3/3. The Supreme Court of the US issued its opinion [23 page in PDF] in Reed Elsevier v. Muchnick, reversing the judgment of the Court of Appeals (2ndCir).

This is long running class action litigation over the rights of free lance authors with respect to republication of their works in electronic databases, such as those of LexisNexis and Westlaw. There was a settlement, which was approved by the District Court. However, ten class member authors objected, and appealed.

The Court of Appeals, on its own initiative, concluded that since some of the copyrights were unregistered, there was no subject matter jurisdiction, and vacated the judgment of the District Court.

The Supreme Court reversed, 8-0, holding that the copyright registration language in the first sentence of 7 U.S.C. § 411(a), which the Court of Appeals held was jurisdictional, is not jurisdictional.

Proceedings Below. Irvin Muchnick, and other individuals, filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court (SDNY) on behalf of a class of mainly freelance writers who contracted with publishers to author the works for publication in print media, and retained the copyrights in those works.

The District Court certified the class, which included both authors who had registered their copyrighted works and authors who had not.

That action was settled. The District Court approved the settlement on September 27, 2005. However, Muchnick and nine other freelance authors objected to the settlement, and appealed to the Court of Appeals.

The Court of Appeals issued its divided opinion [43 pages in PDF] on November 29, 2007. That opinion is also reported at 509 F.3d 116.

The Court of Appeals, sua sponte, raised the issue of subject matter jurisdiction. Noting that some of the copyrights were unregistered, and applying Section 411(a), held that the District Court lacked jurisdiction over the plaintiffs' claims. It therefore vacated the class certification and settlement approval. No party urged the Court to reach this conclusion.

The Court of Appeals did not go further. It did not address the fairness of the settlement agreement.

Judge Chester Straub wrote the opinion of the Court of Appeals, in which Judge Ralph Winter joined. Judge John Walker wrote a lengthy dissent.

Further Background. The Supreme Court held in its June 25, 2001 opinion in New York Times v. Tasini, which is reported at 533 U.S. 483, that freelanced articles in newspapers, for which the author still owns the copyright, cannot be republished in electronic databases without permission from the author.

The Supreme Court held that the defendant publishers did not have a privilege under 17 U.S.C. § 201(c) to include in electronic databases the freelance articles written for and licensed to print publications.

See also, story titled "Supreme Court Rules for Authors in NYT v. Tasini" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 216, June 26, 2001. And see, story titled "Supreme Court Grants Cert in NYT v. Tasini", Tech Law Journal, November 7, 2000.

The present class action, which had been stayed during the Tasini litigation, resumed in 2001.

Statute. 17 U.S.C. § 411(a) provides in full that "Except for an action brought for a violation of the rights of the author under section 106A (a), and subject to the provisions of subsection (b), no action for infringement of the copyright in any United States work shall be instituted until preregistration or registration of the copyright claim has been made in accordance with this title. In any case, however, where the deposit, application, and fee required for registration have been delivered to the Copyright Office in proper form and registration has been refused, the applicant is entitled to institute an action for infringement if notice thereof, with a copy of the complaint, is served on the Register of Copyrights. The Register may, at his or her option, become a party to the action with respect to the issue of registrability of the copyright claim by entering an appearance within sixty days after such service, but the Register's failure to become a party shall not deprive the court of jurisdiction to determine that issue."

Supreme Court Opinion. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that "Section 411(a)'s registration requirement is a precondition to filing a claim that does not restrict a federal court's subject-matter jurisdiction."

The Court wrote that "This provision is part of the Act's remedial scheme. It establishes a condition -- copyright registration -- that plaintiffs ordinarily must satisfy before filing an infringement claim and invoking the Act's remedial provisions. We address whether §411(a) also deprives federal courts of subject-matter jurisdiction to adjudicate infringement claims involving unregistered works."

"While perhaps clear in theory, the distinction between jurisdictional conditions and claim-processing rules can be confusing in practice."

The Court wrote that relevant phrase of Section 411 ("no civil action for infringement of the copyright in any United States work shall be instituted until preregistration or registration of the copyright claim has been made") does not use the words "jurisdiction" or "jurisdictional". Moreover, the language of the statute respecting jurisdiction does not contain this limitation.

In addition, the Court wrote, Section 411(a) allows a court to adjudicate claims involving "unregistered works in three circumstances: where the work is not a U. S. work, where the infringement claim concerns rights of attribution and integrity under §106A, or where the holder attempted to register the work and registration was refused." The Court then observed that "It would be at least unusual to ascribe jurisdictional significance to a condition subject to these sorts of exceptions."

"Section 411(a) thus imposes a type of precondition to suit that supports nonjurisdictional treatment under our precedents", the Court concluded.

The case now goes back to the Court of Appeals, which will address the appeal issue of fairness, reasonableness and adequateness of the settlement agreement under Rule 23(e), FRCP.

Justice Thomas wrote the opinion of the Court, in which Roberts, Kennedy, Scalia and Alito joined. Justice Ginsburg wrote a concurring opinion, in which Justices Stevens and Breyer joined. Justice Sotomayor, who previously sat on the 2nd Circuit, did not participate.

This case is Reed Elsevier, Inc., et al., v. Irvin Muchnick, et al., Supreme Court of the United States, Sup. Ct. No. 08-103, a petition for writ of certiorari to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The Court of Appeals heard an appeal from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

2/24. Pascal Lamy, Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), gave a speech in which he advocated free trade and Doha round negotiations. He argued that free trade increases incentives to innovate, leads to increased income and output levels, and provides for employment growth. He also drew lessons from the U.S. "dotcom" recession ten years ago.

Lamy (at right) said "The jury is still out though on whether some of the measures introduced to stimulate economies contain provisions that favour domestic goods and services at the expense of imports. But the positive impact of national stimulus packages is fleeting and worries are mounting over the huge budget deficits rung up by many governments."

So, said Lamy, "Economies urgently need other sources of growth -- sustainable engines of growth which will not add to our already seriously indebted economies. This is where trade can be an important part of the story".

He argued that trade "can enhance technological progress by increasing the incentives to innovate, facilitating transfer of technology and fostering ``learning-by-doing´´ effects."

He also said that "trade can increase income or output levels through efficiency gains from specialization based on comparative advantages, greater competition, access to a larger variety of intermediate inputs, scale economies and an intra-industry reallocation of resources."

And finally, trade and "exports, in particular, are also likely to contribute directly to the reduction of unemployment in the recovery phase following the financial crisis."

He said that "we must also work to keep opening trade through the conclusion of the Doha Round. A Doha deal would provide new market opportunities through the reduction of tariff barriers and domestic subsidies. But it would also reduce the fixed costs of trading by addressing, for example, customs procedures and red-tape".

He also discussed the recession of a decade ago. "During the ``dotcom´´ crisis, for example, the US economy stopped contracting in November 2001 and began growing again, in terms of output. But the US unemployment rate continued to climb until June 2003, a full 19 months later."

He continued that "One reason commonly advanced to explain this ``jobless recovery´´ is the uncertainty faced by employers about whether the economic expansion they are witnessing is sustainable. Only if they are convinced that demand growth is durable will they be willing to commit to new hiring."

Thus, he argued that "A successful Doha Round will greatly reduce uncertainty relating to protectionism, the spectre of which may hinder new hiring, especially in the export sector, since it is the most vulnerable to trade restrictions."

3/4. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), and other Senators released a new draft [105 pages in PDF] of S 515 [LOC | WW], the "Patent Reform Act of 2009".

Sen. Leahy stated in a release that "This compromise may not be everything that everyone wants, but it makes important reforms to the outdated patent system.  Strengthening American patents will improve the quality of our inventions and innovations, which will translate into jobs and economic growth in Vermont and across the country."

Sen. Sessions (at right) stated that "These reforms would guard individuals, small businesses, and universities from frivolous legal challenges and help prevent abuse of the administrative process. They would also provide greater clarity and cut red tape that needlessly wastes time, money, and resources."

This release also states that "The proposed agreement makes changes to first-window post-grant review, inter partes review, willfulness, interlocutory appeals, Patent and Trademark Office funding, and supplemental examinations. The agreement retains several critical improvements in the Committee-reported bill, including the transition to a first-inventor-to-file system, the gatekeeper compromise on damages, the new district court pilot program, and more."

Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA), and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) wrote in a joint statement that "We are hopeful that Congress can come together to pass real and meaningful patent reform. With regard to the proposed Senate Judiciary Committee language released today, we believe a number of changes are essential before it could be considered by the House. We are hopeful our Senate Judiciary colleagues will consider these changes as part of their process. We remain open and willing to work on meaningful patent reform, but must be sure that any legislation responds to abuses and improves the overall system."

Todd Dickenson, head of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), stated in a release that "we are very pleased with the bill's direction. It maintains a balanced, carefully crafted compromise recognizing the divergent interests of the U.S. patent community".

3/4. The Senate confirmed Julie Brill and Edith Ramirez to be Commissioners of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). This fills all five of the Commissioner positions. However, FTC Chairman Jonathan Leibowitz stated in a release that this "is bittersweet with the imminent departure of Commissioner Pamela Jones Harbour. She has been a wonderful colleague and dedicated public servant over the years, and will be greatly missed".

3/4. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) approved the nomination of Dawn Johnsen to be Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) in a party line vote of 12-7.

3/4. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) approved the nomination of Lucy Koh to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. See, story titled "Obama Picks Lucy Koh to Replace Ron Whyte on District Court" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,038, January 25, 2010.

3/4. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) approved the nominations of Gloria Navarro (USDC/DNev), Audrey Fleissig (USDC/EDMO), Jon Deguilio (USDC/NDInd), and Tanya Pratt (USDC/SDInd).

3/4. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) held over consideration of the nomination of Jane Stinson to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court (SDInd). Her nomination is on the agenda for the SJC's March 11, 2010, executive business meeting.

3/4. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) released a report [14 pages in PDF] to Congressional Committees titled "Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) Quarterly Program Status Report".

3/4. The European Commission released a report [11 pages in MS Word] titled "Draft Opinion of the Commission for Education, Youth, Culture and Research on Transforming the Digital Dividend into Social Benefits and Economic Growth and A Public-Private Partnership on the Future Internet".

3/4. The American Antitrust Institute (AAI) released a paper [34 pages in PDF] titled "Electronic Payment Systems and Interchange Fees: Breaking the Log Jam on Solutions to Market Power". The author is the AAI's Albert Foer. This paper argues that "restoration of balance to the U. S. credit card market requires Congress to establish guidelines for permissible interchange fees, and to then charge an agency such as the Federal Reserve with establishing modest, maximum interchange rates based on necessary services of demonstrable value that the card companies and their card-issuing banks provide to the merchant community in a manner that could not be efficiently provided in a more competitive way".

2/15. Neelie Kroes gave her first speech as European Commissioner for Digital Agenda. It was titled "The Digital Agenda: Challenges for Europe and the Mobile Industry".

3/4. John Patrick Bedell was fatally shot by Pentagon police, after shooting at them. News reports state that he had worked as a Linux programmer. There is also a Blogspot page attributed to Bedell. Entries posted in 2006 discuss politics and information technology.

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The House will meet at 9:00 AM. Rep. Hoyer's schedule for week of March 1 states that "no votes are expected in the House".

The Senate will meet at 9:30 AM. It will resume consideration of HR 4213 [LOC | WW], the "Tax Extenders Act of 2009". There will be no votes. Section 111 of this bill would extend for one year the research and development tax credit. See, story titled "Senate Considers One Year Extension to R&D Tax Credit" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,054, March 3, 2010.

9:00 AM - 12:15 PM. The Information Technology Association of America (ITIF), University of Colorado's Silicon Flatirons, and Public Knowledge (PK) will host a half day conference titled "An FCC for the Internet Age". Location: Washington Court Hotel, 525 New Jersey Ave., NW.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in WNS Holdings, LLC v. United Parcel Service Service, Inc., App. Ct. No. 2009-1498, an appeal from the U.S. District Court (WDWisc). Location: Courtroom 203, 717 Madison Place, NW.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in ClearPlay, Inc. v. Nissim Corp., App. Ct. No. 2009-1471. Location: Courtroom 201, 717 Madison Place, NW.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Fenner Investments Ltd. v. Microsoft Corp., App. Ct. No. 2009-1496, an appeal from the U.S. District Court (EDTex) in a patent infringement case involving joystick technology. Location: Courtroom 402, 717 Madison Place, NW.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [107 pages in PDF] that proposes to regulate the network management practices of broadband internet access service providers. The FCC titles this proceeding "In the Matter of Preserving the Open Internet Broadband Industry Practices". This NPRM is FCC 09-93 in GN Docket No. 09-191 and WC Docket No. 07-52. See, notice in the Federal Register, November 30, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 228, at Pages 62637-62662. See also, stories titled "FCC Adopts Internet Regulation NPRM", "Text of Proposed Internet Regulation Rules", "Statutory Authority and Ancillary Jurisdiction", "More Praise for the FCC's NPRM", "More Criticism of the FCC's NPRM", and "Sen. McCain Introduces Bill to Block FCC Regulation of Internet or IP-Enabled Services" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,008, October 23, 2009.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding its e-rate program, and the "Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act". See, notice in the Federal Register, January 19, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 11, at Pages 2836-2843, and story titled "FCC Adopts E-Rate NPRM" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,011, November 9, 2009. The FCC adopted this NPRM on November 4, 2009, and released the text on November 5, 2009. It is FCC 09-96 in CC Docket No. 02-6.

8:45 AM. 9:00 AM. Julius Genachowski FCC Chairman) Dale Hatfield will speak.

9:15 AM. Panel titled "The Present and Future of FCC Reform". The speakers will be Austin Schlick (FCC General Counsel), Gigi Sohn (Public Knowledge), Mark Cooper (Consumer Federation of America), Susan Crawford (University of Michigan law school), Nick Johnson (University of Iowa law school), Mary Beth Richards (FCC), Jessica Rosenworcel (Senate Commerce Committee staff), and Matthew Hussey (Sen. Snowe's staff).

10:30 AM. Larry Strickling (head of the NTIA) will speak. Break.

11:00 AM - 12:15 PM. Panel titled "Regulatory Reforms: Standard-Setting and Mediating Institutions". The speakers will be Rob Atkinson (ITIF), Pierre de Vries, Kathryn Brown, Paul de Sa (FCC), Kathy Wallman, and Rick Whitt (Google).

8:00 AM - 5:15 PM. Day one of a two day event hosted by the Department of Health and Human Services titled "Workshop on the HIPAA Privacy Rule's De-Identification Standard". See, notice in the Federal Register, February 24, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 36, at Pages 8363-8364. Location: Washington Marriott at Metro Center, 775 12th St., NW.

8:30 AM - 5:30 PM. Day one of a two day meeting of the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering (CEOSE). See, notice in the Federal Register, February 5, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 24, at Page 6063. Location: NSF, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA.

9:00 AM. The U.S. District Court (EDVa) will hold a hearing in Microsoft v. John Does, D.C. No. 1:10CV156(LMB). This is the Waledac botnet case. See, story titled "Microsoft Obtains Ex Parte TRO in Waledac Botnet Case" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,053, March 2, 2010. This hearing is open to the public. Location: Bryan Courthouse, 401 Courthouse Square, Alexandria, VA.

12:15 - 1:30 PM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will hold a brown bag lunch titled "Meet the FCC's Technologists". The speakers will be Julius Knapp (Chief of the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology), Jon Peha (Chief Technologist in the FCC's Office of Strategic Planning), and Stagg Newman (Chief Technologist on the FCC's National Broadband Task Force). The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) states that this is an FCBA event. For more information, contact Tami Smith at tesmith at sidley dot com. Location: Sidley Austin, 1501 K St., NW.

6:00 - 8:15 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a program titled "Fraud in Trademark Cases: Impact of the Federal Circuit's New Standard". The speakers will be Cheryl Black (Goodman Allen & Filetti), Michael Clayton (Morgan Lewis & Bockius), and Gerard Rogers (USPTO's Trademark Trial & Appeal Board). The price to attend ranges from $89 to $129. This event qualifies for continuing legal education (CLE) credits. Most DC Bar events are not open to the public. See, notice. For more information, call 202-626-3488. Location: DC Bar Conference Center, 1101 K St., NW.

1:15 - 6:15 PM. Day one of a two day event hosted by the DC Bar Association titled "2010 Judicial and Bar Conference: Survival Strategies for Modern Legal Times". See, conference web site. Location: Ronald Reagan Building, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

EXTENDED FROM FEBRUARY 8. Extended deadline to submit comments to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) regarding "methods that may be employed by applicants and the USPTO to enhance the quality of issued patents, to identify appropriate indicia of quality, and to establish metrics for the measurement of the indicia". See, notice of extension in the Federal Register, February 1, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 20, at Pages 5040-5041.

8:30 AM - 2:00 PM. Day two of a two day meeting of the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Committee on Equal Opportunities in Science and Engineering (CEOSE). See, notice in the Federal Register, February 5, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 24, at Page 6063. Location: NSF, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA.

8:30 - 11:30 AM. Day two of a two day event hosted by the Department of Health and Human Services titled "Workshop on the HIPAA Privacy Rule's De-Identification Standard". See, notice in the Federal Register, February 24, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 36, at Pages 8363-8364. Location: Washington Marriott at Metro Center, 775 12th St., NW.

9:00 AM - 12:15 PM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Knight Foundation (KF) will host an event titled "Digital Inclusion Summit: Working Together to Expand Opportunity Through Universal Access". The speakers will include FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, FCC Commissioners Michael Copps, FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn and FCC Commissioner Meredith Baker. This event is free and open to the public. See, FCC notice and KF registration page. Location: Newseum, 555 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

9:30 AM - 5:45 PM. Day two of a two day event hosted by the DC Bar Association titled "2010 Judicial and Bar Conference: Survival Strategies for Modern Legal Times". See, conference web site. At 2:30 - 5:45 PM, there will be a program, in two parts, titled "Emerging E-Communications Issues: Before, During, and After Trial". The price to attend is $55 for each part. Most DC Bar events are not open to the public. See, notice and notice. For more information, contact Verniesa Allen at 202-626-3439. Location: Location: Ronald Reagan Building, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

8:45 AM - 12:30 PM. The University of Colorado's Silicon Flatirons, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), and the District of Columbia Public Library System will host an event titled "The National Broadband Plan and Accessibility for People with Disabilities Conference". The speakers will include FCC officials, Robert Atkinson (ITIF), Jenifer Simpson (AAPD), Vint Cerf (Google), Link Hoewing (Verizon), Fernando Laguarda (Time Warner Cable), and others. See, notice and registration page. Location: Martin Luther King Library, 901 G St., NW.

10:00 AM. The House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) will hold a hearing titled "The Google Predicament: Transforming U.S. Cyberspace Policy to Advance Democracy, Security, and Trade". The witnesses will be Nicole Wong (VP and Deputy General Counsel of Google), Rebecca MacKinnon (Princeton University), Robert Holleyman (P/CEO of the Business Software Alliance), and Larry Wortzel (U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission). See, notice. Location: Room 2172, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The House Financial Services Committee's (HFSC) Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit will hold a hearing titled "Regulation of Money Service Businesses". The HFSC will webcast this event. See, notice. Location: Room 2128, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The House Science Committee's (HSC) Subcommittee on Research and Science Education will hold a hearing titled "The National Science Foundation's FY 2011 Budget Request". The HSC will webcast this event. Location: Room 2318, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The House Intelligence Committee (HIC) will hold a closed hearing titled "MIP and Service Elements Budget for Fiscal Year 2011". See, notice. Location: Room HVC-304, Capitol Building.

11:00 AM - 3:00 PM. The Department of Defense's (DOD) Department of the Air Force's IS-GPS-200, IS-GPS-705, IS-GPS-800 Interface Control Working Group (ICWG) will meet by teleconference. This event is open to the public. To participate, call 1-800-FON-SAIC (1-800-366-7242); the code is 4511074. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 26, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 38, at Page 8928.

12:00 NOON. The Cato Institute will host a panel discussion of the book [Amazon] titled "The Watchers: The Rise of America's Surveillance State". The speakers will be Shane Harris (author), Jim Harper (Cato), and Julian Sanchez (Cato). This event is free and open to the public. Lunch will be served after the program. The Cato Institute will webcast this event. See, notice and registration page. Location: Cato, 1000 Massachusetts Ave., NW.

2:30 PM. The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) will hold a hearing titled "Advancing American Innovation and Competitiveness". See, notice. The SCC will webcast this event. Location: Room 253, Russell Building.

2:30 PM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold a hearing titled "Nominations". Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) will preside. The SJC will webcast this event. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

3:00 - 5:00 PM. The House Intelligence Committee (HIC) will hold a closed hearing titled "Action Budget for Fiscal Year 2011". See, notice. Location: Room HVC-304, Capitol Building.

9:00 - 11:00 AM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will hold a panel discussion titled "FCC Broadband Strategy National Purpose Team". The speakers will be Kristen Kane (FCC's National Purposes Director), Nick Sinai (FCC's Energy and Environment Director), Eugene Huang (FCC's Government Performance Director), Mohit Kaushal (FCC's Healthcare Director), Steve Midgley (FCC's Education Director), Elana Berkowitz (FCC's Economic Opportunity Director), and Jennifer Manner (FCC's Public Safety and Homeland Security Director). The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) states that this is an ITIF event. Location: ITIF, 1101 K St., NW.

9:30 - 11:30 AM. The House Intelligence Committee (HIC) will hold a closed hearing titled "NIP & MIP Budget Overview for Fiscal Year 2011". See, notice. Location: Room HVC-304, Capitol Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold an executive business meeting. The agenda includes consideration of S 148 [LOC | WW], the "Discount Pricing Consumer Protection Act". This bill would undo the effects of the opinion [55 pages in PDF] of the Supreme Court (SCUS) in Leegin Creative Leather Products v. PSKS, an antitrust case regarding minimum resale price maintenance by manufacturers and intermediate distributors. It impacts the marketing of some consumer IT and electronic products. See also, story titled "SCUS Holds That All Vertical Price Restraints Are Subject to Rule of Reason" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,603, June 28, 2007. The agenda again lists consideration of the nomination Jane Stinson to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. The SJC rarely follows its published agendas. The SJC will webcast this event. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) will hold a hearing titled "Consumers, Competition, and the Proposed Comcast-NBC Universal Merger". Location: Room 253, Russell Building.

10:30 AM. The House Judiciary Committee's (HJC) Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law will hold a hearing titled "State Taxation -- The Role Of Congress In Developing Apportionment Standards". See, notice. The HJC will webcast this event. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

12:00 NOON - 2:00 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a closed lunch titled "Informal Discussion with USTR General Counsel Timothy Reif". The price to attend ranges from $15 to $35. Most DC Bar events are not open to the public. This event is closed to reporters. See, notice. For more information, call 202-626-3463. Location: McKenna Long & Aldridge, 1900 K St., NW.

2:00 - 6:00 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) will host an event titled "Privacy and Data Security for Communications and Media Companies". The price to attend ranges from $50 to $350. This event qualifies for continuing legal education credits. Registrations and cancellations are due by 5:00 PM on March 8. Location: Arnold & Porter, 555 12th St., NW.

2:30 PM. The Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) Bureau of Economics (BOE) will host a seminar presented by Aviv Nevo (Northwestern University Department of Economics). For more information, contact Loren Smith at lsmith2 at ftc dot gov or Tammy John at tjohn at ftc dot gov. Location: FTC, Conference Center, 601 New Jersey Ave., NW.

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) regarding its draft FIPS-140 -3 titled "Security Requirements for Cryptographic Modules". See, CSD notice with hyperlinks to numerous ZIP documents and comments template.

9:30 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir) will hear oral argument in Recording Industry Association of America v. Librarian of Congress, App. Ct. No. 09-5094. Judges Garland, Kavanaugh and Randolph will preside.

10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON and 2:00 - 3:00 PM. The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) will hold a partially closed meeting. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 26, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 38., at Pages 9006-9007. Location: National Academy of Sciences, 2100 C St., NW.

5:00 PM. Deadline to submit comments to the Executive Office of the President's (EOP) Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in response to its Request for Information (RFI) regarding the consumer interface with the Smart Grid. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 19, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 33, at Pages 7526-7528.