6/17. The U.S. Court of Appeals (11thCir) issued its opinion [20 pages in PDF] in Fanin v. Department of Veterans Affairs, a class action data breach case against a government agency brought under the Privacy Act and Administrative Procedure Act (APA).

The District Court granted summary judgment to the government on all claims. The Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court's summary judgment on the claims for monetary damages under the Privacy Act, on the basis that the plaintiffs suffered no pecuniary loss. The Court of Appeals reversed and remanded the District Court's summary judgment on the APA claims.

The Privacy Act, at 5 U.S.C. § 552a(g)(4) provides, in part, that "In any suit brought under the provisions of subsection (g)(1)(C) or (D) of this section in which the court determines that the agency acted in a manner which was intentional or willful, the United States shall be liable to the individual in an amount equal to the sum of (A) actual damages sustained by the individual as a result of the refusal or failure, but in no case shall a person entitled to recovery receive less than the sum of $1,000; and" costs and attorneys fees.

On February 24, 2004, the Supreme Court held in Doe v. Chao, 540 U.S. 614, that plaintiffs must prove some actual damages to qualify for a minimum statutory award in an action against a federal agency for violation of the Privacy Act. See, opinion and story titled "Supreme Court Holds No Recovery Against Federal Government Under Privacy Act for Disclosure of SSNs Without Showing of Actual Damages" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 843, February 25, 2004.

However, there was, and still is, a split among the circuits regarding what constitutes actual damages. The Supreme Court acknowledged its existence, but left it unresolved.

For a more detailed discussion of the different approaches of the various circuits on the availability of damages, see the 2003 opinion of the 1st Circuit in Sunday Dixon Orekoya v. Secret Service, 330 F.3d 1.

The 11th Circuit approach, announced in Fitzpatrick v. IRS, 665 F.2d 327 (1982), is that the plaintiff must prove pecuniary loss.

In the present case, the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) lost a computer external hard drive which the Court of Appeals wrote contained "the unencrypted names, social security numbers, birth dates, and healthcare files of more than 198,000 living veterans".

The Court added, "With that treasure trove of private data the hard drive is a pocket-sized gold mine for identity thieves. Where it is now is anybody's guess.

The plaintiffs, Jim Henry Perkins, Jesse Frank Qualls and others, include veterans of the war in Viet Nam who now suffer from post traumatic stress disorder. Greg Fanin filed the original complaint, but is not now an appellant. Perkins and Qualls joined the action in an amended complaint.

The second amended complaint seeks monetary damages under the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552a(g), and declaratory and injunctive relief under the Administrative Procedures Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. §§ 702–06. The APA claims are based on the DVA's alleged violations of the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552a, the EGovernment Act of 2002, 44 U.S.C. § 3501 the VA Claims Confidentiality Statute, 38 U.S.C. § 5701, the Trade Secrets Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1905, the Veterans Benefits, Health Care, and Information Technology Act of 2006 (VHBITA), 38 U.S.C. §§ 5721–28, and the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), 44 U.S.C. §§ 3541–48.

The U.S. District Court (NDAlab) granted summary judgment to the DVA on all claims. Perkins and Qualls brought this appeal.

The Court of Appeals first addressed the Privacy Act claims for damages. It first identified the elements of such claims. "The plaintiff must demonstrate that: (1) the government failed to fulfill its record-keeping obligation; (2) the agency acted intentionally or willfully in failing to perform its obligation; (3) the failure proximately caused an adverse effect on an individual; and (4) that individual suffered actual damages."

And, citing is opinion in Fitzpatrick, it wrote that in the 11th Circuit actual damages means pecuniary losses.

It noted that Perkins and Qualls do not assert pecuniary losses. It therefore concluded, "They have failed to show any pecuniary loss from the VA's data security breach, and the summary judgment against their claims for monetary damages is due to be affirmed."

However, the Court of Appeals reversed and remanded the District Court's summary judgment on the APA claims for declaratory and injunctive relief.

This case is Greg Fanin, et al. v. Department of Veterans' Affairs, et al., U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, App. Ct. No. 08-11102, an appeal from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, D.C. No. 07-00310-CV-2-IPJ. Judge Carnes wrote the opinion of the Court of Appeals, in which Judges Tjoflat and Joseph Hood (USDC/EDKent) joined.

6/15. Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI) and others introduced S 1261 [LOC | WW], the "Providing for Additional Security in States' Identification (PASS ID) Act of 2009".

It would repeal and replace Title II of the REAL ID Act, which federalizes the state identification document process, and mandates state electronic databases and data sharing. The REAL ID Act sets minimum standards for states, penalizes states that do not implement its standards, but nevertheless relies upon states to implement it, at their own cost.

23 states have refused to implement the REAL ID Act, or have passed bills or resolutions condemning it. Maine was the first to do so. See, story titled "Maine Rejects READ ID Act" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,528, January 29, 2007.

The REAL ID Act was enacted as Division B of HR 1268 (109th Congress), which was a large appropriations bill. This Title B contains many provisions. Those related to the federalization of state identification systems are found at Title II of Title B, titled "Improved Security for Drivers' Licenses and Personal Identification Cards".

The REAL ID Act imposes mandates upon the states that critics have estimated to run into the tens of billions of dollars. For example, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) and the National Governor's Association (NGA) have estimated that the program will cost states over $11 Billion in the first five years. See, NCSL/NGA report [60 pages in PDF] titled "The Real ID Act: National Impact Analysis".

Sen. Akaka stated in the Senate that "This bill represents a pragmatic approach to resolving many of the most troubling aspects of the REAL ID Act, which has been in place for the past 4 years. REAL ID was intended to implement the 9/11 Commission's recommendation for enhancing the security of drivers' licenses. I support the 9/11 Commission's recommendation, but I have been a long-time opponent of the existing REAL ID Act due to the tremendous financial burden it imposes on States and the serious privacy risks it creates."

He added that "REAL ID calls for all States to store copies of individuals' documents such as birth certificates and their photographs in databases and to provide all other State Departments of Motor Vehicles with access to that information. REAL ID does not require any privacy protection of these State databases, which would contain massive amounts of personal information. These databases could provide one-stop shopping for identity thieves and the backbone for a national identification database."

Sen. Akaka summarized his bill. He said that "it sets strong security standards for the issuance of identification cards and driver's licenses", but does not require "the collection of Americans' personal information and storing it in a centralized repository accessible by any State government". He added that it "will allow States to continue to maintain their own individual databases".

He continued that his bill "calls on the States to put procedures in place to protect information that is stored or transmitted in an electronic format" and "protects any machine readable data stored on identification cards and driver's licenses themselves. In particular, Social Security numbers, which are not allowed to be printed on the face of a license, would no longer be allowed to be stored in the machine readable zone, MRZ, of a license either."

He also summarized the bill's provisions regarding MRZ electronic data on licenses. He said that "A new industry is growing up surrounding the collection and sale of data stored in MRZs for marketing purposes. Often people are not informed that their personal information is being collected and might be tracked with their purchases or sold to third parties. This bill would allow scanning of licenses to support law enforcement purposes but not for other purposes. For example, a store would be able to scan a driver's license to double check that the patron is old enough to buy alcohol, but it would not be allowed to sell the information on the card to marketers."

Finally, he discussed the REAL ID Act mandate that a REAL ID Act compliant license is required to board a commercial air flight or enter a federal building. He said that "Compliant State identification will remain the preferred method to board an aircraft, but the PASS ID Act will clarify that people cannot be denied boarding solely because they lack secure identification. The Transportation Security Administration will resolve any security concerns with people lacking a PASS ID the same way they resolve other security issues -- with additional screening or other inquiries as needed."

He also said that "PASS ID would narrow the secure identification requirement from all Federal buildings to only Federal facilities containing mission functions critical to homeland security, national security, or defense."

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) stated in a release that "While offering some important privacy protections, this legislation could ultimately resurrect the discredited Real ID Act and become the basis for a National ID."

The ACLU's Chris Calabrese stated that "“Four years after becoming law, the Real ID Act is essentially dead ... Senator Akaka is right in his efforts to eliminate a substantial number of the more problematic aspects of Real ID, including the creation of a national database of driver information and misuse of license information by the private sector. But while these attempts at improvement are commendable, Real ID cannot be 'fixed,' and we oppose anything that would revive it."

Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Homeland Security, stated in a release that "Today's introduction of Pass ID in the U.S. Senate brings us closer to greater compliance with federal standards for secure driver’s licenses and better protection against terrorists and other threats nationwide".

She added that "Pass ID is a cost-effective, common-sense solution that balances critical security requirements with the input and practical needs of state governments. I am committed to supporting this important bill and it is my hope that Congress will pass it into law as quickly as possible."

Ari Schwartz, of the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), stated in a release that "The PASS ID Act addresses most of the major privacy and security concerns with REAL ID ... The approach this bill proposes will go a long way towards increasing the reliability of driver's licenses and ID cards in a privacy protective way."

See also, the CDT's summary and comparison [PDF] of the REAL ID Act and the PASS ID Act.

The bills original cosponsors are Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH), Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE), and Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT).

6/16. Gary Shapiro, head of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), gave a speech in Washington DC at an event to launch a program titled "Innovation Movement".

Shapiro is one of the few tech sector leaders to oppose and openly criticize key policy objectives of President Obama and/or the Democratic majorities in the House and Senate. See also, story titled "CEA Chief Criticizes Spending Bill, Protectionism, Unionization Mandates, and Anti-Immigration Policy" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,901, February 17, 2009.

Shapiro said that "government policies must create an environment that is favorable for innovation".

Protectionism. He said the the CEA opposes the buy American provisions in HR 1 [LOC | WW], the huge spending bill enacted in February.

HR 1, at Division A, Title XVI, Section 1605, provides that "None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be used for a project for the construction, alteration, maintenance, or repair of' a public building or public work unless all of the iron, steel, and manufactured goods used in the project are produced in the United States."

He said that it will raise prices and have a "retaliatory impact".

He added that the "tech industry is united" on this issue; even the software industry, which is dominated by US companies, opposes it.

He noted that "President Obama has been terrific on buy American."

He also said that the CEA supports bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements, and giving trade promotion authority to President Obama.

Shapiro also asserted that the European Commission's antitrust actions against Intel and Microsoft "are protectionist measures". See, related story titled "CEA's Shapiro Calls EU Antitrust Actions Protectionism" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,956, June 16, 2009.

Unions. He said that the CEA opposes union efforts to pass legislation that would mandate unionization without a secret ballot. Proponents of this legislation call it "card check".

He said that unionization "denies the innovative companies the flexibility that they need". He continued that "functionaries" would replace "entrepreneurs and innovators" at unionized companies.

Shapiro criticized not only the undemocratic process sought by unions. He criticized the very notion of unionization of technology companies.

"Innovative companies must be flexible and fast to act. Such action is inconsistent with a union environment which has rigorous rules on hiring, job definitions, and conditions of work." He added, "you probably could not name one technology company that is unionized and innovative."

He concluded that "card check is the ultimate innovation killer".

Intellectual Property Law. Shapiro said the current "punitive" patent system, and the prospect of litigation, presents a threat to innovation.

He also said the the CEA supports First Amendment and fair use rights in the context of copyright. He also expressed support for the Sony Betamax opinion and its language regarding "noninfringing uses".

The Supreme Court wrote in its 1984 opinion in Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc., 464 U.S. 417, that the "sale of video cassette recorders (``VCR´´s) did not subject Sony to contributory copyright liability, even though Sony knew as a general matter that the machines could be used, and were being used, to infringe the plaintiffs' copyrighted works. Because video tape recorders were capable of both infringing and ``substantial noninfringing uses,´´ generic or ``constructive´´ knowledge of infringing activity was insufficient to warrant liability based on the mere retail of Sony’s products."

Broadband Policy. He made two points about a national broadband policy. First, it should encourage investment.

Second, while broadband service providers must have "flexibility to manage their networks, they must not block or degrade consumers' access to lawful applications, content and services, or prohibit the usage of any specific non-harmful devices".

Other Topics. Shapiro criticized the "ballooning federal deficit", as "a lead weight that will increasingly be a drag on the American economy".

He also noted that many Americans now advocate that the US adopt a system more like Europe's. He argued that Europe has many barriers to innovation, and that there "businesses want to emulate America".

"America has succeeded while they have not ... in the internet space", said Shapiro, noting that none of the leading companies, except Nokia, are in European.

6/12. The U.S. District Court (DNJ) unsealed an indictment that charges Mahmoud Nusier, Paul Michael Kwan, and Nancy Gomez with conspiracy to commit wire fraud ( 18 U.S.C. § 1343) and unauthorized access to computer systems ( 18 U.S.C. § 1030), among other things, in connection with the theft of telecommunications capacity. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) stated in a release that the three "hacked into the telephone systems of large corporations and entities in the United States and abroad and sold information about the compromised telephone systems to Pakistani nationals residing in Italy". The FBI added that these persons used "over 12 million minutes of telephone calls valued at more than $55 million over the hacked networks of victim corporations".

6/12. The U.S. District Court (NDCal) sentenced Jason Vassil to serve 100 months in prison following his plea of guilty to wire fraud ( 18 U.S.C. § 1343) and possession of document making equipment ( 18 U.S.C. § 1029(a)(4)) in connection with an identity theft and credit card fraud scheme. The District Court also ordered forfeiture of eight computers, and other equipment. See, OUSA release.

6/11. The U.S. District Court (DNev) unsealed an indictment, returned by the grand jury on April 22, 2009, that charges Rodolfo Rodriguez Cabrera and Henry Mantilla with violation of federal intellectual property laws in connection with a scheme to produce and sell counterfeit programs and devices -- International Game Technology (IGT) brand video gaming machines and counterfeit IGT computer programs. The indictment charges conspiracy, trafficking in counterfeit goods, trafficking in counterfeit labels and criminal copyright infringement. See, DOJ release.

6/8. The Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia announced in a release that eight persons have pled guilty to various crimes associated with a card skimming conspiracy. The OUSA stated that three persons conspired to pay five restaurant servers to skim the credit cards of customers at posh restaurants in Washington DC, including Clyde's, M&S Grill and 701 Restaurant. The 701 is one block away from both the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) and Department of Justice's (DOJ) headquarters buildings. The OUSA further stated that this information was used to recode existing credit cards, and make fraudulent purchases. Aaron D. Gilbert pled guilty to conspiracy to commit access device fraud and knowingly using a means of identification of another person. Joseph Artemus Bush III and Erick V. Burton pled guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and knowingly using a means of identification of another person. The five servers (Jamaal Snowden, Simone Carrie Diane Folk, Vasha Monique Carter, Shannon Eileen McLaughlin, and Lavelle Payne) pled guilty to conspiracy to commit access device fraud.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. It will continue its consideration of HR 2847, [LOC | WW], the "Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act". See, Rep. Hoyer's schedule for the week of June 15, and schedule for June 18.

The Senate will meet at 9:45 AM. It will resume consideration of SConRes  26, a resolution regarding slavery and Jim Crow laws.

9:00 AM - 2:00 PM. The House Intelligence Committee (HIC) will hold a closed meeting to mark up the FY 2010 intelligence authorization bill. See, notice. Location: Room HVC-304, Capitol Building.

10:00 AM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection will hold a hearing titled "Behavioral Advertising: Industry Practices And Consumers’ Expectations". The witnesses will be Jeffrey Chester (Center for Digital Democracy), Scott Cleland (Precursor), Charles Curran (Network Advertising Initiative), Christopher Kelly (Facebook), Edward Felten (Princeton University), Anne Toth (Yahoo), and Nicole Wong (Google). See, notice. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold an executive business meeting. the agenda includes consideration of the nominations of Tristram Coffin (to be U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont), Joyce Vance (USA, Northern District of Alabama), and Preet Bharara (USA, Southern District of New York). The agenda also yet again includes consideration of S 417 [LOC | WW], the "States Secret Protection Act", and HR 985 [LOC | WW] and S 448 [LOC | WW], both titled the "Free Flow of Information Act of 2009". See, stories titled "Senate Judiciary Committee to Consider State Secrets Bill" and "9th Circuit Rules in State Secrets Case" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,933, April 29, 2009. The SJC rarely follows its published agendas. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

12:15 - 1:45 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Engineering and Technical Practice Committee, and Wireless Telecommunications Committee, will host a brown bag lunch titled "Adaptive Modulation for “Long Haul” Point-to-Point Microwave Relays -- a tool for improved spectrum efficiency or anticompetitive spectrum warehousing?". The speakers may include James Wolfson (President of X-DOT, Inc.), Scott Nelson (Alcatel-Lucent), and someone from the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau. For more information, contact Tami Smith at tsmith07 at sidley dot com or 202-736-8257. Location: Sidley Austin, 1501 K St., NW.

2:00 PM. The House Foreign Affairs Committee's (HFAC) Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade will hold a hearing titled "The Export Administration Act: A Review of Outstanding Policy Considerations". The witnesses will include John Engler (NAM), Arthur Shulman (Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control), and Owen Herrnstadt (International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers). See, notice. Location: Room 2172, Rayburn Building.

Day two of a two day conference hosted by the American Antitrust Institute (AAI). See, notice. Location: National Press Club.

Day two of a three day event hosted by the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) titled "Legal Secretaries and Administrators Conference". See, conference brochure [PDF]. Location: Westin Alexandria Hotel, Alexandria, VA.

12:30 - 1:30 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a brown bag lunch titled "Investment in China and the Economic Slowdown ... Where Do We Go From Here?". The speakers will be Mark Michelson (APCO) and William Wilson (Wilson International Law). The price to attend ranges from $10 to $15. The DC Bar events are not open to the public. See, notice. Location: Wilson International Law, Suite 1220, 1101 17th St., NW.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding the March 12, 2009, petition filed by Denali Spectrum License Sub, LLC asking the FCC to forbear from applying the unjust enrichment provisions of the FCC's competitive bidding rules. See, notice in the Federal Register, June 9, 2009, Vol. 74, No.109, at Pages 27318-27319.

The House will meet at 9:00 AM for legislative business. It will consider HR 2918 [LOC | WW], the "Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2010" and HRes 520, a resolution impeaching Samuel Kent, a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. See, Rep. Hoyer's schedule for the week of June 15 and schedule for June 19.

The Senate will meet at 9:30 AM for morning business.

9:00 AM. The Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee (ETAAC) will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, May 29, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 102, at Pages 25811-25812. Location: IRS, Room 2116, 1111 Constitution Ave., NW.

Day three of a three day event hosted by the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) titled "Legal Secretaries and Administrators Conference". See, conference brochure [PDF]. Location: Westin Alexandria Hotel, Alexandria, VA.

Deadline to submit comments to the Executive Office of the President's (EOP) Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) regarding how to increase openness and transparency in government. This relates to President Obama's January 21, 2009, memorandum entitled "Transparency and Open Government". See, notice in the Federal Register, May 21, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 97, at Pages 23901-23902.

Deadline to submit certain reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its supplemental Notice of Inquiry [22 pages in PDF] regarding its preparation of a video competition report for the years ending June 30, 2007, June 30, 2008, and June 20, 2009. This deadline pertains to comments regarding 2007 and 2008. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 27, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 79, at Pages 19085-19091. See also, story titled "FCC Resumes Its Statutory Obligation to Study Video Competition" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,886, January 21, 2009, and story titled "FCC Releases Amended NOI on Annual Video Competition Reports" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1924, April 11, 2009.

8:30 AM - 4:30 PM. Day one of a two day public workshop hosted by the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Privacy Office titled "Government 2.0: Privacy and Best Practices". This workshop will address operational, privacy, security, and legal issues associated with government use of social media. This event is open to the public. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 17, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 73, at Pages 17876-17877. See also, story titled "DHS Privacy Office Seeks Comments on Government Use of Social Media" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1928, April 16, 2009. Location: Atrium Ballroom, Washington Court Hotel, 525 New Jersey Ave., NW.

12:00 NOON - 2:00 PM. There will be a closed brown bag lunch titled "Communications and Copyright in the 111th Congress" at which staff of the House and Senate Commerce and Judiciary Committees will meet with representatives of regulated entities. This meeting is subject to a reporter gag order. Location: National Cable & Telecommunications Association, 25 Massachusetts Ave., NW.

2:00 - 3:30 PM. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host a panel discussion titled "The Cost of Privacy: A Debate on the Impact of Privacy Laws on Health IT Adoption". The speakers will be Daniel Casto (ITIF), Amalia Miller (University of Virginia), Catherine Tucker (MIT Sloan School of Management), and Deven McGraw (Center for Democracy and Technology). See, notice. Location: ITIF, Suite 610, 1101 K St., NW.

Effective date of, and deadline to submit comments regarding, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) establishment of a new DHS system of records notice titled "DHS/USCIS -- 009 Compliance Tracing and Monitoring System". This CTMS will collect and use information related to the monitoring and compliance activities for researching and managing misuse, abuse, discrimination, breach of privacy, and fraudulent use of USCIS Verification Division's verification programs, the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE), and E-Verify. See, notice in the Federal Register, May 22, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 98, at Pages 24022-24027.

Deadline to submit nominations to the Public Knowledge for its annual IP3 awards. For more information, contact Art Brodsky at abrodsky at publicknowledge dot org. Submit nominations to IP3nominees at publicknowledge dot org.

8:30 AM - 12:30 PM. Day one of a two day public workshop hosted by the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Privacy Office titled "Government 2.0: Privacy and Best Practices". This workshop will address operational, privacy, security, and legal issues associated with government use of social media. This event is open to the public. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 17, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 73, at Pages 17876-17877. See also, story titled "DHS Privacy Office Seeks Comments on Government Use of Social Media" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1928, April 16, 2009. Location: Atrium Ballroom, Washington Court Hotel, 525 New Jersey Ave., NW.

3:00 PM. Deadline to submit grant applications to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for funding under its Technology Innovation Program (TIP). The TIP is offering grants for research and development of, among other things, civil infrastructure sensing technologies. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 31, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 60, at Pages 14524-14531, and amendment notice in the Federal Register, May 19, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 95, at Page 23396.

9:00 - 10:30 AM. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host a panel discussion titled "White House Leadership on Innovation Policy: The Case for an Office of Innovation Policy". The speakers will be Robert Atkinson (ITIF), Stuart Benjamin (Duke University law school), Arti Rai (Duke), and Stephen Merrill (National Academy of Sciences). See, notice. Location: ITIF, Suite 610, 1101 K St., NW.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold a hearing on pending nominations, including that of Christopher Schroeder to Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Office of Legal Policy (OLP). See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

2:00 PM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold a hearing titled "Promoting Job Creation and Foreign Investment in the United States: An Assessment of the EB-5 Regional Center Program". See, notice. The SJC will webcast this event. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

5:00 PM. Deadline to submit petitions to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR) to modify the list of products that are eligible for duty free treatment under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program and to modify the GSP status of certain GSP beneficiary developing countries because of country practices. See, notice in the Federal Register, May 28, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 101, Page 25605-25607.

12:00 NOON. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold an executive business meeting. The agenda again includes consideration of S 417 [LOC | WW], the "States Secret Protection Act", and HR 985 [LOC | WW] and S 448 [LOC | WW], both titled the "Free Flow of Information Act of 2009". See, stories titled "Senate Judiciary Committee to Consider State Secrets Bill" and "9th Circuit Rules in State Secrets Case" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,933, April 29, 2009. The SJC rarely follows its published agendas. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

12:15 - 1:45 PM. The New America Foundation (NAF) will host a panel discussion titled "The End of Spectrum Scarcity: Opportunistic Access to the Airwaves". The speakers will be Kevin Werbach (University of Pennsylvania, and member of President Obama's FCC transition team), Preston Marshall, Michael Marcus, Tom Stroup (Shared Spectrum Company), Sascha Meinrath (NAF), and Michael Calabrese (NAF). See, notice. Location: NAF, 4th floor, 1899 L St., NW.

3:00 PM. Deadline to submit applications to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for money to build research science buildings. See, notice in the Federal Register, June 1, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 103, at Pages 26213-26217.

6:00 PM. Deadline to submit applications to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to participate in Auction 79, regarding 122 construction permits in the FM broadcast service. See, May 29, 2009, public notice (DA 09-152), and notice in the Federal Register, May 29, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 102, at Pages 25737-25744.

6:00 - 8:00 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) will host a reception. Location: Washington Hilton Hotel, 1919 Connecticut Ave., NW.

5:00 PM. Deadline to submit comments to the Department of Health and Human Services' (DHHS) Health Information Technology Policy Committee regarding the meaning of the term "meaningful use'' of electronic health records, as used in Sections 4101 and 4202 of HR 1 [LOC | WW], the huge spending bill enacted in February. See, notice in the Federal Register, June 18, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 116, at Page 28937.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to it Fourth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding whether or not to modify FCC Form 323-E, the Ownership Report filed by noncommercial educational (NCE) licensees of AM, FM, and TV broadcast stations, to obtain gender, race, and ethnicity data. This 4thFNPRM is FCC 09-33 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, public notice DA 09-1195, and notice in the Federal Register, May 27, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 100, at Pages 25205-25208.

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) regarding its SP 800-16 Rev. 1 [157 pages in PDF] titled "Information Security Training Requirements: A Role- and Performance-Based Model (DRAFT)".

6/17. The Department of Justice's (DOJ) Antitrust Division published in its web site a series of web pages that provide specifications and procedures for producing electronic documents.

6/16. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report [54 pages in PDF] titled "Technology Transfer: Clearer Priorities and Greater Use of Innovative Approaches Could Increase the Effectiveness of Technology Transfer at Department of Energy Laboratories". The Department of Energy (DOE) maintains 17 laboratories. While most of their research relates to energy, several are engaged in information technology (IT) research, including the Argonne National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories, which conduct research on nanotechnology, semiconductors, software, computing, and other IT topics.

6/16. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) further extended, to August 31, 2009, the deadline to submit comments regarding deferral of examination for patent applications. See, notice in the Federal Register, June 16, 2009, Vol.74, No. 114, at Pages 28473-28474. The extended deadline was May 29, 2009. See, notice of extension in the Federal Register, March 9, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 44, at Page 10036. The original deadline was February 27, 2009. See, original notice in the Federal Register, January 28, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 17, at Pages 4946-4947.

6/15. Dan Glickman, head of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), gave a speech at the Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) and at Fudan University, in Shanghai, People's Republic of China. He discussed open markets for movies, piracy, and innovation. See, MPAA release.

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