7/8. The Progress and Freedom Foundation (PFF) hosted a panel discussion on Capitol Hill titled "MGM v. Grokster: What's Next?".

On June 27, 2005, the Supreme Court issued its unanimous opinion [55 pages in PDF] in MGM v. Grokster, reversing the judgment of the U.S. Court of Appeals (9thCir) regarding vicarious copyright infringement by the distributors of peer to peer (P2P) systems.

The Supreme Court held that "one who distributes a device with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyright, as shown by clear expression or other affirmative steps taken to foster infringement, is liable for the resulting acts of infringement by third parties." See also, story titled "Supreme Court Rules in MGM v. Grokster" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,163, June 28, 2005.

The speakers at the PFF event were Cary Sherman (President of the Recording Industry Association of America), Sarah Deutsch (General Counsel of Verizon), Gigi Sohn (President of the Public Knowledge), James Burger (an attorney with the law firm of Dow Lohnes, who filed an amicus curiae brief with the Supreme Court on behalf of Intel), and Jim DeLong (PFF).

The RIAA's Sherman said that "we are very gratified by what the Court did". Verizon's Deutsch said that "Verizon was very pleased with the decision." Burger said that "I am reasonably pleased with the decision". Sohn said that some of the Court's opinion is "disturbing".

Burger elaborated that he is concerned that under the Court's inducement test, some small technology companies will not be able to obtain dismissal of meritless actions at the summary judgment stage. He suggested that some porm content providers might engage in "greenmail" litigation.

The panel also debated what the Congress should, or should not, do now. Sherman asserted that "the idea of legislation as a necessary fix has gone away". He added that the Congress could not have enacted legislation that "threads the needle" any better than the Supreme Court did in its opinion.

Sohn argued that the Congress needs to hold hearings on the Grokster opinion to hear from smaller technology companies and venture capitalists about the possible unintended consequences of the opinion.

Burger said that "there is not much more to learn from Grokster", except what can be done to help legitimate online services.

Sohn added that "nothing more is necessary". In particular, she argued that the Congress should not enact legislation sought by movie and record companies on other issues. She reasoned that since the content industry did well in the Grokster case, and has also benefited this year from the passage of the S 167, the "Family Entertainment Copyright Act", and from Department of Justice (DOJ) actions against online infringers, the industry "should stop asking Congress for tech mandates, like the broadcast flag".

(The Senate passed S 167 on February 3, 2005. See, story titled "Senate Approves Copyright Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No 1,069, February 3, 2005. The House approved it on April 19, 2005. See, story titled "House Approves Copyright Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,119, April 20, 2005. President Bush signed it on April 27, 2005. It is now Public Law No. 109-9.)

David Green, of NBC Universal, attended the event. He argued that the broadcast flag issue has nothing to do with the Grokster opinion, and that the Congress should enact broadcast flag legislation. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) did promulgate broadcast flag rules. However, on May 6, 2005, the U.S.Court of Appeals (DCCir) issued its opinion [34 pages in PDF] in American Library Association v. FCC, overturning these rules. The Court held that the Congress has not given the FCC authority to write such rules. See, story titled "DC Circuit Reverses FCC's Broadcast Flag Rules" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,131, May 9, 2005.

Sohn also made the point the historically the content industry runs to the Congress for legislation protecting copyrighted works, while the technology industry does not. Sherman replied that there are differences in the two industries. He said that when the content industry puts out a digital product, it is final. In contrast, when the software industry puts out a product, it can protect its interests through subsequent updates, upgrades, and service.

The panel also discussed what is likely to happen in the lower courts. Sohn, who is disturbed by the opinion, said that it is just a first step. There will be lower court opinions. She stated that she hopes that the content industry will not be able to use the opinion "as a cudgel".

Burger said that "there will be some devil in the details stuff in the lower courts".

DeLong said that there will be litigation, and some appeals court opinions, implementing the Supreme Court's opinion. He said that P2P network providers will push right up to the line, and the content industry will sue them. He suggested that one issue to be resolved is what is the consequence of P2P providers assisting their users in breaking digital rights management (DRM). He said another would be the consequence of P2P providers offering anti-spoofing filters.

Deutsch said that the Grokster opinion "is a full employment act for lawyers".

The panel discussion was attended by Capitol Hill staff, representatives of content companies, lobbyists, reporters, and government employees from the agencies that write copyright related regulations -- the Copyright Office and the FCC.

Neither the House nor the Senate Commerce or Judiciary Committees have yet announced hearings on the Grokster opinion. On July 19, 2005, the Advisory Committee to the Congressional Internet Caucus will host a panel discussion titled "Interpreting Grokster".

7/7. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) submitted a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that alleges that Intelligent e-Commerce, Inc. (IEI) has violated Section 5(a) of the FTC Act in connection with its sale of personal information via its web site, BestPeopleSearch.com. Moreover, the EPIC urges the FTC "to initiate an industry-wide investigation into online investigation sites".

The EPIC states that these online investigation businesses violate individual's privacy, violate laws restricting the dissemination of information, and could lead to harm or homicide by stalkers.

The FTC has no specific statutory authority to regulate the practices of online information brokers or investigators. Section 5 of the FTCA, which is codified at 15 U.S.C. § 45(a)(1), is a general grant of authority to prevent unfair or deceptive practices in interstate commerce.

It provides, in part, that "Unfair methods of competition in or affecting commerce, and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce, are hereby declared unlawful."

The EPIC asserts that IEI has engaged in deceptive practices. For example, the complaint alleges that "IEI has misrepresented its right to legally obtain, or cause others to obtain, this protected information. It offers for $187, ``Cell Phone Package - includes Name, Address and Call Records´´ for customers who wish to purchase a copy of a third party's cellular phone record."

The complaint elaborates that under Communications Act, at 47 U.S.C. § 222, et. seq., telecommunications carriers must protect the confidentiality of consumer proprietary network information (CPNI), which includes calling history and activity, billing records, and unlisted telephone numbers of service subscribers. The complaint adds that "The Act prohibits carriers from using CPNI even for their own marketing purposes. Furthermore, the Act prohibits carriers from using, disclosing, or permitting access to CPNI without approval of the customer or as otherwise required by law if the use or disclosure is not in connection with the provided service."

The EPIC's complaint resembles a legal pleading. However, the FTC Act creates no administrative cause of action at the FTC for private parties. Parties, such as the EPIC, may submit complaints to the FTC. In fact, the FTC encourages the submission of public complaints. However, it is within the sole discretion of the FTC to determine whether to conduct any investigation, or take any action. Although, the FTC has taken action following some of the EPIC's past complaints.

The EPIC also asks the FTC to investigate other information brokerage web sites, including Abika.com, Peoplesearchamerica.com, Onlinepi.com, Discreetresearch.com, and Datatraceusa.com.

The EPIC's complaint requests that the FTC investigate IEI and similar business. It also requests the FTC to "stop the advertisement for sale of legally protected personal information".

The complaint also requests that "Seek legislation giving consumers protections against pretexting outside the financial services sector". Requests regarding future legislation are not typically a part of administrative complaint proceedings.

7/8. The AEI Brookings Joint Center for Regulatory Studies released a paper [PDF] by Scott Wallsten titled "Broadband Penetration: An Empirical Analysis of State and Federal Policies". It concludes that state and local governments can boost broadband penetration by providing access to rights of way. However, other efforts by state and local governments are ineffective. See also, abstract.

This paper is based upon statistical analysis. It finds that "guaranteed access to rights-of-way is strongly correlated with improvements in broadband penetration while universal service mechanisms and programs targeted at ``underserved´´ areas do not appear to improve penetration and may even be detrimental to it."

This paper further finds that "The share of telephone lines provided as UNE lines is correlated with slower growth in ADSL service, while share of lines provided through resale programs is correlated with faster growth in ADSL and total broadband penetration."

Also, the paper finds that "State laws restricting the ability of municipalities to build broadband networks are not significantly correlated with penetration", and that "tax incentives appear to have no impact".

However, the paper finds that "Some programs intended to improve rural access may have a positive impact."

Thus, this paper concludes that "most state-level policies are ineffective".

7/8. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Wireline Competition Bureau's (WCB) Industry Analysis and Technology Division (IATD) released a report [26 pages in PDF] titled "Local Telephone Competition: Status as of December 31, 2004".

The report aggregates data provided by carriers on Form 477 regarding the number of switched access lines and wireless telephone subscribership.

The report shows that the decline of end user switched access lines continued in the second half of 2004. Total lines declined from 180.1 Million in June of 2004 to 177.9 Million in December of 2004. The number of lines peaked in 2000.

ILEC end user switched access lines declined from 148.1 Million to 145.1 Million. However, CLEC lines increased from 32.0 Million to 32.9 Million.

7/8. Lynne Beresford was named Commissioner for Trademarks at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). She has been the acting Commissioner since September 1, 2004. She has worked for the USPTO since 1979. See, USPTO release.

7/5. Kenneth Davidson left the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) Bureau of Competition (BOC). He joined the American Antitrust Institute (AAI) as a Senior Fellow. Davidson also wrote a essay on his twenty-seven years at the BOC.

7/7. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) published a notice in the Federal Register that describes and recites its final order regarding changes to its low power FM rules. The FCC adopted this order and NPRM on March 16, 2005. It is FCC 05-75 in MM Docket No. 99-25. See, Federal Register, July 7, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 129, at Pages 39182 - 39186. The FCC published a related notice in the Federal Register that describes and sets comment deadlines for the notice of proposed rule making (NPRM) portion of this item. Initial comments are due by August 8, 2005. Reply comments are due by August 22, 2005. See, Federal Register, July 7, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 129, at Pages 39217 - 39227.

7/6. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) published a notice in the Federal Register that describes and and sets comment deadlines for its Further Notice of Proposed Rule Making (FNPRM) regarding advancing the date on which all new television receiving equipment must include the capability to receive over the air DTV broadcast signals from July 1, 2007, to a date no later than December 31, 2006. The FCC adopted and released this item on June 9, 2005. This item is FCC 05-121 in ET Docket No. 05-24. Initial comments are due by July 27, 2005. Reply comments are due by August 10, 2005. See, Federal Register, July 6, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 128, at Pages 38845 - 38848. See also, story titled "FCC Adopts Order and NPRM Regarding Its Digital Tuner Rules" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,153, June 14, 2005.

7/6. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) published a notice in the Federal Register that extends the deadlines for submitting comment in response to its notice of second further proposed rulemaking regarding horizontal and vertical cable ownership limits. The deadline to file initial comments is extended from July 8, 2005, to August 8, 2005. The deadline to file reply comments is extended from July 25, 2005, to September 9, 2005. The FCC adopted this Second Further NPRM on May 13, 2005, and released it on May 17, 2005. This item is FCC 05-96 in MM Docket No. 92-264. See, original notice in the Federal Register, June 8, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 109, at Pages 33679 - 33687.  See also, notice of extension of deadlines, in the Federal Register, July 6, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 128, at Pages 38848 - 38849.

7/7. The Copyright Office published a notice in the Federal Register that explains, recites, and sets the effective date (January 1, 2005) of its final rule regarding royalty rates for the retransmission of digital over the air television broadcast signals by satellite carriers under the statutory license. See, Federal Register, July 7, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 129, at Pages 39178 - 39180.

7/7. The Copyright Office published notice in the Federal Register requesting public comments on its first report to the Congress required by the Satellite Home Viewer Extension and Reauthorization Act of 2004. Comments are due by August 22, 2005. Reply comments are due by September 12, 2005. See, Federal Register, July 7, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 129, at Pages 39343 - 39345.

7/7. The Copyright Office published a notice in the Federal Register stating that it will hold two public roundtables on orphan works. The first will be held in Washington DC on Tuesday, July 26, 2005, from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, and on Wednesday, July 27, 2005, from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. The second will be held in Berkeley, California on Tuesday, August 2, 2005, from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Requests to participate in the roundtables must be received by the Copyright Office by 5:00 PM (EDT) on July 15, 2005. See, Federal Register, July 7, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 129, at Pages 39341 - 39343.

6/29. The Business Software Alliance (BSA) released a survey of college students on downloading copyrighted music, movie and software. See, BSA release.

The House will return from its Independence Day recess at 2:00 PM. It will consider several non-technology related resolutions under suspension of the rules. Votes will be postponed until 6:30 PM. See, Republican Whip Notice.

The Senate will return from its Independence Day recess. It will meet at 1:00 PM for morning business. At 2:00 PM it will begin consideration of HR 2360, the Homeland Security Appropriations bill. See, Senate calendar.

11:00 AM. The Senate Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Labor, HHS & Education will hold a hearing on funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). The witnesses will include Patricia Harrison (P/CEO of the CPB), Kenneth Tomlinson (Chairman of the CPB Board of Directors), Pat Mitchell (P/CEO of the Public Broadcasting Service), John Lawson (P/CEO of the Association of Public Television Stations), and David Boaz (EVP of the CATO Institute). Location: Room 192, Dirksen Building.

The House will meet at 9:00 AM for morning hour, and at 10:00 AM for legislative business. It will consider several non-technology related resolutions under suspension of the rules. See, Republican Whip Notice.

8:15 - 9:15 AM. Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the President's Council of Economic Advisors, will give a speech titled "Skills, Ownership, and Economic Security". See, notice. Location: American Enterprise Institute, Twelfth floor, 1150 17th St., NW.

TIME CHANGE. 9:30 AM - 12:30 PM. The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC) will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, July 5, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 127, at Page 38699. Location: National Press Club, 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor.

9:45 - 11:30 AM. The DC Bar Association will host a visit to and tour of the Copyright Office. The price to attend ranges from $15-$25. For more information, contact 202-626-3463. See, notice. Location: Copyright Office, Room 401, James Madison Memorial Building, First Street & Independence Avenue, SE.

10:00 AM. The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing titled "Digital Television Transition -- Hearing I". The witnesses will be Edward Fritts (P/CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters), Manuel Abud (VP/GM of KVEA-TV in Los Angeles, Telemundo), Kyle McSlarrow (P/CEO of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association), Patrick Knorr (VCh of the American Cable Association), Richard Slenker (EVP of DirecTV), and John Lawson (P/CEO of the Association of Public Television Stations). Press contact: Melanie Alvord (Stevens) (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. See, notice. Location: Room 253, Russell Building.

2:30 PM. The Senate Judiciary Committee's (SJC) Subcommittee on Intellectual Property has scheduled a hearing titled "Music Licensing Reform". The SJC frequently cancels hearings without notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

2:30 PM. The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing titled "Digital Television Transition -- Hearing II". The witnesses will be Harlin McEwen (International Association of Chiefs of Police), Charles Townsend (Aloha Partners), Mike Kennedy (Motorola), Gary Shapiro (Consumer Electronics Association), Gene Kimmelman (Consumers Union), and Michael Calabrese (New American Foundation). Press contact: Melanie Alvord (Stevens) (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. See, notice. Location: Room 253, Russell Building.

TIME? The State Department's International Telecommunication Advisory Committee's (ITAC) U.S. Study Group B will meet to prepare positions for the next meeting of the ITU-T Study Group 16. See, notice in the Federal Register, June 13, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 112, at Pages 34175 - 34176. Location: Communication Technologies, Inc., 14151 Newbrook Drive, Suite 400, Chantilly, VA.

Day one of a two day conference hosted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST), Computer Security Division titled "Federal Computer Security Program Manager's Forum Annual Off-Site Meeting". See, notice. Location: Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, 5701 Marinelli Road, North Bethesda, MD.

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

10:00 AM. The House Judiciary Committee will meet to mark up several bills, including HR __, the "USA PATRIOT and Intelligence Reform Reauthorization Act of 2005". Press contact: Jeff Lungren or Terry Shawn at 202 225-2492. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

11:30 AM. Joshua Bolten, Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), will hold a briefing titled "FY 2005 Mid-Session Review: Revised estimates of the budget deficit, receipts, outlays, and budget authority for fiscal years 2005-2010". See, media advisory containing procedures for admittance. Location: Room 450, Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

Day two of a two day conference hosted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST), Computer Security Division titled "Federal Computer Security Program Manager's Forum Annual Off-Site Meeting". See, notice. Location: Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, 5701 Marinelli Road, North Bethesda, MD.

6:00 - 8:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Young Lawyers Committee will host an event titled "Happy Hour". For more information, contact Natalie Roisman at natalie dot roisman at fcc dot gov or 202 418-1655, or Jason Friedrich at jason dot friedrich at dbr dot com or 202-354-1340. Location: McCormick & Schmick's, 1652 K Street, NW.

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

8:30 AM - 5:00 PM. The National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology (VCAT) will hold a partially close meeting. The agenda includes presentations on science and technology priorities of the administration and research and development spending trends in the federal government. See, notice in the Federal Register, May 24, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 99, at Page 29721. Location: Employees Lounge, Administration Building, NIST, Gaithersburg, MD.

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).

9:45 - 11:30 AM. The DC Bar Association will host a visit to and tour of the Copyright Office. The price to attend ranges from $15-$25. For more information, contact 202-626-3463. See, notice. Location: Copyright Office, Room 401, James Madison Memorial Building, First Street & Independence Avenue, SE.

10:00 AM - 4:15 PM. The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) will host an event titled "IPTV Interface Discovery Group". See, notice. Location: Clarendon Ballroom, Arlington, VA.

10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The Department of State's (DOS) International Telecommunication Advisory Committee (ITAC) will meet to prepare for the Americas Regional Preparatory Meeting for the World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC-06) in Lima, Peru, from August 9-11, 2005. See, notice in the Federal Register, June 22, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 119, Page 36224. Location: DOS, Room 2533A.

12:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Mass Media Practice Committee will host a brown bag lunch. The speaker will be Kris Monteith of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Enforcement Bureau. For more information, Ann Bobeck at ABobeck at nab dot org. Location: National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), 1771 N Street, NW.

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

TIME? The American Intellectual Property Law Association's (AIPLA) Board or Directors will meet. Location: Arlington, VA.

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

12:00 NOON - 2:00 PM. The Progress and Freedom Foundation (PFF) will host a panel discussion titled "Brand X v. FCC: What's Next?". The speakers will include Randolph May (PFF), Dave Baker (EarthLink VP for Law and Public Policy), and Kyle McSlarrow (P/CEO of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association). See, notice and registration page. Lunch will be served. Location: Room 1537, Longworth Building, Capitol Hill.

Deadline to submit comments to the Antitrust Modernization Commission (AMC) in response to the AMC's request for public comments on numerous issues. First, the AMC seeks comments on enforcement institutions, including dual federal merger enforcement, differential merger enforcement standards, the role of states in enforcing federal antitrust laws outside of the merger area, and the allocation of merger enforcement among states, private plaintiffs. Second, the AMC seeks comments on exclusionary conduct. Third, the AMC seeks comments on immunities, exemptions, and the state action doctrine. Fourth, the AMC seeks comments on merger enforcement, including federal antitrust merger enforcement policy generally, transparency in federal agency merger review, efficiencies in merger analysis, the Hart-Scott-Rodino pre-merger review process. Fifth, the AMC seeks comments on several new economy issues, including antitrust analysis of industries in which innovation, intellectual property, and technological change are central features, and on the reports on patent law by the National Academies and the Federal Trade Commission. Finally, the AMC seeks comments on the role of antitrust in regulated industries. See, notice in the Federal Register: May 19, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 96, at Pages 28902-28907.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding a petition for a declaratory ruling that certain provisions of the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act (CLRA), as applied to interstate telephone calls, are not preempted by the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). See, notice in the Federal Register, June 15, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 114, at Pages 34725 - 34726. This proceeding is CG Docket No. 02-278.

Deadline to submit requests to the Copyright Office to participate in its upcoming roundtables on orphan works (on July 26-27 in Washington DC, and in Berkeley, California on August 2). See, notice in the Federal Register, July 7, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 129, at Pages 39341 - 39343.

2:00 - 5:15 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a continuing legal education (CLE) seminar titled "How to Conduct Business in the Current Chinese Legal Environment: Myths and Facts". The speakers will be Paul Manca (Hogan & Hartson) and others. The price to attend ranges from $70-$125. For more information, call 202-626-3488. See, notice. Location: D.C. Bar Conference Center, 1250 H Street NW, B-1 Level.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its public notice regarding refreshing the record on issues raised in the Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) related to carrier identification code (CIC) conservation and the definition of "entity" as found in section 1.3 of the CIC Assignment Guidelines. This public notice is DA 05-1154 in CC Docket No. 92-237; it was released on April 26, 2005. See, notice in the Federal Register, June 1, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 104, at Pages 31405 - 31406.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) regarding the exchange of customer account information between local exchange carriers (LECs). This FNPRM is FCC 05-29 in CG Docket No. 02-386. See, notice in the Federal Register, June 1, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 104, at Pages 31406 - 31409.

7/8. Viviane Redding, the EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media, gave a speech in Brussels, Belgium, titled "Reinforcing the links between the EU and Japan in the ICT and media business".

7/7. The EU issued a release in which it stated that it "sent letters to eleven EU Member States for failing to implement properly EU rules on electronic communications, including telecommunications. The Member States involved in this further round of Treaty infringement proceedings are the Czech Republic, France, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Finland. The key issues at stake include the independence of the national telecoms regulator, the requirement of number portability and of comprehensive subscriber directories, designation of ``universal service´´ providers, and the availability of the European emergency number 112."

7/7. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a lengthy notice in the Federal Register regarding its forthcoming modifications to its United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology Program (US-VISIT). The DHS will conduct a proof of concept in order to verify the utility of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to automatically, passively, and remotely record the entry and exit of covered individuals. The DHS will also revise its Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) to discuss the impact of RFID technology on individual privacy. For more information, contact Nuala Kelly, Chief Privacy Officer of the DHS, and Steve Yonkers, US-VISIT Privacy Officer. See, Federal Register, July 7, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 129, at Pages 39300 - 39323.

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