3/8. The U.S. Court of Appeals (11thCir) issued its opinion [48 pages in PDF] in Schering-Plough v. FTC, a case involving the intersection of antitrust and patent law. The Appeals Court vacated an order of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in which the FTC concluded that Schering-Plough's settlement of two patent infringement actions violated the Sherman Act and the FTC Act.

Schering-Plough is a pharmaceutical company. The FTC is a federal regulatory agency with authority to enforce federal antitrust laws.

Ten years ago Schering filed two complaints in U.S. District Courts against two other drug companies, Upsher and ESI, alleging patent infringement in connection with their efforts to bring to market generic versions of a drug sold by Schering. The parties reached settlements in both cases before trial. Schering agreed to accelerate the dates at which the generic drugs could be sold, and also agreed to make payments to Upsher and ESI.

In 2001, the FTC filed an administrative complaint [12 pages in PDF] against Schering, Upsher, and ESI's parent corporation, alleging that Schering's settlements with Upsher and ESI were illegal agreements in restraint of trade, in violation of § 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. § 45), and in violation of § 1 of the Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. § 1). The complaint also charged that Schering monopolized and conspired to monopolize the potassium supplement market.

The FTC's administrative law judge (ALJ) held for Schering, and dismissed the complaint.

However, the full Commission reversed its ALJ. The FTC issued its Final Order [9 pages in PDF] on December 8, 2003, holding that Schering’s settlements with Upsher and ESI violated the FTC Act and the Sherman Act. It refrained from ruling that Schering's payments to Upsher and ESI made the settlements per se illegal. However, it concluded that the quid pro quo for the payment was an agreement to defer the entry dates, and that such delay would injure competition and consumers.

Schering filed a petition for review of this final order with the Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals vacated the FTC's final order.

The Court of Appeals concluded that "Simply because a brand-name pharmaceutical company holding a patent paid its generic competitor money cannot be the sole basis for a violation of antitrust law. This alone underscores the need to evaluate the strength of the patent. Our conclusion, to a degree, and we hope that the FTC is mindful of this, reflects policy."

The Court continued that "Given the costs of lawsuits to the parties, the public problems associated with overcrowded court dockets, and the correlative public and private benefits of settlements, we fear and reject a rule of law that would automatically invalidate any agreement where a patent-holding pharmaceutical manufacturer settles an infringement case by negotiating the generic's entry date, and, in an ancillary transaction, pays for other products licensed by the generic. Such a result does not represent the confluence of patent and antitrust law. Therefore, this Court grants the petition for review."

And, the Court wrote, "Accordingly, we SET ASIDE the decision of the Federal Trade Commission and VACATE its cease and desist order."

This case is Schering-Plough Corporation v. Upsher-Smith Laboratories, Inc., U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, No. 04-10688, a petition for review of an order of the Federal Trade Commission.

3/8. Patent law is much on the minds of many legislators and policy advocates in Washington DC. For example, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) and Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA) stated last week that the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property (CIIP) will hold hearings on patent law reform in April.

See, TLJ story titled "House CIIP Subcommittee to Take Up Patent Reform" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,088, March 4, 2005. See also, story in the National Journal by Sarah Stirland titled "Will Congress Stop High-Tech Trolls?". It reviews various proposals for patent law reform.

On Monday, March 14 the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) will host a day long conference titled "Patent Trolls and Patent Property Rights". See, conference brochure [PDF].

Also, on Thursday, March 10, 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. On March 2, 2005 the U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) issued its opinion [29 pages in PDF] in Eolas v. Microsoft, vacating in part, and affirming in part, the judgment of the District Court, and remanding. This ruling was a victory for Microsoft. See also, story titled "Federal Circuit Vacates in Eolas Patent Case" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,087, March 3, 2004.

The other speakers at the AEI patent event will be Todd Dickinson (former head of the USPTO), John Duffy (George Washington University Law School), James DeLong (Progress and Freedom Foundation), and Andre Carter (Imiri Incorporated).

3/8. President Bush gave a speech at the National Defense University at Ft. NcNair in Washington DC in which he discussed freedom and democracy in the Middle East.

He has spoken on this subject many times. However, in this speech he also stated that "It should be clear that free nations escape stagnation, and grow stronger with time, because they encourage the creativity and enterprise of their people."

Bush has spoken infrequently about the relation between individual freedom and creativity and innovation. He gave a more detailed exposition of his views on this subject in a speech on November 6, 2003 at the National Endowment for Democracy.

He stated then that "the prosperity, and social vitality and technological progress of a people are directly determined by extent of their liberty. Freedom honors and unleashes human creativity -- and creativity determines the strength and wealth of nations. Liberty is both the plan of Heaven for humanity, and the best hope for progress here on Earth."

See also, TLJ story titled "Bush Says Liberty Creates Innovation Which Creates Wealth", November 18, 2003. It summarizes President Bush's 2003 speech, and reviews the speeches and writings of others who either support, or refute, his argument.

President Bush does not frequently get analytical or philosophical about the nature and origins of technological innovation and creativity. His statements in speeches, such as those quoted above, are rare instances. They are also out of sync with what many others are saying on the subject in Washington DC.

There is wide consensus that innovation and creativity are good. Hence, on a wide range of legislative and regulatory proposals, proponents of one position or another often argue that their proposals will promote innovation and creativity. However, while there is wide consensus that innovation is good, the arguments regarding the source of innovation are varied, and often conflicting.

In one line of argument, the supporters of the government agencies that conduct research, such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Department of Energy, argue that government agencies can plan and produce innovation. All they need is billions of dollars of taxpayer's money to fund them. Likewise, the large research universities and their supporters argue that they can can produce innovation, provided that the government gives them funding and grants.

See, for example, story titled "University and Industry Representatives Urge More R&D Funding" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,079, February 17, 2005.

Similarly, many large corporations that conduct research argue that the government should give them tax breaks, such as the research and development tax credit, to incent them to produce innovation.

Also, some large corporations and universities argue that innovation comes from what they call the "innovation ecosystem". These views have been supported by some current and former government officials, particularly in the Department of Commerce. See for example, the Council on Competitiveness' report [68 pages in PDF] titled "National Innovation Initiative Report". Innovation comes from planned, government supported, innovation ecosystems.

In these views, there is little attention to the role of individuals, let alone President Bush's concept of individual freedom.

As another example, TechNet released its policy agenda [PDF] for 2005 at almost the same time that President Bush was delivering his latest speech. The TechNet report contains 40 pages of single spaced discussion of how innovation and creativity can be promoted. See, following story titled "TechNet Releases 2005 Policy Agenda".

However, the words "individual" and "people" appear in the report, but only in the context of patients, consumers, and technology users -- not in the context of innovators or creators. Moreover, neither the word "liberty" nor "freedom" appear once in the report.

Another line of argument is that innovation and creativity are incented by providing a property rights regime in conceptual creations. This theory is supported by one element of the Department of Commerce -- the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) -- and by many companies and individuals that come up with the valuable and marketable innovations.

Yet another line of argument is advanced by companies and individuals that tend to consume, rather than create, conceptual products. They argue for less intellectual property rights (IPR) based restraints on their use of conceptual products.

Both the proponents and opponents of IPR sometimes speak in terms of individual freedom, but not always in the same context as President Bush. For example, proponents of peer to peer systems often speak of the individual's freedom to copy music, and the electronic device makers' and software developers' freedom to create new and innovative products.

3/8. Tech Net released a report [30 pages in PDF] titled "The TechNet Innovation Initiative and 2005 Innovation Policy Agenda". See also, release summarizing this report.

The report states that "innovation drives economic growth, job creation and a better quality of life". It provides a list of policy recommendations for promoting innovation.

The report argues that the U.S. should strengthen education and develop a skilled technology workforce. The report states that this includes "Making science, math, engineering and technology education a national priority by increasing funding for math and science partnerships".

The report opposes the mandatory expensing of broad based employee stock options.

The report urges the U.S. to continue to negotiate free trade agreements that "safeguard intellectual property through trademark, copyright and patent protections as well as enhanced enforcement provisions".

The report urges the federal government to promote broadband deployment, by continuing to "reduce regulatory burdens and uncertainty that impede or delay the deployment of broadband networks through technology-neutral reforms", and by exercising "regulatory restraint with respect to emerging broadband applications and services including Voice over Internet Protocol communications".

The report urges the Congress to increase funding for basic research functions of the National Science Foundation (NSF).

The report supports legislation that would permanently extend the research and development tax credit.

The report also advocates creation of the position of Assistant Secretary for Cyber Security at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). It also urges passage of HR 285, the "Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity Enhancement Act". This bill is sponsored by Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA).

The report gives brief suupport to patent and copyright protections, but only in the context of negotiating trade agreements.

Former Rep. Rick White (R-WA) is the President and CEO of TechNet.

3/8. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a staff report [62 pages in PDF] titled "Monitoring Software on Your PC: Spyware, Adware, and Other Software". This comes just before the House Commerce Committee's March 9 markup of HR 29, the "Securely Protect Yourself Against Cyber Trespass Act". The House Judiciary Committee is likely to later mark up its own bill, with criminal penalties.

The FTC report states that spyware is a problem. However, it contains no recommendation that the Congress enact new legislation. In contrast, it suggests that the FTC and Department of Justice (DOJ) currently have sufficient statutory authority in this area.

The report reviews the one day workshop that the FTC held on April 19, 2004 titled "Monitoring Software on Your PC: Spyware, Adware, and Other Software". See also, transcript [298 pages in PDF] of the workshop, and the FTC's web page for this workshop, which contains hyperlinks to some of the prepared statements of participants.

The report states that "FTC staff and Department of Justice staff stated that their current statutory authority was sufficient to prosecute spyware distributors."

It elaborates that the DOJ "has statutory authority to prosecute distributors of software products, such as spyware, in cases where consumers’ privacy or security is compromised. The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1984, for example, prohibits the unauthorized acquisition of data from a protected computer that results in damage." It adds that the "Section 5 of the FTC Act gives the agency the authority to challenge acts and practices in or affecting commerce that are ``deceptive´´ or ``unfair.´´", and this can include spyware related practices.

The report further states that "DOJ and FTC staff panelists explained that their law enforcement efforts had not been stymied by a lack of federal legislation but rather by the inherent difficulties in investigating and prosecuting spyware cases."

The report also identifies several problems associated with writing legislation on this topic. For example, it states that "Because of the challenges of developing a workable definition of spyware, nearly all panelists expressed the concern that legislation or regulations tied to a definition of the term ``spyware´´ might define the term so broadly that it would inadvertently cover some types of beneficial or benign software."

3/8. The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the nomination of Thomas Griffith to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. He is General Counsel to Brigham Young University in Utah. He was Counsel to the U.S. Senate from 1995 through 1999. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) praised him. See, release. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) criticized him in a prepared statement. The People for the American Way, a group that has criticized many of President Bush's judicial nominees, also criticized Griffith. See, release and letter [10 pages in PDF] to Senators.

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 - 2005 David Carney, dba Tech Law Journal. All rights reserved.

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

The Senate will meet at 9:30 AM. At 10:30 AM it will resume consideration of S 256, the "Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005".

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 Commerce Committee will meet to mark up HR 29, the "Securely Protect Yourself Against Cyber Trespass Act". This is Rep. Mary Bono's (R-CA) spyware bill. The meeting will be webcast by the Committee. Press contact: Larry Neal or Jon Tripp at 202 225-5735. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

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. The agenda includes consideration of the nomination of William Myers to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals (9thCir). 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.

AGENDA CHANGE (NTIA authorization bill deleted). 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.

8:00 AM - 5:45 PM. 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 at ipo dot 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.

9:00 AM. The Heritage Foundation and the Defenders of Property Rights will host a half day conference titled "Government’s Role in Protecting Constitutional Rights in Intellectual Property". RSVP to Laura Dlugacz at 202 572-6231 or ldlugacz at dcgpr dot com. Location: Heritage, 214 Massachusetts Ave., NE.

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.

TIME? The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) will host a one day conference titled "Intellectual Property and Creativity -- Redefining the Issue". The speakers will include Richard Florida, author of book [Amazon] titled "The Rise of the Creative Class" and article titled "America's Looming Creativity Crisis". See, CEA notice. For more information, contact Jeff Joseph at 703 907-7664 or jjoseph at ce dot org. Location: Washington Convention Center.

12:00 NOON. The Cato Institute will host a luncheon panel discussion titled "Who Are the Real Free Traders in Congress?". The speakers will be Sen. John Sununu (R-NH), Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), and Dan Griswold (Cato). See, notice. Location: Room 1539 Longworth Building, Capitol Hill.

12:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Mass Media Practice Committee will host a brown bag lunch titled "Meet the Hill". The speakers will be Commerce Committee staff. No RSVP requested. For more information contact Frank Jazzo (Fletcher Heald & Hildreth) at jazzo at fhhlaw dot com. Location: National Association of Broadcasters,1771 N St., NW.

RESCHEDULED FOR MARCH 28. 12:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) will host a luncheon. The speaker will be Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Michael Copps. See, registration form [PDF]. The deadline for reservations and cancellations is March 24 at 5:00 PM. Prices range from $35 to $65. Location: J.W. Marriott Hotel, 1331 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Lower Level.

The First Amendment Center (FAC) and the American Library Association (ALA) will host a conference titled "Congress and the Courts: Confronting Secrecy". Location: Freedom Forum's World Center, Arlington, VA.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to assist it in preparing the report required by Section 208 of the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act of 2004 (SHVERA). The SHVERA requires the FCC to "complete an inquiry regarding the impact on competition in the multichannel video programming distribution market of the current retransmission consent, network nonduplication, syndicated exclusivity, and sports blackout rules, including the impact of those rules on the ability of rural cable operators to compete with direct broadcast satellite industry in the provision of digital broadcast television signals to consumers. Such report shall include such recommendations for changes in any statutory provisions relating to such rules as the Commission deems appropriate." See, FCC notice [4 pages in PDF]. This Public Notice is DA 05-169. See also, notice in the Federal Register, February 8, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 25, at Pages 6593-6595.