for the Purpose of the Reauthorization of the U.S. Department of Justice". Most of the work of the Civil Rights Division (CRD) does not involved technology. However, in recent years its has taken the positions that web sites are covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act, and that an interactive web site operator may be sued for discrimination, based upon the content of postings by third parties. Press contact: Jeff Lungren or Terry Shawn at 202 225-2492. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) will host a panel discussion titled "The Patent System and the New Economy". The presenter will be Brad Smith, General Counsel of Microsoft. Todd Dickinson (General Electric Company, and former head of the USPTO), John Duffy (George Washington University Law School), James DeLong (Progress and Freedom Foundation), and Andre Carter (Imiri Incorporated). Christopher DeMuth (AEI) will moderate. See, notice. Location: 12th floor, 1150 17th St., NW.

10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) World RadioCommunication 2007 (WRC-07) Advisory Committee's Informal Working Group 1: Terrestrial and Space Science Services will meet. Location: Lockheed Martin Corporation, Arlington, VA.

12:00 NOON - 2:00 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a brown bag lunch titled "Developments in the Fight Against Spam and Phishing". The scheduled speakers are Eric Wenger (Department of Justice's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section), Jennifer Jacobsen (AOL/Time Warner), Paula Bruening (Center for Democracy and Technology), and Frank Gorman (Bryan Cave). See, notice. Prices vary from $10 to $30. For more information, call 202 626-3463. Location: D.C. Bar Conference Center, B-1 Level, 1250 H St., NW.

1:00 PM. The House Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet will hold a hearing titled "Preparing Consumers for the End of the Digital Television Transition". The hearing will be webcast by the Committee. Press contact: Larry Neal or Jon Tripp (Barton) at 202 225-5735 or Sean Bonyun (Upton) at 202-225-3761. See, notice. Location: Room 2322 (third floor hearing room), Rayburn Building.

TIME CHANGE. 1:00 PM. The House Armed Services Committee's Subcommittee on Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities will hold a hearing on the President's budget request for FY 2006 on defense science and technology. The witnesses will be Anthony Tether (Director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), Ronald Sega (Director of Defense Research and Engineering), James Tegnelia (Director of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency), Thomas Killion (Asst. Sec. of the Army for Research and Technology), Rear Admiral Jay Cohen (Chief of Naval Research), and James Engle (Dep. Asst. Sec. of the Air Force for Science, Technology and Engineering). Location: Room 2118, Rayburn Building.

2:00 - 3:00 PM. The President's National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC) will meet by teleconference. The meeting is closed to the public. The NSTAC states that the agenda includes the following: "receive briefings and consider proposed recommendations from (1) the NSTAC's Next Generation Network Task Force (NGNTF) concerning near-term issues emerging from the convergence of telecommunications and information technology, and (2) the NSTAC's Legislative and Regulatory Task Force (LRTF) concerning issues associated with the availability of critical telecommunications infrastructure information over the Internet." See, notice in the Federal Register, February 28, 2005, Vol. 70, No.38, at Page 9664.

2:30 PM. The Senate Banking Committee will hold hearings titled "Identity Theft: Recent Developments Involving the Security of Sensitive Consumer Information". See, notice. Location: Room 538, Dirksen Building.

5:00 - 7:00 PM. The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) will host a book forum. Author Paul London will discuss his book titled The Competition Solution: The Bipartisan Secret behind American Prosperity. See, AEI order page and Amazon order page. The discussants will be Kevin Hassett (AEI) and Maureen Ohlhausen (Federal Trade Commission). London was a Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Economics and Statistics during the Clinton administration. This book argues the recent U.S. prosperity is the result of increased competition. The book examines many industry sectors, including communications. See, notice. Location: AEI, 12th floor, 1150 17th St., NW.

6:00 - 8:15 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a continuing legal education (CLE) program titled "Introduction to Licensing Intellectual Property". The scheduled speakers are Joseph Contrera (Jacobson Holman) and Carol Lavrich (Georgetown University). See, notice. Prices vary from $70 to $115. For more information, call 202 626-3488. Location: D.C. Bar Conference Center, B-1 Level, 1250 H St., NW.

Day two of a three day conference host by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) titled "IAPP National Summit". See, conference web site. Location: Omni Shoreham Hotel, 2500 Calvert St., NW.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Board of Regents of the University of Texas v. Nippon Telephone and Telegraph, No. 04-1452. Location: Courtroom 203, 717 Madison Place, NW.

12:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Cable Practice Committee will host a brown bag lunch titled "2005 Legislative Priorities". The speakers will be Neil Fried (Majority Counsel, House Commerce Committee) and Johanna Shelton (Minority Counsel, House Commerce Committee). For more information, contact Catherine.Bohigian@fcc.gov. Location: Dow Lohnes & Albertson, 1200 New Hampshire Ave., NW, Suite 800.

Day three of a three day conference host by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) titled "IAPP National Summit". See, conference web site. Location: Omni Shoreham Hotel, 2500 Calvert St., NW.

TIME? The Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) will host a conference titled "Patent Trolls and Patent Property Rights". See, notice. For more information, contact Susan Lusk at susan@ipo.org or 202 466-2396. Location: The Ronald Reagan Building and ITC.

Extended deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Public Notice [4 pages in PDF] (DA 04-3891) of December 14, 2004 seeking comments on the report of Avatar Environmental, LLC regarding migratory bird collisions with communications towers. See, Public Notice [2 pages in PDF] (DA 04-4021) of December 22, 2004 extending deadlines. See also, notice in the Federal Register, January 3, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 1, at Pages 87-88. This proceeding is WT Docket No. 03-187.

8:00 AM - 4:00 PM. The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) will host an event titled "HDTV Summit: The Analog Cut-Off". Rick Chessen of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) DTV Task Force is scheduled to speak at a morning panel. See, notice. Location: Washington Convention Center.

8:20 AM - 5:00 PM. The National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology (VCAT) will hold a partially closed meeting. All attendees must pre-register by March 10. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 18, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 33, at Pages 8344-8345. Location: Employees Lounge, Administration Building, NIST, Gaithersburg, MD.

9:30 AM - 5:00 PM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) North American Numbering Council will meet. The agenda includes updates on ENUM issues. See, FCC notice [PDF] and notice in the Federal Register, February 9, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 26, at Pages 6875-6876. Location: FCC, 445 12th Street, SW, Room TW-C305 (Commission Meeting Room).

TIME? The Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) will host an event titled "IPO Committee Leadership Meeting". See, notice. For more information, contact Susan Lusk at susan@ipo.org or 202 466-2396. Location: The Ronald Reagan Building and ITC.

TIME? The Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) Board of Directors will meet. See, notice. For more information, contact Susan Lusk at susan@ipo.org or 202 466-2396. Location: The Ronald Reagan Building and ITC.

6:30 PM. The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) will host an event titled "Digital Patriots Dinner: A Celebration of Innovation and Technology". See, notice. Location: Washington Convention Center.