9/27. The House Judiciary Committee (HJC) met to mark up several bills, including HR 6052 [100 pages in PDF], the "Copyright Modernization Act of 2006". Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), the Chairman of the HJC called up the bill. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), the sponsor of the bill, then moved that it be withdrawn. There was no objection. This effectively delays further consideration of this legislation until next year when the 110th Congress meets.

Rep. Smith stated that he thought that the bill could have been approved by the HJC and by the full House, but that he did not wish to force members to make tough votes when enactment this year appeared unlikely.

He added that he will continue to work for approval of legislation in the next Congress.

The House schedule calls for recessing on September 29 for the November elections. However, there may be a lame duck session after the elections. There are other copyright bills that are now likely to lapse, such as HR 5361, known as the Perform Act. See, stories titled "Summary of the RIAA Lawsuit Against XM Satellite Radio", "Summary of the Sen. Feinstein's Perform Act", and "Music Licensing, Satellite Radio, and Perform Act Debated" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,384, June 5, 2006.

Background. HR 6052 includes revised versions of the "Section 115 Reform Act of 2006", or SIRA, and the "Orphan Works Act of 2006".

For background information on the SIRA, see stories titled "CIIP May Mark Up SIRA" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,386, June 7, 2006, and "CIIP Subcommittee Approves Section 115 Reform Act" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,388, June 9, 2006. Although, the version of the SIRA in HR 6052 contains many changes from the version approved by the CIIP Subcommittee on June 8, 2006.

For more information on the orphan works bill, see stories titled "Copyright Office Recommends Orphan Works Legislation" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,302, February 2, 2006, "House CIIP Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Orphan Works" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,326, March 9, 2006, "Rep. Smith Introduces Orphan Works Act of 2006" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,377, May 24, 2006, and "House CIIP Subcommittee Approves Orphan Works Act of 2006" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,378, May 25, 2006. See also, Copyright Office's (CO) report [133 pages in PDF] titled "Report on Orphan Works".

September 27 Meeting. Rep. Smith (at right) spoke during the HJC meeting about the "music licensing" portion of the bill. He said, "After checking with most of the members of the Judiciary Committee, I am absolutely convinced that we could have resisted unfriendly amendments, and this bill could have passed easily. However, at this point I also do not see a realistic way could actually enact this legislation, and get it to the President's desk for his signature. So, I think that it is best not to force a few of my colleagues to cast hard votes that they would rather not cast on this particular bill."

He added that "My colleagues can be assured that I intend to move forward with this legislation into next year, and I am confident that we will pass it then. I also want to say, Mr. Chairman, that I think the public deserves a music licensing system designed to the digital age, and I am to get it to them. I hope that my colleagues and the groups will continue to work on this legislation, and join me in reaching that goal in the coming months."

Members have been prepared to offer numerous amendments to both the music licensing and orphan works sections of the bill.

Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), the ranking Democrat on the HJC praised the "wisdom" of Rep. Smith "to pull the bill today".

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) argued for enactment of music licensing legislation. He said that "it is clear that you cannot have both the certainty, and the viable business solutions, without the act of Congress. We are not getting the full compromise to the business world, and clearly, the judiciary has a limited capability. Courts can give you interpretations of analog to digital law. They cannot give the certainty of business models necessary for the next generation of products. So, Mr. Chairman, I look forward to working with you to try to achieve that certainty for the business, and the content holders, in the next Congress."

Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) attended the meeting, but did not speak regarding HR 6052. TLJ spoke with him before the markup. He said that almost all of the discussion of HR 6052 leading up to this markup focused on the music licensing portion of the bill, and that there had been little discussion of the orphan works section. He also said the the HJC would not take up HR 6052 because of the lack of support for the bill.

Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA), the ranking Democrat on the HJC's Subcommittee on Courts the Internet and Intellectual Property (CIIP), spoke at the meeting. He commended Rep. Smith. He said that "I want to echo his comments about the importance of this issue, and the need to undertake serious reform of the music license, in the digital age, when we want to maximize the changes for legal online services, produce a living for the creators of this music, and which is under threat by virtue of some of the changes in technology."

TLJ spoke with Rep. Berman after the hearing. He said then that "It wasn't my decision to take it off".

Rep. Berman (at left) also said "I will take him at his word that it wasn't likely that a bill would pass this year. Rather than go through a process where sort through the number of the amendments that were going to be offered, in what would have been a protracted markup, for a bill that wasn't going to pass this year, he decided to wait until next year."

TLJ also asked whether any of the discussions were over the orphan works portion of the bill. Rep. Berman responded, "not too much. In fact, the irony is, one could argue that had his amended orphan works bill, which delayed the effective date for visual works, I had, I was going to offer an amendment, but he did a pretty decent job of a manager's amendment that satisfied my basic concern on creating a database for visual works, photographs, and things like that. But with that amendment, the orphan works bill would have probably, separated out, might have moved smoothly through this house. Whether it would have been taken up on the Senate, I'm not sure."

This markup was likely Rep. Sensenbrenner's last. Rep. Smith praised his service. Rep. Sensenbrenner received a long ovation from members and audience. In particular, Rep. Smith said of Rep. Sensenbrenner, and Rep. Conyers, "you have fought for our jurisdiction".

Rep. Smith did not elaborate, but Rep. Sensenbrenner has worked to maintain a role for antitrust law, and the HJC, in telecommunications. Also, he has worked to maintain HJC jurisdiction over copyright issues. The House Commerce Committee (HCC) has increasingly fought for jurisdiction over copyright related matters. For example, on Tuesday, September 26, the HCC's Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection held a hearing titled "Editing Hollywood's Editors: Cleaning Flicks for Families". The HCC has also successfully obtained jurisdiction over legislation that would create a fair use exemption to the DMCA's ban on circumvention.

Elections and the CIIP Subcommittee. At the September 27 meeting, Rep. Berman also thanked Rep. Smith for his willingness to continue to work with him on this bill "in what will become his minority position in the next Congress".

Rep. Sensenbrenner interjected, "without objection the gentleman may have permission to revise and extend his remarks".

TLJ asked Rep. Berman after the meeting whether he would become the Chairman of the HJC's CIIP Subcommittee if the Democrats take control of the House following the November elections. He said, "well, unless something happened that keeps the Committee from making me the Chairman, or something like that." He said that there is not another position that he would take.

He added that "the logical assumption would be that I would become Chair. Whether that actually happens, will play out. But I don't get into speculating about what will happen".

9/26. The U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir) issued its opinion [24 pages in PDF] in CTIA v. FCC, upholding the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) rules that adopted the document [29 pages in PDF] titled "Nationwide Programmatic Agreement Regarding the Section 106 National Historic Preservation Act Review Process", which regulates tower and antenna construction.

The order [65 pages in PDF] under review is FCC 04-222 in WT Docket No. 03-128. The FCC adopted this order on September 9, 2004, and released it on October 5, 2004. See, stories titled "FCC Announces NPRM Regarding Communications Facilities and the National Historic Preservation Act" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 677, June 10, 2003, and "FCC Adopts Report and Order Re FCC Licensing and the National Historic Preservation Act" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 975, September 13, 2004.

The issue before the court was whether the FCC has authority under Section 106 of the NHPA, which is codified at 16 U.S.C. § 470f, to write these rules.

Specifically, the Court of Appeals wrote that the CTIA argued that "the FCC erred in concluding that (1) tower construction constitutes a federal undertaking and (2) properties ``eligible for inclusion´´ under section 106, 16 U.S.C. § 470f, include not only proprieties formally designated as such by the Secretary of the Interior, but also properties that meet the criteria outlined in the statute and implementing regulations."

The Court found no error, and hence, denied the petition for review.

See also, brief [PDF] of the FCC.

This case is CTIA -- The Wireless Association v. FCC and USA, App. Ct. No. 05-1008, a petition for review of a final order of the FCC. Judge Griffith wrote the opinion of the Court of Appeals, in which Judges Garland and Tatel joined.

9/25. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced in a release that it has awarded contracts totaling $54 Million to facilitate the transition to interactive data. The SEC stated that the contracts will "transform the agency's 1980s-vintage public company disclosure system from a form-based electronic filing cabinet to a dynamic real-time search tool with interactive capabilities".

The SEC added that this "presages widespread adoption of interactive data filing by companies that report their financial information to the SEC".

The largest contract, for $48 Million, is with Keane Federal Systems, Inc., to modernize and maintain the SEC's EDGAR database.

The SEC elaborated that "The new system will be completely interactive. Using interactive data technologies such as XBRL (Extensible Business Reporting Language) and XML (Extensible Markup Language), it will allow investors and analysts to search not only forms, but the information within them. It will permit information to be immediately downloaded into applications software. And it will enable anyone to get real-time, streaming data using RSS feeds, ATOM, and other automated Web tools, which could automatically search for newly filed SEC disclosures and deliver the desired data directly to one’s desktop."

The SEC also announced a $5.5 Million contract with XBRL US, Inc., to complete the writing of XBRL taxonomies, or computer labels.

Finally, the SEC will pay $500 Thousand to Rivet Software and Wall Street on Demand to provide a new generation of interactive investor tools on the SEC’s website.

9/25. Michael Halloran was named Deputy Chief of Staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Counselor to the Chairman.

He is currently a partner in the San Francisco and Silicon Valley offices of the law firm of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman. He works in the firm's Corporate and Securities practice group. His firm web page states that he has worked with "venture capitalists and/or management in several high technology start up ventures and has served on the board of advisors of venture capital and buy-out funds and the boards of the resulting public companies".

SEC Chairman Christopher Cox, who is also from California, has been appointing more Californians to top positions at the SEC than prior Chairmen.

While Halloran has worked at Pillsbury for about 30 years, from 1990 through 1996 he was Group Executive Vice President and General Counsel for BankAmerica Corporation.

The SEC issued a release that states that Halloran will "advise the Chairman on the entirety of the Commission's program to promote investor protection, healthy markets, and capital formation. Mr. Halloran will work closely with the Chief of Staff to assist the Chairman in overall management of the Commission."

Halloran will begin work at the SEC on October 16, 2006.

9/26. The President nominated Phillip Swagel to be Assistant Secretary of the Treasury (Economic Policy). He is an economist who currently works at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). He was previously Chief of Staff of the President's Council of Economic Advisors (CEA). He has also worked at the International Monetary Fund and the Federal Reserve Board (FRB). See, White House release.

9/26. President Bush named Tony Fratto to be Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Press Secretary. He was previously Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the Department of the Treasury. He has also been Communications Director for Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA). See, White House release.

9/25. The Senate confirmed Francisco Besosa to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. See, Congressional Record, September 25, 2006, at Page S10107.

9/27. The House Commerce Committee announced that it "has served subpoenas to five investigators to testify at Thursday's hearing on the Hewlett-Packard corporate spying scandal". These five additional witnesses are:
  • Bryan Wagner (Littleton, Colorado)
  • Charles Kelly (CAS Agency, Villa Rica, Georgia)
  • Cassandra Selvage (Eye in the Sky Investigations, Dade City, Florida)
  • Darren Brost (Austin, Texas)
  • Valerie Preston (InSearchOf Inc., Cooper City, Florida)

9/26. President Bush signed HR 5684, the "United States-Oman Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act ". See, OUSTR release and story titled "Senate Approves US Oman FTA" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,452, September 19, 2006.

9/26. The Supreme Court issued an order list [3 pages in PDF]. There are no major technology related items on this list. However, the Court did grant certiorari in Sinochem International v. Malaysia International Shipping, Sup. Ct. No. 06-102, a case involving the forum non conveniens doctrine. See, February 7, 2006, opinion [53 pages in PDF] of the U.S. Court of Appeals (3rdCir).

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Notices & Disclaimers
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The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. It may take up HR 6166, the "Military Commissions Act of 2006", subject to a rule, and numerous non-technology related items under suspension of the rules. See, Republican Whip Notice and Whipping Post.

The Senate will meet at 9:30 AM. It will resume consideration of HR 6061, the "Secure Fence Act of 2006".

8:30 AM - 1:00 PM. The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) will host a conference titled "Defining the Acceptable Balance: A Reasoned Approach to Data Retention". The speakers will include Jim Harper (Cato Institute), Jim Dempsey (Center for Democracy and Technology), Michael Gavin (Forrester Research), and Philip Reitinger (Microsoft). See, notice. The price to attend ranges from free to $150. For more information, contact Eerik Kreek at 703-525-2279 or ekreek at itaa dot org. Location: Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill Hotel.

9:00 AM - 4:00 PM. Day two of a two day public meeting of the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB). See, notice in the Federal Register, July 12, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 133, at Pages 39318. Location: Room 7C13, GAO Building, 441 G St., NW.

10:00 AM. The House Judiciary Committee (HJC) will meet to mark up bills, including HR 6052 [100 pages in PDF], the "Copyright Modernization Act of 2006". HR 6052 includes the "Section 115 Reform Act of 2006", or SIRA, and the "Orphan Works Act of 2006". However, since this bill is the fourth item on a four item agenda, the HJC may not consider this bill. Press contact: Jeff Lungren or Terry Shawn at 202-225-2492. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

10:00 PM. The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) will meet to consider numerous nominees, including Cynthia Glassman (to be Under Secretary for Economic Affairs at the Department of Commerce) and Sharon Hays (to be Associate Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy), and several non-technology related bills. See, notice. The meeting will be webcast by the SCC. Press contact: Joe Brenckle (Stevens) at 202-224-3991, Brian Eaton (Stevens) at 202-224-0445, or Teri Rucker (Inouye) at 202-224-4546. Location: Room 253, Russell Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing on the nominations of nominations of Christopher Padilla to be Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration, and Bijan Rafiekian to be a member of the Board of Directors of the Export-Import Bank of the United States. See, notice. Location: Room 538, Dirksen Building.

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a program titled "Successful Law Firm Websites". The speaker will be Lexa Gandolfo. The price to attend ranges from $15 to $25. For more information, call 202-626-3463. See, notice. Location: D.C. Bar Conference Center, 1250 H Street NW, B-1 Level.

12:15 - 1:45 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) HLS/Emergency Communications Ad Hoc Committee will host a brown bag lunch. This is a new ad hoc committee. This event will be used to discuss what events the committee should host. For more information, contact Jennifer Manner at 703-390-2730 or jmanner at msvlp dot com. Location: Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, 2400 N Street, NW.

1:00 - 5:00 PM. Day one of a three day meeting of the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board's (ATBC) Telecommunications and Electronic and Information Technology Advisory Committee. See, notice in the Federal Register, September 12, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 176, at Pages 53629-53630. Location: National Science Foundation, Room II-555, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA.

2:00 PM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold a hearing titled "Sexual Exploitation of Children Over the Internet: Follow-up Issues to the Masha Allen Adoption". See, notice. Press contact: Larry Neal (Barton) at 202-225-5735. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

6:00 - 8:00 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) will host a continuing legal education (CLE) seminar titled "Missoula Intercarrier Compensation Plan -- Pros and Cons". Registrations and cancellations are due by 5:00 PM on September 25. The price to attend ranges from $50 to $125. See, registration form [PDF]. Location: Klein Law Group, Suite 700, 901 15th St., NW.

Day one of a three day conference for attorneys who represent media companies titled "Media Law Conference: Protecting the First Amendment in Challenging Times". It is hosted by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), Newspaper Association of America (NAA), and Media Law Resource Center (MLRC). See, conference web site. Location: Hilton Alexandria Mark Center, Alexandria, VA.

Day two of a two day event hosted by the American Society of Access Professionals (ASAP) titled "Annual Symposium and Training Conference". See, notice. Location: Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center (RRB/ITC), 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. It may take up HR 5825, the "Electronic Surveillance Modernization Act". See, Republican Whip Notice and Whipping Post.

9:00 AM - 4:00 PM. Day one of a two day public meeting of the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB). See, notice in the Federal Register, July 12, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 133, at Pages 39318. Location: Room 7C13, GAO Building, 441 G St., NW.

9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Day two of a three day meeting of the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board's (ATBC) Telecommunications and Electronic and Information Technology Advisory Committee. See, notice in the Federal Register, September 12, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 176, at Pages 53629-53630. Location: National Science Foundation, Room II-555, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA.

10:00 PM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold a hearing titled "Hewlett Packard's Pretexting Scandal". The HCC has invited Patricia Dunn (disgraced former Chairman of Hewlett Packard), Ann Baskins (General Counsel of HP), Larry Sonsini (Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati), Ronald DeLia (Security Outsourcing Solutions, Inc.). The HCC has also subpoenaed Kevin Hunsaker (former HP counsel) and Anthony Gentilucci (former global security manager at HP). See, notice. Press contact: Terry Lane (Barton) at 202-225-5735. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

12:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Wireless Telecommunications Practice Committee will host a lunch. The speakers will be Brad Ramsay (NARUC), Chris McCabe (CTIA), Chris Wright (Harris Wiltshire & Grannis), and Debra Berlyn (AARP). The price to attend is $15. Registrations and cancellations are due by 12:00 NOON on September 26. See, registration form [PDF]. Location: Latham & Watkins, 10th Floor, 555 11th St., NW.

TIME? The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR) will hold a hearing on its preparation of its annual report to the Congress on China's compliance with the commitments made in connection with its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). See, notice in the Federal Register, July 28, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 145, at Pages 42886-42887. The notice states that the hearing will be on "Wednesday, September 28". TLJ spoke with a representative of the OUSTR who stated that the notice should have stated "Thursday, September 28". Location:?

TIME? The Council on Competitiveness's (COC) Forum on Technology and Innovation may host an event titled "The Importance of Energy Sustainability for U.S. Competitiveness". Location?

Day two of a three day conference for attorneys who represent media companies titled "Media Law Conference: Protecting the First Amendment in Challenging Times". It is hosted by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), Newspaper Association of America (NAA), and Media Law Resource Center (MLRC). See, conference web site. Location: Hilton Alexandria Mark Center, Alexandria, VA.

The Republican Whip Notice states that the House will meet at 9:00 AM for legislative business.

9:00 AM - 3:30 PM. Day three of a three day meeting of the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board's (ATBC) Telecommunications and Electronic and Information Technology Advisory Committee. See, notice in the Federal Register, September 12, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 176, at Pages 53629-53630. Location: National Science Foundation, Room II-555, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA.

TIME AND LOCATION CHANGE. 10:00 AM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold a hearing titled "Internet Data Brokers and Pretexting: Who Has Access to Your Private Records?". See, notice. The witnesses will be Kevin Martin (FCC Chairman), Deborah Majoras (FTC Chairman), John Rooney (P/CEO of U.S. Cellular), Robert Dotson (P/CEO of T-Mobile USA), Stanley Sigman (P/CEO of Cingular Wireless), Scott Ford (P/CEO of Alltel Wireless), Gary Forsee (P/CEO of Sprint Nextel), and Dennis Strigl (P/CEO of Verizon Wireless). Press contact: Terry Lane (Barton) at 202-225-5735. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

Day three of a three day conference for attorneys who represent media companies titled "Media Law Conference: Protecting the First Amendment in Challenging Times". It is hosted by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), Newspaper Association of America (NAA), and Media Law Resource Center (MLRC). See, conference web site. Location: Hilton Alexandria Mark Center, Alexandria, VA.

Day one of a three day conference hosted by the Telecommunications Policy Research Conference (TPRC) titled "34th Research Conference on Communication, Information and Internet Policy". At 2:00 PM there will be a panel titled "The Relationship Between Antitrust and Regulation after Trinko and Brand X", and another panel titled "Municipal and Community Wireless Networks". At 4:00 PM, there will be a panel titled "The Promise and Perils of Peer Production: Evaluating Benkler’s Wealth of Networks". See, book [Amazon] titled "The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom". At 6:00 PM David Farber (University of Pennsylvania) will give a speech titled "Network Neutrality". See, notice and agenda. Location: George Mason University Law School, Arlington, VA.

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division regarding its Draft Special Publication 800-101 [98 pages in PDF], titled "Guidelines on Cell Phone Forensics".

Day two of a three day conference hosted by the Telecommunications Policy Research Conference (TPRC) titled "34th Research Conference on Communication, Information and Internet Policy". At 8:30 AM, there will be five different panels, titled "Standards and Technological Change", "European Regulation", "Spectrum Policy I -- New Policy Trends", "Universal Service", and "Television Broadcasting and Media Content I". At 10:40 AM there will be five panels, titled "New Theories of Network Pricing", "Net Neutrality and Open Access I", "Spectrum Policy II -- Spectrum Allocation Models and Tools", "Digital Divide, Affordable Access and Sustainable Development I" and "Television Broadcasting and Media Content II". At 2:00 PM, there will be five panels titled "Externalities and Effective Regulation", "Net Neutrality and Open Access II", "Spectrum Policy III -- Shared Use of Bandwidth", "Digital Divide, Affordable Access and Sustainable Development II", and "Media Concentration and Content Issues". At 4:10 PM, there will be five panels titled "Regulation and Firm Structure", "Understanding Broadband Diffusion", "Municipal Wireless Initiatives", "Service Deployment and Use in Rural & Remote Areas", and "Intellectual Property and Digital Rights I". At 6:30 PM, FCC Commissioner Deborah Tate will give the dinner speech. See, notice and agenda. Location: George Mason University Law School, Arlington, VA.

Deadline to submit comments to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers' (ICANN) Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) regarding its review of practices associated with the technical checks that it performs on data provided by top level domain operators for inclusion in the root zone. See, ICANN notice.

Day three of a three day conference hosted by the Telecommunications Policy Research Conference (TPRC) titled "34th Research Conference on Communication, Information and Internet Policy". At 8:30 AM, there will be five panels, titled "Industry Structure", "Internet, Telephony and the Law", "MVNO: Regulation and Economics", "Municipal and Community Broadband", and "Privacy, Security and e-Business". At 10:40 AM, there will be five panels titled "The State and its Citizens", "Internet Governance", "An Economic Experiment: Congestion in Common Pool Resources", "Access", and "Internet Content Protection and Commerce". See, notice and agenda. Location: George Mason University Law School, Arlington, VA.

Yom Kippur.

8:30 AM - 1:30 PM. The President's Committee on the National Medal of Science will hold a closed meeting to discuss the selection of the 2006 National Medal of Science recipients. See, notice in the Federal Register, August 10, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 154, at Page 45862. Location: Room 1235, National Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, VA.

5:00 PM. Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division regarding its Draft Special Publication 800-78-1 [22 pages in PDF] titled "Cryptographic Standards and Key Sizes for Personal Identity Verification".

5:00 PM. Deadline to submit comments to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) regarding its Special 301 review of the nations of Canada, Latvia and Saudi Arabia. The Trade Act of 1974 requires the USTR to identify countries that deny adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights or deny fair and equitable market access to U.S. persons who rely on intellectual property protection. See, notice in the Federal Register, August 23, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 163, at Pages 49491-49492.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Immersion v. Sony Computer, an appeal from the U.S. District Court (NDCal) in a patent infringement case involving the technology used in the controller in Sony PlayStation consoles. This case is App. Ct. No. 2005-1227 and D.C. No. C-02-071 CW (WDB). Location: Courtroom 201, 717 Madison Place, NW.

10:00 AM - 1:30 PM. The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) will host a program titled "The World Trading System after the Collapse of Doha: The WTO, Developing Countries, and Regionalism". There will be a panel discussion at 10:00 AM. The speakers will include Grant Aldonas (recently Under Secretary of Commerce), Claude Barfield (AEI), Daniel Drezner (Tufts University), and Daniel Tarullo (Georgetown University Law Center). U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab will give the luncheon address. See, notice. Location: 12th floor, 1150 17th St., NW.

3:00 - 5:00 PM. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will host a roundtable on interactive data. The SEC also seeks written comments. See, notice. Location: SEC, auditorium, 100 F Street, NE.

11:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) WRC-07 Advisory Committee will meet to discuss preparations for the 2007 World Radiocommunication Conference. See, notice in the Federal Register, September 6, 2006, Vol. 71, No. 172, at Page 52544. Location: FCC, Room TW-C305, 445 12th Street, SW.