4/9. The U.S. Court of Appeals (7thCir) issued its opinion in Wendler & Ezra v. American International Group, vacating the judgment of the District Court, which previously dismissed a complaint alleging defamation in an anonymous internet posting.

This case involves demonstrating that the defendant actually made the allegedly defamatory posting. The Court of Appeals held that the District Court was correct to refuse to consider an affidavit regarding the source of the posting, which contained a conclusion, but lacked certain explanatory detail. However, the Court of Appeals vacated because the District Court dismissed when there was a timely set of interrogatories and motion to compel, which had not yet been answered by the defendant, or addressed by the District Court.

Wendler & Ezra (W&E) is a law firm that represents truck drivers in tort litigation. American International Group (AIG) is a collection of insurance companies. There often exists considerable animosity between tort lawyers and insurers (and their attorneys) of the insureds who are sued by tort lawyers.

This litigation concerns an anonymous posting to an electronic bulletin board in the web site of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. This web site is used by truck drivers. W&E asserts that the posting was made by someone at AIG for the purpose of driving clients away from W&E. It supported this allegation with an affidavit signed by the webmaster of the Teamsters web site, who stated that the posting at issue originated from an internet protocol (IP) address registered to AIG.

The posting stated that Brian Wendler was "arrested for alleged domestic battery" and "Don't make the same mistake me and my husband did -- it's a waste of time and money." W&E asserts that while the statement about the arrest is true, the other is not. Moreover, W&E assert that it implies that it was made by a client of W&E and that the client was dissatisfied.

W&E filed a complaint in U.S. District Court (SDIll) against AIG alleging defamation, and related state law claims. Federal jurisdiction is based upon diversity of citizenship. The District Court dismissed the complaint. It reasoned that the affidavit's lack of explanatory detail prevented its use. The District Court then refused to allow W&E to depose AIG on the issue of original of the posting.

W&E brought the present appeal.

The Court of Appeals wrote that W&E "offered an affidavit by Phillip Ybarrolaza, who describes himself as the webmaster at teamster.net. According to the affidavit, software told Ybarrolaza that the posting originated from the IP address 167.230.38.7, which is registered to AIG. The affidavit did not state, however, what software had been employed, how it worked, what data had been provided to the program, and what if anything had been done to find out whether the poster had spoofed one of AIG' addresses."

The Court of Appeals continued that the "affidavit does not say what software he used, what data he fed it, what results it produced, and how alternative explanations (including spoofing) were ruled out. We have said over and over that an expert' ipse dixit is inadmissible." (Parentheses in original.)

It wrote that "An expert who supplies nothing but a bottom line supplies nothing of value to the judicial process."

Hence, the Court of Appeals concluded that the District Court did not err in excluding the affidavit.

Moreover, the Court of Appeals did not find error in refusing the deposition request, on the grounds that the discovery period had closed. However, the Court of Appeals vacated and remanded because W&E had submitted a timely interrogatory, and timely filed a motion to compel, which AIG had not answered.

This case is Wendler & Ezra v. American International Group, Inc., U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, App. Ct. No. 07-1860, an appeal from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, No. 04-CV-641-WDS, Judge William Stiehl presiding.

4/8. The Trans Atlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD) met in Washington DC on April 5-8, 2008. It adopted and released a document [PDF] titled "Resolution on Net Neutrality".

It states that consumers "have the right to attach devices of their choice; have the right to access or provide content, services, and applications of their choice; have the right for their access to be free from discrimination according to source, destination, content, or type of application."

It also states that "in a neutral Internet, ISPs and communications networks: do not unfairly block content, applications or devices; do not deliberately degrade access for content, applications, or devices; do not prioritize data according to its source or destination; do not discriminate against particular providers of content, applications, services, or devices."

It recommends that "National regulators should ensure that ISPs comply with the above mentioned principles by regularly reviewing the practices of ISPs, establishing procedures to receive and act upon any complaints about blocking or degrading access to content or application, and conducting independent testing for blocking, degradation, or other discriminatory action."

It urges the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to " establish a strong set of network neutrality rules".

The document states that "TACD calls upon telecommunications and competition regulators in the US and EU to require that ISPs provide fair and accurate information regarding Internet service plans, including average estimated speeds and any existing caps on bandwidth. ISPs and network providers should also detail their compliance with net neutrality principles and regulations; where any content, services, applications, or devices have been blocked or degraded on their networks, ISPs and network providers must be able to justify to the regulators how these actions fall within the scope of legitimate network management."

It also states that "TACD calls upon regulators and lawmakers to ensure that consumers have recourse to an effective complaint and enforcement mechanism if providers fail to provide service plan information or discriminate unfairly against content, services, applications, or devices."

It also states that "TACD calls upon regulators to periodically assess the extent to which ISPs and network providers discriminate against content, services, applications, or devices on their network; whether such discrimination falls outside the scope of legitimate network management; and take action against unfair discrimination."

The TACD is a group comprised of groups based in US and European nations. Its US based members include the Public Knowledge (PK), Consumers Union (CU), Consumer Federation of America (CFA), Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), Center for Digital Democracy (CDD), American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and others.

The TACD has no member groups from Asian nations, or other regions.

3/26. The Department of the Treasury's (DOT) Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) wrote a report titled "Inadequate Security Controls Over Routers and Switches Jeopardize Sensitive Taxpayer Information".

It concludes that because the DOT's Internal Revenue Service (IRS) "sends sensitive taxpayer and administrative information across its networks, routers on the networks must have sufficient security controls to deter and detect unauthorized use. Access controls for IRS routers were not adequate, and reviews to monitor security configuration changes were not conducted to identify inappropriate use. A disgruntled employee, contractor, or hacker could reconfigure routers and switches to disrupt computer operations and steal taxpayer information in a number of ways, including diverting information to unauthorized systems."

The IRS uses the Terminal Access Controller Access Control System (TACACS+) to administer and configure routers and switches. Users of the TACACS+ must be authorized by managers. The IRS had authorized 374 accounts for employees and contractors that could be used to access routers and switches to perform system administration duties. Of these, 141 (38 percent) did not have proper authorization to access the TACACS+."

The report elaborates that some authorizations had expired, but that for 55 accounts, the TIGTA found that there had ever been an authorization. It adds that 84% of the 5.2 Million accesses to the TACACS+ in FY2007 were made by just 34 user accounts that were not properly authorized.

Moreover, the TIGTA found that some of these unauthorized accounts were used to change security configurations. It wrote that "Any person who knew the passwords to these accounts could change configurations without accountability and with little chance of detection."

The TIGTA report also identifies lax oversight by the IRS's cybersecurity office.

4/8. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) released a report [15 pages in PDF] titled "Results of the 2008 Section 1377 Review of Telecommunications Trade Agreements".

This annual report is written pursuant to Section 1377 of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988, which is codified at 19 U.S.C. § 3106. The OUSTR solicits and reviews comments prior to writing these reports.

VOIP Communications. The report states that "a trade association representing leading  VoIP providers submitted comments highlighting difficulties its members face in the provision of VoIP abroad, particularly in countries such as China, India, Oman, and the United  Arab Emirates."

The report adds that "These commenters highlighted market entry barriers such as restrictions on the type of VoIP permitted in a country. For example, some countries allow computer-to-computer VoIP, but do not permit computer-to-Public Switched telephone Network (PSTN) VoIP."

See, VON Coalition's comment, accessible on the OUSTR web page with hyperlinks to comments.

People's Republic of China. The report states that commenters complain about "capitalization requirements which appear excessive by almost any measure".

It also states that commenters "assert that another barrier to entry is an apparent but unwritten policy that only existing telecommunications licenees in China are eligible to serve as joint venture partners for foreign companies."

It also states that commenters "raise concerns about the rules governing the provision of satellite capacity in China. Foreign satellite operators are generally prohibited from signing contracts directly with Chinese telecommunications companies".

It also states states that "The fact that the Chinese government owns and controls all major basic service operators in the telecommunications sector and pays an active role in managing the industry's structure continues to raise serious questions about the ability of the regulator to act impartially, as required under China's WTO Reference Paper commitments."

The report also identifies a "widespread lack of transparency in the development, implementation, and dissemination of rules" in the PRC.

Germany. The report states that commenters complain that "delays in obtaining access to wholesale product offerings from Germany's major supplier Detsche Telekom AG (DTAG) have adversely impacted their businesses, causing commenters to question whether competitive suppliers are being offered reasonable access to DTAG's network."

It adds that commenters "make reference to the long delays in obtaining Internet Protocol (IP) Bitstream and Asyncronous Transfer Mode (ATM) Bitstream access to DTAG's network".

Australia. The report states that "For competitive suppliers that are dependent on the network of Telstra (Australia's major supplier) to serve their own customers, Telstra’s longstanding efforts to resist network access obligations through legal challenges to the regulator and political pressure on the government continues to create an environment of legal and financial uncertainty. One current problem is the competitors’ inability to install (i.e., "co-locate") their equipment in individual switching centers operated by Telstra exchanges." (Parentheses in original.)

Mexico. The report states that "Mexico continues to defer the implementation of the CITEL (Inter-American Telecommunications Commission) Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) for conformity assessment of telecommunications equipment vis-à-vis the United States." (Parentheses in original.)

The report also states that commenters complain about "excessively high mobile termination rates" in Mexico and some other nations.

The report also identifies commenter complaints about El Salvador, Guatemala, Jamaica, Oman, and Singapore.

See also, OUSTR release [PDF].

This report does not cover US compliance with trade agreements. Nor does it address activities or operations of the US government, or state governments, that create barriers to foreign communications or technology businesses in the US.

4/8. President Bush announced his intent to appoint Richard Mangogna to be the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Chief Information Officer. See, White House release and statement by Michael Chertoff.

4/9. President Bush named William Wichterman to be Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Public Liaison. Wichterman was previously Vice Chair of the Legislative Practice Group at the law firm of Covington & Burling. Although, he is not an attorney. Before that he worked for former Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN). See, White House release.

4/9. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee (SCC), stated in a release that "The Chairman and I differ on a number of aspects of the proposed patent reform legislation", S 1145 [LOC | WW], the "Patent Reform Act of 2007". He added that "The principal sticking point is the issue of how to assess damages in patent infringement lawsuits. We thought we had reached an agreement on this matter, but the language continued to shift, so we do not yet have a deal on the package. I am hopeful that we can reach an agreement, but more work has to be done to get it right."

4/9. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Kevin Martin testified before the House Appropriations Committee's (HAC) Subcommittee on Financial Services on April 9, 2008. He stated in his prepared testimony [6 pages in PDF] that the FCC "is requesting spending authority of $338,874,783 for Fiscal Year 2009. As in prior years, the Commission proposes to receive a direct appropriation of $1,000,000 and to raise the remainder, or $337,874,783, through regulatory fees. During the current fiscal year, the Commission has a spending level of $313,000,000, with all but $1,000,000 raised through regulatory fees." Martin testified by the Senate Appropriations Committee (SAC) on April 8, 2008. See, prepared testimony [25 pages in PDF]. He addressed the DTV transition, broadcasters' transition to digital, carriage of digital signals, DTV related enforcement efforts, and consumer education regarding the DTV transition.

4/8. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a release titled "Protecting Our Federal Networks Against Cyber Attacks".

4/8. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a notice in the Federal Register that announces, describes, recites, and sets the comment deadline (June 9, 2008) for, its request for comments regarding its interim final rule [48 pages in PDF] that extends the period of Optional Practical Training (OPT) from 12 to 29 months for qualified F-1 non-immigrant students. This rule change compensates in a limited way for the Congress's failure to enact legislation to increase the annual cap on the number of H1B visas. See, story titled "DHS Extends OPT to 29 Months As Congress Sits on H1B Reform Proposals" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,742, April 7, 2008. See also, Federal Register, April 8, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 68, at Pages 18944-18956.

4/8. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) issued a release [PDF] regarding the status of the DTV transition converter box coupon program.

4/7. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced a two year pilot program for three to five law schools titled "Law School Clinical Certification Program". Qualifying law schools will be able to operate clinics for law students that will give these students some experience in patent or trademark practice. See, USPTO release, program web site, and application form [20 pages in PDF]. The deadline for laws schools to apply to participate is May 30, 2008

4/7. The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services published a notice in the Federal Register that announces, describes, recites, and sets the effective date (June 6, 2008) for, it final rule regarding electronic prescriptions. See, Federal Register, April 7, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 67, at Pages 18917-18942.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. See, Rep. Hoyer's schedule for week of April 7.

The Senate will meet at 9:30 AM. It will resume consideration of HR 3221 [LOC | WW], the "Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2007".

9:30 AM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) may hold an event titled "Open Commission Meeting". See, tentative agenda [4 pages in PDF]. See, story titled "FCC Releases Agenda for April 10 Meeting" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,741, April 2, 2008. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room, Room TW-C305, 445 12th St., SW.

POSTPONED. 10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The House Science Committee's (HSC) Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight will hold a hearing titled "American Decline or Renewal?: Globalizing Jobs or Technology". Location: Room 2318, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Finance Committee (SFC) will hold a hearing titled "Identity Theft: Who’s Got Your Number?". The witnesses will include Douglas Shulman (IRS Commissioner). See, notice. Location: Room 215, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee's (OGC) Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs will hold a hearing titled "Investigation into the Sale of Sensitive, In-Demand Military Equipment and Supplies on the Internet". Location: Room 2154, Rayburn Building.

RESCHEDULED FOR APRIL 23. 10:00 AM. The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) will hold a hearing titled "Phantom Traffic". The SCC notice states that this hearing "will examine concerns regarding traffic over telephone networks that is sent without identifying information used for intercarrier billing purposes". Location Room 253, Russell Building.

10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The House Intelligence Committee (HIC) will hold a closed hearing titled "Cybersecurity Initiative". See, notice. Location: Room H-405, Capitol Building.

10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) will host an event titled "Is Free Trade Good for Your Health?". The speakers will be Ann Owen (Hamilton College), Paul Wolfowitz (AEI), Jeremy Norris (Hudson Institute), and Roger Bate (AEI). See, notice. The event is free and open to the public. Location: AEI, 12th floor, 1150 17th St., NW.

10:00 AM. The House Appropriations Committee's (HAC) Subcommittee on Homeland Security will hold a hearing on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The hearing will be webcast by the HAC. Location: Room 2220, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Southwestern Bell v. Arthur Collins, App. Ct. No. 2007-1577. Location: Courtroom 402, 717 Madison Place, NW.

12:30 PM. Eric Solomon (Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy, Department of the Treasury) will give a speech titled "Current Developments in Tax Policy" at an ALI/ABA event. Location: Hilton Embassy Row, 2015 Massachusetts Ave., NW.

6:00 - 8:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Wireless Practice Committee will host a program titled "Wireless Technologies: An Overview and Policy Discussion on What's Current and What’s Next". This event qualifies for continuing legal education (CLE) credits. Prices vary. The deadline for registrations and cancellations is 5:00 PM on April 8. See, registration form [PDF] and notice and online registration page. Location: Wiley Rein, 1776 K St., NW.

Day one of a three day conference hosted by the American Bar Association's (ABA) Section of Intellectual Property Law titled "23rd Annual Intellectual Property Law Conference". See, conference web site and brochure [PDF]. Location: Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel, Arlington, VA.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) regarding a broadcast television substitution in Riverside, California. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 11, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 48, at Pages 12928-12929.

Rep. Hoyer's schedule for week of April 7 states that "no votes are expected in the House".

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Solomon Technologies v. ITC, App. Ct. No. 2007-1391, an appeal from the ITC's termination of an investigation regarding Solomon Technologies' complaint that Toyota infringed a patent regarding an electric wheel. Location: Courtroom 402, 717 Madison Place, NW.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization v. Buffalo Technologies, App. Ct. No. 2007-1449, a patent infringement case involving wireless communications technology. Location: Courtroom 402, 717 Madison Place, NW.

2:30 - 4:30 PM. The DC Bar Association and others will host a program titled "Wired in the Workplace: Challenges Posed by Electronic Communication Devices and New Media". This program is part of the 2008 Judicial & Bar Conference. See, notice. The price to attend is $50. For more information, contact Verniesa Allen at 202-626-3439. Location: Reagan International Trade Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

Day two of a three day conference hosted by the American Bar Association's (ABA) Section of Intellectual Property Law titled "23rd Annual Intellectual Property Law Conference". See, conference web site and brochure [PDF]. Location: Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel, Arlington, VA.

Day three of a three day conference hosted by the American Bar Association's (ABA) Section of Intellectual Property Law titled "23rd Annual Intellectual Property Law Conference". See, conference web site and brochure [PDF]. Location: Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel, Arlington, VA.

Extended deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding the Petition for Declaratory Ruling [33 pages in PDF] filed by the Public Knowledge (PK) and other groups on December 11, 2007, pertaining to the regulatory status of text messaging services, including short code based services sent from and received by mobile phones. The PK requests that the FCC declare that these services are governed by the anti-discrimination provisions of Title II of the Communications Act. See, story titled "Verizon Wireless and Net Neutrality Advocates Clash Over Text Messaging" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,647, September 27, 2007. See also, letter from Verizon Wireless to NARAL dated September 27, 2007, and NARAL's web page titled "NARAL Pro-Choice America Wins Fight over Corporate Censorship". See also, story titled "Public Knowledge Asks FCC to Declare that Blocking and Refusing to Carry Text Messages Violates Title II" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,686, December 11, 2007. This proceeding is WT Docket No. 08-7. See, original notice in the Federal Register, January 28, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 18, at Pages 4866-4867. See also, notice [PDF] of extension (DA 08-282), and second notice in the Federal Register, February 28, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 40, at Pages 10775-10776.

EXTENDED TO JUNE 11. Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to 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. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 13, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 30, at Pages 8255-8259. See also, FCC's Public Notice [PDF] (DA 08-393). See also, Public Notice [PDF] (DA 08-515) extending deadlines.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding leased commercial access. The FCC adopted this NPRM on November 27, 2007, and released the text on February 1, 2008. This NPRM is FCC 07-208 in MB Docket No. 07-42. See, story titled "FCC Adopts R&O and FNPRM Regarding Commercial Leased Access" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,680, November 30, 2007. See also, notice in the Federal Register, February 28, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 40, Pages 10732-10738.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) regarding cable and broadcast attribution rules. The FCC adopted this item on December 18, 2007, and released the text on February 11, 2008. It is FCC 07-219 in MM Docket No. 92-264. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 27, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 39, at Pages 10411-10415.

9:30 AM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet will hold a hearing titled "Oversight of the Federal Communications Commission -- the 700 MHz Auction". This hearing will be webcast by the HCC. See also, story titled "Rep. Markey Announces Hearing on 700 MHz Auction" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,734, March 20, 2008. The hearing will be webcast by the HCC. Location: Room 2322, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold a hearing titled "National Security Letters: The Need for Greater Accountability and Oversight". The witnesses will be James Baker (former Counsel for Intelligence Policy, Department of Justice), Gregory Nojeim (Center for Democracy and Technology), and Michael Woods (former Chief, National Security Law Unit, Office of the General Counsel, FBI). Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

6:00 - 8:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Wireline Committee will host an event titled "Pole Attachments: Current Issues and Policy Considerations". This event qualifies for continuing legal education (CLE) credits. See, registration form [PDF] and notice and online registration page. Prices vary. The deadline for registrations and cancellations is 5:00 PM on April 14. Location: Bingham McCutchen, 2020 K St., NW.

10:00 - 11:30 AM. The Department of State's (DOS) Advisory Committee on International Communications and Information Policy will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 1, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 63, at Pages 17396-17397. Location: Loy Henderson Auditorium, DOS, 2201 C St., NW.

6:00 PM. Deadline for the winning bidders in Auction 73 to submit the balance of the net amount of their winning bids. See, notice.

6:30 - 8:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Diversity Committee and Young Lawyers Committee will host an event titled "Happy Hour". For more information, contact Parul Desai at pdesai at mediaaccess dot org, Chris Fedeli at chrisfedeli at dwt dot com, or Tarah Grant at tsgrant at hhlaw dot com. Location: Oya Restaurant & Lounge, 777 9th St., NW.

Extended deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to it Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding the Recommended Decision of the Federal-State Joint Board on Universal Service, released on November 20, 2007, regarding comprehensive reform of high cost universal service taxes and subsidies. The FCC adopted this NPRM on January 15, 2008, and released the text on January 29, 2008. It is FCC 08-02 in WC Docket No. 05-337 and CC Docket No. 96-45. See, original notice in the Federal Register, March 4, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 43, at Pages 11587-11591. See also, notice [PDF] of extension (DA 08-674).

Extended deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding the use of reverse auctions to determine the amount of high cost universal service subsidies provided to eligible telecommunications carriers serving rural, insular, and high cost areas. The FCC adopted this NPRM on January 9, 2008, and released the text on January 29, 2008. It is FCC 08-05 in WC Docket No. 05-337 and CC Docket No. 96-45. See, original notice in the Federal Register, March 4, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 43, at Pages 11591-11602. See also, notice [PDF] of extension (DA 08-674).

Extended deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding the FCC's rules governing the amount of high cost universal service subsidies provided to competitive eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs). This NPRM also tentatively concludes that the FCC should eliminate the existing identical support rule, which is also known as the equal support rule. The FCC adopted this NPRM on January 9, 2008, and released the text on January 29, 2008. It is FCC 08-04 in WC Docket No. 05-337 and CC Docket No. 96-45. See, original notice in the Federal Register, March 4, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 43, at Pages 11580-11587. See also, notice [PDF] of extension (DA 08-674).

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