11/14. The Supreme Court noted probable jurisdiction in Citizens United v. FEC. See, Orders List [PDF].

This case is a Constitutional challenge to parts of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA), a law made by the Congress abridging the freedom of speech. The law is also sometimes referred to as McCain-Feingold, for its main sponsors, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI).

Citizens United (CU) made a movie [DVD, Amazon] titled "Hillary: The Movie", and advertisements for this movie. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination ultimately won by Sen. Barrack Obama (D-IL).

The CU had planned to distribute the movie during the Presidential primaries, and prior to the Democratic convention and general election (had Sen. Clinton won the nomination) through theaters, video on demand (VOD), and DVD sales. However, the CU did not distribute the movie because of the BCRA, and the District Court's opinion in this case.

The movie is now on sale in DVD format by Amazon for $21.49. Amazon states that this movie is 90 minutes long and features "actors" Dick Morris and Newt Gingrich.

Under the BCRA, both the advertisements and the VOD would constitute "electioneering communications" within the meaning of 2 U.S.C. § 434(f)(3)(A). Furthermore, the BCRA, at 2 U.S.C. § 441b(b)(2), prohibits corporations and labor unions from funding electioneering communications, except under narrow exceptions, and requires public disclosure of such funding.

The CU filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court (DC) against the Federal Election Commission (FEC), the agency that enforces, implements the BCRA, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief.

A three judge panel of the District Court issued its Memorandum Opinion [13 pages in PDF] on January 15, 2008, denying the CU's motion for a preliminary injunction. This opinion is also reported at 530 F. Supp. 2d 274.

The CU immediately sought Supreme Court review by appeal. On March 24, 2008, the Supreme Court dismissed the CU's appeal for want of jurisdiction. See, Supreme Court docket number 07-953.

July 18, 2008, the District Court issued its Memorandum Opinion [2 pages in PDF] granting summary judgment to the FEC. The CU again appealed to the Supreme Court. This time, the Supreme Court noted probable jurisdiction.

This case is Citizens United v. FEC, Supreme Court of the U.S., Sup. Ct. No. 08-205, an appeal from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, D.C. No. 07-2240, Judges Ray Randolph (U.S.C.A, sitting by designation), Royce Lamberth and Richard Roberts presiding.

11/12. Donald Kohn, Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board (FRB), gave a speech in Luxembourg, Luxembourg, titled "Productivity and Innovation in Financial Services" in which he discussed, among other things, information technology (IT).

Kohn (at right) said that "Over the past several decades, we witnessed a rapid expansion of financial intermediation and financial instruments around the globe."

"Unfortunately", he continued, "that long period of innovation and heightened financial activity exploded into an unsustainable credit boom that was marked by a failure to appropriately evaluate risks in lending to households and businesses, excessive leverage by both borrowers and lenders, and increased reliance on complex and opaque financial instruments that were poorly understood and fragile under stress. The resulting financial strains and severity of their effects on real activity have clearly shown the limits of our ability to anticipate how and where problems in the financial sector would emerge and of our understanding of the channels through which the financial stresses could lead to a broad-based pullback in lending and adverse spillovers into the real economy."

He also said that "as financial innovations accelerated, we had solid reasons to believe that those advances were contributing to the pickup in overall productivity and, possibly, to the moderation in fluctuations of economic activity. Increased technical capabilities, together with enhanced mathematical applications, permitted the development of products such as derivatives and loan securitizations that provided new ways to unbundle risks. We thought that risks were being redistributed more efficiently to individuals and firms according to their risk tolerances and their abilities to absorb risk."

He said that "Information technology also appeared to be making intermediation more efficient by reducing the cost and uncertainty of processing information that helps financial intermediaries make superior investment choices with better risk and return characteristics."

IT "also made possible the creation, valuation, and exchange of complex financial instruments on a global basis. Financial transactions were occurring faster and were less expensive to initiate and complete. The assumption was that markets were becoming deeper and more liquid."

He added that "These innovations did produce lasting gains, but these gains were clearly accompanied by increasing vulnerabilities. In the United States, financial innovation, especially in the origination and distribution of subprime mortgages, ended up contributing to an excess supply of houses at prices well above long-term sustainable levels."

He also compared and contrasted the tech boom of the late 1990s and its resulting bust, and the recent credit boom and bust.

He said that "Robust, dynamic markets are the lifeblood of market economies. They are the source of rising productivity and, as such, of increasing standards of living. But the dynamic functioning of markets also means that productivity advances will not necessarily occur smoothly--and, indeed, are likely to involve some cyclical overshooting and undershooting, often exacerbated by waves of optimism and pessimism that seem to be inherent in human nature. Innovation by its nature is risky; some innovations work better than others, and, thus, some new ideas and the businesses that invest in or use them must be allowed to fail."

He continued that cyclical swings in productivity, "such as the boom and bust in high-technology investment in the late 1990s -- occur in sectors with limited spillovers to the functioning of the financial markets. Risks are borne by private investors who reap the rewards or bear the losses associated with the economic outcomes of their investments. And they are often funded by equity, not debt, so financial intermediaries are not at risk. The gains to aggregate economic activity from successful innovation -- as in the high-tech case -- are realized over time. When overinvestment occurs, market returns respond, new investment slows, and the capital stock eventually adjusts. In the end, productivity is higher than it would have been otherwise."

"In contrast", said Kohn, "when the innovations heavily involve the financial sector, the unwinding of any resulting boom can quickly begin to entail more far-reaching and deeper effects on the functioning of credit markets and, thus, can pose a more serious threat to economic stability."

11/17. Back on September 25, 2008, the U.S. District Court (DMinn) granted a new trial in Capitol Records v. Thomas, a music copyright infringement case involving use of the Kazaa peer to peer (P2P) network. See, opinion [44 pages in PDF]. The new trial date is March 9, 2009. The record companies seek an interlocutory appeal.

An appeal at this point would be interlocutory, because the new trial order is preliminary and prior to final disposition of the case by the trial court. Subject to exceptions, only final orders are appealable. The plaintiffs have not yet filed a notice of appeal.

Although, they have filed a motion with the District Court to certify the new trial order for interlocutory appeal, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b). Thomas filed an opposition [PDF] to this motion on November 11.

Last year, this was the first P2P infringement case against an individual infringer to reach a verdict. The defendant, Jamie Thomas, was found liable by a jury, which awarded the record company plaintiffs $220,000 in damages. See also, story titled "District Court Grants New Trial to P2P Infringer" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,833, September 26, 2008.

At issue is whether making available copyrighted songs on a P2P system is sufficient to show infringement of the distribution right under 17 U.S.C. § 106(3), or whether the copyright holder must also show actual distribution. The District Court held in September that the latter is required.

On November 17, the Progress & Freedom Foundation (PFF) released a paper [22 pages in PDF] titled "Thomas on the Making-Available Right: An Unreasoned and Unreasonable Decision". The author is the PFF's Thomas Sydnor. He argues that the District Court's opinion has "profound flaws".

Sydnor wrote that "In Thomas, the analysis of this important issue degenerated from unreasoned to unreasonable to injudicious. At its end, the question lingering was not whether its analysis was sound, but whether its concluding advisory opinion attacking the jury and Congress also created the appearance of partiality."

Other groups, such as the Public Knowledge (PK) and the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), have argued, like the District Court, that making available does not constitute infringement of the distribution right. See for example, amicus brief [18 pages in PDF] filed on June 20, 2008.

This case is Capitol Records, Inc., et al. v. Jammie Thomas, U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, D.C. No. 06-1497 (MJD/RLE), Judge Michael Davis presiding.

11/12. The U.S. Court of Appeals (10thCir) issued its opinion [35 pages in PDF] in Hernandez-Carrera v. Carlson, an immigration case. The 10th Circuit applied Chevron/BrandX deference to an administrative agency even though the Supreme Court had previously issued a contrary interpretation of the statute.

The facts of this case do not involve information technology or communications. However, the Court of Appeals' opinion concerns judicial deference to administrative agencies under the Supreme Court's 1984 opinion in Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837, and its 2005 opinion in NCTA v. Brand X, 545 U.S. 967.

The FCC is not a party to this case. It does, however, rely upon Chevron/BrandX deference. It sometimes adopt rules, declaratory rulings, and other orders that are inconsistent with the federal statutes that are implemented by the FCC.

The FCC is also skilled in the art of convincing federal Court of Appeals judges and Supreme Court justices that unambiguous statutes are ambiguous, and that its own orders embody reasonable interpretations of these statutes.

Opinions such as the just released opinion give the FCC great leeway in practicing its art.

The Court of Appeals added that "this holding leads us to conflict with the results reached by the two other circuits" that considered the agency's construction of the statute at issue.

Chevron. The Supreme Court wrote in Chevron that "When a court reviews an agency's construction of the statute which it administers, it is confronted with two questions. First, always, is the question whether Congress has directly spoken to the precise question at issue. If the intent of Congress is clear, that is the end of the matter; for the court, as well as the agency, must give effect to the unambiguously expressed intent of Congress. If, however, the court determines Congress has not directly addressed the precise question at issue, the court does not simply impose its own construction on the statute, as would be necessary in the absence of an administrative interpretation. Rather, if the statute is silent or ambiguous with respect to the specific issue, the question for the court is whether the agency's answer is based on a permissible construction of the statute." (Footnotes omitted.)

The Supreme Court continued that "If Congress has explicitly left a gap for the agency to fill, there is an express delegation of authority to the agency to elucidate a specific provision of the statute by regulation. Such legislative regulations are given controlling weight unless they are arbitrary, capricious, or manifestly contrary to the statute. Sometimes the legislative delegation to an agency on a particular question is implicit rather than explicit. In such a case, a court may not substitute its own construction of a statutory provision for a reasonable interpretation made by the administrator of an agency." (Footnotes omitted.)

"We have long recognized that considerable weight should be accorded to an executive department's construction of a statutory scheme it is entrusted to administer", the Supreme Court concluded.

Brand X. In Brand X the Supreme Court held that Chevron deference applies to a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) declaratory ruling, even when a District Court had issued a contrary opinion prior to the FCC interpretation. See, story titled "Supreme Court Rules in Brand X Case" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,163, June 28, 2005.

The Supreme Court wrote that "In Chevron, this Court held that ambiguities in statutes within an agency’s jurisdiction to administer are delegations of authority to the agency to fill the statutory gap in reasonable fashion. Filling these gaps, the Court explained, involves difficult policy choices that agencies are better equipped to make than courts. ... If a statute is ambiguous, and if the implementing agency’s construction is reasonable, Chevron requires a federal court to accept the agency’s construction of the statute, even if the agency’s reading differs from what the court believes is the best statutory interpretation."

It concluded that "Only a judicial precedent holding that the statute unambiguously forecloses the agency's interpretation, and therefore contains no gap for the agency to fill, displaces a conflicting agency construction."

Justice Scalia wrote in his dissenting opinion that the Brand X case "is a wonderful illustration of how an experienced agency can (with some assistance from credulous courts) turn statutory constraints into bureaucratic discretions". (Parentheses in original.)

Present Case. In the present case the Court of Appeals held that Chevron/BrandX deference applies even when the prior opinion contrary to the agency interpretation was issued by the Supreme Court.

The Court of Appeals held that "a subsequent, reasonable agency interpretation of an ambiguous statute, which avoids raising serious constitutional doubts, is due deference notwithstanding the Supreme Court's earlier contrary interpretation of the statute."

It explained that "Judicial deference to administrative interpretations in these cases is not a policy choice, but rather a means of giving effect to congressional intent. When Congress leaves a gap within a statute administered by an agency, Congress impliedly entrusts the agency with authority to explain and fill in the interstices."

Moreover, "Were we to favor a judicial construction over a reasonable administrative agency construction in this case, we would be ignoring Congress’ choice to empower an agency, rather than the courts, to resolve this kind of statutory ambiguity."

Hence, it concluded that "the holding of Brand X applies whether the judicial precedent at issue is that of a lower court or the Supreme Court. In sum, a court's -- even the Supreme Court's -- prior interpretation of a statute that an agency is empowered to administer forecloses an agency’s reasonable construction only if the relevant judicial decision held the statute to be unambiguous."

Justice Stevens wrote in a concurring opinion in Brand X that the opinion of the Court "correctly explains why a court of appeals' interpretation of an ambiguous provision in a regulatory statute does not foreclose a contrary reading by the agency."

However, Stevens continued that "That explanation would not necessarily be applicable to a decision by this Court that would presumably remove any pre-existing ambiguity."

The 10th Circuit rejected this language.

Finally, the Court of Appeals noted that there is now a circuit split on this issue. See, Thai v. Ashcroft, 366 F.3d 790 (9th Cir. 2004), which preceded Brand X, and Tran v. Mukasey, 515 F.3d 478 (5th Cir. 2008).

This case is Santos Hernandez-Carrera, et al. v. Ken Carlson, et al., U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, App. Ct. No. 08-3097, an appeal from the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas, D.C. No. 05-CV-3051-RDR.

11/14. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released the text [130 pages in PDF] of its white space order. The FCC adopted, but did not release, this item on November 4, 2008. See, story titled "FCC Adopts White Space Order" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,852, November 4, 2008.

11/13. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a Public Notice [3 pages in PDF] requesting comments regarding the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's (NTIA) July 29, 2008, petition for rulemaking [16 pages in PDF] requesting amendments to Part 87 of the FCC's Rules to allow use of the frequency 1090 MHz for runway vehicle identification and collision avoidance. This item is DA 08-2502 in RM-11503. The deadline to submit initial comments is December 15, 2008. The deadline to submit reply comments is December 30, 2008.

11/13. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) filed its brief [45 pages in PDF] with the U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir) in Eagle Broadcasting Corporation v. FCC, App. Ct. No. 08-1066, an appeal from an order of the FCC regarding an FM radio licensee in the state of Arizona.

This issue contains the following items:
 • Supreme Court Takes Challenge to McCain Feingold
 • Fed Vice Chairman Addresses IT, Innovation and Booms and Busts in Tech and Financial Sectors
 • Update on Capitol Records v. Thomas
 • 10th Circuit Considers Chevron/BrandX Deference
 • More FCC News (included release of the white space order, and setting of comment deadlines for NTIA's 1090 MHz petition).

The House will not meet. See, Rep. Hoyer's schedule for week of November 17.

The Senate will meet at 12:00 NOON for morning business.

8:00 AM - 5:30 PM. Day one of a five day closed meeting of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Judges Panel of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The panel will conduct final judging of the 2008 applicants. See, notice in the Federal Register: October 28, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 209, at Page 63946. Location: NIST, Administration Building, Lecture Room E, Gaithersburg, MD.

9:00 - 10:30 AM. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host an event titled "ITIF Forum: The Impact of IT on Energy". See, notice and registration page. Location: Room 121, Cannon Building, Capitol Hill.

9:30 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir) will hear oral argument in Verizon v. FCC, App. Ct. No. 08-1012, petition for review of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) December 5, 2007, order denying Verizon's six petitions to forbear, pursuant to 47 U.S.C. § 160, from applying its rules regarding unbundling, and leasing to competitors, of certain network elements in six markets -- New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Pittsburg, Providence, and Virginia Beach. At issue is application of the FCC's rules implementing the loop and transport provisions of 47 U.S.C. § 251(c)(3). See, redacted copy of FCC brief [56 pages in PDF]. Judges Sentelle, Griffith and Edwards will preside. Location: 333 Constitution Ave., NW.

10:30 AM - 4:30 PM. Day one of a three day meeting of the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board. See, notice in the Federal Register, October 30, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 211, at Pages 64595-64596. Location: The Westin Arlington Gateway Hotel, 801 North Glebe Road, Arlington, VA.

11:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The Heritage Foundation will host an event titled "Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack: Another Tool for America's Enemies". Location: Heritage, 214 Massachusetts Ave., NE.

12:15 - 1:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Cable and Mass Media Practice Committees will host a brown bag lunch titled "Retransmission Consent Negotiations -- A Good Faith Discussion of the Issues". The speakers will be Kevin Latek (Dow Lohnes), Seth Davidson (Fleischman & Harding), and Linda Kinney (EchoStar Satellite). See, notice and registration page. Location: Drinker Biddle & Reath, 1500 K St., NW.

2:00 PM. The Senate Finance Committee (SFC) will hold a hearing on the nomination of Neil Barofsky to be Special Inspector General of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). See, notice. Location: Room 215, Dirksen Building.

2:30 PM. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (SHSGAC) will hold a hearing on the nominations of Kathryn Oberly to be an Associate Judge of the D.C. Court of Appeals, and Alfred Irving to be Associate Judge of the D.C. Superior Court. See, notice. Location: Room 342, Dirksen Building.

Deadline to submit comments to the Department of Commerce's (DOC) Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) regarding its proposed rules changes regarding inter-company transfers (ICTs). See, notice Federal Register, October 3, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 193, at Pages 57554-57564.

The House will not meet. See, Rep. Hoyer's schedule for week of November 17.

8:00 AM. The BroadbandCensus dot com [http colon slash slash broadbandcensus dot com] will host an breakfast titled "Should Government Funding Be Part of a National Broadband Plan?" The speakers will be Stan Fendley (Corning), Kyle McSlarrow (NCTA), and John Windhausen (Telepoly Consulting), For more information, contact Drew Clark at drew at broadbandcensus dot com or 202-580-8196. Location: Old Ebbitt Grill, 675 15th St., NW.

8:00 AM - 5:30 PM. Day two of a five day closed meeting of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Judges Panel of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The panel will conduct final judging of the 2008 applicants. See, notice in the Federal Register: October 28, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 209, at Page 63946. Location: NIST, Administration Building, Lecture Room E, Gaithersburg, MD.

9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Day two of a three day meeting of the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board. The morning session is closed to the public. Its agenda includes "Reports and discussion on ... information and communications technologies". See, notice in the Federal Register, October 30, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 211, at Pages 64595-64596. Location: The Westin Arlington Gateway Hotel, 801 North Glebe Road, Arlington, VA.

9:30 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir) will hear oral argument in Charles Crawford v. FCC, App. Ct. No. 08-1059, a petition for review involving procedure followed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in amending its Table of Allotments for FM radio stations. See, FCC's brief [53 pages in PDF]. Judges Henderson, Rogers and Edwards will preside. Location: Courtroom 11, 333 Constitution Ave., NW.

9:30 AM. The House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) will hold a hearing pertaining to bail out of the financial services entities. See, notice. Location: Room 2128, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold a hearing regarding subpoenas to the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Office of Legal Counsel (OLC). See, notice. Location: Room 216, Hart Building.

CANCELLED. 11:00 AM. The House Judiciary Committee's (HJC) Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law will hold a hearing on titled "Midnight Rulemaking: Shedding Some Light". Location: Room 2237, Rayburn Building.

11:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will hold an event to announce and release its report titled "2008 State New Economy Index". The speakers will be Robert Atkinson (ITIF) and Robert Litan (Kaufman Foundation). Location?

1:00 - 2:30 PM. Eric Schmidt, Chairman of both Google and the New America Foundation (NAF), will speak at a NAF event titled "Technology, Economic Growth and Open Government". See, notice and registration page. For more information, contact Liz Wu at 202-986-2700 x 315 or wu at newamerica dot net. Location: Amphitheatre, Ronald Reagan Building, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave, NW.

CANCELLED. 2:00 PM. The House Judiciary Committee's (HJC) Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law will hold a hearing on HR  6858, the "Administrative Review Improvement Act of 2008". Location: Room 2237, Rayburn Building.

3:00 PM. The Senate Banking Committee (SBC) will hold a hearing titled "Examining the State of the Domestic Automobile Industry". See, notice. Location: Room 538, Dirksen Building.

6:00 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) will host an event titled "22nd Annual Chairman's Dinner". The reception will begin at 6:00 PM. Dinner will begin at 7:30 PM. See, registration form [PDF]. Prices vary. Location: Washington Hilton Hotel, 1919 Connecticut Ave., NW.

The House will meet at 1:00 PM for legislative business. The House may consider bailout legislation. See, Rep. Hoyer's schedule for week of November 17.

8:00 AM - 5:30 PM. Day three of a five day closed meeting of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Judges Panel of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The panel will conduct final judging of the 2008 applicants. See, notice in the Federal Register: October 28, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 209, at Page 63946. Location: NIST, Administration Building, Lecture Room E, Gaithersburg, MD.

9:30 AM. The Senate Banking Committee (SBC) will hold a hearing on the nomination of Neil Barofsky to be Special Inspector General of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). See, notice. Location: Room 538, Dirksen Building.

9:30 AM - 3:00 PM. Day three of a three day meeting of the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board. The 10:30 AM session is closed to the public. Its agenda includes "Reports and discussion on ... information and communications technologies". See, notice in the Federal Register, October 30, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 211, at Pages 64595-64596. Location: The Westin Arlington Gateway Hotel, 801 North Glebe Road, Arlington, VA.

10:00 AM. The House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) will hold a hearing pertaining to bail out of auto industry entities. See, notice. Location: Room 2128, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will hold a meeting. The agenda includes consideration of amendments of the SEC's rules regarding internet based disclosure of mutual fund information. See, notice. Location: SEC, Auditorium (Room L-002), 100 F St., NE.

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The House Intelligence Committee (HIC) will hold a closed meeting.

12:00 NOON - 2:00 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a program titled "Legal Developments in the Telecom, Media and Technology Sectors". The speakers will be Susan Fox (Disney), Marc Martin (K&L Gates), Joseph Bogdan (World Wrestling Entertainment), and Ross Vincenti (Sprint Nextel). The price to attend ranges from $10 to $35. For more information, contact 202-626-3463. See, notice. Location: DC Bar Conference Center, B-1 Level, 1250 H St., NW.

The House may meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. It may consider bailout legislation. See, Rep. Hoyer's schedule for week of November 17.

8:30 - 10:00 AM. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host an event titled "ITIF Breakfast Forum: The Netherlands’ National Pay-per-Use Road-Pricing Initiative". The speaker will be Al Joris (General Director of The Netherlands’ Centre for Transport and Navigation in the Ministry of Transport). This system will employ satellite tracking technology and on board mileage data systems. See, notice. Location: ITIF, Suite 200, 1250 Eye St., NW.

8:30 AM - 5:30 PM. The National Science Foundation's (NSF) Advisory Committee for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences will meet. The agenda includes "CyberInfrastructure, Cyber-enabled Discovery and Innovation". See, notice in the Federal Register, November 3, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 213, at Page 65414. Location: NSF, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Stafford I, Third Floor, Room 375, Arlington, VA.

9:00 AM - 1:00 PM. The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) U.S. Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations of Customs and Border Protection and Related Homeland Security Functions  will meet. The agenda includes "Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement". See, notice in the Federal Register, November 5, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 215, at Page 65871. Location: Rotunda Ballroom, Ronald Reagan Building, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

9:00 AM - 5:30 PM. Day four of a five day closed meeting of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Judges Panel of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The panel will conduct final judging of the 2008 applicants. See, notice in the Federal Register: October 28, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 209, at Page 63946. Location: NIST, Administration Building, Lecture Room E, Gaithersburg, MD.

10:00 AM. The U.S. District Court (DC) will hold a sentencing hearing in US v. E-Gold, D.C. No. 07-cr-0109, a criminal prosecution of a business that enabled people to engage in anonymous online financial transactions. See, story titled "DOJ Obtains Guilty Pleas in E-Gold Case" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,797, July 22, 2008. Location: Courtroom 2.

10:30 AM. The U.S. District Court (DC) will hold a telephone conference in Juniper Networks v. Bahattab, D.C. No. 07-cv-1771, a patent case.

12:15 - 1:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Wireless Committee will host a lunch titled "Wireless Facilities Siting". The speakers will be Brian Fontes (National Emergency Number Association), Christopher Guttman-McCabe (CTIA), Bill Hackett (T-Mobile), and Jeffrey Steinberg (Deputy Chief of the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau's (WTB) Spectrum and Competition Policy Division. See, notice and registration page. The price to attend is $15. Location: Sidley Austin, 1501 K St., NW.

1:00 - 2:30 PM. The House Intelligence Committee (HIC) will hold a closed hearing. Location: Room H-405, Capitol Building.

1:00 PM. The Department of Health and Human Services' (DHHS) American Health Information Community's (AHIC) Confidentiality, Privacy, & Security Workgroup may meet. AHIC meetings are often noticed, but cancelled. Location: Switzer Building, 330 C St., SW.

1:30 PM. The U.S. District Court (DC) will hold a telephone conference in Covad Communications v. Revonet, D.C. No. 06-cv-1892.

5:30 - 7:30 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a closed event titled "Espionage and Family Law: The Use and Abuse of Electronic Surveillance". The speakers will be Eric Wenger (Department of Justice, Criminal Division), Guilherme Roschke (American Bar Association), and Sharon Nelson (Sensei). The price to attend ranges from $20 to $55. For more information, contact 202-626-3463. See, notice. Location: DC Bar Conference Center, B-1 Level, 1250 H St., NW.

Day one of a two day conference titled "9th Security 2008 Conference and Exhibition". At 2:00 PM there will be a panel titled "Effective Security Architectures and Protecting Personally Identifiable Information". The speakers will include Hugo Teufel (Chief Privacy Officer of the Department of Homeland Security), Ken Mortensen (Department of Justice) and Ron Ross (NIST). See, agenda. Location: Ronald Reagan Building , 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

The House may meet at 9:00 AM for legislative business. It may consider bailout legislation. See, Rep. Hoyer's schedule for week of November 17.

8:00 AM - 5:30 PM. Day five of a five day closed meeting of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Judges Panel of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The panel will conduct final judging of the 2008 applicants. See, notice in the Federal Register: October 28, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 209, at Page 63946. Location: NIST, Administration Building, Lecture Room E, Gaithersburg, MD.

8:30 - 11:45 PM. Day two of a two day meeting of the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Advisory Committee for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences. See, notice in the Federal Register, November 3, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 213, at Page 65414. Location: NSF, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Stafford I, Third Floor, Room 375, Arlington, VA.

9:00 - 11:00 AM. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host a debate titled "Are Broadband Markets Competitive Enough?" The speakers will be Jeff Eisenach (Chairman of Empiris), Ev Ehrlich (President of ESC Company), and John Windhausen (President of Telepoly). Eisenach and Ehrlich will argue that the broadband market is competitive, and will present two new papers titled "The Reality of Competition in the Broadband Market" and "U.S. Broadband Policies: A Market-Oriented Success Story." Windhausen will argue that the broadband market is not fully competitive. Robert Atkinson (head of the ITIF) will moderate. See, notice and registration page. Location: ITIF, Suite 200, 1250 Eye St., NW.

2:15 PM. The U.S. District Court (DC) will hold a sentencing hearing in US v. E-Gold, D.C. No. 07-cr-0109, a criminal prosecution of a business that enabled people to engage in anonymous online financial transactions. See, story titled "DOJ Obtains Guilty Pleas in E-Gold Case" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,797, July 22, 2008. Location: Courtroom 2.

Day two of a two day conference titled "9th Security 2008 Conference and Exhibition". See, agenda. Location: Ronald Reagan Building , 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

12:15 - 1:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Intellectual Property Practice Committee will host a brown bag lunch titled "The Copyright Royalty Board: Recent Decisions". The speakers will be Bruce Joseph (Wiley Rein), David Oxenford (Davis Wright Tremaine), Robert Garrett (Arnold & Porter), and Tom Perrelli (Jenner & Block). Location: Dow Lohnes, 1200 New Hampshire Ave., NW.

Extended deadline to submit comments to the Copyright Office (CO) in response to its request for comments regarding its proposal to raise fees for registration of claims, special services and Licensing Division services. See, original notice in the Federal Register, October 14, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 199, at Pages 60658-60662, and notice of extension in the Federal Register, October 31, 2008, Vol. 73, No. 212, at Pages 64905-64906. See also, story titled "Copyright Office Proposes to Raise Registration Fees" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,843, October 15, 2008.

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