7/7. The U.S. Court of Appeals (11thCir) issued its opinion [21 pages in PDF] in CBS v. Echostar, affirming the judgment of the District Court.

The Court of Appeals held that EchoStar is not prohibited under 17 U.S.C. § 119(a)(7)(B)(i) from leasing its transponder to the National Programming Service (NPS) under a lease agreement that allows the NPS to retransmit distant network programming to eligible subscribers.

This case is CBS Broadcasting, Inc., et al. v. Echostar Communications Corp., U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, App. Ct. No. 07-10178, an appeal from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, D.C. No. 98-02651-CV-WPD.

Judge Wilson wrote the opinion of the Court of Appeals, in which Judges Cox and Bowman, sitting by designation, joined.

7/7. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR) released a report [92 pages in PDF] titled "Seventh Report to the Leaders on the U.S.-Japan Regulatory Reform and Competition Policy Initiative". Much of the report addresses technology related topics.

The OUSTR also issued a summary [5 pages in PDF] of report's section on reform in Japan.

The report addresses, among other topics, reform in Japan of laws, regulations and policies related to telecommunication competition, wireline interconnection, mobile interconnection, trade in communications equipment, electronic commerce, patent, copyright and trademark protection, privacy, health information technology, government information technology procurement, and competition policy and the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC).

The section of the report that addresses reform in the U.S. addresses the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), patent law reform, export regulation, communications, communications equipment, copyright, access control provisions of the DMCA, spam e-mail, the REAL ID Act, and other topics.

Susan Schwab (at right), the U.S. Trade Representative, stated in a release that "An aggressive and continuous commitment to regulatory reform is vital for Japan's ability to boost economic growth and open its economy for the benefit of all Japanese citizens".

She added that "Increasingly, however, new ideas to remove unnecessary regulation or improve Japan’s business environment are being challenged by defenders of the status quo.  It is critical for Japan to redouble its focus and implement new economic reforms that respond to Prime Minister Fukuda's call at Davos to further open and liberalize Japan's economy."

She did not comment in this release on unnecessary regulation in the US.

US President Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Fukuda, spoke at an event in Toyako, Japan, on July 6, 2008. See, transcript.

Prime Minister Fukuda stated that "On the economic aspects, the interdependence between Japan and the United States has grown closer than before. Since 2000, Japanese direct investment to the United States has increased approximately 30 percent; Japanese businesses in the United States have about 610,000 people on their payrolls. And U.S. direct investment in Japan also has increased approximately 60 percent."

President Bush said that "I've got two other subjects that I want to make sure we spend a fair amount of time on. One is the Doha Round. It's an opportunity for us, Mr. Prime Minister, to promote free and fair trade, and it's going to be an essential part of the development agenda."

7/2. Federal Reserve Board member Frederic Mishkin gave a speech in Eliat, Israel titled "Global Financial Turmoil and the World Economy". He discussed, among other things, the role of information and information technologies in financial markets.

Mishkin (at right) said that "financial markets can do their job well only when they solve information problems that would otherwise impede the efficient allocation of credit to worthy borrowers. The history of financial development can be characterized as a process in which innovation tends to lead to improvements in the quality of information, and this, in turn, enables new financial products and markets to develop. Indeed, in the past decade or so, technological innovations and financial market liberalization improved the flow of information and capital to broader groups of people."

"Advances in information technology and financial innovations in recent decades encouraged new lending products and faster securitization of debt. This lowered transaction costs and contributed to a ``democratization of credit´´", said Mishkin.

That is, "a potential customer with an Internet connection could quickly fill out an online form, and a mortgage broker could rapidly price a loan with the help of credit-scoring technology."

Then, the "resulting mortgages were bundled together to produce mortgage-backed securities, which could then be sold off to investors. Advances in financial engineering took the securitization process even further by carving mortgage-backed securities into more-complicated structured products, such as collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), or even CDOs of CDOs, with an eye to tailoring the credit risks of various types of assets to risk profiles desired by different kinds of investors."

He then reviewed nature and causes of recent turmoil in financial markets. "All seemed well as long as the economy -- particularly, the housing market -- was booming, and credit became more and more available. But when the housing market turned down, substantial problems were exposed."

He explained that "it became painfully clear how poor the underwriting and credit-risk analysis were for a wide range of products. Some appraisers, brokers, and investment banks were motivated by transaction fees and had little stake in the ultimate performance of the loans they helped to arrange. Many securitized products were complex, and the ownership structure of the underlying assets was opaque. Investors relied heavily on credit ratings instead of conducting due diligence themselves, and credit rating agencies failed to fulfill their raison d'etre. The result has been rising defaults, particularly in the subprime mortgage markets, with losses to both investors and financial institutions."

7/3. Stewart Mayhew was named Deputy Chief Economist in the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) Office of Economic Analysis. See, SEC release.

7/1. Corey Booth, who was Director of the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) Office of Information Technology until June 30, joined the Boston Consulting Group in New York. See, SEC release.

7/1. Daniel Gallagher was named a Deputy Director of the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) Division of Trading and Markets. Gallagher has been Counsel to SEC Chairman Chris Cox since 2007. Before that, he was Counsel to outgoing SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins. See, SEC release.

7/1. Colleen Litkenhaus joined the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR) as the Assistant USTR for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Liaison. See, OUSTR release.

7/1. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR) announced that Michael Delaney will join the OUSTR as Assistant USTR for South Asian Affairs in September. He is a long time career Foreign Service officer at the Department of State. See, OUSTR release.

7/7/ The U.S. Court of Appeals (8thCir) issued its opinion [5 pages in PDF] in US v. Hugh, affirming a criminal conviction and 18 month prison sentence for wiretapping in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2511(1)(a). The defendant in this case, Richard Hugh, was a bail bondsman and bounty hunter searching for a defendant in another case who failed to appear in court, thereby causing forfeiture of the bond posted by Hugh. In an effort to locate the fugitive, and to recover the value of the forfeited bond, Hugh wiretapped the telephone of a friend of the fugitive. He affixed wiretapping equipment to the telephone box outside of her house. Neighbors observed the installation, and called police. This case is USA v. Richard A. Hugh, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit, App. Ct. No. 08-1033, an appeal from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.

7/3. The U.S. Court of Appeals (11thCir) issued its opinion [35 pages in PDF] in US v. Lamons, affirming a criminal conviction obtained following the introduction into evidence of call records of wireless carrier Sprint. The US charged Turhan Lamons, an AirTran steward, with various crimes in connection with his using a cell phone to make phone calls to AirTran that falsely asserted that there was a bomb on board a plane, and with his starting a fire in the lavatory of that plane. The indictment charged, among other crimes, violation of 18 U.S.C. § 35(b) (conveying false information regarding threats to commercial flights) and 18 U.S.C. § 844(e) (using a telephone to make bomb threats or convey false information regarding bomb threats). The prosecution introduced into evidence a CD provided by Sprint of data collected from telephone calls made to AirTran and a call report created from that compact disc. The District Court rejected Lamons' argument that this amounted to testimonial hearsay in violation of the confrontation clause of the Sixth Amendment. The jury reached a verdict of guilty on the §35(b) count, but not the §844(e) count. The Court of Appeals affirmed, concluding that this evidence did not constitute statements. This case is USA v. Turhan Jamar Lamons, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, App. Ct. No. 06-14427, an appeal from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, D.C. No. 03-00046-CR-01-RLV-4.

7/2. The Copyright Office (CO) published a notice in the Federal Register that announces, recites, and describes numerous changes to the CO's rules. The notice characterizes these as "housekeeping amendments". See, Federal Register, July 2, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 128, at Pages 37838-37840.

7/1. The Department of Justice's (DOJ) Antitrust Division announced in a release that it "will close its investigation" of Visa, Inc., regarding its debit card industry practices. The DOJ wrote that Visa "has rescinded a rule that required merchants to treat Visa-branded debit cards differently when used as a PIN-debit card (and processed via non-Visa networks) from the same cards when used as signature debit cards and processed on the Visa network". (Parentheses in original.) The DOJ added that this "should eliminate any potential for competitive harm".

7/1. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published a notice in the Federal Register that announces that it "intends to conduct consumer survey research to advance its understanding of the experiences of consumers who interact with consumer reporting agencies following an incident of identity theft". The FTC seeks public comments on this research. See, Federal Register: July 1, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 127, at Pages 37457-37458. See also, FTC release. Comments are due by September 2, 2008.

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Notices & Disclaimers
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The House will return from it July 4th recess. It will meet at 2:00 PM for legislative business. It will consider numerous non-technology related items under suspension of the rules. Votes will be postponed until 6:30 PM. See, Rep. Hoyer's schedule for the week of July 7.

The Senate will meet at 10:00 AM for morning business. It will then resume consideration of HR 6304 [LOC | WW], "Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 Amendments Act of 2008".

9:30 AM - 3:00 PM. The Digital Television Transition Coalition will host a collection of exhibits and demonstrations related to the DTV transition. Location: Foyer, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Broadcom v. ITC, App. Ct. No. 2007-1164. Location: Courtroom 201, 717 Madison Place, NW.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Kyocera Wireless v. ITC, App. Ct. No. 2007-1493. Location: Courtroom 201, 717 Madison Place, NW.

11:00 AM. The Public Knowledge (PK), Free Press (FP) and the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) will host a news briefing titled "Privacy, the Internet and Behavioral Advertising". The speakers will be Ari Schwartz (CDT) and Robert Topolski (consultant to the PK and FP). This briefing is scheduled for the day before the Senate Commerce Committee's (SCC) hearing titled "Privacy Implications of Online Advertising". The CDT will release at this event a paper that argues that arrangements between ISPs and ad networks to mine customer data streams for behavioral advertising could violate federal wiretap laws, which are codified at 18 U.S.C. § 2510, et seq. See also, PK and FP paper tilted "NebuAd and Partner ISPs: Wiretapping, Forgery and Browser Hijacking" and story titled "Free Press and Public Knowledge Allege More ISP Bad Behavior" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,782, June 18, 2008. The call in number is 800-377-8846; the participant code is 92874158#. Location: CDT, 1634 Eye St., NW.

1:30 - 4:30 PM. The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) National Infrastructure Advisory Council, which provides advice on critical infrastructure sectors and their information systems, will meet. This meeting may be closed to the public. See, notice in the Federal Register, June 16, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 116, at Page 34028. Location: undisclosed.

5:00 PM. The House Rules Committee will meet. It agenda includes adopting a rule for consideration of HR 5811 [LOC | WW], the "Electronic Message Preservation Act". Location: Room H-313, Capitol Building.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. The House may consider HR 5811 [LOC | WW], the "Electronic Message Preservation Act", subject to a rule. See, Rep. Hoyer's schedule for the week of July 7.

8:00 AM - 5:00 PM. The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) will host a one day conference titled "Defense 2.0: Transforming DoD Through the New Paradigm of IT". See, notice. Prices vary. Location: Ritz Carlton, Pentagon City.

9:30 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold a hearing titled "Oversight of the U.S. Department of Justice". Attorney General Michael Mukasey will testify. See, notice. Location: Room 106, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) will hold a hearing titled "Privacy Implications of Online Advertising". The witnesses will be Lydia Parnes (Director of the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Consumer Protection), Mike Hintze (Microsoft), Robert Dykes (NebuAd Inc.), Leslie Harris (Center for Democracy and Technology), Jane Horvath (Google Inc.), Wayne Crews (Competitive Enterprise Institute), and Chris Kelly (Facebook, Inc.). See, notice. Location: Room 253, Russell Building.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Gammino v. Davel Communications, App. Ct. No. 2008-1089, a patent infringement action involving international call blocking technology. Location: Courtroom 402, 717 Madison Place, NW.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Asyst Technologies v. Emtrak, App. Ct. No. 2007-1554. This is a patent case involving an inventory management system used in the production of integrated circuits Location: Courtroom 402, 717 Madison Place, NW.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Tavory v. NTP, App. Ct. Nos. 2007-1527 and 2008-1090, patent and copyright cases involving e-mail push software. Location: Courtroom 402, 717 Madison Place, NW.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Broadcomm v. Qualcomm, App. Ct. No. 2008-1199. Location: Courtroom 203, 717 Madison Place, NW.

12:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Young Lawyers Committee will host a brown bag lunch titled "The Role of Trade Association Policymakers and Counsel". The speakers will be Jane Mago (National Association of Broadcasters), Jonathan Banks (USTelecom), Carolyn Brandon (CTIA), and Dan Brenner (National Cable & Telecommunications Association). For more information, contact Brendan Carr at BCarr at wileyrein dot com or Tarah Grant at tsgrant at hhlaw dot com. Location: Willkie Farr & Gallagher, 1875 K St., NW.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. The House may consider HR 5811 [LOC | WW], the "Electronic Message Preservation Act", subject to a rule. See, Rep. Hoyer's schedule for the week of July 7.

10:00 AM. The House Judiciary Committee's (HJC) Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law will hold a hearing titled "Politicization of the Justice Department and Allegations of Selective Prosecution". See, notice. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold a hearing titled "Passport Files: Privacy Protection Needed For All Americans". See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in NetMoneyIn v. Verisign, App. Ct. No. 2007-1565. Location: Courtroom 402, 717 Madison Place, NW.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Uniloc USA v. Microsoft, App. Ct. No. 2008-1121, a patent infringement case involving technology for registering software. Location: Courtroom 402, 717 Madison Place, NW.

2:30 PM. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will hold a hearing on numerous treaties. See, notice. Location: Room 419 Dirksen Building.

The House will meet at 9:00 AM for legislative business. See, Rep. Hoyer's schedule for the week of July 7.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Cooper Technologies v. Dudas, App. Ct. No. 2008-1130. See, U.S. District Court's (EDVa) opinion [PDF] holding that the USPTO's interpretation that the term "original application" in the American Inventor's Protection Act of 1999 to include continuation applications was not arbitrary, capricious or contrary to law. Location: Courtroom 201, 717 Madison Place, NW.

12:00 NOON. The Cato Institute will host a panel discussion titled "Securing Economic Growth through Trade Facilitation". The speakers will be Simeon Djankov (World Bank) and Daniel Ikenson (Cato). Lunch will be served. See, notice and registration page. Location: Room B-339, Rayburn Building.

Deadline to submit comments to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (OUSTR) regarding the OUSTR's complaint filed with the World Trade Organization (WTO) on May 28, 2008, regarding European tariff treatment accorded to set-top boxes with a communication function, flat panel displays, input or output units, and facsimile machines. See, notice in the Federal Register, June 17, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 117, at Pages 34350-34351. See also, story titled "US and Japan File Complaints with WTO Regarding EU Duties on Tech Products" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,776, June 4, 2008.

Deadline to submit comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding numerous applications to change the community of AM or FM licenses. See, notice in the Federal Register, May 14, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 94, at Pages 27824-27825.

Accelerated deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) regarding small, minority owned and women owned businesses in broadcasting. See, original notice in the Federal Register, May 16, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 96, at Page 28400-28407, and notice accelerating comment deadlines in the Federal Register, May 29, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 104, at Page 30875. The FCC adopted this NPRM on December 18, 2007, and released the text on March 5, 2008. See, NPRM [70 pages in PDF], first corrections [2 pages in PDF] and second correction [2 pages in PDF]. This NPRM is FCC 07-217 in MB Docket Nos. 07-294, 06-121, 02-277, and 04-228, and MM Docket Nos. 01-235, 01-317, and 00-244.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) regarding whether the eligible telecommunications carrier (ETC) obligation to provide monthly digital television (DTV) transition notices to low income subscribers should be expanded to require the provision of such notices to all subscribers, and whether multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) should be required to provide on air DTV transition education on their systems. This FNPRM [30 pages in PDF] is FCC 08-119 in MB Docket No. 07-148. See also, correction [PDF]. See, notice in the Federal Register, May 28, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 103, at Pages 30591-30596.

9:00 AM. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host a breakfast book discussion. The speakers will be Richard Lipsey, author of the book [Amazon] titled "Economic Transformations: General Purpose Technologies and Long Term Growth", and Robert Atkinson (ITIF). See, notice. Location: ITIF, Suite 200, 1250 Eye St., NW.

10:00 AM. The Senate Banking Committee (SBC) will hold a hearing titled "The Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the Congress". The witness will be Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. See, notice. Location: Room 325, Russell Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on the nomination of Gus Coldebella to be General Counsel of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). See, notice. Location: Room 342, Dirksen Building.

CHANGED TO JUNE 30. Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) regarding small, minority owned and women owned businesses in broadcasting. See, notice in the Federal Register, May 16, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 96, at Page 28400-28407. The FCC adopted this NPRM on December 18, 2007, and released the text on March 5, 2008. See, NPRM [70 pages in PDF], first corrections [2 pages in PDF] and second correction [2 pages in PDF]. This NPRM is FCC 07-217 in MB Docket Nos. 07-294, 06-121, 02-277, and 04-228, and MM Docket Nos. 01-235, 01-317, and 00-244. See, notice accelerating comment deadlines in the Federal Register, May 29, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 104, at Page 30875.