10/9. Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) and Rep. Sylvestre Reyes (D-TX) introduced HR 3773 [PDF | LOC | WW], the "Responsible Electronic Surveillance That is Overseen, Reviewed, and Effective Act of 2007" or RESTORE Act, a FISA reform bill.

Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC), stated in a release that "Congress's hurried consideration of the Protect America Act was legislating at its worst. Congress must fix the fundamental flaws of that legislation -- the utter failure to protect the privacy of Americans at home and abroad, and the complete lack of meaningful judicial, congressional and administrative oversight. Congress must act responsibly and not be intimidated into giving the administration unnecessary powers it could too easily abuse. ..."

He also spoke in opposition to granting immunity for warrantless wiretapping. He said that "The House Democratic leadership is right to refuse to grant immunity for alleged cooperation with the President’s warrantless wiretapping program -- it would be irresponsible to grant immunity when the Administration still refuses to provide Congress with its legal opinions justifying that program."

Sen. Feingold (at left) concluded that "any legislation to amend FISA also must protect the privacy of Americans in the U.S. making international communications. Americans are communicating with people overseas more than ever before. If an American businessperson wants to contact a foreign customer, or a student wants to email a friend she met while studying abroad, or a journalist wants to call a foreign source, they should not have to give up the protections granted to them by our Constitution."

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) stated in a release that "Chairmen Conyers and Reyes have written a bill that restores many of the freedoms that were undermined by the White House’s bill passed this August."

Rep. Nadler was perhaps the harshest critic of the Bush administration and its surveillance at the HFC's hearing on September 18, 2007.

His release adds that "The RESTORE Act takes several steps to undo the damage done by the White House’s Protect America Act, which was stampeded through Congress in August."

The Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) stated in its web site that the bill "would restore some limited judicial oversight of government eavesdropping affecting American citizens. CDT is urging Congress to further strengthen the role of the FISA Court . In particular, the legislation, which authorizes blanket warrants for periods of up to one year, should be amended to require individual court orders when surveillance targeted at persons abroad intrudes on the rights of Americans who are communicating with people overseas".

Caroline Fredrickson, of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), stated in a release that "The ACLU sees one major flaw in the RESTORE Act. As drafted, the RESTORE Act still allows for the US government to collect phone calls and emails from Americans without an individual warrant."

The ACLU release elaborates that "Program warrants -- sometimes called basket warrants, sometime called blanket warrants -- included in the draft bill are a crucial sticking point. There is no specific target when you use basket warrants, which contradicts the heart of the Fourth Amendment.  Essentially, a basket warrant really means no real warrant."

10/9. Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) and Rep. Sylvestre Reyes (D-TX) introduced HR 3773 [PDF | LOC | WW], the "Responsible Electronic Surveillance That is Overseen, Reviewed, and Effective Act of 2007" or RESTORE Act, a bill to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, which is codified at 50 U.S.C. § 1801 et seq. The following is a cursory summary.

Section 1 of the bill merely provides its title, and a table of contents.

Section 2 of the bill provides that acquisition of foreign to foreign communications, even if routed through the US, do not require a court order.

Specifically, the bill states that Section 105A of the FISA is amended to read as follows: "SEC. 105A. (a) FOREIGN TO FOREIGN COMMUNICATIONS.--Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, a court order is not required for the acquisition of the contents of any communication between persons that are not United States persons and are not located within the United States for the purpose of collecting foreign intelligence information, without respect to whether the communication passes through the United States or the surveillance device is located within the United States."

Section 105A of the FISA, which was added in August by S 1927 (Protect America Act), follows the previously existing Section 105. Section 105 of the FISA, which is codified at 50 U.S.C. § 1805, is the provision that allows the government to obtain orders for electronic surveillance from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC).

Section 105A, created by S 1927 (PAA), provides in full that "Nothing in the definition of electronic surveillance under section 101(f) shall be construed to encompass surveillance directed at a person reasonably believed to be located outside of the United States."

Section 101 of the FISA, which is codified at 50 U.S.C. § 1801, is a definitional section. Section 101(f) provides the definition of "electronic surveillance".

That is, the PAA's Section 105A redefines some of electronic surveillance -- that which is directed at a person reasonably believed to be located outside of the U.S. -- as not constituting "electronic surveillance" within the meaning of the FISA.

The PAA's Section 105A considers only the location of the person at whom the surveillance is directed. It applies where the person at whom the surveillance is not directed is located in the US. In contrast, the RESTORE Act's Section 105A considers the location of both parties to the communication, and only allows the government to conduct warrantless surveillance when both parties are outside the US.

Under the RESTORE Act, if the government seeks electronic surveillance on the basis that it is directed at a person outside the US, it generally must obtain an order, and follow the procedure set forth in Section 105 (which existed prior to passage of the PAA), or procedures set forth in the RESTORE Act.

Section 2 of the RESTORE Act next provides that,

"(b) COMMUNICATIONS OF NON-UNITED STATES PERSONS OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED STATES.--Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act other than subsection (a), electronic surveillance that is directed at the acquisition of the communications of a person that is reasonably believed to be located outside the United States and not a United States person for the purpose of collecting foreign intelligence information (as defined in paragraph (1) or (2)(A) of section 101(e)) by targeting that person shall be conducted pursuant to--
  (1) an order approved in accordance with section 105 or 105B; or
  (2) an emergency authorization in accordance with section 105 or 105C."

Section 101(e), which is codified at 50 U.S.C. § 1801(e), defines "foreign intelligence information" or FII. This includes not only terrorist information, but national defense related information, and any information that relates to "the conduct of the foreign affairs of the United States". The RESTORE Act's reference to "paragraph (1) or (2)(A)" excludes (2)(B), which includes the "conduct of foreign affairs". Thus, while the RESTORE Act does not narrow the definition of FII generally, it limits the types of FII that apply in the new Section 105B. (Section 105A applies to the full range of FII.)

The PAA created a new Section 105B. It provides that the "Director of National Intelligence and the Attorney General, may for periods of up to one year authorize the acquisition of foreign intelligence information concerning persons reasonably believed to be outside the United States", and elaborates on procedures for such authorizations, including certifications, and notice to the foreign intelligence surveillance court.

The RESTORE Act's Section 105A refers to both Section 105B and 105C. Section 3 of the RESTORE Act then provides a new Section 105B, which replaces the Section 105B of the PAA. It covers "Procedures for Authorizing Acquisitions of Communications of Non-United States Persons Located Outside of the United States". The PAA created no Section 105C. Section 4 of the RESTORE Act creates a Section 105C anew. It covers "Emergency Authorization of Acquisitions of Communications of Non-United States Persons Located Outside of the United States".

Section 3 of the RESTORE Act provides for the issuance of orders from the court. It provides, among other things, that "Notwithstanding any other law, no cause of action shall lie in any court against any person for providing any information, facilities, or assistance in accordance with an order issued under this subsection." This is in addition to the immunity long provided for by Section 105, and the immunity provided for by the PAA, which has a six month sunset.

Notably, the RESTORE Act does not provide immunity retroactively to those who cooperated in providing warrantless surveillance.

Rep. Conyers' summary states that "The bill is silent on retroactive immunity because the Administration has refused to provide Congress with documents on the specifics of the President’s warrantless surveillance program. However, the bill does provide prospective immunity for those complying with court orders issued pursuant to this authority."

Also, the PAA on its face extended to things other than wiretaps, such as acquisition of business records, physical searches, and interception of mail. Bush administration representatives downplayed the significance of these other types of gathering FII in testimony and written statements in September. The RESTORE Act contains no language that would extend to business records, physical searches, and mail.

Rep. Conyers wrote in his summary that "Administration officials indicated that they did not intend their legislation to authorize such warrantless domestic searches and expressed a willingness to consider alternative language."

Section 5 pertains to "Oversight of Acquisition of Communications of Non-United States Persons Located Outside of the United States".

Section 6 of the bill gives the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) the discretionary authority to sit en banc. Rep. Conyers wrote in his summary that "The FISA Court requested this, and the Administration does not oppose it."

Section 7 of the bill requires the DOJ's Inspector General to complete within six months "an audit of all programs of the Federal Government involving the acquisition of communications conducted without a court order on or after September 11, 2001, including the Terrorist Surveillance Program referred to by the President in a radio address on December 17, 2005."

It adds that "Such audit shall include acquiring all documents relevant to such programs, including memoranda concerning the legal authority of a program, authorizations of a program, certifications to telecommunications carriers, and court orders."

Section 8 pertains to record keeping by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Director of National Intelligence (DNI).

Section 9 of the bill also authorizes the appropriation of more funds for the DOJ's National Security Division, and the National Security Agency, for the purpose of processing FISA applications and submissions, and for complying with record keeping, reporting, and audit requirements.

Section 10 of the bill provides that "Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) shall be the exclusive means by which electronic surveillance may be conducted for the purpose of gathering foreign intelligence information." (Parentheses in original.)

Perhaps one consequence of this is that the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) cannot serve as the basis for warrantless wiretaps. See, Public Law 107-40; 115 Stat. 224; 50 U.S.C. 1541 note.

Also, if the President has inherent authority under the Constitution to conduct warrantless wiretaps notwithstanding the FISA or any other statute, then one argument would be that a statute could not repeal that Constitutional power. Another argument might be that there is not such Constitutional authority, and this provision clarifies that the President has no such authority.

10/9. President Bush released a document titled "National Strategy for Homeland Security". It is a wide ranging statement covering covers both natural threats, such as hurricanes, and man made threats, including terrorist attacks of many kinds.

First, there is a short cover letter from President Bush. Then, Section 1 is an overview.

Section 2 of the document recounts accomplishments to date, such as creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and recommends further changes, such as FISA reform.

It states that "We must make additional reforms to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and ensure that the statute is permanently amended so that our intelligence professionals continue to have the legal tools they need to gather information about the intentions of our enemies while protecting the civil liberties of Americans."

Section 5 of the document is titled "Prevent and Disrupt Terrorist Attacks". Section 6 addresses cybersecurity, and protecting other critical infrastructures. These two sections contain most of the material that is pertinent to information and communications technologies.

Section 5 states that "In order to uncover terrorists and terrorist activity against the backdrop of our highly mobile, dynamic, and diverse society, we must attain domain awareness of the actions, events, and trends that occur throughout our land, maritime, air, space, and cyber domains."

It continues that "Our law enforcement and intelligence communities must have detailed knowledge of our Homeland adversaries, including their identities, sources of support, intentions, capabilities, and modi operandi. This information must be assessed against a current strategic threat picture that continues to integrate national intelligence."

Identification Systems. Section 5 addresses the numerous government identification systems developed or expanded since 2001. It states that "Continuing to strengthen our layered system of protections that start overseas and continue along our borders, at our ports, on our roadways and railways, and in our skies is fundamental to preventing terrorists, their weapons, and related materials from entering our country through exploitation of legitimate pathways. In order to do this, we must continue to act deliberately on several fronts."

Section 5 continues that "A critical component of screening people is travel document security, because official documents are the key enablers for screening all people at ports of entry. The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative and the REAL ID Act are additional efforts to improve the integrity of documents used for entry into the United States. Enhancing international security standards through the use of biometrics, including in passports and visas, has made it increasingly difficult to counterfeit travel documents, and we must encourage those countries not in the Visa Waiver Program to adopt biometric passports. In the face of resourceful terrorists, however, we must continue to expand the US-VISIT program's biometric enrollment from two fingerprints to ten fingerprints, as well as leverage science and technology to enable more advanced multi-modal biometric recognition capabilities in the future that use fingerprint, face, or iris data."

On October 8, 2007, the Cato Institute released a report titled "The Real ID Act: An Update", by Jim Harper.

FISA Reform. This strategy document states that "Since its enactment in 1978, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), as amended, has provided a legal framework through which the Intelligence Community lawfully collects foreign intelligence information of value to our Nation's security, while simultaneously protecting the civil liberties of Americans."

But, it argues, "Revolutionary changes in technology since 1978 had the effect of expanding the scope of FISA's coverage to include foreign intelligence collection efforts that Congress did not intend to subject to the statute's requirements. This unintended expansion of FISA's scope meant that our intelligence professionals, in a significant number of cases, needed to obtain a court order to collect foreign intelligence information against a target located overseas."

It continues that "This circumstance created an unnecessary obstacle to our Intelligence Community's ability to gather real-time information about the intent of our enemies overseas and diverted scarce resources that would be better spent safeguarding the civil liberties of people in the United States, not foreign terrorists who wish to do us harm."

It also states that S 1927, the Protect America Act of 2007, which was enacted in August, and has a six month sunset provision, "was an important interim step in modernizing FISA to account for modern changes in technology and the threats that we face in the 21st century. Working with Congress, we must make additional reforms to FISA and ensure that the statute is permanently amended so that our intelligence professionals continue to have the legal tools they need to gather information about the intentions of our enemies while protecting the civil liberties of Americans -- now and in the future."

The White House press office also issued a release that states that the Congress should make FISA reform permanent. It states that the "Congress should help ensure that we have the necessary tools to address changing technologies and homeland security threats while protecting privacy and civil liberties. We must make additional reforms to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and ensure that the statute is permanently amended so that our intelligence professionals continue to have the legal tools they need to gather information about the intentions of our enemies while protecting the civil liberties of Americans.

Both the strategy document and the release argue that the Congress should also change its committee structure. However, neither explains how. Perhaps the Bush administration would prefer to deal only with the House and Senate Intelligence and Appropriations Committees, and not with either the House or Senate Judiciary Committees. The former are more responsive to the administration, and more secretive. Both of the Judiciary Committees contains some of the leading Congressional critics of electronic surveillance policies.

Combining Intelligence and Police Functions. The just released document calls for "Intelligence-Led Policing".

It argues that "the law enforcement community, along with the intelligence community, must work to develop and implement national information requirements -- developing a process for identifying information gaps, determining critical information requirements, and meeting those requirements collaboratively."

It further states that "the Federal Government will recommend priorities for State, local, and Tribal homeland security activities that focus resources on the most pressing problems, adopt a formal intelligence process with requirements generation and tasking of information collection, and analyze and disseminate the information. Underlying our efforts to achieve domain awareness and identify and locate terrorists and terrorist activity in the Homeland is a fully developed and integrated Information Sharing Environment ..."

Terrorist Propaganda on the Internet. The strategy document states that "Terrorists also seek sanctuary in the cyber domain, particularly the Internet, an inexpensive, geographically unbounded, and largely unconstrained virtual haven for our enemies. Terrorists use the Internet to create and disseminate propaganda, recruit new members, raise funds, and plan operations. The Internet has become a training ground, with terrorists acquiring instruction once possible only through physical training camps."

The document is short on solutions. It states that "In addition to discrediting their terrorist propaganda on the Internet with the promotion of truthful messages, we will seek to deny the Internet to our terrorist enemies as an effective safe haven for their recruitment, fund-raising, training, and operational planning."

Cybersecurity. The President's document states that "Many of the Nation's essential and emergency services, as well as our critical infrastructure, rely on the uninterrupted use of the Internet and the communications systems, data, monitoring, and control systems that comprise our cyber infrastructure. A cyber attack could be debilitating to our highly interdependent CI/KR and ultimately to our economy and national security." (CI/KR is an acronym for critical infrastructures and key resources.)

It states that "A variety of actors threaten the security of our cyber infrastructure. Terrorists increasingly exploit the Internet to communicate, proselytize, recruit, raise funds, and conduct training and operational planning. Hostile foreign governments have the technical and financial resources to support advanced network exploitation and launch attacks on the informational and physical elements of our cyber infrastructure. Criminal hackers threaten our Nation's economy and the personal information of our citizens, and they also could pose a threat if wittingly or unwittingly recruited by foreign intelligence or terrorist groups. Our cyber networks also remain vulnerable to natural disasters."

But, the report assures, government entities are "working together to prevent damage to, and the unauthorized use and exploitation of, our cyber systems".

In addition, Fran Townsend, the Assistant to the President for Counterterrorism and Homeland, gave a speech to, and answered questions from, reporters regarding the just released strategy document. See, transcript.

She said that "The purpose of our strategy is to guide, organize and unify our nation's homeland security efforts."

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. The house will consider HR 2895 [LOC | WW], the "National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act of 2007", and HR 3056 [LOC | WW], the "Tax Collection Responsibility Act of 2007", which repeals the authority of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to use private debt collection companies. See, Rep. Hoyer's weekly calendar and Wednesday calendar.

The Senate will not meet. Its next meeting is on October 15.

9:00 AM - 5:15 PM. Day one of a two day workshop hosted by the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) regarding the debt collection industry. See, agenda [PDF] and workshop web site. Location: FTC Conference Center, 601 New Jersey Ave., NW.

TIME CHANGE. 8:30 AM - 3:00 PM. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce will host a conference titled "RFID Solutions: Securing the Commerce of Tomorrow". The speakers will include Ralph Basham (Commissioner of the DHS's Customs and Border Protection), Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA), Hugo Teufel (Chief Privacy Officer of the Department of Homeland Security), Bill McDermott (P/CEO of SAP Americas), and David Nabarro (UN Development Group). Prices vary. See, notice and registration page. For more information, contact Drew Preston at 202-463-5500 or ncfevents at uschamber dot com. Location: Ronald Reagan Building, Atrium Ballroom, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

9:30 AM. The House Small Business Committee will hold a hearing titled "The Impact of the 700 Megahertz Wireless Spectrum Auction on Small Business". Location: Room 2360, Rayburn Building.

9:30 AM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) North American Numbering Council (NANC) will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, September 24, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 184, at Pages 54263-54264. Location: FCC, Suite 5-C162, 445 12th St., SW.

10:15 AM. The House Judiciary Committee (HJC) will meet to mark up numerous bills, including HR 3773 [PDF | LOC | WW], the "Responsible Electronic Surveillance That is Overseen, Reviewed, and Effective Act of 2007" or RESTORE Act, and HR 3678 [LOC | WW], the "Internet Tax Freedom Act of 2007". See, notice. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

12:30 PM. Robert Zoellick (President of the World Bank) will give a speech titled "An Inclusive and Sustainable Globalization". Location: Ballroom, National Press Club, 13th Floor, 529 14th St. NW.

3:00 PM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet will meet to mark up HR 3403 [LOC | WW], the "911 Modernization and Safety Act of 2007", and HR __, a yet to be introduced bill titled the "Broadband Census of America Act of 2007". The meeting will be web cast by the HCC. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

6:00 - 8:00 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) International Telecommunications Practice Committee will host an event titled "Panel Discussion with Telecom Attaches from Foreign Embassies". The speakers will also include Michael Copps (FCC Commissioner) and David Gross (Department of State). Prices vary. See, registration form [PDF]. Registrations and cancellations are due by 5:00 PM on September 28. Location: House of Sweden, 2900 K St., NW.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Eighth Further Notice of Proposed Rule Making announcing tentative channel designations. This item is FCC 07-138 in MB Docket No. 87-268. See, FCC Public Notice (DA 07-3914) [PDF] and notice in the Federal Register, September 10, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 174, at Pages 51575-51581.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. See, Majority Leader Hoyer's calendar. Rep. Hoyer also issued a notice that states that no votes are expected on Thursday due to the funeral service for Rep. Jo Ann Davis (R-VA).

9:00 AM - 4:00 PM. Day two of a two day workshop hosted by the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) regarding the debt collection industry. See, agenda [PDF] and workshop web site. Location: FTC Conference Center, 601 New Jersey Ave., NW.

10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The Department of State's (DOS) Advisory Committee on International Communications and Information Policy will hold a meeting. See, notice in the Federal Register, September 18, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 180, at Pages 53275-53276. Location: DOS, Truman Building, 2201 C St., NW.

11:00 AM - 1:00 PM. The Copyright Alliance will host an event titled "Exponential". The scheduled speakers are Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee (HJC), Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA), Chairman of the HJC's Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property (SCIIP), Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Rep. Adam Putnam (R-FL), Stuart Taylor (book author and journalist), and Lloyd Dangle (graphic artist). Lunch will be served. RSVP to Diana Walters at Diana_Walters at NicklesGroup dot com. Location: Cannon Caucus Room, Third Floor, Cannon Building.

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The National Economists Club (NEC) will host a lunch titled "Politico-Economic Determinants of American Trade Policy Attitudes". The speaker will be Michael Hoffman (Government Accountability Office). Location: Chinatown Garden Restaurant, 2nd Floor, 618 H St., NW.

12:15 - 1:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) will host a panel discussion regarding mentoring. The speakers will be Margaret Cummisky (Senate Commerce Committee), Erwin Krasnow (Garvey Schubert Barer), Barbara Kreisman (Chief of the FCC's Media Bureau's Audio Division), and Curtis White. RSVP to Edgar Class at eclass at wileyrein dot com or 202-719-7504. Location: Wiley Rein, 5th Floor Conference Room, 1750 K St., NW.

2:00 PM. Richard Russell (Department of State) will hold a roundtable discussion to brief reporters on final preparations for the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) to be held on October 22 through November 16, 2007, in Geneva, Switzerland. To request permission to attend, send full name, citizenship, date of birth, and social security number to dmielke at ostp dot eop dot gov For more information, contact John Alden at ja at ftidc dot com or 202-371-6793. To participate by teleconference, call 202-395-6392 or 1-800-568-0174; the passcode is 9989590. Location: Room 5230, New Executive Office Building, 725 17th St., NW.

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) regarding its Draft Federal Information Processing Standard 140-3, titled "Security Requirements for Cryptographic Modules". See, notice in the Federal Register, July 13, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 134, at Pages 38566-38567.

Rep. Hoyer's calendar states that "No votes are expected in the House."

8:00 AM - 4:45 PM. The DC Bar Association and other entities will host a seminar titled "Criminal Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights". The price to attend ranges from $195 to $375. For more information, call 800-285-2221. See, notice. Location: U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 1615 H St., NW.

12:15 - 1:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Cable Practice Committee will host a brown bag lunch titled "Current Regulatory Issues Related to Multiple Dwelling Units". The speakers will include Matthew Ames (Miller & Van Eaton), Matthew Brill (Latham & Watkins), and Christopher Heimann (Assistant General Counsel of AT&T). RSVP to Miriam Telford at miriam_telford at aporter dot com or 202-942-5513. Location: Arnold & Porter, Conference Room 300, 555 12th St., NW.

Extended deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding Section 612 of the Communications Act, which is codified at 47 U.S.C. § 532, which requires cable operators to set aside channel capacity for commercial use by video programmers unaffiliated with the operator, and Section 616 of the Communications Act, which is codified at 47 U.S.C. § 536, which prohibits a cable operator or other multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD) from requiring a financial interest in any program service as a condition for carriage of such service, from coercing a programmer to grant exclusive carriage rights, or from engaging in conduct that unreasonably restrains the ability of an unaffiliated programming vendor to compete fairly by discriminating against such vendor on the basis of affiliation or nonaffiliation. The FCC adopted this item on March 2, 2007, and released the text on June 15, 2007. This NPRM is FCC 07-18 in MB Docket No. 07-42. See, notice in the Federal Register, July 18, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 137, at Pages 39370-39377, and Public Notice [PDF] (DA 07-3736) extending comment deadlines.

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Compuer Security Division (CSD) regarding its Draft Special Publication 800-28 Revision 2 [60 pages in PDF], titled "Guidelines on Active Content and Mobile Code".

The Senate will meet at 2:00 PM for morning business. At 3:00 PM it will resume consideration of HR 3093 [LOC | WW], the Departments of Commerce and Justice and Science Appropriations bill for FY 2008.

9:30 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (DC) will hear oral argument in Sprint Nextel v. FCC, App. Ct. No. 06-1111. This case pertains to the FCC's March 21, 2006, release [PDF] that states that the FCC, by operation of law, granted Verizon's December 20, 2004, petition for forbearance from Title II of the Communications Act, and the FCC's Computer Inquiry rules. See, FCC brief [78 pages in PDF]. See also, Verizon's December 20, 2004, petition [29 pages in PDF], its letter of February 7, 2006 ( part I [25 pages in PDF] and part II  [PDF]), and its February 17, 2006, letter [1 page in PDF]. And see, story titled "FCC Announces that Verizon Petition for Forbearance is Deemed Granted" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,334, March 22, 2006, and story titled "CompTel Seeks Judicial Review of FCC's Granting of Verizon Petition for Forbearance" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,339, March 30, 2007. Judges Randolph, Garland and Edwards will preside. Location: Prettyman Courthouse, 333 Constitution Ave., NW.

12:00 NOON - 2:00 PM. The Business Software Alliance (BSA) will host panel discussion titled "Wanted: Congressional Help in Cracking Down on Cyber Crime. What Law Enforcement Needs to Defeat Today’s Cyber Criminals". The speakers will be Robert Holleyman (BSA), Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH), Art Coviello (RSA, The Security Division of EMC Corporation), Richard Downing (DOJ's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section), Phil Reitinger (Microsoft), Ron Plesco (National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance), and James Lewis (Center for Strategic and International Studies). A box lunch will be served. For more information, contact Tracey Mills at tracey dot mills at dittus dot com or 202-715-1514. RSVP to rsvp at bsa dot org. Location: Room HC-8, Capitol Building.

12:15 - 1:45 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Intellectual Property Practice Committee will host a brown bag lunch titled "Public Performance Rights and Radio Stations". The speakers will be Steve Marks (RIAA), Suzanne Head (NAB), and Gigi Sohn (Public Knowledge). RSVP to Kerry Loughney at kerry at fcba dot org. Location: Dow Lohnes, 1200 New Hampshire Ave., NW.

Day one of a two day conference hosted by the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), the European Commission (EC), and the Article 29 Working Party on Data Protection titled "Cross Border Data Flows, Data Protection, and Privacy". See, notice in the Federal Register: July 27, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 144, at Page 41290. Location: __?

10:00 AM. Deadline to submit comments to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR) to assist it in preparing its Special 301 Out of Cycle Reviews of the adequacy and effectiveness of intellectual property protection and enforcement in Brazil, the Czech Republic, and Pakistan. See, notice in the Federal Register, September 6, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 172, at Pages 51266-51267.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Further Notice of Proposed Rule Making (FNPRM) regarding spectrum etiquette for unlicensed transmitters that operate in the 915 MHz band. This item is FCC 07-117 in ET Docket No. 03-201. See, notice in the Federal Register, August 1, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 147, Pages 42011-42015.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (2ndFNPRM) regarding ensuring that the amount of subscription based radio services is limited as radio stations convert to digital broadcasting. This item is FCC 07-33 in MM Docket No. 99-325. See, notice in the Federal Register, August 15, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 157, at Pages 45712-45716.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) regarding changes to the Section 9 regulatory fee structure for the Broadband Radio Service (BRS). This FNPRM is FCC 07-140 in MD Docket No. 07-81. See, notice in the Federal Register, August 16, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 158, at Pages 46010-46014.

Day two of a two day conference hosted by the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), the European Commission (EC), and the Article 29 Working Party on Data Protection titled "Cross Border Data Flows, Data Protection, and Privacy". See, notice in the Federal Register: July 27, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 144, at Page 41290. Location?

12:15 - 1:45 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Wireline Practice Committee will host a brown bag lunch titled "IP Enabled Services, Access for People with Disabilities, and § 255". The speakers will be Karen Strauss (Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology) and Jim Kohlenberger (VON Coalition). RSVP to Keisha Warner at kwarner at akingump dot com or 202-416-5082. Location: Akin Gump, 1333 New Hampshire Ave., NW.

5:15 PM. Deadline to submit briefs for, and requests to to appear and testify at, the U.S. International Trade Commission's (USITC) October 30, 2007, public hearing to assist the USITC in preparing a report for the House Ways and Means Committee regarding government policies affecting trade with the People's Republic of China (PRC). The USITC is examining, among other sectors, semiconductors and telecommunications. See, notice in the Federal Register, July 31, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 146, at Pages 41773-41774, and USITC release. This proceeding is titled "China: Government Policies Affecting U.S. Trade in Selected Sectors" and numbered Inv. No. 332-491.

6:00 - 8:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Engineering and Technical Practice Committee will host a panel discussion titled "Manufacturing of Wireless Handsets -- A Tutorial and Discussion of Effects FCC Regulations Have on the Manufacturing Process". The speakers will be Todd Thayer (Nokia), Tom Dombrowsky (Wiley Rein), Ed Thomas (Harris Wiltshire & Grannis), and Peter Corea (ICO Global Communications). This event qualifies for CLE credits. Location: Wiley Rein, Main Conference Center, 1776 K St., NW.

EXTENDED TO NOVEMBER 1. Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding ten studies related to government regulation of media ownership. See, FCC Public Notice [4 pages in PDF], which is DA 07-3470 in MB Docket Nos. 06-121 and 02-277, and MM Docket Nos. 01-235, 01-317, and 00-244, and notice in the Federal Register, August 8, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 152, at Pages 44539-44540. See also, Public Notice [2 pages in PDF] (DA 07-4097) extending deadlines.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding various proposals to promote minority and female ownership in the media industry. See, notice in the Federal Register, August 8, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 152, at Pages 44457-44466.

TIME? The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet will hold a hearing on transition to digital television. The witnesses will be Kevin Martin (FCC), John Kneuer (NTIA), and a representative of the Government Accountability Office (GAO). See, release. Location: __?

10:00 AM. The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) will hold a hearing titled "Consumer Wireless Issues". See, notice. Location: Room 253, Russell Building.

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The Alliance for Public Technology (APT) will host a brown bag lunch titled "Linking Rural Broadband Deployment and Economic and Community Development". RSVP to apt at apt dot org or 202-263-2970. Location: Hall of States Building, Room 383, 400 North Capitol St., NW.

12:15 - 1:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Privacy and Data Security and Young Lawyers Committees will host a brown bag lunch titled "The FTC and the FCC: Do They See Eye-to-Eye?". The topics covered may include childhood obesity, telemarketing, net neutrality, and privacy. For more information, contact Chris Fedeli at chrisfedeli at dwt dot com or Tarah Grant at tsgrant at hhlaw dot com. Location: Hogan & Hartson, First Floor Litigation Center, 555 13th St., NW.

2:30 PM. The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) will hold a hearing titled "The Digital Television Transition: Government and Industry Perspectives". See, notice. Location: Room 253, Russell Building.

The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) will host a one day conference titled "IdentEvent 2007". The topics addressed will included "Identity Management and Border Security", "Health IT Consumer Authentication", "Employment Verification Authentication", "The Future of Verified Identity", and "Real ID". The speakers will include Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), Steward Baker (DHS Assistant Secretary for Policy), and Robert Mocny (Director of the DHS US VISIT program). For more information, contact Jennifer Kerber at jkerber at itaa dot org. See, notice. Location: Grand Hyatt.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) regarding transmitters operating on an unlicensed basis in the 57-64 GHz frequency range. The FCC adopted this item on May 25, 2007, and released the text on June 1, 2007. This item is FCC 07-104 in ET Docket No. 07-113. See, notice in the Federal Register, July 19, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 138, at Pages 39588-39593.

Tech Law Journal publishes a free access web site and subscription e-mail alert. The basic rate for a subscription to the TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert is $250 per year. However, there are discounts for subscribers with multiple recipients. Free one month trial subscriptions are available. Also, free subscriptions are available for journalists, federal elected officials, and employees of the Congress, courts, and executive branch. The TLJ web site is free access. However, copies of the TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert are not published in the web site until one month after writing. See, subscription information page.

Contact: 202-364-8882.
P.O. Box 4851, Washington DC, 20008.

Privacy Policy
Notices & Disclaimers
Copyright 1998-2007 David Carney, dba Tech Law Journal. All rights reserved.