1/30. The Department of Justice (DOJ) charged Elpida Memory by a two count criminal information filed in the U.S. District Court (NDCal) with bid rigging and fixing the prices of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) sold to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act. The DOJ and Elpida also announced that Elpida has agreed to plead guilty and pay a fine of $84 Million. See, DOJ release and Elpida release.

This is another in a series of actions taken by the DOJ regarding price fixing by DRAM makers.

Section 1 of the Sherman Act, which is codified at 15 U.S.C. § 1, provides, in part, that "Every contract, combination in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, is declared to be illegal. Every person who shall make any contract or engage in any combination or conspiracy hereby declared to be illegal shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and, on conviction thereof, shall be punished by fine ..."

Count I of the information alleges that Elpida and unnamed coconspirators "entered into and engaged in a combination and conspiracy in the United States and elsewhere to suppress and eliminate competition by fixing the prices" of DRAMs to be sold to certain OEMs.

Count II alleges that Elpida and unnamed coconspirators "had discussions and reached agreements on how it would allocate and divide a bid offered by Sun Microsystems" in a DRAM auction in 2002. This count further alleges that the "charged combination and conspiracy consisted of a continuing agreement, understanding, and concert of action among the Defendant and its coconspirators, the substantial terms of which were to agree to allocate and divide a bid for the purchase of one lot of 1 Gigabyte Next-Generation Dual In-Line Memory Modules (``1 GB NG DIMM´´) by Sun."

Other DOJ DRAM Price Fixing Actions. On October 13, 2005, the DOJ charged Samsung with price fixing in the U.S. District Court (NDCal). See, story titled "DOJ Charges Samsung with DRAM Price Fixing" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,233, October 14, 2005.

On April 21, 2005, the DOJ charged Hynix with price fixing in the U.S. District Court (NDCal). See, story titled "DOJ Charges Hynix with DRAM Price Fixing" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,121, April 22, 2005.

On December 2, 2004, the DOJ charged four executives of Infineon Technologies AG, and its subsidiary, Infineon Technologies North America Corporation. See, story titled "DOJ Brings More DRAM Price Fixing Charges" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No.1,030, December 3, 2004.

On September 15, 2004, the DOJ filed a criminal information in the U.S. District Court (NDCal) against Infineon Technologies AG. On October 20, 2004, Infineon pled guilty. See also, story titled "DOJ Charges Infineon With Felony Price Fixing; Infineon Pleads Guilty" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 978, September 16, 2004.

Also, on December 17, 2003, the DOJ announced that it charged Alfred P. Censullo, a former employee of Micron Technology Inc., with violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1503 in connection with his "altering and concealing documents containing competitor pricing information, which were requested in a federal grand jury subpoena".

Elpida was formed in 2001 by Hitachi and NEC Corporation.

This case is U.S. v. Elpida Memory, Inc., U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco Division, D.C. No. CR 06-0059 MMC.

1/29. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) released proposed agreements that would settle litigation between VeriSign and the ICANN.

The ICANN stated in a release that the just released proposed agreements include the following changes to the October 2005 drafts: "the elimination of the proposed registry-level transaction fee (which would have been passed through directly to registrars); a direct contribution from VeriSign in the form of significantly increased fixed registry-level fees (which VeriSign will not be permitted to pass through directly to registrars); a new limitation on the frequency of permitted price increases for domain name registrations; a revision to the ICANN consensus policy limitation relating to the introduction of new registry services; a clarification of the permissible uses of traffic data; and the incorporation of new service-level specifications for the .COM registry." (Parentheses in original.)

The ICANN requests public comments on these proposed agreements. The deadline is 12:00 NOON UTC on February 20, 2006.

Jonathon Nevett, VP and Chief Policy Counsel at Network Solutions, stated in response that "The ICANN staff's revised proposals on the VeriSign-ICANN settlement and the .com registry agreement are insufficient to address core problems with the agreements. Although Network Solutions welcomes changes that would prevent ICANN registry fees from being passed directly to registrars, relief is inadequate for two of the most troubling aspects of the proposals, including ‘presumptive renewal’ provisions and registration fee increases that would not have to be cost-based in most years. Allowing VeriSign to raise registry fees for the .com domain by 7 percent in four out of six years without cost-justification, and without any reasonable opportunity ever for the contract to be rebid elsewhere, would put the Internet community at risk by eliminating competition for the .com registry."

Network Solutions is a domain name registrar that was acquired by VeriSign in 2000.

1/25. Microsoft announced its "decision to license all the Windows Server source code for the technologies covered by the European Commission's Decision of March 2004. The company is making this voluntary move in order to address categorically all of the issues raised by the Commission's December 22, 2005 Statement of Objections. That document asserted that Microsoft's prior technical documentation provided insufficient information to enable licensees to implement successfully certain Windows Server communications protocols." See, Microsoft release.

See also, stories titled "EU Seeks More Money and Disclosures from Microsoft" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,279, December 23, 2006; "European Commission Seeks 497 Million Euros and Code Removal from Microsoft" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 863, March 25, 2004, and "European Commission Releases Microsoft Decision" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 883, April 23, 2004..

Brad Smith (at right), Microsoft SVP and General Counsel, stated that "we are putting our most valuable intellectual property on the table so we can put technical compliance issues to rest and move forward with a serious discussion about the substance of this case ... The Windows source code is the ultimate documentation of Windows Server technologies. With this step our goal is to resolve all questions about the sufficiency of our technical documentation."

The EU's December Statement of Objections stated that one of the remedies imposed by the 2004 decision "was for Microsoft to disclose complete and accurate interface documentation which would allow non-Microsoft work group servers to achieve full interoperability with Windows PCs and servers. The Statement of Objections indicates that the Commission's preliminary view, supported by two reports from the Monitoring Trustee ..., is that Microsoft has not yet provided complete and accurate specifications for this interoperability information."

1/30. Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) was a passenger in a car involved in a collision in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Senate Commerce Committee, of which he is a member, stated in a release that one reason for postponing the hearing on video franchising scheduled for Tuesday, January 31, is Sen. Ensign's absence.

1/30. President Bush announced his intent to nominate Edward Lazear to be a Member of the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), and upon appointment designate him the Chairman. He is a professor at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business and the Hoover Institution. See, White House release.

1/30. President Bush nominated Ralph Basham to be Commissioner of Customs at the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Bureau of Customs and Border Protection. He is currently Director of the DHS's Secret Service. See, White House release and DHS release.

1/30. President Bush nominated Mark Sullivan to be Director of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Secret Service. He is currently Assistant Director of the Secret Service's Office of Protective Operations. See, White House release and DHS release.

1/30. Microsoft stated in a release that on January 27, 2006, the U.S. District Court (DAriz) ruled in Research Corporation Technologies v. Microsoft that Microsoft did not infringe three of the patents in suit. Microsoft stated that " the court found that three of six patents asserted by RCT were ``unenforceable due to the patent applicants' inequitable conduct in withholding material information from the Patent Office with an intent to deceive the Patent Office.´´ Today's decision follows a previous ruling in April 2005 in which the same court found that all claims asserted by RCT in three other patents were invalid."

1/30. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Portman and Swiss Federal Councillor Joseph Deiss released a joint statement that announces the formation of a US-Swiss cooperation council, and exploratory discussions on a potential FTA. The two stated that the two countries "have decided to establish a Swiss-U.S. Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum as we work to strengthen our already close bilateral economic relationship. To build on the momentum created by our intensive discussions over the past seven months, we will use this forum to pursue initiatives in specific areas where we share mutual interests with a view to concluding agreements or other arrangements that offer real opportunities for workers, farmers, service providers, manufacturers and consumers in our two countries. Our staffs will develop the details of this forum and an initial work program in the coming weeks. We will review progress on the forum and the work program by mid year." They added that "Our exploratory discussions on a potential Free Trade Agreement (FTA) have been very useful for both governments and provided the basis for the new Swiss-U.S. Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum. Both countries remain interested in a possible comprehensive free trade agreement and may resume discussions at a later stage."

The House will convene for the 2nd Session of the 109th Congress. Votes will begin at about 3:30 PM. See, Republican Whip Notice.

The Senate will meet at 9:45 AM. It will resume consideration of Sam Alito to be a Justice of the Supreme Court. A roll call vote is scheduled for 11:00 AM. It will then consider the nomination of Ben Bernanke to be Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board (FRB).

Alan Greenspan's last day as Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board (FRB).

POSTPONED DUE TO ALITO VOTE. 10:00 AM. The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) will hold a hearing titled "Video Franchising". The witnesses will be Ivan Seidenberg (Verizon), James Ellis (AT&T), Thomas Rutledge (Cablevision Systems Corporation), Brad Evans (Cavalier Telephone), Lori Tillery (National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors), Anthony Riddle (Alliance for Community Media), Gene Kimmelman (Consumers Union), and Gigi Sohn (Public Knowledge). See, notice. Press contact: Melanie Alvord (Stevens) at 202 224-8456, Aaron Saunders (Stevens) at 202 224-3991, or Andy Davis (Inouye) at 202 224-4546. The hearing will be webcast by the SCC. Location: Room 562, Dirksen Building.

1:00 PM. The House Rules Committee will meet to adopt a rule for consideration of a bill to extend the expiring provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act. Location: Room H-313, Capitol Building.

RESCHEDULED FROM JANUARY 24. 2:30 PM. The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) will hold a hearing titled "Video Content". See, notice. Press contact: Melanie Alvord (Stevens) at 202 224-8456, Aaron Saunders (Stevens) at 202 224-3991, or Andy Davis (Inouye) at 202 224-4546. The hearing will be webcast by the SCC. Location: Room 562, Dirksen Building.

9:00 PM. President Bush will give a speech titled "State of the Union Address" to a joint session of the House and Senate. Location: U.S. House of Representatives.

Extended deadline to submit comments to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) regarding its Policy Development Process on new gTLDs. See, ICANN notice.

Extended deadline to submit nominations for members of the Spectrum Management Advisory Committee to the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). See, original NTIA release and notice of extension.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. It may consider a bill to extend the expiring provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act. See, Republican Whip Notice.

12:30 - 2:00 PM. The Congressional Human Rights Caucus (CHRC) will host an event titled "Human Rights and the Internet -- The People's Republic of China". The CHRC's notice states that representatives of Cisco, Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo have been invited to speak. For more information, contact Daria Nashat (Rep. Lantos) at 225-3531 or Evan Baehr (Rep. Wolf) at 225-5136. Location: Room 2255, Rayburn Building.

2:00 PM. The House Commerce Committee will hold a hearing titled "Phone Records For Sale:  Why Aren't Phone Records Safe From Pretexting?". Press contact: Larry Neal (Barton) at 202 225-5735 or Terry Lane (Barton) at 202 225-5735. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

2:00 - 4:00 PM. The Department of State's International Telecommunication Advisory Committee (ITAC) will hold the fourth in a series of weekly meetings to prepare for the International Telecommunications Union's (ITU) 2006 ITU Plenipotentiary Conference, to be held November 6-24, 2006, in Antalya, Turkey. See, notice in the Federal Register, December 21, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 244, at Page 75854. This notice incorrectly states that these meetings will be held on Tuesdays; they are on Wednesdays. For more information, contact Julian Minard at 202 647-2593 or minardje at state dot gov. Location: AT&T, 1120 20th St., NW.

Ben Bernanke begins his term as Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board (FRB).

Deadline for the National Cable & Telecommunications Association's (NCTA) and Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) to file their third round of status reports with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding progress in talks regarding the feasibility of a downloadable security solution for integrating navigation and security functionalities in cable set top boxes. See, FCC's Second Report and Order [37 pages in PDF] adopted and released on March 18, 2005. This order is FCC 05-76 in CS Docket No. 97-80. See also, FCC release [PDF] summarizing this order, and story titled "FCC Again Delays Deadline for Integrating Navigation and Security Functionalities in Cable Set Top Boxes" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,099, March 21, 2005. See also, notice of extensions (DA 05-1930) [2 pages in PDF].

The House may meet. See, Republican Whip Notice.

9:30 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee may hold an executive business meeting. The SJC frequently cancels or postpones meetings without notice. Press contact: Melanie Alvord (Stevens) at 202 224-8456, Aaron Saunders (Stevens) at 202 224-3991, or Andy Davis (Inouye) at 202 224-4546. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a panel discussion titled "State Sales Tax and Congress: An Update on the SST and Corresponding Federal Legislation". The topics will include the 1992 opinion of the Supreme Court in Quill v. North Dakota, which is reported at 504 U.S. 298, and Senate bills S 2152, the "Sales Tax Fairness and Simplification Act", and S 2153, the "Streamlined Sales Tax Simplification Act ". The speakers will include Neal Osten (National Conference of State Legislatures), Maureen Riehl (National Retail Federation), and Leonard Bickwit (Miller & Chevalier). The price to attend ranges from $15-$27. For more information, call 202 626-4363. See, notice. Location: D.C. Bar Conference Center, 1250 H Street NW, B-1 Level.

2:00 PM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) may hold a hearing on the nomination of Paul McNulty to be the Deputy Attorney General. See, notice. The SJC frequently cancels or postpones hearing without notice. Press contact: Melanie Alvord (Stevens) at 202 224-8456, Aaron Saunders (Stevens) at 202 224-3991, or Andy Davis (Inouye) at 202 224-4546. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

3:00 - 4:30 PM. The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) will host a panel discussion titled "Knowledge and the Growth Process: The Case of India". The speakers will be Sam Pitroda (National Knowledge Commission), John Calfee (AEI), Tarun Das (Confederation of Indian Industry), Victoria Espinel (Office of the USTR), and James Glassman (AEI). See, notice. Location: 12th, 1150 17th St., NW.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Copyright Office in response to its notice of inquiry (NOI) regarding exempting certain classes of works from the prohibition against circumvention of technological measures that control access to copyrighted works. See, 17 U.S.C. § 1201(a), and notice in the Federal Register, October 3, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 190, at Pages 57526 - 57531.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [24 pages in PDF] regarding amendments to its unsolicited facsimile advertising rules and the established business relationship (EBR) exception to the rules. This NPRM was adopted by the FCC on December 9, 2005, and released on December 9, 2005. It is FCC 05-206 in CG Docket No. 02-278. See, notice in the Federal Register, December 19, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 242, at Pages 75102 - 75110.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to a petition for declaratory ruling [34 pages in PDF] filed by the Fax Ban Coalition that asks the FCC to find that the FCC has exclusive authority to regulate interstate commercial fax messages, and that § 17538.43 of the California Business and Professions Code, and all other State laws that purport to regulate interstate facsimile transmissions, are preempted by the TCPA, which is codified at 47 U.S.C. § 541.

The House will meet at 2:00 PM in pro forma session. See, Republican Whip Notice.

9:30 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir) will hear oral argument in Mobile Relay Association v. FCC, No. 04-1413. Judges Sentelle, Henderson and Tatel will preside. This is a case regarding the FCC reorganization of the 800 MHz band. See, FCC brief [PDF]. Location: Prettyman Courthouse, 333 Constitution Ave., NW.

Super Bowl Sunday.

9:30 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing titled "Wartime Executive Power and the NSA’s Surveillance Authority". The witnesses will include Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Press contact: Blain Rethmeier (Specter) at 202 224-5225. Location: undisclosed.

9:30 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir) will hear oral argument in Paradise Cable v. FCC, No. 05-1040. Judges Ginsburg, Henderson and Randolph will preside. Location: Prettyman Courthouse, 333 Constitution Ave., NW.

10:00 AM. The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) will hold a hearing titled "Net Neutrality". See, notice. Press contact: Melanie Alvord (Stevens) at 202 224-8456, Aaron Saunders (Stevens) at 202 224-3991, or Andy Davis (Inouye) at 202 224-4546. The hearing will be webcast by the SCC. Location: Room 562, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Arendi USA v. Microsoft, an appeal from the U.S. District Court (DRI) in patent infringement case involving smart tags in Microsoft's Office XP. This is App. Ct. No. 05-1170. Location: Courtroom 402, 717 Madison Place, NW.

5:00 PM. Deadline to submit applications to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) for Public Telecommunications Facilities Program (PTFP) grants for fiscal year 2006. See, NTIA notice and notice in the Federal Register, December 13, 2005, Vol. 70, No. 238, at Pages 73737 - 73738.

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