10/14. Robert Portman, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) held a news conference regarding negotiations pertaining to the Doha Development Agenda.

He stated that "we have just returned from a busy week in Zurich and Geneva. There now appears to be more forward movement in the Doha negotiations than we have seen in months, and I’m encouraged by that."

He said that the recent U.S. proposal to break the deadline on agriculture "has generated a lot of momentum throughout this week. Our sense is that the negotiations have a new energy that was lacking before this new U.S. offer was introduced." See also, story titled "USTR Seeks to Break Doha Deadlock" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,231, October 11, 2005.

However, he concluded, "We await a meaningful response."

Trade negotiators are working under a two month deadline. The World Trade Organization (WTO) will hold its Sixth WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong on December 13-18, 2005. See, WTO notice.

See also, audio of news conference [WMA].

Pascal Lamy, Director General of the WTO, also issued a statement. He wrote metaphorically. "With developments this week I think the engines of the negotiation plane have been switched on again. This is no guarantee that the engines will be able to lift the plane to the necessary altitude to start the approximation to Hong Kong, since a lot of work remains, but at least the engines are buzzing."

See also, October 10 statement and October 13 statement by EC Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson.

European Commission President Barroso will meet in Washington DC with President Bush on October 18. They are scheduled to discuss the Doha round. See, EC release. Barroso will also speak at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington DC at 5:00 PM on October 18. See, notice.

10/17. Nellie Kroes, the European Commissioner for Competition Policy gave a speech in Paris, France titled "Damages Actions for Breaches of EU Competition Rules: Realities and Potentials". She advocated more private antitrust actions in Europe, including class actions. She said that "in Europe there is simply not enough damages litigation".

Kroes (at right) asserted that "Fostering private antitrust enforcement as a complement to public antitrust enforcement can thus be reasonably expected to help make those who might contemplate violating the competition rules think twice. And it goes without saying that a higher level of compliance with the competition rules further develops a culture of competition amongst market participants, including consumers, and thus strengthens the competitiveness of the European economy."

She also discussed why there is little private litigation today. She said that "private enforcement has, until recently, been hampered by the Commission’s monopoly on declaring restrictive market behaviour compatible with the European competition rules. This has meant that actions before national courts were blocked as long as the Commission was considering an exemption decision." But, she added, "Regulation 1/2003 remedied this situation by removing the Commission’s exemption monopoly and empowering national courts to apply Articles 81 and 82 of the EC Treaty in their entirety."

She said that other obstacles remain, including "uncertainty as to ability to prove the infringement, given that most of the evidence is usually in the hands of the defendant. Uncertainty as to the result of an action in court, combined with the risk of having to bear all costs that are related to the procedures if one loses the case, is probably one of the main reasons why potential plaintiffs decide against going to court, even when they have a good case." She added, "This is not justice!"

She continued that another obstacle to more litigation is the lack of rules that encourage class action litigation. She stated that "The damage of an individual consumer will only exceptionally outweigh the litigation costs. If we are really serious about giving justice to consumers, we have to facilitate the use of collective claims."

She asserted that she does not think that "any of us want to go down the track of litigation culture for its own sake".

Kroes did not reference the United States in her speech. However, she essentially advocated importing the U.S. antitrust private litigation system to Europe.

10/14. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a public notice [2 pages in PDF] that sets the comment deadlines for the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) portion of the Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rule Making that provides that facilities based broadband service providers and interconnected VOIP providers are subject to requirements under the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA).

The FCC adopted, but did not release, this item at its August 5, 2005, meeting. See, story titled "FCC Amends CALEA Statute" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,191, August 9, 2005. The FCC released the text [59 pages in PDF] of this item on September 23, 2005. It is FCC 05-153 in ET Docket No. 04-295 and RM-10865

November 14, 2005, is the deadline for initial comments. December 12, 2005, is the deadline for reply comments. The public notice is DA 05-2712  in ET Docket No. 04-295. The FCC also published a notice in the Federal Register that describes and sets comments deadlines for this FNPRM. See, Federal Register, October 13, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 197, at Pages 59704 - 59710.

The FCC also published a notice in the Federal Register that describes, recites, and sets the effective date (November 14, 2005) for the rules changes adopted in the Order and FNPRM. See, Federal Register, October 13, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 197, at Pages 59664 - 59675.

10/14. Kevin MacMillan was named Legislative Affairs Deputy Assistant Secretary for Banking and Finance at the Department of the Treasury. He was previously Senior Counsel to the House Financial Services Committee. See, Treasury release.

10/14. David Nason was named Deputy Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions Policy at the Department of the Treasury. He previously worked for Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner Paul Atkins. See, Treasury release.

10/12. Melanie Keller was named Chief Financial Officer of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). Komaki Takekoshi was named Accountant. Tess Llamas was named Financial Analyst. See, release.

10/11. Sherman Henderson, P/CEO of Lightyear Network Solutions, was elected Chairman of Comptel. Carl Grivner, CEO of XO Communications, was elected Vice Chairman, and Joe Ambersley, President of PAETEC South was reelected VCh/Tr. See, Comptel release.

10/3. Parul Desai was hired by the Media Access Project (MAP) as Assistant Director. Previously, she worked for Microstrategy, Inc., and for the law firm of Crowell & Moring.

10/14. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted and released an order [36 pages in PDF] that makes available "approximately $211 million of targeted support from the Universal Service Fund (“USF”) for reconstruction and remediation relating to the restoration of telecommunications services." This order is FCC 05-178 in CC Docket No. 96-45, CC Docket No. 02-6, WC Docket No. 02-60, and WC Docket No. 03-109.

10/14. The U.S. Sentencing Commission (USSC) announced that it will hold a meeting on Wednesday, October 19, 2005, and that the agenda includes a "Vote on Emergency Amendment on Intellectual Property". The USSC's notice does not identify with specificity the subject matter of this item. However, at least two recently enacted statutes require action by the USSC. First, there is the Family Entertainment and Copyright Act of 2005 (FECA), which was S 167 and is now Public Law No. 109-9. The Senate approved this bill on February 1, 2005. See, story titled "Senate Approves Copyright Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,069, February 3, 2005. The House approved the bill on April 19, 2005. See, story titled "House Approves Copyright Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,119, April 20, 2005. Second, there is the Intellectual Property Protection and Courts Amendment Act of 2004, which was HR 3632 (108th Congress), and is now Public Law No. 108-482. This USSC meeting will be held at the Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building, One Columbus Circle, NE, Suite 2-500 (South Lobby).

10/13. The U.S. District Court (DC) issued an opinion [PDF] in Hyatt v. Dudas, a Section 145 action. The plaintiff, Gilbert Hyatt, filed five patent applications in 1995 with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) that pertain to an improved memory system for a computerized display system. The USPTO denied the applications. Hyatt filed a complaint in District Court pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 145, which provides patent applicants the right to file a civil action against the Director of the USPTO. The parties filed cross motions for summary judgment. The District Court held that "Because this case is rife with material issues of fact, and because the administrative record has not been adequately developed, the Court will DENY the pending motions and REMAND the case to the PTO for further proceedings." This case is Gilbert Hyatt v. Jon Dudas, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, D.C. No. 03-108 (EGS), Judge Emmet Sullivan presiding.

10/10. America Online (AOL) announced, but did not release, a survey based study titled "2005 AOL African American Cyberstudy". AOL stated that the study was conducted by Images Market Research (IMR). AOL further stated that IMR used focus groups, conducted a web survey of 1,016 African American internet users, and conducted telephone interviews of 300 African Americans, and 250 from a general market sample. The study compares use of the internet by African Americans to the general population. See, AOL release.

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The House will meet at 2:00 PM for legislative business. It will consider several items under suspension of the rules. Votes will be postponed until 6:30 PM. The agenda includes consideration of HConRes 259, a resolution "supporting the goals and ideals of National Cyber Security Awareness Month". See, Republican Whip Notice.

The Senate will meet at 2:00 PM for morning business, and at 3:00 PM for legislative business. It will begin consideration of HR 3058, the transportation & treasury appropriations bill.

8:30 AM - 3:30 PM. Consumers for Cable Choice (CCC) and the National Consumers League will host a conference titled "Cable and Broadband Competition: In the Home and in the Office". Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), the sponsor of HR 3146, the "Video Choice Act of 2005", is scheduled to speak at 1:00 PM. For more information, contact Cheryl Reed (CCC) at 317 205-9690 or 317 446-5240 or cherylreed at synergy-mg dot com. Location: Resources for the Future Conference Center, 1400 16th St., NW.

12:00 NOON. Andrew Chin ( University of North Carolina Law School) will deliver a paper titled "Artful Prior Art and the Quality of DNA Patents". This event is a part of the George Washington University Law School's (GWULS) intellectual property workshop series. RSVP by Tuesday, October 11, to Rosalie Kouassi at rkouassi at law dot gwu dot edu. Location: GWULS, Faculty Conference Center, 5th Floor Burns, 716 20th St., NW.

12:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Mass Media Practice Committee will host a brown bag lunch. The topic will be "Meet the Media Bureau Chief -- Donna Gregg". No RSVP is requested. For more information, contact Ann Bobeck at abobeck at nab dot org. Location: National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), 1771 N Street, NW.

2:00 PM. The Cato Institute will host a panel discussion titled "Restoring Property Rights After Kelo v. New London". The speakers will be Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), Roger Pilon (Cato), and John Echeverria (Georgetown Environmental Law and Policy Institute). See, notice and registration page. Cato will webcast the event. Lunch will be served after the program. Location: Cato, 1000 Massachusetts Ave., NW.

The House will meet at 10:30 AM for morning hour, and at 12:00 NOON for legislative business. It will consider several non-technology related items. See, Republican Whip Notice.

8:00 AM. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) will host a breakfast. The speaker will be Sen. John Ensign (R-NV). See, registration form [PDF]. Registrations and cancellations are due by 12:00 NOON on October 14. The price to attend ranges from $30 to $55. Location: J.W. Marriott, 1331 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, bottom level.

8:45 - 10:15 AM. The New America Foundation will host a panel discussion titled "Public Safety at Stake: How the DTV Transition Can Redeploy Unused Airwaves for America’s First Responders". The speakers will be Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Michael Calabrese (NAF), former Rep. Tim Roemer, Greg Meffert (CIO of the City of New Orleans), Robert LeGrande (Spectrum Coalition for Public Safety), and Bob Pepper (Cisco Systems). RSVP to communications at newamerica dot net. See, notice. Location: Room 562, Dirksen Building, Capitol Hill.

9:30 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) may hold a hearing titled "Comprehensive Immigration Reform." The scheduled witnesses are Michael Chertoff (Secretary of Homeland Security), Elaine Chao (Secretary of Labor), Frank Sharry (National Immigration Forum), Mark Krikorian (Center for Immigration Studies), and Douglas Massey (Princeton University). The SJC frequently cancels of postpones hearings 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. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing on several pending nominations, including Susan Schwab (to be Deputy U.S. Trade Representative), Karan Bhatia (to be Deputy USTR), Franklin Lavin (to be Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade), and Clay Lowery (to be Deputy Under Secretary of the Treasury). Location: Room 219, Dirksen Building.

10:30 AM - 3:00 PM. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce will host an event titled "Comprehensive Immigration Reform: Fixing a Broken System". The price to attend ranges from free to $145. For more information, contact Winsome Walker at 202 463-5500. See, notice. Location: U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 1615 H Street, NW.

2:30 PM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) may hold a hearing on executive nominations. The SJC frequently cancels of postpones hearings 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. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

3:00 PM. The House Homeland Security Committee's Subcommittee on Economic Security, Infrastructure Protection, and Cybersecurity will hold a hearing titled "SCADA and the Terrorist Threat: Protecting the Nation’s Critical Control". SCADA is an acronym for supervisory control and data acquisition. It relates computer systems that monitor and control industrial facilities, such as telecommunications networks. The witnesses will include Andy Purdy (acting Director of the Department of Homeland Security's National Cybersecurity Division), Larry Todd (Department of the Interior), Sam Varnado (Sandia National Laboratory), KP Ananth (Idaho National Laboratory), William Rush (Gas Technology Institute), Alan Paller (SANS Institute). See, notice. Location: Room 311, Cannon Building.

5:00 PM. European Commission President José Manuel Barroso will speak at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. See, notice. For more information, contact Felisa Klubes at 202 663-5626 or fklubes at jhu dot edu. Location: 1740 Massachusetts Ave., NW.

6:00 - 9:00 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a continuing legal education (CLE) seminar titled "What Every Lawyer Needs to Know About Antitrust Law". The speakers will include William Kovacic (George Washington University Law School), Michael Brockmeyer (DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary), and Laura Wilkinson (Weil Gotshal & Manges). 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.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. It will consider several non-technology related items. See, Republican Whip Notice.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Sentencing Commission (USSC) will hold a meeting. The agenda includes "Vote on Emergency Amendment on Intellectual Property". See, notice. For more information, contact Michael Courlander at 202 502-4590. Location: Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building, One Columbus Circle, NE, Suite 2-500 (South Lobby).

TIME CHANGE. 10:30 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) may hold a hearing titled "Reporters' Privilege Legislation: An Additional Investigation of Issues and Implications". The SJC frequently cancels of postpones hearings 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. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

12:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) State and Local Practice Committee will host a brown bag lunch. The speaker will be Monica Desai, Chief of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau. RSVP to ann at fcba dot org. Location: FCC, 445 12th St., SW, Conference Room 4-B516.

12:30 - 2:00 PM. The Heritage Foundation will host a panel discussion titled "Must-Change TV?: Congress and Digital Television". The speakers will be Thomas Hazlett (George Mason University, Peter Pitsch (Intel), Charles Cooper (Cooper and Kirk), J.H. Snider (New America Foundation), and James Gattuso (Heritage). See, notice. Location: Lehrman Auditorium, Heritage, 214 Massachusetts Ave., NE.

2:00 PM. The House Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection will hold a hearing titled "Protecting Property Rights After Kelo". See, notice. Press contact: Larry Neal (Barton). Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

2:00 PM. The Senate Judiciary Committee's (SJC) Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights  may hold a hearing titled "Video Competition in 2005 -- More Consolidation, or New Choices for Consumers?". The SJC frequently cancels of postpones hearings 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.

2:00 - 5:00 PM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Network Reliability and Interoperability Council (NRIC) will meet. The agenda includes "E911 implementation and evolution, network security, network reliability, and broadband". See, FCC notice [PDF] and notice in the Federal Register, September 28, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 187, at Page 56690. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room, 445 12th Street, SW.

2:30 PM. The Senate Commerce Committee will meet to mark up four bills: S __, a DTV bill, S 1753, the "Warning, Alert, and Response Network Act", S 967, the "Truth in Broadcasting Act of 2005", and S 1063, the "IP-Enabled Voice Communications and Public Safety Act of 2005". See, notice. Location: Room SDG-50, Dirksen Building.

6:00 - 8:15 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a continuing legal education (CLE) seminar titled "Introduction to Export Controls". The speakers will include Thomas Scott (Weadon & Associates). The price to attend ranges from $80-$125. For more information, call 202-626-3488. See, notice. Location: D.C. Bar Conference Center, 1250 H Street NW, B-1 Level.

6:00 - 8:00 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Young Lawyers' Committee will host an event titled "Happy Hour". For more information, contact Pam Slipakoff at pamslip at yahoo dot com. Location: Circle Bistro, One Washington Circle Hotel, One Washington Circle.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. It will consider several non-technology related items. See, Republican Whip Notice.

9:00 AM - 3:00 PM. The Department of Justice's (DOJ) Office of Justice Programs's (OJP) Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative Federal Advisory Committee will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, August 16, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 157, at Page 48195. Location: Sheraton Crystal City Hotel, 1800 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, VA.

9:30 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) may hold an executive business meeting. The SJC frequently cancels of postpones 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 - 12:00 PM. The House Science Committee will hold a hearing titled "Science, Technology, and Global Economic Competitiveness". The witness will be Norman Augustine, former Ch/CEO of Lockheed Martin. Press contact: Joe Pouliot at Joe dot Pouliot at mail dot house dot gov or 202 225-6371. Location: Room 2318, Rayburn Building.

12:00 NOON - 2:00 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a panel discussion titled "Federal and State Regulation of the U.S. Wireless Telecom Industry: Striking the Right Balance". The speakers will include Chuck Davidson (former Florida PUC Commissioner), Debra Berlyn (AARP), John Rogovin (Wilmer Cutler Hale & Dorr, former FCC General Counsel). The price to attend ranges from $15-$25. For more information, call 202 626-3463. See, notice. Location: D.C. Bar Conference Center, 1250 H Street NW, B-1 Level.

2:00 - 4:30 PM. The Department of State's (DOS) Advisory Committee on International Communications and Information Policy (ACICIP) will meet. The agenda for this meeting includes "industry input for the first meeting of the newly-formed U.S.-India Information and Communications Technologies Working Group" and "a status report on preparations for the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society, which will take place in Tunis, Tunisia from November 16-18, 2005. Contact Robert Watts at wattsrm at state dot gov by 5:00 PM to request permission to attend. See, notice in the Federal Register, September 30, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 189, at Page 57350. Location: Loy Henderson Auditorium, Truman Building, DOS, 2201 C Street, NW.

4:00 PM. The House Armed Services Committee's Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces  and Intelligence Committee's Subcommittee on Technical and Tactical Intelligence will hold a joint hearing on the Aerial Common Sensor (ACS) program. This program involves the development of a long range manned aircraft for surveillance and intelligence gathering operations, including communications intelligence (COMINT), electronic intelligence (ELINT), electro optical (EO), infrared (IR), synthetic aperture radar (SAR), and moving target indicator (MTI). The scheduled witnesses include Claude Bolton, Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics and Technology). Location: Room 2118, Rayburn Building.

6:00 - 8:00 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) will host an event titled "Annual Fall Reception with the FCC Bureau Chiefs". The price to attend ranges from $20-$75. See, registration form [PDF]. Location: J.W. Marriott Hotel, 1331 Pennsylvania Ave, NW.

9:30 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir) will hear oral argument in Verizon v. FCC, No. 04-1331. Judges Ginsburg, Rogers and Griffith will preside. Location: Prettyman Courthouse, 333 Constitution Ave., NW.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding the joint petition filed by CTIA and the Rural Cellular Association (RCA) requesting relief of the FCC's requirement that wireless licensees that employ a handset based Enhanced 911 (E911) Phase II location technology achieve 95% penetration of location capable handsets among their subscribers by December 31, 2005. See, FCC notice [4 pages in PDF]. This proceeding is WT Docket No. 05-288. This is also the deadline to submit initial comments regarding Alltel's related petition. See, notice [PDF] in WT Docket No. 05-287. This is also the deadline to submit initial comments regarding Sprint Nextel's related petition. See, notice [PDF] in WT Docket No. 05-286.

12:00 NOON. Adam Mossoff (Michigan State University College of Law) will deliver a paper titled "Who Cares What Thomas Jefferson Thought About Patents: Reconsidering the Patent 'Privilege' in Historical Context". This event is a part of the George Washington University Law School's (GWULS) intellectual property workshop series. RSVP by Tuesday, October 18, to Rosalie Kouassi at rkouassi at law dot gwu dot edu. Location: GWULS, Faculty Conference Center, 5th Floor Burns, 716 20th St., NW.

12:00 NOON. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Engineering & Technical Practice Committee will host a brown bag lunch. The topic will be a discussion of upcoming activities. RSVP to Deborah Wiggins at dwiggins at g2w2 dot com. Location: Goldberg Godles Wiener & Wright, 1229 19th Street, NW.

Day one of a two day conference hosted by the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) titled "18th Annual Update 2005 Conference on Export Controls and Policy". See, conference web site. The price to attend ranges from $550-675. Location: Renaissance Hotel, Washington DC.

Day one of a three day conference hosted by the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) titled "4th  International Judges Conference on Intellectual Property Law". The only event on Monday, October 24 is a dinner and reception at the Library of Congress. See, conference brochure [PDF].