6/21. The The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report [55 pages in PDF] titled "U.S.-China Trade: Commerce Faces Practical and Legal Challenges in Applying Countervailing Duties".

This report pertains to the current unavailability of countervailing duties (CVDs) on products subsidized by the government of the Peoples Republic of China. It does not focus on technology sector products. However, the report notes, for example, that the U.S. has imposed CVDs against other countries for subsidization of semiconductors. (See, Pages 39-40, at Footnotes 8 and 9.)

The report states that "U.S. producers that believe themselves injured by subsidized Chinese imports have not been able to obtain relief through CVD actions because China is considered a nonmarket economy country (NME) under U.S. law and practice. In two 1984 cases, the Department of Commerce declined to make CVD determinations for NME countries on the grounds that it lacked explicit legal authority to impose CVDs on NME countries and that, as a practical matter, it could not arrive at economically meaningful conclusions regarding subsidies in such countries --and therefore could not rationally apply the CVD laws."

The repot continues that the Department of Commerce (DOC) "could take either of two paths to applying U.S. CVD laws to China. First, Commerce could, when appropriate, make administrative determinations that reclassify China as a market economy or individual Chinese industries as ``market oriented´´ in character. This would permit Commerce to take CVD action against China on a country or industry basis. Commerce has criteria in place for making both types of determinations. However, Commerce officials stated that it may be difficult for China to meet these criteria in the near term. Second, Commerce could reverse its 1984 position and process CVD actions against China without changing that country’s NME status. However, absent a clear congressional grant of authority, such a decision by Commerce could be challenged in court, with uncertain results."

The report also stated that the DOC "would face substantial challenges in determining appropriate CVD levels against Chinese products. Chinese subsidies remain difficult to identify and quantify -- largely because of the structure of the Chinese economy and a lack of transparency in the country’s subsidy regime. Commerce has no directly relevant experience and little guidance in place to indicate how it would proceed."

It adds that "Making CVDs available against China would give U.S. producers access to import relief measures that explicitly target unfair government subsidies. However, it is unclear whether applying CVDs would result in levels of protection for U.S. producers that are higher than those already applied in the form of antidumping duties."

On Thursday, June 23, at 10:00 AM, the Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing regarding U.S. China economic relations. The witnesses will include Alan Greenspan (Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board), John Snow (Secretary of the Treasury), Sean Maloney (EVP of Intel, on behalf of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce), and others.

6/17. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report [55 pages in PDF] titled "Intellectual Property: USPTO Has Made Progress in Hiring Examiners, but Challenges to Retention Remain".

The report finds that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) "has made greater progress in implementing its Strategic Plan’s initiatives to improve the patent organization's capability than it has in implementing initiatives to improve its productivity and agility. Specifically, of the actions planned to have been implemented by December 2004, USPTO has fully or partially implemented all 23 of the initiatives related to its capability theme, which focuses on improving the skills of employees, enhancing quality assurance, and altering the patent system through changes in existing laws or regulations."

However, the report continues, the USPTO "has partially implemented only 1 of the 4 initiatives related to the productivity theme to help reduce pendency, and has fully implemented only 1 and partially implemented 6 of the 11 initiatives related to the agility theme to help improve electronic processing of patent applications."

The GAO evaluates the performance and accountability of various government entities. It examines the use of funds, but does not make recommendations regarding appropriations. However, it states in this report that USPTO officials stated that the reason for not implementing many programs in its Strategic Plan is that the USPTO lacks the funding to implement the programs.

The USPTO is funded solely from user fees. However, the Congress has long diverted user fees to fund other government programs. Efforts to enact legislation to permanently end the practice of fee diversion have failed.

The report further finds that "Since 2000, USPTO has taken steps intended to help attract and retain a qualified patent examination workforce."

It also states that "when there is a downturn in the economy, USPTO’s ability to attract and retain qualified examiners increases because of perceived job security and competitive pay. This correspondence between the economy and USPTO’s hiring and retention success is part of the reason why USPTO has been able to meet its hiring goals for the last several years, but recently has experienced a rise in attrition rates."

The report also finds that the USPTO faces "three long-standing human capital challenges that could also undermine its recent efforts".

One of these is the lack of "ongoing technical education for patent examiners". The report relates that patent examiners and supervisory patent examiners stated that the literature that they review in applications is outdated, particularly in rapidly evolving technologies. Hence, the process of reviewing applications does not keep them abreast of new technologies.

Another long term challenge is that patent examiners stated that they "do not have enough time to conduct high-quality reviews of patent applications".

And third, patent examiners stated that "communication with management was poor or nonexistent".

6/21. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released the text [47 pages in PDF] of its Order on Reconsideration and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in its proceeding regarding the regulation of the design and marketing of wireless phones with respect to hearing aid compatibility. This item is FCC 05-122 in WT Docket No. 01-309. See also, FCC release [PDF] that describes this item. Initial comments in response to the FNPRM will be due 60 days after publication of a notice in the Federal Register. Reply comments will be due within 90 days. This publication has not yet taken place. See also, story titled "FCC Adopts Order Regarding Hearing Aid Compatibility of Wireless Phones" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,152, June 13, 2005.

6/21. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Wireline Competition Bureau's (WCB) Industry Analysis and Technology Division (IATD) released its report [183 pages in PDF] titled "Trends in Telephone Service".

6/21. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB) held a closed meeting in its proceedings titled "In the Matter of IP-Enabled Services", WC Docket No. 04-36, and "E911 Requirements for IP-Enabled Service Providers", WC Docket No. 05-196. There is no coverage of this meeting in this issue because TLJ was barred from attending the meeting.

6/21. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced that beginning on June 26, most FCC electronic systems will not be available to the public from Sunday at 10:00 PM (EDT) through Monday at 6:00 AM (EDT). The FCC stated in a release [PDF] that "This means that most FCC Electronic Filing Systems, Public Access Systems, and on-line documents will not be available ... Several systems including ASR, NORS and ULS will not be affected by this maintenance schedule."

6/21. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy named Russell Hanser to be her acting Legal Advisor for wireline competition issues. He was Special Counsel to the Chief of the FCC's Wireline Competition Bureau's (WCB) Competition Policy Division. He has worked on local competition and IP-enabled services issues. Before going to work at the FCC, he worked for the law firms of Wilmer Cutler & Pickering and Ropes & Gray. Abernathy also announced that Lauren Pete Belvin, who has recently focused on wireline competition matters, will assume primary responsibility for media issues. John Branscome will continue to handle wireless, international, and technology issues. See, FCC release [PDF]

6/21. Roslynn Mauskopf (U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York), Michael  Sullivan (USA for the District of Massachusetts), and Drew Wrigley (USA for the District of North Dakota) were named to the Attorney General's Advisory Committee of United States Attorneys. See, DOJ release.

6/21. The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Transportation Security Administration (TSA) published a notice in the Federal Register regarding its Secure Flight Test Records system. See, Federal Register, June 22, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 119, at Pages 36319-36324. This notice amends the Privacy Act System of Records for the Secure Flight Test Records system and the Privacy Impact Assessment for the Secure Flight Test Phase. For more information, contact Lisa Dean, the TSA's Privacy Officer, at 571 227-3947.

6/21. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) wrote a letter [4 pages in PDF] to Rep. John Dingell (D-MI), the ranking Democrat on the House Commerce Committee, and Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), the ranking Democrat on the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, regarding a transition to digital television. Specifically, this letter addresses the costs associated with proposals to create a government program to subsidize digital to analog converter equipment, for those consumers who still receive television signals over the air with analog equipment. The two Representatives had written the GAO asking for its estimate. The letter states that the GAO does not know what the program would cost.

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Notices & Disclaimers
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The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. See, Republican Whip Notice.

The Senate will meet at 9:30 AM. It will resume consideration of HR 6, the energy bill.

The Supreme Court will next meet on June 23.

POSTPONED. 10:00 AM. The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing on telecom mergers. 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 Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will hold a business meeting. The agenda includes consideration of the nomination of Linda Coombs to be Controller, Office of Federal Financial Management, at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The Committee will webcast [Real] the hearing. Location: Room 562, Dirksen Building.

11:00 AM. The House Homeland Security Committee's Subcommittee on Economic Security, Infrastructure Protection, and Cybersecurity will hold a hearing titled "Ensuring the Security of America's Borders through the Use of Biometric Passports and Other Identity Documents". Acting Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Dezenski will testify. Location: undisclosed.

12:00 NOON - 2:30 PM. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce's National Chamber Foundation (NCF) will host a luncheon titled "The Effect of Municipal Broadband Networks on Competition". The speakers will include David Hirschmann (NCF), Jim Kovacs (US Chamber), Dianah Neff (City of Philadelphia), Jim Speta (Northwestern University), and Jim Baller (Baller Herbst Law Group). The price to attend ranges from free to $115. See, notice and agenda [PDF]. Location: US Chamber, 1615 H Street, NW.

2:15 PM. The House International Relations Committee's Subcommittee on on Europe and Emerging Threats will hold a hearing titled "The EU Constitution and U.S.-EU Relations: The Recent Referenda in France and the Netherlands and the U.S.-EU Summit". See, notice. Location: Room 2172, Rayburn Building.

RESCHEDULED FROM MAY 11. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) will host a continuing legal education (CLE) seminar on voice over internet protocol (VOIP). See, registration form [PDF]. Location: Skadden Arps, 700 14th Street, NW.

EXTENDED TO JULY 20. Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) regarding its intercarrier compensation system. This FNPRM is FCC 05-33 in CC Docket No. 01-92. The FCC adopted this FNPRM at its meeting of February 10, 2005, and released it on March 3, 2005. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 24, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 56, at Pages 15030 - 15044. See also, story titled "FCC Adopts FNPRM in Intercarrier Compensation Proceeding" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,076, February 14, 2005.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Public Notice [10 pages in PDF] regarding video news releases (VNRs). This notice is FCC 05-84 in MB Docket No. 05-171.

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

The Supreme Court will meet.

TENTATIVE. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) may hold an executive business meeting. The SJC frequently cancels meetings without 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.

10:00 AM. The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a business meeting. The agenda includes several non-technology related bills and several nominations, including those of Edmund Hawley (to be Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for the Transportation Security Administration), Israel Hernandez (to be Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Director General of the United States and Foreign Commercial Service), William Jeffrey (to be Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology), Ashok Kaveeshwar (to be Administrator of the Research and Innovative Technology Administration at the Department of Transportation), David Sampson (to be Deputy Secretary of Commerce), and John Sullivan (to be General Counsel of the Department of Commerce). 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.

LOCATION CHANGE. 10:00 AM. The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing regarding U.S. China economic relations. There will be three witness panels. The first will be made up of Senators. The second will be Alan Greenspan (Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board), and John Snow (Secretary of the Treasury). The third panel will include Sean Maloney (EVP of Intel, on behalf of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce), Kenneth Rogoff (Harvard), Neal Bredehoeft (American Soybean Association), Al Lubrano (Technical Materials, Inc., on behalf of the National Association of Manufacturers). Location: Room G-50, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM - 5:00 PM. The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC) will meet. Most of the meeting is closed to the public. See, notice in the Federal Register, June 8, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 109, at Page 33519. Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff will speak at 10:00 AM. The open portion of the meeting, from 10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON, will be held at the Park Hyatt, 24th and M Streets, NW. The DHS states that "FINAL ACCESS is at 9:45 AM.

12:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Mass Media Practice Committee will host a brown bag lunch. Location: National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), 1771 N St., NW, Conference Rooms A & B.

2:00 - 4:00 PM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) WRC-07 Advisory Committee's Informal Working Group 3 (IMT-2000 and 2.5 GHz Sharing Issues) will meet. See, notice [PDF]. Location: FCC, 7th Floor South Conference Room (7-B516), 445 12th Street, SW.

2:00 PM. The Senate Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies will meet to mark up HR 2862, the appropriations bill for Science, the Departments of State, Justice, and Commerce, and related agencies for FY 2006. Location: Room 106, Dirksen Building.

The House will may meet at 9:00 AM for legislative business. See, Republican Whip Notice.

10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The Progress and Freedom Foundation (PFF) will host a program on media ownership. Adam Thierer (PFF) will discuss his book titled Media Myths: Making Sense of the Debate over Media Ownership [Amazon]. Susan Ness (former Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission) will comment. Press contact: Patrick Ross at 202 289-8928 or pross at pff dot org. See, notice and registration page. Location: National Press Club, 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor.

10:00 AM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will hold a pre-auction seminar for its Low Power Television Auction, Auction No. 81. The deadline to register is June 21. See, Public Notice [PDF] numbered DA 05-1624, and dated June 9, 2005. Location: FCC, 445 12th Street, SW.

12:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) will host an event titled "Wireless Luncheon". The price to attend is $15. See, registration form [PDF]. Location: Sidley Austin, 1501 K Street, Room 6-A.

8:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Day one of a two day workshop hosted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) regarding the Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 201 implementation. Registration is required. See, notice in the Federal Register, June 9, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 110, at Pages 33734. Location: undisclosed.

1:00 - 5:00 PM. The Antitrust Modernization Commission will hold a hearing on indirect purchaser litigation. See, notice in the Federal Register, June 27, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 109, at Pages 33447 - 33448. Location: Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Room 432.

Extended deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in its proceeding titled "In the matter of Amendment of the Commission’s Rules to Facilitate the Use of Cellular Telephones and other Wireless Devices Aboard Airborne Aircraft". The FCC adopted this NPRM on December 15, 2004. See, story titled "FCC Announces NPRM on Cellphones in Airplanes" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,039, December 16, 2004. See also, story titled "FCC Adopts Order and NPRM Regarding Air Ground Service in the 800 MHz Band" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,040, December 17, 2004. The FCC released the text [28 pages PDF scan] of this NPRM on February 15, 2005. This NPRM is FCC 04-187 in WT Docket No. 04-435. See, order [2 pages in PDF] (DA 05-1015) dated April 5, 2005 extending deadlines.

Extended deadline to submit comments to the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) in response to its notice in the Federal Register pertaining to deemed exports. The BIS seeks comments regarding the report [64 pages in PDF] written by the Department of Commerce's (DOC) Office of Inspector General (OIG) titled "Deemed Export Controls May Not Stop the Transfer of Sensitive Technology to Foreign Nationals in the U.S.". See, Federal Register, March 28, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 58, at Pages 15607 - 15609. See also, notice in the Federal Register, May 27, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 102, at Pages 30655 - 30656.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) in response to its Public Notice [PDF] regarding the United Telecom Council (UTC) request to be the Access Broadband over Power Line (Access BPL) database manager. This is DA 05-1637, dated June 9, 2005, in ET Docket No. 04-37.

The 800 MHz band reconfiguration will begin, in the National Public Safety Planning Advisory Committee (NPSPAC) regions assigned to Wave 1. See, public notice [5 pages in PDF] of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. The FCC adopted a report and order on July 8, 2004 that addressed the problem of interference to 800 MHz public safety communications systems from Commercial Mobile Radio Services (CMRS) providers operating systems on channels in close proximity. See, story titled "FCC Adopts Report and Order Regarding Interference in the 800 MHz Band" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 936, July 13, 2004. This public notice is DA 05-1546 in WT Docket No. 02-55.

8:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Day two of a two day workshop hosted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) regarding the Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 201 implementation. Registration is required. See, notice in the Federal Register, June 9, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 110, at Pages 33734. Location: undisclosed.

9:30 AM. Day one of a two day hearing of the Federal Election Commission (FEC) regarding its proposed rules regarding regulation of speech on the internet. See, notice and notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 70, No. 63 April 4, 2005, at pages 16967 - 16979. See also, list of witnesses, with links to written comments. Location: FEC, 999 E Street, NW.

CANCELLED. 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Network Reliability and Interoperability Council (NRIC) will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, June 1, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 104, at Page 31470. Location: FCC, 445 12th St., SW, Room TW-305. See, notice of cancellation in the Federal Register, June 22, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 119, at Page 36169.

2:00 - 3:00 PM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) North American Numbering Council (NANC) will meet by teleconference. See, Public Notice numbered DA 05-1620, and dated June 9, 2005.

3:00 - 5:00 PM. The House Science Committee's Subcommittee on Environment, Technology, and Standards will hold a hearing titled "Small Business Innovation and Research: What is the Optimal role of Venture Capital?". The witnesses will be Ron Cohen (CEO of Acorda Technologies), Ann Eskesen (President of Innovation Development Institute, and Jonathan Cohen (CEO 20/20 Gene Systems). Press contact: Joe Pouliot at 225-0581 or joe dot pouliot at mail dot house dot gov. Location: Room 2318, Rayburn Building.

Day one of a four day conference of the Wireless Communications Association International (WCA) titled "WCA 2005". See, FCC notice and notice in the Federal Register, June 14, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 113, at Pages 34477 - 34478.

9:30 AM. Day two of a two day hearing of the Federal Election Commission (FEC) regarding its proposed rules regarding regulation of speech on the internet. See, notice and notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 70, No. 63 April 4, 2005, at pages 16967 - 16979. See also, list of witnesses, with links to written comments. Location: FEC, 999 E Street, NW.

10:00 AM. The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing on "Spectrum/DTV". 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 Science Committee's Subcommittee on Research will hold a hearing titled "Nanotechnology: Where Does the U.S. Stand?". The witnesses will be Floyd Kvamme (Co-Chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology), Padmasree Warrior (CTO of Motorola), Sean Murdock (NanoBusiness Alliance), and Matthew Nordan (Lux Research). Press contact: Joe Pouliot at 225-0581 or joe dot pouliot at mail dot house dot gov. Location: Room 2318, Rayburn Building.

12:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Young Lawyers Committee will host a brown bag lunch titled "Analyze This: Financial Analysts Explain the Impact of Telecom Regulation on Investors". The speakers will be Rudy Baca (Precursor Group), Rebecca Arbogast (Legg Mason), and Susan Lynner (Prudential Financial). No RSVP necessary. For more information, contact Debrea Terwilliger at 202 383-3349 or debrea dot terwilliger at wbklaw dot com, or Jason Friedrich at 202 354-1340 or jason dot friedrich at dbr dot com. Location: Willkie Farr & Gallagher, 1875 K Street, NW, 2nd Floor.

Day two of a four day conference of the Wireless Communications Association International (WCA) titled "WCA 2005". See, notice. Location: Marriott Wardman Park Hotel.