3/15. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner Luis Aguilar gave a speech in Phoenix, Arizona, in which he discussed the SEC's summary prospectus initiative and internet access to information.

Aguilar (at left) said that "the summary prospectus, in contrast to the traditional prospectus, is designed to streamline the ``hard copy´´ delivery of key information and requires that more detailed information be accessible electronically."

He continued that "I have concerns about the Commission's implementation of an electronic delivery model to deliver essential information to investors. The worst consequences have been in the e-proxy context where the number of retail investors plummeted when e-proxy was implemented. This is where it hit home that the Commission needed to take serious strides to actually equate internet access to information with actual delivery of that information."

He also stated that "When I took office in July 2008, I became concerned about our enforcement and inspection teams' arcane technology and started to ask questions." He added that the SEC "has systems that are tragically anemic".

3/17. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report [51 pages in PDF] titled "Media Programming: Factors Influencing the Availability of Independent Programming in Television and Programming Decisions in Radio". It states that "The sources of broadcast and basic cable television programming have changed little in recent years."

"As a source of programming for prime time television, major broadcasters (ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC) and their affiliated studios produced the majority of programming in each of the selected years that GAO analyzed." (Parentheses in original.)

The GAO found that "major broadcasters produced about 76 to 84 percent of prime time programming hours. The remaining programming came from independent producers, which are not affiliated with the major broadcasters. Since basic cable networks are also a source of television programming, GAO analyzed the ownership of those networks as an indicator of which entities control the television programming. On the basis of GAO analysis of ownership in the 20 most widely distributed basic cable networks, major broadcasters and companies affiliated with both major broadcasters and cable operators have owned half or more of the top 20 cable networks for each year reviewed. Combining ownership in both prime time programming and basic cable networks, the major broadcasters have controlled a significant share of television programming over the last decade."

The report continues that "producers GAO contacted stated that developing and producing broadcast television programs is costly and financially risky. And while funds need to be secured early on in the development and production process to finance these costs, independent producers stressed that it is difficult to obtain financing for production costs. For cable television (viewed through a subscription video service), representatives of independent cable networks said a new network faces considerable uncertainty as to whether it will be distributed by a sufficient number of video providers (such as Comcast and DirecTV) to make its operations viable. By contrast, cable networks developed by cable operators or major broadcasters are able to negotiate distribution of the network with video providers as part of an agreement for distribution of an established affiliated network." (Parentheses in original.)

The report also addresses radio programming.

3/19. The Copyright Office (CO) published a notice in the Federal Register that announces that on February 23, 2010, the Register of Copyright issued an opinion that concludes that the Copyright Royalty Judges (CRJ) have subpoena authority over nonparticipants to CRJ proceedings.

See, Federal Register, March 19, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 53, at Pages 13306-13310. The notice sets forth the entire text of the opinion [PDF].

The CRJs are charged by statute with setting royalty rates and terms for numerous statutory licenses. See, 17 U.S.C. § 802. The royalties at issue in this proceeding are provided for in 17 U.S.C. §§ 112(e) and 114.

In January of 2009, the CRJs announced the commencement of a proceeding to determine the rates and terms for the use of sound recordings in transmissions made by new subscription services and for the making of ephemeral recordings necessary for the facilitation of such transmissions for the period beginning on January 1, 2011, and ending on December 31, 2015. See, notice in the Federal Register, January 5, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 2, at Pages 318-319. This is proceeding is CRJ Docket No. RF 2009-1. It is also known as CRB Webcasting III.

In this CRJ proceeding, RealNetworks sought subpoenas directed to Pandora Media, Slacker, and CBS Interactive, who are not participants in the proceeding. SoundExchange filed a brief in which it argued that the CRJs may not issue subpoenas to persons who are neither participants nor witnesses who have previously submitted testimony in the given proceeding.

The CRJ requested an opinion from the CO. It asked "Whether the Copyright Royalty Judges have authority under the Copyright Act to subpoena a nonparticipant to appear and give testimony or to produce and permit inspection of documents or tangible things?"

The CO concluded that "the CRJs do have the authority to subpoena a witness to appear and give testimony or to produce and permit inspection of documents or tangible things even when that witness is not a participant in the proceeding and his or her testimony has not yet been submitted in the proceeding".

The relevant statute, codified at 17 U.S.C. § 802(f)(1)(B)(i), provides that the CRJs "may issue a subpoena commanding a participant or witness to appear and give testimony, or to produce and permit inspection of documents or tangible things, if the Copyright Royalty Judges' resolution of the proceeding would be substantially impaired by the absence of such testimony or production of documents or tangible things. Such subpoena shall specify with reasonable particularity the materials to be produced or the scope and nature of the required testimony. Nothing in this clause shall preclude the Copyright Royalty Judges from requesting the production by a nonparticipant of information or materials relevant to the resolution by the Copyright Royalty Judges of a material issue of fact."

See also, the Library of Congress's web page with hyperlinks to pleadings and notices in this proceeding.

3/8. The U.S. District Court (SDNY) unsealed a criminal complaint that charges Anthony Digati with one count of extortion through interstate communications in connection with his making demands for money from a business in return for not carrying out a threats to send defamatory e-mails to six million persons, and to make 200,000 defamatory contacts via social networks.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) stated in a release [PDF] that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested Digati on March 6, 2010, in Chino, California.

It added that Digati wrote that "I have 6 MILLION emails going out to couples with children age 25-40, this email campaign is ordered and paid for. 2 million go out on the 8th and every two days 2 million more for three weeks rotating the list. Of course it is spam, I hired a spam service, ..."

The DOJ also stated that Digati wrote that "I am a huge social networker, and I am highly experienced. 200,000 people will be directly contacted by me through social networks, slamming your integrity ..."

The DOJ added that he claimed that "This will cost you millions in lost revenues, trust and credibility not to mention the advertising you will be buying to counter mine. Sad thing is it's almost free for me!"

Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, stated in this release that "In this computer age, cyber-extortion has become an emerging tool for criminals to hold businesses at virtual gunpoint, threatening them with widespread spamming and other Internet-based attacks. With the assistance of the FBI, our Office will work to safeguard the Internet and prosecute computer-savvy criminals who seek to harm the well-being of businesses and our economy."

There is no federal extortion statute that references bulk e-mail or social networking services. However, 18 U.S.C. § 875, the statute under which Digati is charged, provides in part that "Whoever, with intent to extort from any person, firm, association, or corporation, any money or other thing of value, transmits in interstate or foreign commerce any communication containing any threat to injure the property or reputation of the addressee or of another or the reputation of a deceased person or any threat to accuse the addressee or any other person of a crime, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both."

3/17. A grand jury of the U.S. District Court (SDNY) returned an indictment that charges Jerome O'Hara and George Perez with conspiracy, falsifying records of a broker-dealer, and falsifying records of an investment adviser. The Department of Justice (DOJ) stated in a release that the two were "computer programmers for Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, LLC" who "developed and maintained computer programs that generated numerous false and fraudulent records".

3/10. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced in a release that there is a fraudulent web site titled "International Security Investor Protection Corporation" or ISIPC. It mimics the web site of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), which actually exists. The SEC stated that the operator of the fraudulent web site "falsely claims to have recovered $1.3 billion in funds hidden by convicted Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff in Malaysia", and "asks Madoff victims to submit information to verify that they are on a refund list -- a ploy commonly used by con artists to further rip off financial fraud victims". The home page of the ISIPC web site now states "THIS SITE IS TEMPORALLY CLOSED".

3/18. The U.S. District Court (EDVa) sentenced Michael David Mitchell to serve 18 months in prison for theft of trade secrets and obstruction of justice. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) stated in a release that he was a long time employee of DuPont, who left to work for a competing company in Korea, and took with him documents containing trade secrets regarding Kevlar. The BIS added that "FBI and DoC special agents executed a federal search warrant on Mitchell's house, seizing documents and multiple computers. Forensic analysis of the defendant's computers revealed hundreds of pages of DuPont proprietary documents", and evidence that he had e-mailed proprietary information to his new employer.

3/17. A trial jury of the U.S. District Court (DSCar) returned a verdict of guilty against Stephen H. Rosenberg on charges of sending a threatening email to the U.S. District Court and attempting to influence a federal judge, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 875 and 1503, respectively. The Department of Justice (DOJ) stated in a release that "Rosenberg filed a civil lawsuit in federal court in South Carolina, alleging he had been unlawfully arrested and incarcerated. In 2003, a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit. In 2007, Rosenberg demanded that the judge reinstate the lawsuit, and a hearing on the demand was held in May 2007. When Rosenberg did not receive an immediate ruling on his request following the hearing, he began sending frequent emails and letters to the court. In late 2008, these messages began to incorporate statements such as ``the only good white judge is a dead white judge,´´ and that the only way he could ``get justice´´ was ``to start killing off white judges.´´"

3/15. The U.S. District Court (CDCal) sentenced Michael David Barrett to serve 30 months in prison. Barrett pled guilty on December 15, 2009, to interstate stalking with the intent to harass and to cause substantial emotional distress, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2261A. The Department of Justice (DOJ) stated in a release [PDF] that "Barrett admitted that he stalked ESPN reporter Erin Andrews over an 18-month period. Barrett's conduct included tracking Ms. Andrews to at least three different hotel rooms in three states in 2008. Barrett made the videos after removing the peephole device from the door in one of the hotel rooms and using his mobile phone to capture video of Ms. Andrews while she was naked. ... Barrett subsequently posted 10 of the videos on the Internet, identifying Ms. Andrews as the victim." The DOJ added that "Barrett posted on the Internet another 32 videos that depicted another 16 as-yet-unidentified victims".

3/12. Robert D. Cook and Todd A. Cook pled guilty in U.S. District Court (EDVa) to criminal copyright infringement and conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement in connection with their sale on the internet of copyrighted software. The Department of Justice (DOJ) stated in a release [PDF] "the Cooks operated several Web sites that sold large volumes of counterfeit software with a combined retail value of approximately $1 million. The defendants admitted that they used these Web sites to sell downloadable counterfeit software without authorization from the copyright owners. The defendants also admitted that they promoted their illicit scheme by purchasing advertising for their Web sites from major Internet search engines."

3/10. Lambros D. Ballas pled guilty in U.S. District Court (NDCal) to one count of criminal securities fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1348 in connection with his sending fake news releases to an online press distribution service regarding companies in which he owned stock. The Department of Justice (DOJ) stated in a release, and Ballas admitted in his Plea Agreement [9 pages in PDF], that he owned stock in IMAX, Local.com and Discovery Labs, sent fake press releases intended to boost share prices, posted related messages to Yahoo message boards, and then sold stock in the three companies. Ballas falsely stated that Microsoft and Google had acquired Local.com, that Disney had acquired IMAX, and that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had approved a drug of Discovery Labs.

3/18. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) approved numerous judicial nominees: Josephine Tucker (to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California), Mark Goldsmith (USDC/EDMich), Brian Jackson (USDC/MDLa), Elizabeth Foote (USDC/WDLa), Marc Treadwell (USDC/MDGa), Wifredo Ferrer (USDC/SDFl), and William Nettles (USDC/DSCar). See, Congressional Record, March 18, 2010, at Page S1750.

3/17. The Senate confirmed Rogeriee Thompson to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit by a vote of 98-0. See, Roll Call No. 56, and Congressional Record, March 17, 2010, at Page S1684

3/17. President Obama nominated Leonard Stark to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. See, White House news office release and release. He is currently a magistrate judge of the USDC/DDel. Before that, he worked in the Delaware office of the law firm of Skadden Arps.

3/17. President Obama nominated Amy Totenberg to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. See, White House news office release and release.

3/11. President Obama announced his intent to nominate James McNerney and Ursula Burns to be the Chair and Vice Chair of the President's Export Council. See, White House news office release. McNerney is P/CEO/Ch of Boeing Company. Burns is CEO of Xerox Corporation.

3/10. Pamela Harbour issued a statement in which she wrote, "I hereby announce my resignation as a Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission, effective April 6, 2010."

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3/17. The House passed HR 1387 [LOC | WW], the "Electronic Message Preservation Act", by voice vote. This would require the Archivist to promulgate regulations that require federal agencies to preserve certain electronic messages. Rep. Clay stated that "This bill requires agencies and the White House to adopt and maintain records management and retention policies that are consistent with modern technology. Under current law, Federal agencies have broad discretion to determine how electronic messages are preserved." See, Congressional Record, March 17, 2010, at Page H1542. The Senate has not yet passed this bill.

3/11. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee (HOGRC) approved HR 4098 [LOC | WW], the "Secure Federal File Sharing Act", by voice vote on March 4, 2010. The HOGRC issued its report on March 11, 2010. See, House Report No. 111-431. This bill provides that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) "shall issue guidance on the use of peer-to-peer file sharing software ... to prohibit the download, installation, or use by Government employees and contractors of open-network peer-to-peer file sharing software on all Federal computers, computer systems, and networks, including those operated by contractors on the Government's behalf", unless approved by a process set by the OMB.

3/10. The Senate passed an amended version of HR 4213 [LOC | WW], a huge bill that extends numerous tax provisions. The vote on final passage was 62-36. See, Roll Call No. 48. The bill returns to the House. Section 131 of this bill would extend for one year the research and development tax credit. Phil Bond, head of the TechAmerica, stated in a release that "While we appreciate that lawmakers have renewed their support for America's innovation economy by extending the credit, it remains a short-term solution to a long-term challenge. Companies will continue to face an expiration date instead of focusing on long-term projects that could lead to new breakthroughs. The United States is at a disadvantage without reliable R&D funding as other countries have strengthened their own R&D incentives within their borders. We ask that the Senate immediately move forward with a new bill to address this issue prior to leaving in October." See also, story titled "Senate Considers One Year Extension to R&D Tax Credit" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,054, March 3, 2010.

The House will meet at 12:30 PM for morning hour, and at 2:00 PM for legislative business. It will consider several non-technology related items under suspension of the rules. Votes will be postponed until 6:30 PM. See, Rep. Hoyer's schedule for week of March 22.

The Senate will meet at 2:00 PM. It will resume consideration of HR 1586 [LOC | WW], the FAA reauthorization bill.

9:00 AM - 1:00 PM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Communications Security, Reliability, and Interoperability Council (CSRIC) will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 4, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 42, at Pages 9899-9900. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room, 445 12th St., SW.

12:00 NOON - 2:00 PM. The DC Bar Association will host an event titled "State Secrets Privilege". The speakers will be Judge Royce Lambeth (USDC/DC), Arthur Spitzer (ACLU), Stephen Vladeck (American University law school), and Edwin Huddleston. See also, stories titled "Holder Issues Memorandum on State Secrets Privilege" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,988, September 24, 2009, and "9th Circuit Rules in State Secrets Case" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,933, April 29, 2009. The price to attend is $20. Most DC Bar events are not open to the public. This event does not qualify for continuing legal education (CLE) credits. See, notice. For more information, call 202-626-3463. Location: DC Bar Conference Center, 1101 K St., NW.

5:30 PM. The House Judiciary Committee (HJC) will hold a hearing titled "Design Patents and Auto Replacement Parts". See, notice. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

The House will meet at 10:30 AM for morning hour, and at 12:00 NOON for legislative business. See, Rep. Hoyer's schedule for week of March 22.

8:00 AM - 6:00 PM. The TechAmerica will host an event titled "20th Annual Federal CIO Survey Conference". See, conference web site. Location: Grand Hyatt, 1000 H St., NW.

9:00 AM - 12:30 PM. The Technology Policy Institute (TPI) will host an event titled "FCC's National Broadband Plan: The Early Reaction". The speakers will include Blair Levin (FCC), Thomas Lenard (TPI), James Cicconi (AT&T), Kyle McSlarrow (NCTA), Peter Pitsch (Intel), Gregory Rosston (Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research), Thomas Tauke (Verizon), John Mayo (Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy), Robert Crandall (Brookings Institution), Walter McCormick (USTelecom), Lee Rainie (Pew Internet and America Life Project), Robert Shapiro (Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy), and Joseph Waz (Comcast). See, registration page. For more information, contact Ashley Creel at 202-828-4405. Location: National Press Club, First Amendment Lounge, 13th floor, 529 14th St., NW.

9:30 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold a hearing titled "Oversight of the Department of Justice". The witness will be Attorney General Eric Holder. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The House Science Committee's (HSC) Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation will hold a hearing titled "NIST Structure and Authorities, Its Role in Technical Standards, and Federal Coordination on Technical Standards". The HSC will webcast this event. Location: Room 2318, Rayburn Building.

1:00 PM. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will host a public seminar on eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL), which enables interactive data. See, notice. Location: SEC, 100 F St., NE.

2:30 PM. The Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee's (SHSGAC) Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security will hold a hearing titled "Removing the Shroud of Secrecy: Making Government More Transparent and Accountable". The witnesses will include Vivek Kundra (EOP), Aneesh Chopra (EOP), David Ferriero (National Archives and Records Administration), Rob Pinkerton (Adobe Systems), and others. See, notice. Location: Room 342, Dirksen Building.

2:30 PM. The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) will hold a hearing titled "Reviewing the National Broadband Plan". FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski will testify. See, FCC staff report [376 pages in PDF] titled "A National Broadband Plan for Our Future" and story titled "FCC Releases National Broadband Plan" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,058, March 15, 2010. See, SCC notice. Location: Room 253, Russell Building.

4:00 - 6:00 PM. The House Intelligence Committee (HIC) will hold a closed hearing titled "FY11 Budget: National Cyber Security". See, notice. Location: Room HVC-304, Capitol Building.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. See, Rep. Hoyer's schedule for week of March 22.

8:00 - 9:00 AM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Privacy and Data Security Committee will host an event titled "Coffee and Croissants with London Data Privacy Partner, Cynthia O'Donoghue". Register with Desiree Logan at dlogan at reedsmith dot com or 202-414-9318. Location: Reed Smith, East Tower, 1301 K St., NW.

8:30 AM - 5:00 PM. Day one of a two day meeting of the Department of the Interior's (DOI) U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC). See, notice in the Federal Register, March 5, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 43, at Page 10309. Location: One Washington Circle Hotel, 1 Washington Circle, NW.

9:00 AM - 4:00 PM. The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology's HIT Policy Committee will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 26, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 38, at Pages 8954-8955. Location: Omni Shoreham Hotel, 2500 Calvert St., NW.

10:00 AM. The House Ways and Means Committee (HWMC) will hold a hearing titled "China's Exchange Rate Policy". The HWMC will webcast this event. See, notice. Location: Room 1100, Longworth Building.

10:00 AM. The House Appropriations Committee's (HAC) Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State and Related Agencies will hold a hearing titled "National Science Foundation Budget Overview". The witness will be Arden Bement (NSF Director). Location: Room H-309, Capitol Building.

10:30 AM - 12:30 PM. The House Science Committee's (HSC) Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation will hold a hearing titled "Supporting Innovation in the 21st Century Economy". The witnesses will include Aneesh Chopra (EOP's Office of Science and Technology Policy), Rob Atkinson (Information Technology and Innovation Foundation), Dan Breznitz (Georgia Tech University), and Paul Holland (Foundation Capital). The HSC will webcast this event. Location: Room 2318, Rayburn Building.

2:00 PM. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee's (HOGRC) Subcommittee on Government Management, Organization and Procurement Subcommittee will hold a hearing titled "Federal Information Security: Current Challenges And Future Policy Considerations". See, notice. The HOGRC will webcast this event. Location: Room 2154, Rayburn Building.

2:00 - 4:00 PM. The House Intelligence Committee (HIC) will hold a closed hearing titled "FY11 Budget: DoJ Intelligence". See, notice. Location: Room HVC-304, Capitol Building.

2:00 PM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Advisory Committee on Diversity for Communications in the Digital Age will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 5, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 24, at Pages 6031-6032. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room, 445 12th St., SW.

2:30 PM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold a hearing on the nomination of Goodwin Liu to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals (9thCir). See, notice. The SJC will webcast this event. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

2:30 PM. The Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) Bureau of Economics (BOE) will host a seminar presented by Simon Anderson (University of Virginia Department of Economics). His research focuses on advertising, search and information. For more information, contact Loren Smith lsmith2 at ftc dot gov or Tammy John tjohn at ftc dot gov. Location: FTC, Conference Center, 601 New Jersey Ave., NW.

2:30 PM. Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis and the People's Republic of China's Vice Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan will hold a closed meeting.

5:00 PM. Deadline to submit comments to the Executive Office of the President's (EOP) Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator regarding coordination of federal efforts to enforce intellectual property rights. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 23, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 35, at Page 8137-8139.

TIME? The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission will hold a hearing titled "China's Industrial Policy and its Pillar Industries". This event is open to the public. Location: Room 236, Russell Building, Capitol Hill.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. See, Rep. Hoyer's schedule for week of March 22.

8:30 AM - 4:30 PM. Day two of a two day meeting of the Department of the Interior's (DOI) U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC). See, notice in the Federal Register, March 5, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 43, at Page 10309. Location: One Washington Circle Hotel, 1 Washington Circle, NW.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold an executive business meeting. The agenda includes consideration of S 3111 [LOC | WW], the "Faster FOIA Act of 2010", a bill to create a powerless commission that would write a toothless report on why federal officials do not comply with the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which is codified at 5 U.S.C. § 552. The SJC rarely follows its published agendas. The SJC will webcast this event. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet (SCTI) will hold a hearing on the FCC staff report [376 pages in PDF] titled "A National Broadband Plan for Our Future". See, HCC notice, and story titled "FCC Releases National Broadband Plan" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,058, March 15, 2010. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

2:00 PM. The House Appropriations Committee's (HAC) Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State and Related Agencies will hold a hearing titled "USPTO FY 2011 Budget Overview". The witness will be David Kappos (head of the USPTO). Location: Room H-309, Capitol Building.

6:00 - 8:00 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Young Lawyers Committee will host an event titled "Happy Hour". For more information, contact Nguyen Vu at nguyen dot vu at bingham dot com or Micah Caldwell at mcaldwell at fh-law dot com. Location: Mackey's Public House, 1823 L St., NW.

The House will meet at 9:00 AM for legislative business. See, Rep. Hoyer's schedule for week of March 22.

10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The Department of State's (DOS) International Telecommunication Advisory Committee (ITAC) will meet by teleconference to prepare for an April 19-30, 2010, meeting of International Telecommunication Union's (ITU) Telecommunication Standardization Sector's (ITU-T) Study Group 13 (Future networks including mobile and Next Generation Networks). See, notice in the Federal Register, March 9, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 45, at Page 10860.

12:00 NOON. The American Bar Association's (ABA) Antitrust Section will host a brown bag lunch titled "60 Minutes with the Antitrust Division". The speakers will include Christine Varney, William Cavanaugh, and Molly Boast. Location: Wilmer Hale, 1875 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

5:00 PM. Extended deadline to submit to the Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) applications for Comprehensive Community Infrastructure (CCI) projects under the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP). See, notice in the Federal Register, March 8, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 44, at Page 10464.

Passover begins at sunset.

The House will not meet the week of March 29 - April 2, 2010, or the week of April 5-9, 2010. See, 2010 House calendar.

The Senate will not meet the week of March 29 - April 2, 2010, or the week of April 5-9, 2010. See, 2010 Senate calendar.

3:00 PM. Deadline to submit to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) a "Letter of Intent" to request grant money under the NIST Construction Grant Program for FY 2010. This $50 Million program subsidizes the construction of research science buildings of colleges, universities, and non-profit science research organizations. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 2, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 40, at Pages 9392-9397.

5:00 PM. Extended deadline to submit to the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) applications under the second round Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) for the Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP). See, notice in the Federal Register, March 8, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 44, at Pages 10455-10456.

Deadline to submit comments to the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding changing the requirements for Emergency Restoration Plans (ERPs) to include compliance with the requirements established by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for public assistance grant eligibility in the event of a declared disaster. See, notice in the Federal Register, January 26, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 16, at Pages 4006-4007.