2/12. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Kevin Martin sent a letter [2 pages in PDF] to the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA), Satellite Industry Association (SIA), Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), and the Consumer Electronics Retailers Coalition (CERC) regarding the DTV transition and analog signals of low power TV stations.

He wrote that after February 17, 2009, many low power TV stations will continue their analog broadcasting. He also said that many of the converter boxes do not include an analog pass through feature, and hence, some people will not view these low power stations.

He noted "We have proposed a goal of 2012 for all low power stations to transition to digital". He then either encouraged or requested that the recipients of his letter take certain actions while low power TV stations continue their analog broadcasts.

First, for the NAB, Martin encouraged "full power broadcast stations to voluntarily partner with low power stations and clear their signals to the extent they have excess digital capacity". He added that "This could be accomplished by using a portion of the digital capacity allocated to the full power broadcaster for digital operations and the full power broadcaster's existing facilities. Stations participating in such arrangements should be made whole, and reimbursed for their costs."

For the NCTA and SIA, he encouraged "cable systems and DBS operators to offer expanded carriage of stations in the low power television service on a voluntary basis where they have the capacity."

For the CEA and CERC, he encouraged consumer electronics manufacturers "to implement analog pass-through in all of their converter boxes". He and requested that manufacturers "produce and make widely available to the public at least one box that is able to pass-through analog signals". Also, he requested that retailers "carry at least one such box in their stores and offer such boxes for online purchase".

Also on February 13, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (USPIRG) released a report titled "Mixed Signals: How TV Retailers Mislead Consumers on the Digital Television (DTV) Transition", in which it asserts that "retail electronic store staff are largely uninformed and are not adequately preparing consumers for the impending transition to digital television". See, summary and full report [14 pages in PDF].

Also on February 13, FCC Commissioner Michael Copps gave a speech praising the USPIRG. He also complained that the federal government does not have either a "real national DTV plan" or a "federal interagency task force".

2/13. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a report [92 pages in PDF] titled "Consumer Fraud and Identity Theft Complaint Data: January -- December 2007".

This report states that "the FTC received over 800,000 Consumer Sentinel complaints during calendar year 2007", and that 32% of these complaints related to identity theft. It elaborates that "Credit card fraud (23%) was the most common form of reported identity theft followed by phone or utilities fraud (18%), employment fraud (14%) and bank fraud (13%)."

The report also states that "Consumers reported losses from fraud of more than $1.2 billion."

For identity theft, 32 percent of all complaints represents a decline from the previous year. Moreover, this is the fourth straight decline. The FTC previously reported that the data for 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006 for identity theft were 40%, 42%, 39%, 37%, and 36%, respectively.

See, 2002 report [PDF], 2003 report [PDF], 2004 report [PDF], 2005 report [PDF], and 2006 report [PDF]. See also, stories titled "FTC Releases Data on Consumer Complaints Regarding Fraud and Identity Theft in 2004" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,068, February 2, 2005, and "FTC Releases Report on Fraud and Identity Theft" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 822, January 23, 2004.

The FTC reports also show trends in how fraudulent businesses contact consumers. The use of e-mail is on the rise, while the use of mail and telephone is on the decline.

2/16. S 1927 [LOC | WW], the "Protect America Act", the temporary act enacted in August of 2007 to revise and expand federal wiretap, surveillance, and related authorities, expired on Saturday, February 16, 2008.

President Bush stated in his Saturday radio address that "At the stroke of midnight tonight, a vital intelligence law that is helping protect our nation will expire. Congress had the power to prevent this from happening, but chose not to."

He continued that "The Senate passed a good bill that would have given our intelligence professionals the tools they need to keep us safe. But leaders in the House of Representatives blocked a House vote on the Senate bill, and then left on a 10-day recess."

Bush also said that "Some congressional leaders claim that this will not affect our security. They are wrong. Because Congress failed to act, it will be harder for our government to keep you safe from terrorist attack. At midnight, the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence will be stripped of their power to authorize new surveillance against terrorist threats abroad. This means that as terrorists change their tactics to avoid our surveillance, we may not have the tools we need to continue tracking them -- and we may lose a vital lead that could prevent an attack on America."

He also addressed immunity for companies that have assisted the government. "Congress has created a question about whether private sector companies who assist in our efforts to defend you from the terrorists could be sued for doing the right thing. Now, these companies will be increasingly reluctant to provide this vital cooperation, because of their uncertainty about the law and fear of being sued by class-action trial lawyers."

Bush concluded that "House leaders chose politics over protecting the country -- and our country is at greater risk as a result."

The White House news office also issued a document on Friday, February 15, titled "Myth/Fact: Five Myths About the House's Failure to Give Our Intelligence Professionals the Tools They Need to Monitor Terrorists Effectively"

Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), the House Majority Leader, also addressed the expiration of the PAA. "I met with the chairmen of the House Intelligence and Judiciary Committees and the Senate Intelligence Committee to discuss legislation modernizing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. There is complete agreement that we will act without delay to resolve the differences between the House bill passed in November and the Senate bill sent to us two days ago."

Rep. Hoyer added that "While we work to craft strong, bipartisan legislation, intelligence experts have made it clear that the intelligence community has all the tools it needs to keep America safe. Statements by the President and Republicans that when the Protect America Act expires our nation will be in danger is wrong, divisive, and meant to press the House into simply rubber-stamping the Senate bill. This is an important issue, and deserves our full consideration. We will use this district work period to work with Republicans and the Administration to reach agreement and pass a long-term surveillance law as quickly as possible."

2/15. The U.S. Court of Appeals (5thCir) issued an order [PDF] in In Re Volkswagen granting en banc review of a decision of a three judge panel. At issue is transfer of a case out of the Eastern District of Texas.

The Eastern District of Texas is a court of choice for, among others, certain patent litigation plaintiffs. In many of these cases none of the parties or witnesses have any connection to the Eastern District of Texas. This order is the latest development in a long running contest over Volkswagen's efforts to have the underlying case transferred out of the Eastern District of Texas.

The District Court denied a motion to transfer, and Volkswagen seeks a writ of mandamus from the Court of Appeals.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) wrote a short piece that was published in the Washington Times on February 15, 2008. The two wrote that "Under today's rules, patent cases can be brought virtually anywhere in the country. Plaintiffs can ``forum shop,´´ filing their lawsuits in jurisdictions that have virtually no relevance to the underlying case, but everything to do with where the plaintiff stands the best chance of winning the case. Our bill would prevent this gaming of the system by bringing the standards for selecting venues in line with mainstream jurisprudence."

The two Senators are the current and a former Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC). They are also sponsors of S 1145 [LOC | WW], the "Patent Reform Act of 2007". The SJC approved this bill on July 19, 2007. The full Senate has not approved it.

The House approved HR 1908 [LOC | WW], a different patent reform bill, on July 18, 2007. That bill also addresses jurisdiction and venue in patent cases.

To the extent that the 5th Circuit may be inclined to order transfers of cases to more appropriate fora, the impetus for a legislative change may be diminished.

This proceeding is In Re Volkswagen of America, Inc., U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, App. Ct. No. 07-40058, a petition for writ of mandamus to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall Division.

2/15. David Walker, the Comptroller General of the United States, announced his resignation, effective March 12, 2008. He heads the Congress's Government Accountability Office (GAO). He will become head of the newly created Peter G. Peterson Foundation. Gene Dodaro, the GAO's Chief Operating Officer, will become the acting Comptroller General. See, GAO release [PDF] and statement by Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD).

2/15. Cecilia Januszkiewicz joined the Free State Foundation (FSF) as Senior Fellow.

2/15. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) issued a release [PDF] regarding the DTV transition in which it announced that it "will begin mailing $40 coupons to consumers next week -- one year from the date of the digital television transition -- to be used to purchase eligible TV converter boxes."

2/15. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) changed the date and time of its hearing titled "Broadband Network Management Practices", to be held at Harvard Law School. See, notice of change. The FCC changed the date and time from 10:00 AM on February 26, 2008, to 11:00 AM on February 25.

2/15. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR) published a notice in the Federal Register requesting public comments regarding its negotiation of an anti-counterfeiting trade agreement "to strengthen international cooperation, enforcement practices, and participants' legal frameworks to address counterfeiting and piracy". Comments are due by 5:00 PM on Friday, March 21, 2008. See, Federal Register, February 15, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 32, at Pages 8910-8911.

2/14. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) published a notice in the Federal Register that announces, describes, and recites (but does not set the effective date of) its new rules setting wireless E911 Phase II location accuracy and reliability mandates. The FCC adopted its Report and Order (R&O) on September 11, 2007. It did not release the text of this R&O until November 20, 2007. This item is FCC 07-166 in PS Docket No. 07-114, CC Docket No. 94-102, and WC Docket No. 05-196. See, Federal Register, February 14, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 31, at Pages 8617-8625.

2/14. The The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released an Order on Reconsideration [9 pages in PDF] in its proceeding titled "In the Matter of Rural Health Care Support Mechanism". This item grants in part the petition for reconsideration of the American Telemedicine Association (ATA) regarding the FCC's Rural Health Care Support Mechanism Second Report and Order. It states that "we grant ATA's Petition for Reconsideration in part and extend for three years the Commission’s prior determination to grandfather those health care providers who were eligible under the Commission’s definition of ``rural´´ prior to the Second Report and Order." This item is FCC 08-47 in WC Docket No. 02-60.

2/13. Sandra Braunstein, Director of the Federal Reserve Board's (FRB) Division of Consumer and Community Affairs, testified before the House Financial Services Committee regarding the Community Reinvestment Act. She wrote in her prepared testimony, among other things, that "advances in technology have redefined nearly every aspect of the industry -- from loan underwriting to product delivery -- with computers changing these and many other processes in ways unimaginable two decades ago". She then focused on the use of information technology in credit scoring.

2/13. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) published a notice in the Federal Register that announces, describes, and sets comment deadlines for, its Report on Broadcast Localism and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. The FCC adopted this item on December 18, 2007, and released the text on January 24, 2008. It is FCC 07-218 in MB Docket No. 04-233. Initial comments are due by March 14, 2008. Reply comments are due by April 14, 2008. See, Federal Register, February 13, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 30, at Pages 8255-8259. See also, FCC's Public Notice [PDF] (DA 08-393).

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The House will not meet. It is on recess. See, Rep. Hoyer's 2008 calendar [4.25 MB PDF].

The Senate will meet in pro forma session only.

9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will hold a public meeting regarding the conformity assessment scheme proposed for the evaluation of Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) products to be purchased by federal agencies. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 7, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 26, at Pages 7259-7260. Location: NIST, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD.

10:30 AM - 12:00 NOON. The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) will host a panel discussion titled "U.S.-South Korean Relations: A New Era of Cooperation?". The speakers will be Michael Auslin (AEI), Bruce Bechtol (Marine Corps Command and Staff College), Marcus Noland (Peterson Institute for International Economics), Charles Pritchard (Korea Economic Institute), and Nicholas Eberstadt (AEI). See, notice. Location: AEI, 12th floor, 1150 17th St., NW.

12:00 NOON. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) will host a panel discussion titled "DTV Transition". The speakers will be Meredith Baker (acting head of the NTIA), Kyle McSlarrow (head of the NCTA), David Rehr (head of the NAB), Andrew Schwartzman (head of the Media Access Project), Gary Shapiro (head of the Consumer Electronics Association), and Diane Cornell. Lunch will be served. The price to attend ranges from $35-$70. See, online registration page. Registrations are due by 12:00 NOON on February 13. Location: Mayflower Hotel, 1127 Connecticut Ave., NW.

1:00 - 4:00 PM. The Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board's (ATBCB) Telecommunications and Electronic and Information Technology Advisory Committee (TEITAC) will meet by conference call. See, notice in the Federal Register, January 24, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 16, at Page 4132.

2:00 - 4:00 PM. The Department of State's (DOS) International Telecommunication Advisory Committee (ITAC) will hold one of a series of meetings to discuss the U.S. positions for the March and April 2008 meeting of the ITU-T Study Group 3 and related issues of the international telecommunication regulations. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 4, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 23, at Page 6547. Location?

6:30 - 8:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Young Lawyers Committee will host an event titled "Happy Hour". For more information, contact Danielle Benoit at dbenoit at wcsr dot com or 202-857-4537, Davina Sashkin at sashkin at fhhlaw dot com or 703-812-0458, or Tarah Grant at tsgrant at hhlaw dot com. Location: Le Bar in the Sofitel Hotel, 806 15th St., NW.

Day three of a four day event hosted by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) titled "Winter Committee Meetings". See, notice and registration form [PDF]. Location: Renaissance Washington Hotel.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its notice of proposed rulemaking regarding the establishment of a Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS). This NPRM, which was adopted and released on December 14, 2007, is FCC 07-214 in PSHSB Docket No. 07-287. See, notice in the Federal Register, January 3, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 2, at Pages 545-607. The relevant FCC proceeding is numbered CG Docket No. 03-123.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding Hawk Relay's petition for clarification regarding the Deaf Blind Relay Service (DBRS). See, notice in the Federal Register, January 4, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 3, at Pages 863-864. The relevant FCC proceeding is numbered CG Docket No. 03-123.

The House will not meet. See, Rep. Hoyer's 2008 calendar [4.25 MB PDF].

11:30 AM - 1:30 PM. The Heritage Foundation will host an event titled "Technology Leadership, Economic Power and National Security: Dual-Use Export Controls to China". Mario Mancuso (head of the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security), Peter Leitner (former trade advisor at Department of State), John Tkacik (Heritage), Edmund Rice (President, Coalition of Employment Through Exports), Mark Groombridge (BIS), and Walter Lohman (Heritage). See, notice. Location: Heritage, 214 Massachusetts Ave., NE.

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Intellectual Property Committee will host a brown bag lunch titled "Cable and Satellite Content Protection Technologies". The speakers will be Seth Greenstein (Constantine Cannon), Paul Glist (Davis Wright Tremaine), and John Card (Echostar). See, notice and registration page. Location: Dow Lohnes, 1200 New Hampshire Ave., NW.

12:15 - 1:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Young Lawyers Committee will host a brown bag lunch titled "Pro Bono and Community Service Activities for Young Lawyers". RSVP to Mark Brennan at mwbrennan at hhlaw dot com. For more information, contact Mark Brennan, Chris Fedeli at chrisfedeli at dwt dot com or Tarah Grant at tsgrant at hhlaw dot com. Location: Hogan & Hartson, 555 13th St., NW.

Day four of a four day event hosted by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) titled "Winter Committee Meetings". See, notice and registration form [PDF]. Location: Renaissance Washington Hotel.

The House will not meet. See, Rep. Hoyer's 2008 calendar [4.25 MB PDF].

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold a hearing on the nomination of Catherina Haynes to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals (5thCir). Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

12:00 NOON - 2:00 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Transactional Practice Committee will host a brown bag lunch titled "Negotiating Carrier-Carrier and Carrier-Enterprise Agreements". The speakers will be Andrew Brown (Levine Blaszak) and Eric Branfman (Bingham McCutchen). See, notice and registration page. Location: Arnold & Porter, 555 12th St., NW.

2:00 - 4:00 PM. The Department of State's (DOS) International Telecommunication Advisory Committee (ITAC) will meet to discuss the U.S. positions for the April 2008 meeting of the Organization of American States Inter-American Telecommunication Commission Permanent Consultative Committee I (Telecommunication) (OAS/CITEL/PCC.I). See, notice in the Federal Register, February 4, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 23, at Page 6547. Location?

4:00 - 6:00 PM. The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and the Federalist Society will host a panel discussion titled "Federal Preemption and the Supreme Court". The speakers will be Michael Greve (AEI), Catherine Sharkey (New York University School of Law), Daniel Troy (Sidley Austin), and Theodore Frank (AEI). See, notice. Location: AEI, 11th floor, 1150 17th St., NW.

The House will not meet. See, Rep. Hoyer's 2008 calendar [4.25 MB PDF].

9:00 - 11:00 AM. The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) will host a panel discussion titled "Strengthening Freedom in Asia: A Twenty-First Century Agenda for the U.S.-Taiwan Partnership". The speakers will be Dan Blumenthal (AEI), Randall Schriver (Armitage International), Claude Barfield (AEI), Rupert Hammond-Chambers (U.S.-Taiwan Business Council), Michael Mitchell (Orion Strategies), Mark Stokes, and Danielle Pletka (AEI). Location: AEI, 11th floor, 1150 17th St., NW.

9:30 AM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) North American Numbering Council (NANC) will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 6, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 25, at Page 6968. Location: FCC, Suite 5-C162, 445 12th St. SW.

5:00 PM. Deadline to submit applications for planning and construction grants for public telecommunications facilities to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). The NTIA will distribute $16.8 Million in grants under its Public Telecommunications Facilities Program (PTFP) in FY 2008. See, notice in the Federal Register, January 10, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 7, at Pages 1864-1865.

Deadline to submit comments to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding its staff document [7 pages in PDF] titled "Online Behavioral Advertising: Moving the Discussion Forward to Possible Self-Regulatory Principles". See, story titled "FTC Proposes and Seeks Comments on Voluntary Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,691, December 19, 2007.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Copyright Office (CO) regarding its proposed rules changes regarding the recordation of notices of termination and related matters. The CO stated that these proposed changes "would communicate the Office's practices as to notices of termination that are untimely filed; clarify the fact that a notice of termination is not legally sufficient simply because it has been recorded; update the legibility requirements for all recorded documents, including notices of termination; make minor explanatory edits to the fee schedule for multiple titles within a document (adding notices of termination as an example); and create a new mailing address to which notices of termination should be sent." See, notice in the Federal Register, January 23, 2008, Vol. 73, No.15, at Pages 3898-3900.

The House will return from its President's Day Recess. Votes will be postponed at least until 6:30 PM. See, Rep. Hoyer's 2008 calendar [4.25 MB PDF].

8:30 AM - 5:30 PM. The National Science Foundation's (NSF) Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 8, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 27, at Page 7611. Location: 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA.

5:00 PM. Deadline to submit applications to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURF) in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and Boulder Colorado. See, notice in the Federal Register, January 25, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 17, at Pages 4535-4540.

Day one of a three day conference hosted by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) titled "2008 NAB State Leadership Conference". See, conference web site. Location: Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

Deadline to submit comments to the Department of Defense's (DOD), General Services Administration's (GSA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Civilian Agency Acquisition Council (CAAC) and Defense Acquisition Regulations Council (DARC) regarding amendments to the federal acquisition regulation (FAR) with respect to the environmental impact of desktop computers, notebooks, monitors and other electronic products. See, notice in the Federal Register, December 26, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 246, Pages 73215-73218.

Effective date of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) amendments to the proxy rules to facilitate electronic shareholder forums. See, notice in the Federal Register, January 25, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 17, at Pages 4450-4459.

TIME? The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will hold a hearing titled "Preservation of White House E-mails". Location: Room 2154, Rayburn Building.

8:30 AM - 2:00 PM. The National Science Foundation's (NSF) Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 8, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 27, at Page 7611. Location: 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA.

1:00 - 4:00 PM. The Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board's (ATBCB) Telecommunications and Electronic and Information Technology Advisory Committee (TEITAC) will meet by conference call. See, notice in the Federal Register, January 24, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 16, at Page 4132.

2:00 - 4:00 PM. The Department of State's (DOS) International Telecommunication Advisory Committee (ITAC) will meet to prepare advice on the World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly 2008 (WTSA 08), including positions on cybersecurity. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 13, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 30, at Pages 8389-8390. Location?

Day two of a three day conference hosted by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) titled "2008 NAB State Leadership Conference". See, conference web site. Location: Mandarin Oriental Hotel.