2/13. Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) gave a speech in Washington DC to the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC). He suggested that on some subjects, state and local regulation and franchising raise the cost of providing services, delay competition, and harm consumers, and "border on extortion".

But, he told his audience of state and local regulators, "I do hope that I don't cause you too much consternation".

Sen. Stevens, who is the Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee (SCC), said that "Communications industries across the board have complained that the patchwork of American laws created by 50 state legislatures, 50 state PUCs, 30,000 franchise authorities, and even more municipalities -- not to mention Congress and the FCC -- make it nearly impossible to enter this business.

He said that "In the video marketplace there are 50,000 communities with cable franchises and 30,000 franchise authorities. Verizon recently told me it takes about a year to negotiate one of these agreements. If one franchise agreement is signed each day, it will still take 40 years and tens of millions of dollars to complete the franchising process."

Sen. Stevens concluded that "When new entrants have to negotiate with 30,000 franchising authorities, competition is delayed and consumers pay the price."

He continued that "Some cities have required cable operators to build playgrounds, fix street lights, and install traffic signals in order to get a franchise. Such demands border on extortion and ought not be permitted as part of any negotiation. Other cities have demanded a large number of public channels -- up to 14 in some cases. To me that hardly makes sense when even New York City has only four or five."

The SCC will hold a hearing titled "State and Local Issues and Municipal Networks" at 10:00 AM on Tuesday, February 14. It will hold a hearing titled "Video Franchising" at 10:00 AM on Wednesday, February 15.

Sen. Stevens also addressed state regulation under the rubric of consumer protection. He said that "One option our Committee has discussed with your leadership is the idea of creating Joint Boards to work out common national standards on key issues. A Joint Board made up of the FCC and state regulators could develop a national standard outlining how cell phone bills should be printed. The FCC could adopt the standard but leave it to the states to enforce it at the local level."

He also discussed VOIP services. "The FCC has already taken the position that VoIP -- Voice over Internet Protocol -- is an interstate service and should be regulated at the federal level. That decision could be reversed by the Courts, so Congress may have to clarify exactly how VoIP should be regulated. Our VoIP hearing will explore this issue and how consumers and providers can be protected at the same time."

Sen. Stevens also discussed proposals to extending universal service subsidies to broadband, and intercarrier compensation.

2/8. Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT) introduced S 2256, the "Internet and Universal Service Act of 2006".

This bill would require the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to "ensure that eligible telecommunications carriers have sufficient incentives, through the use of Federal universal service support mechanisms, to invest and deploy network facilities necessary to provide broadband service and broadband voice service for the benefit of all Americans in rural, insular, and high-cost areas".

It requires the FCC to complete a rulemaking proceeding within 180 days "to define advanced telecommunications infrastructure and broadband service". Although, the bill begins the process by providing that this includes "network facilities and capabilities that enable 2-way transmission of information using Internet protocol or any successor protocol".

Under this bill, subsidies would continue to be paid to "any eligible telecommunications carrier", as is currently the case, rather than to consumers of services, as some others have proposed.

Sen. Burns (at right) stated that "As consumers switch to new technologies such as wireless service, e-mail, voice over IP, universal service is slowly taking in less money every year." Hence, his bill would expand the entities that would be taxed to fund the program.

It provides that "Each provider of telecommunications, broadband service, or broadband voice service shall contribute to the Federal universal service funding".

The bill provides that "broadband service" means "transmission of information" at "200 kilobits per second in at least 1 direction", and includes, but is not limited to, DSL, cable modem, and spectrum based service.

The bill defines "broadband voice service" as a "2-way voice service" that is "interconnected with a public switched network".

The bill also provides that the taxed service providers may put a line item on their customer billing statements, but that if they do so, they "shall" label it as "Federal Universal Service Fee". This would have the effect of prohibiting service providers from accurately and fully informing their customers of the nature of program.

The bill also addresses subsidies for rural health care providers.

See also, statement in Sen. Burns' web site, and expanded version in Congressional Record, February 8, 2006, at Pages S866-7.

Walter McCormick, head of USTelecom (formerly USTA), stated in a release that "Senator Burns took a step forward in helping to shape the debate on efforts to update our telecom laws and preserve and modernize the nation’s universal service program. We appreciate this initiative on an extremely complex and critical issue and will work closely with the Commerce Committee to enact comprehensive reform legislation this year."

2/13. The Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization (WTO) released a report [47 pages in PDF] titled "United States -- Tax Treatment for ``Foreign Sales Corporations´´ Second Recourse to Article 21.5 of the DSU by the European Communities". It upholds the September WTO panel report that found that certain provisions of the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 (which is also known as the Jobs Act and AJCA) still constitute illegal export subsidies in violation of the US's WTO obligations.

This is a long running set of proceedings. Previously, a WTO dispute settlement body (DSB) found fault with the Foreign Sales Corporation (FSC) and Extraterritorial Income (ETI) tax regimes. The Congress enacted the AJCA in 2004. The AJCA repealed the FSC/ETI provisions of US law, but also included transitional language, and some grandfathering. The EU again complained to the WTO.

See, WTO's September report [34 pages in PDF]. See also, story titled "WTO Concludes AJCA Still Violates DSB's FSC/ETI Rulings" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,225, October 3, 2005.

Among the possible consequences of this is that the EU might impose retaliatory tariffs that would adversely impact trade between the U.S. and Europe, including technology related trade.

Specifically, the Appellate Body just found as follows:

  "(a) upholds the Panel's finding, in paragraph 7.87 of the Panel Report, that Section 5(c)(1)(B) of the FSC Repeal and Extraterritorial Income Exclusion Act of 2000, grandfathering prohibited FSC subsidies, was within its terms of reference176; and
  (b) upholds the Panel's finding and conclusion, in paragraphs 7.65 and 8.1 of the Panel Report, that "to the extent that the United States, by enacting Section 101 of the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004, maintains prohibited FSC and ETI subsidies through [the] transitional and grandfathering measures, it continues to fail to implement fully the operative DSB recommendations and rulings to withdraw the prohibited subsidies and to bring its measures into conformity with its obligations under the relevant covered agreements."

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) stated in a release that "I’ve said many times how disappointed I am by the European Commission’s insistence on perpetuating this dispute. The United States Congress worked for years to come into compliance with our WTO obligations. And, the Europeans seemed to have appreciated and accepted our compliance efforts on FSC/ETI. That's until we raised the issue of Airbus subsidies in the WTO. Their blatant linkage of WTO disputes is a dangerous precedent."

He added that "I’m not the only one who feels this way. I understand that few in the European business community favor perpetuation of this dispute or any resumption of trade sanctions, especially now when we’re trying to work together to enhance U.S.-EU cooperation both bilaterally and within the World Trade Organization. I want to underscore this point. If sanctions are resumed, they’ll only disrupt our bilateral economic relations. I doubt Congress will revisit this legislation. That's especially so since the two-year transition is over at the end of this year. After that, any benefits from the grandfathering provisions will be small. I hope the Europeans will reconsider their decision to re-authorize sanctions. The Airbus/Boeing disputes will be decided on their own merits. There’s just no reason to aggravate tensions by dragging FSC/ETI on any longer."

2/13. Marvin Barth was named Chief Economist for International Affairs and Director of Research and Risk Analysis at the Department of the Treasury. See, Treasury release.

2/13. President Bush nominated James Lambright to be President of the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. for the remainder of a four-year term expiring January 20, 2009. He is currently the acting President. See, White House release and release.

2/13. President Bush announced his intent to appoint Oliver Baker (Jefferson Lab), Sally Mason, Robert Moore (professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh), and Harvey Rosen (economics professor at Princeton University) to be members of the President's Committee on the National Medal of Science, for the remainder of three year terms expiring on December 31, 2008. See, White House release.

2/13. President Bush nominated Donald DeGabrielle to be the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas for a term of four years. See, White House release.

2/13. The Securities and Exchange Commmission (SEC) announced that it has extended to March 10, 2006, the deadline for companies to join the SEC's interactive data test group. See, SEC release.

2/13. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report [57 pages in PDF] titled "Information Technology: Agencies Need to Improve the Accuracy and Reliability of Investment Information".

2/13. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report [160 pages in PDF] titled "Media Contracts: Activities and Financial Obligations for Seven Federal Departments". The GAO examined contracts at the Department of Commerce, Department of Defense, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Homeland Security, Department of the Interior, Department of the Treasury, and Department of Veterans Affairs. It found that these seven departments have entered into "343 media contracts, for which they incurred obligations of $1.62 billion, from fiscal year 2003 through the end of the second quarter, fiscal year 2005. The most contracts were with advertising agencies".

2/8. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Telecommunications and Information Adminstration (NTIA) announced that the International Telecommunication Advisory Committee's (ITAC) 5 GHz Working Group "has reached consensus on recommendations for certification criteria for Unlicensed-National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) devices employing Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS). By utilizing DFS, unlicensed devices may detect and avoid transmitting on channels being used by military radars vital to national defense". See, NTIA release.

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Notices & Disclaimers
Copyright 1998 - 2005 David Carney, dba Tech Law Journal. All rights reserved.

Valentine's Day.

The House will meet at 2:00 PM for legislative business. It will consider several non-technology related items under suspension of the rules. Votes will be postponed until 6:30 PM. See, Republican Whip Notice.

The Senate will meet at 9:45 AM. It will resume consideration of HR 4297, the Tax Relief Act of 2005.

10:00 AM. The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) will hold a hearing titled "State and Local Issues and Municipal Networks". The witnesses will be Robert Sahr (South Dakota Public Utilities Commission), Diane Munns (National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners), John Perkins (National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates), Michael Altschul (CTIA), Douglas Boone (Premier Communications), Donald Berryman (EarthLink), Dianah Neff (City of Philadelphia). 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 Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing on the nominations of Randall Kroszner and Kevin Warsh (to be members of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System) and Edward Lazear (President's Council of Economic Advisors). See, notice. Location: Room 538, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The U.S. District Court (DC) will hold a status conference in U.S. v. Microsoft, D.C. Nos. 98-CV-1232 CKK, and 98-CV-1233. Location: Courtroom 28A, Prettyman Courthouse, 333 Constitution Ave., NW.

11:00 AM. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and other House Democrats will host an event at which they will discuss the "House Democrats' Innovation Agenda" and "the need to create a new generation of innovators that reflects the diversity of our country". The participants will include Rep. Pelosi, Rep. George Miller (D-CA), Rep. Hilda Solis (D-CA), Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-FL), and George Lucas (a movie director). For more information, contact Brendan Daly or Jennifer Crider (Pelosi's office) at 202 226-7616. Location: Room HC-5, Capitol Building.

2:00 PM. The House International Relations Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold a joint hearing titled "Chinese Influence on U.S. Foreign Policy through U.S. Educational Institutions, Multilateral Organizations and Corporate America" See, notice. Location: Room 21712, Rayburn Building.

5:30 PM. The House Armed Services Committee will meet to mark up HRes 645, which requests the Bush administration "to transmit to the House of Representatives all information in the possession of the President or the Secretary of Defense relating to the collection of intelligence information pertaining to persons inside the United States without obtaining court-ordered warrants authorizing the collection of such information and relating to the policy of the United States with respect to the gathering of counterterrorism intelligence within the United States". Location: Room 2118, Rayburn Building.

Day three of a four day conference hosted by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) titled "2006 Winter Committee Meetings". See, notice. Location: Hyatt Regency Washington.

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

8:45 AM. Representatives of domain name registrars, including Network Solutions and GoDaddy.com, will host a "press breakfast ... on issues related to ICANN's pending decision in regard to the revised proposals for the .com contract extension and settlement agreement with VeriSign". RSVP by 3:00 PM. Tuesday, February 14, to Mary Greczyn at 202 371-2997 or mg at ftidc dot com. Location: Freedom Technologies, 1317 F Street, NW, fourth floor.

9:30 AM. The Senate Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing on several pending nominations, including that of James Finley to be Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology. See, notice. Location: Room 106, Dirksen Building.

POSTPONED. 10:00 AM. The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) will hold a hearing titled "FCC Activities and Policy". 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.

RESCHEDULED FROM JANUARY 31. 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.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) may hold a hearing on the nominations of Stephen Larson (to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California) and Jack Zouhary (Northern District of Ohio). The SJC frequently cancels or postpones hearing without notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The House Judiciary Committee (HJC) will meet to mark up numerous items, including HRes 643, which requests the Attorney General (AG) to submit to the House "all documents in the possession of the Attorney General relating to warrantless electronic surveillance of telephone conversations and electronic communications of persons in the United States conducted by the National Security Agency", HRes 644, which requests the President and AG to give the House within 14 days "documents in the possession of those officials relating to the authorization of electronic surveillance of citizens of the United States without court approved warrants", and HR 4709, the "Law Enforcement and Phone Privacy Protection Act of 2006". See, notice. Press contact: Terry Shawn at 202 225.2492. The meeting will be webcast by the HJC. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet will hold a hearing titled "The Law and Economics of Interchange Fees". See, notice. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) will meet to received the Federal Reserve Board's (FRB) semiannual monetary policy report. FRB Chairman Ben Bernanke will testify. See, HFSC release. Location: Room 2128, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The House Homeland Security Committee will hold a hearing titled "The State of Interoperable Communications: Perspectives from the Field". Location: Room 311, Cannon Buildling.

10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The House Science Committee (HSC) will hold a hearing titled "An Overview of the Federal R&D Budget for Fiscal Year 2007". The witnesses will be John Marburger (Director of the EOP's Office of Science and Technology Policy), Samuel Bodman (Secretary of Energy), David Sampson (Deputy Secretary of Commerce), Arden Bement (Director of the National Science Foundation), and Charles McQueary (Undersecretary for Science and Technology at the DHS). For more information, contact Peter Rooney (Republican staff) at 202 225-6371, or Christal Sheppard (Democratic staff) at 202 225-6375. The hearing will be web cast by the HSC. Location: Room 2318, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The House International Relations Committee's Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations and Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific will hold a joint hearing titled "The Internet in China: A Tool for Freedom or Suppression?" The witnesses will be David Gross (Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Communications and Information Policy at the Department of State), James Keith (Senior Advisor for China and Mongolia Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the Department of State), Michael Callahan (Yahoo), Jack Krumholtz (Microsoft), Elliot Schrage (Google), Mark Chandler (Cisco), Libby Liu (Radio Free Asia), Xiao Qiang (China Internet Project at UC Berkeley), Lucie Morillon ( Reporters Without Borders), and Harry Wu (China Information Center). See, notice. Location: Room 21712, Rayburn Building.

10:30 AM. The House Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing titled "President's Fiscal Year 2007 Budget". Secretary of the Treasury John Snow will testify. See, notice. Location: Room 1100, Longworth Building.

1:30 PM. The House Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing titled "President Bush's Trade Agenda". The only witness will be U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman. See, notice. Location: Room 1100, Longworth Building.

2:00 - 4:00 PM. The Department of State's International Telecommunication Advisory Committee (ITAC) will hold the sixth 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.

2:30 PM. The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) will hold a hearing to examine developments in nanotechnology. 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.

5:00 PM. Deadline to submit applications to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for its 2006 SURF grants. These are the Gaithersburg Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program, and the Boulder Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program. The NIST distributes grants for, among other topics, electronics and electrical engineering, and information technology. See, notice in the Federal Register, January 9, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 5, at Pages 1411 - 1416.

6:00 - 8:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Common Carrier Practice Committee will host a continuing legal education seminar (CLE) titled "Federal Universal Service Regulation and Policy: Where are We Going, and Why?" The first of two panels is titled "USF Contribution Mechanisms". The speakers will be Joel Lubin (AT&T), Tina Pidgeon (GCI), Donald Stockdale (FCC's Wireline Competition Bureau), and Rick Cimerman (NCTA). The second panel is titled "USF Distribution Policies". The speakers will be Paul Feldman (Fletcher Heald & Hildreth), Eric Einhorn (AT&T), Nannette Thompson (GCI), and Bob Rowe (Rowe & Balhoff). See, notice [MS Word] and registration form [MS Word]. The price to attend ranges from $75 to $125. Location: Wiley Rein & Fielding, 1776 K Street, NW.

Day four of a four day conference hosted by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) titled "2006 Winter Committee Meetings". See, notice. Location: Hyatt Regency Washington.

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

9:15 AM - 1:30 PM. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce will host a half day conference titled "Private Securities Litigation Ten Years After the PSLRA: What’s Working, What’s Not?". See, notice. Location: U.S. Chamber, 1615 H St., NW.

9:30 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee may hold an executive business meeting. See, notice. The SJC frequently cancels or postpones meetings without notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing titled "First Monetary Policy Report to the Congress for 2006". Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke will testify. See, notice. Location: Room 538, Dirksen Building.

10:30 AM. The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing on the Bush administration's trade agenda for 2006. Location: Room 215, Dirksen Building.

12:00 NOON - 2:00 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a panel discussion titled "What Every Lawyer Needs to Know About Copyright and Fair Use". The speakers will include Ronald Dove (Covington & Burling), Margaret Esquenet (Finnegan Henderson), and Matthew DelNero (Covington & Burling). 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 PM. The House Appropriations Committee's Science, the Departments of State, Justice, and Commerce, and Related Agencies will hold a hearing on the budget for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). Location: H-309, Capitol Building.

6:00 - 8:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Engineering Committee will host a continuing legal education (CLE) seminar titled "FCC Regulation of New Technologies". The speakers will be Mitchell Lazarus (Fletcher, Heald & Hildreth), Julius Knapp (Deputy Chief of the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology), Rashmi Doshi (Chief of the FCC's OET's Laboratory Division), Karl Nebbia (National Telecommunications Information Administration), Barry Ohlson (assistant to FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein), and Jay Birnbaum (Current Communications Group). See, notice and registration form [PDF]. The price to attend ranges from $50 to $125. Location: Dow Lohnes & Albertson, 1200 New Hampshire Ave., NW.

8:15 PM. Georgetown University Law Center (GULC) will host a panel discussion titled "The War on Terror: Civil Defense vs. Civil Liberties". The speakers will be Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA), Neal Katyal (GULC), Seymour Hersh, and Wolf Blitzer (CNN). Location: GULC, Hart Auditorium, McDonough Hall, 600 New Jersey Ave., NW.

The House may meet. The Republican Whip Notice states that "no votes are expected".

George Washington's birthday.

The House will not meet on Monday, February 20, through Friday, February 24. See, Majority Whip's calendar.

The Senate will not meet on Monday, February 20, through Friday, February 24. See, 2006 Senate calendar.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and other federal offices will be closed. See, Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) list of federal holidays.

12:00 NOON UTC. Deadline to submit comments to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) regarding the proposed agreements that would settle litigation between VeriSign and the ICANN. See, story titled "ICANN Seeks Comments on Settlement of Litigation with VeriSign" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,300, January 31, 2006.

12:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Mass Media Practice Committee will host a brown bag lunch titled "Broadcasters Delve Into the Digital Future". The speakers will be Rick Chessen (Sheppard Mullin), David Fleming (General Counsel of Gannett Broadcasting), Albert Shuldiner (General Counsel of iBiquity), Steve Smith (Broadcast Technology Consultants, Inc.), and Mike Starling (NPR). For more information, contact Eva Dia at edia at sheppardmullin dot com. Location: Sheppard Mullin, 1300 I Street, 11th floor.