3/18. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted on March 17, 2010, a Report and Order and Memorandum Opinion and Order regarding the receipt of universal service high cost local switching support (LSS) by small incumbent local exchange carriers (LECs). The FCC released the text [11 pages in PDF] on March 18, 2010.

The FCC wrote that "Under the current rules, which were adopted by the Commission at a time when incumbent LEC lines had largely only increased over time, the amount of LSS that an incumbent LEC may receive decreases when its line counts increase above a particular threshold, but does not increase when its line counts decrease below that same threshold. Since the adoption of these rules, incumbent LEC lines have begun to decrease, and, as a result of the one-way rule, many small LECs that have lost lines receive less support than other LECs with a similar number of lines that face nearly identical circumstances." (Footnote omitted.)

"By modifying our rules to permit incumbent LECs that lose lines to receive additional LSS when they cross a threshold, we will provide LSS to all small LECs on the same basis. We emphasize that nothing in this report and order is intended to address the long-term role of LSS in the Commission's high-cost universal service policies, which we are considering as part of comprehensive universal service reform. We also dismiss the petition for reconsideration filed by the Coalition for Equity in Switching Support in the jurisdictional separations freeze proceeding." (Footnotes omitted.)

This item is FCC 10-44 in WC Docket No. 05-337 and CC Docket No. 80-286.

See also, story titled "FCC Releases Order and NPRM on Local Switching Support" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,001, October 12, 2009.

3/22. Google announced in a release that "earlier today we stopped censoring our search services -- Google Search, Google News, and Google Images -- on Google.cn. Users visiting Google.cn are now being redirected to" Google dot com dot hk "where we are offering uncensored search in simplified Chinese, specifically designed for users in mainland China and delivered via our servers in Hong Kong. Users in Hong Kong will continue to receive their existing uncensored, traditional Chinese service" from Google dot com dot hk.

On January 12, 2010, Google accused the People's Republic of China (PRC) of hacking for the purpose of surveilling "human rights activists". Google stated then that it is "no longer willing to continue censoring" search results in the PRC, and that it may "shut down Google.cn". See, story titled "Google Accuses Red China of Cyber Attacks Directed at Human Rights Activists" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,036, January 19, 2010.

Google wrote in its March 22 release that "the Chinese government has been crystal clear throughout our discussions that self-censorship is a non-negotiable legal requirement".

Google added that "We believe this new approach of providing uncensored search in simplified Chinese from Google.com.hk is a sensible solution to the challenges we've faced -- it's entirely legal and will meaningfully increase access to information for people in China. We very much hope that the Chinese government respects our decision, though we are well aware that it could at any time block access to our services."

Leslie Harris, head of the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), stated in a release that "CDT applauds Google for following through on its commitment to protect human rights and for its continued effort to enable China's people with unfiltered access to robust sources of information from all over the world. Whether the Chinese people will be able to take advantage of Google search now rests squarely with the Chinese government. If China allows access to unfiltered search, it will be a substantial win for global Internet freedom and for the Chinese people. If China blocks access, it will finally make clear to the Chinese people who is pulling the levers of censorship in the country."

3/22. A collection of groups opposed to the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) wrote a letter [PDF] to Ron Kirk (head of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative) and others criticizing what might be draft language of the ACTA

This letter states that "details of the text of the proposed ACTA, and comments and proposals of national participants have apparently but unofficially been made public". See for example, document [PDF], document [PDF], and document.

This letter states that "this negotiation is not primarily about counterfeiting or piracy; nor is at all about trade law. The public rationale that the treaty would not impinge on domestic law has been placed in doubt -- particularly when one considers whose domestic law would be endangered."

For example, the letter states that the "text reveals detailed substantive attention to ... The extent to which principles of inducement, newly introduced by the U.S. Supreme Court in the Grokster case, are to be accepted as supporting a separate basis for copyright liability or are a gloss on existing principles of contributory and vicarious infringement. This is not yet clear even in the United States."

See, Supreme Court's June 26, 2005, opinion [55 pages in PDF] in MGM v. Grokster, and stories titled "Supreme Court Rules in MGM v. Grokster" and "Reaction to the Supreme Court's Opinion in MGM v. Grokster" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,163, June 28, 2005.

The letter also states that the "text reveals detailed substantive attention to ... How technological measure anti-circumvention provisions are to be interpreted and applied, whether they will apply to access to works, whether they are to be limited to circumventions for infringing purposes, and whether account will be taken of the variations in national law, practice, and context, such as U.S. adherence to fair use and the imposition of levies under other national law."

The signers of this letter include the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT), Public Knowledge (PK), Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), and Home Recording Rights Coalition (HRRC).

The signers also include the American Association of Law Libraries (AALA), American Library Association (ALA), Association of College And Research Libraries (ACRL), Association of Research Libraries (ARL), and Special Libraries Association (SLA).

3/23. The International Trademark Association sent a letter [PDF] to President Barack Obama in which it applauded "the strong commitment of your Administration to the protection of intellectual property, including your support for the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA)".

The letter elaborates that "a strong economic future, including sustained job growth, will only be achieved when coupled with an aggressive protection of intellectual property globally", and that the "ACTA can have a significant impact in fighting counterfeiting".

The letter adds that "Counterfeit products, such as fake ... electrical devices and critical technology components, pose serious risks to the health and safety of consumers and to national security".

3/17. The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) released a report [68 pages in PDF] titled "Building a Digital Economy: The Importance of Saving Jobs in the EU's Creative Industries".

It finds that "In 2008 the European Union’s creative industries, based on the more accurate and comprehensive definition, contributed 6.9%, or approximately €860 billion, to total European GDP, and represented 6.5% of the total workforce, or approximately 14 million workers."

It also finds that "In 2008 the European Union’s creative industries most impacted by piracy (film, TV series, recorded music and software) experienced retail revenue losses of €10 billion and losses of more than 185 000 jobs due to piracy, largely digital piracy."

Finally, it asserts that "Based on current projections and assuming no significant policy changes, the European Union’s creative industries could expect to see cumulative retail revenue losses of as much as €240 billion by 2015, resulting in 1.2 million jobs lost by 2015."

It argues that "stemming the rising tide of digital piracy should be at the top of the agenda of policymakers in the European Union and elsewhere".

3/23. TurboHercules (TH) filed a complaint with the European Commission against IBM alleging anticompetitive conduct.

TH's Roger Bowler wrote in a statement that TH filed "a complaint asking the European Commission to restore free and fair competition to the IBM mainframe market. Mainframe customers should be permitted to run the applications and data that they own, and in many cases developed, on the computer hardware of their choice."

The Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) wrote in a release that TH's "allegations closely resemble other complaints filed against IBM in the European Commission" and the CCIA's complaint submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) Antitrust Division.

The CCIA added that "TurboHercules' complaint, the third filed against IBM in Europe for its anticompetitive conduct in the mainframe market, outlines a disturbing pattern of behavior directed against competition. The complaint describes how IBM refuses to let its customers run IBM's dominant mainframe operating systems on anything other than IBM mainframe hardware. IBM also uses undocumented software interfaces and protocols to prevent competition with its mainframe hardware. Both of these practices are illegal pursuant to the recent Microsoft case and the precedent set by the Commission’s investigation into IBM in the 1980s."

TH's Roger Bowler explained that "The Hercules open source project team created the Hercules emulator in order to give the owners of this hugely valuable installed base of mainframe applications freedom of choice in the hardware systems used with this software. The extraordinary performance and reliability offered by the current generation of multi-core 64-bit processor technology from Intel and AMD make emulation a viable alternative for many mainframe applications.  There is no reason why mainframe application owners should not be allowed to benefit from these technologies when they match their needs."

Bowler continued that "That they are not presently available is due solely to IBM's needlessly restrictive licensing policies regarding the use of z/OS and other IBM mainframe system software on non-IBM hardware. We at TurboHercules abhor all forms of software piracy, and have the utmost respect for the valuable intellectual property embedded in IBM’s mainframe software. We ask only that IBM allow the customers who purchase that software to deploy it on the hardware platforms of their choice."

He added that "The outcome that we at TurboHercules hope for is a return to the competitive market for mainframe technologies that existed in the ‘80s and ‘90s, where IBM licensed its operating systems to customers of the Plug Compatible Mainframe (PCM) manufacturers such as Hitachi and Fujitsu/Amdahl."

Ed Black, head of the CCIA, stated that "IBM is speaking out of both sides of its mouth when it comes to its support for the open source community and its commitment to the responsible use of its patent portfolio. The fact that IBM would actually assert that an open source project infringes its patents is proof that IBM's support of open source stops the minute it threatens IBM's lucrative mainframe monopolies."

3/9. Joaquín Almunia, the European Commission's new Commissioner for Competition Policy, gave a speech on March 9, 2010, in Brussels, Belgium, titled "EU Antitrust policy: the road ahead".

Almunia (at right) discussed, in addition to enforcement against cartels, and merger reviews, competition enforcement. He said that "my first step will be to push through necessary updates to the legal framework -- notably to support enforcement at Commission and national level, and provide clarity and legal certainty for business"

With respect to vertical conduct, he said that "we can achieve a good compromise between, on the one hand, the need to preserve efficient distribution models, and, on the other hand, the necessity to ensure cross-border trade in the internal market, notably through the development of on-line sales".

With respect to "horizontal agreements", he said that "we are now starting an important process ... with what I hope will be significant clarifications notably on information exchange agreements and standardisation agreements".

He added that "we will need to consider what further measures may be appropriate to consolidate the enforcement framework, for instance when reviewing the Antitrust and Merger Regulations.

He acknowledged that "Some argue that the parties' evidence sometimes falls on deaf ears". He argued that "in practice, cases are often amended after the parties have been heard on the Commission's concerns. Some cases are even dropped altogether."

He said that "the Commission must act as an impartial and objective public authority, which entails that its initial views can effectively change once it has heard what the companies have to say. The Commission's decision-making process is aimed at ensuring such impartiality."

3/23. Yahoo announced in a release that John Chapple "has decided not to stand for re-election to the company's Board of Directors at its 2010 annual stockholders' meeting in order to devote more time to his other business interests".

3/22. President Obama announced his intent to nominate Carl Wieman to be Associate Director for Science in the Executive Office of the President's (EOP) Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). See, White House news office release. He received a Nobel Prize in Physics in 2001.

3/22. Mike Wendy was named VP of Press and External Affairs at the Progress & Freedom Foundation (PFF). He was previously Director of Public Affairs for the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA). See, PFF release.

3/18. Jerry York died. He had been a member of the Board of Directors of Apple since 1997. See, Apple release.

3/24. The Copyright Royalty Judges (CRJ) published a notice in the Federal Register that announces, describes, recites, and sets the effective date (January 1, 2011) for, its final regulations setting 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 commencing January 1, 2011, and ending on December 31, 2015. See, Federal Register, March 24, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 56, at Pages 14074-14076. This proceeding is Docket No. 2009-2 CRB New Subscription II.

3/23. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) had scheduled a hearing titled "Oversight of the Department of Justice" for March 23, 2010. The sole witness was to have been Attorney General Eric Holder. Some Senate Republicans criticized the postponement. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), the ranking Republican on the SJC stated in a release that "while this hearing has been delayed, the Attorney General cannot delay action to repair his broken policies". The SJC announced that Holder is now scheduled to testify on April 14. See, notice.

3/23. The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) had scheduled a hearing titled "Reviewing the National Broadband Plan". The sole witness was to have been FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. 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. The SCC announced in a release that the hearing "has been postponed".

3/23. Neelie Kroes, the European Commission's Commissioner for the Digital Agenda, gave a speech regarding spectrum policy.

3/16. President Obama released a brief statement regarding the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) staff report titled "National Broadband Plan".

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. The schedule includes consideration of HR 4849 [LOC | WW], a tax bill. The schedule also includes a postponed suspension vote on HR 4098 [LOC | WW], the "Secure Federal File Sharing Act". See, Rep. Hoyer's schedule for week of March 22, and schedule for for March 24.

The Senate will meet at 9:00 AM. It will resume consideration of HR 4872 [LOC | WW], the "Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act".

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 Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection will meet to mark up several bills, including HR 3993 [LOC | WW], the "Calling Card Consumer Protection Act". See, notice. Location: Room 2322, Rayburn Building.

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 nominations of Goodwin Liu to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals (9thCir) and Kimberly Mueller to be Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California. 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.

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 agenda also includes consideration judicial nominees: Sharon Coleman (to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois), Gary Feinerman (USDC/NDIll), and William Martinez (USDC/DColo). 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 U.S. Patent and Trademark Office). 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.

RESCHEDULED FOR MARCH 31. 9:00 AM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB) will hold a meeting regarding the public safety and homeland security related portions of the FCC's March 16, 2010, staff report [376 pages in PDF] titled "National Broadband Plan". Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room.

9:30 AM - 12:00 NOON. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) and the Embassy of Sweden will host a event titled "Health IT Seminar". See, notice. Register with RSVP-hos at foreign dot ministry dot se. Location: Embassy of Sweden, 2900 K St., NW

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.

10:00 PM. 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, and notice in the Federal Register, March 24, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 56, at Page 14131.

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.

8:45 AM - 5:00 PM. Day one of a two day meeting of the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO) and the Executive Office of the President's (EOP) Office of Science and Technology Policy's (OSTP) National Science and Technology Council's (NSTC) Nanoscale Science, Engineering, and Technology (NSET) Subcommittee. The meeting will address "science related to environmental, health, and safety aspects of nanomaterials". See, notice in the Federal Register, February 26, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 38, at Pages 9007-9008. Location: Holiday Inn Rosslyn-Key Bridge, 1900 N. Fort Myer Drive, Arlington, VA.

9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Day one of a two day meeting of Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Science's Advanced Scientific Computing Advisory Committee (ASCAC). The agenda for March 30 includes "Exascale Computing". See, notice in the Federal Register, March 4, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 42, at Page 9887. Location: American Geophysical Union, 2000 Florida Ave., NW.

2:00 - 3:30 PM. The Department of Justice's (DOJ) Antitrust Division will host a seminar presented by James Roberts (Duke University) titled "Entry and Selection in Auctions". For more information, contact Patrick Greenlee at 202-307-3745 or atr dot eag at usdoj dot gov. Location: DOJ, Liberty Square Building, 450 5th St., NW.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (2ndFNPRM) regarding the Emergency Alert System (EAS) The FCC adopted this item on January 12, 2010, and released the text [23 pages in PDF] on January 14. It is FCC 10-11 in EB Docket No. 04-296. See, notice in the Federal Register, January 29, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 19, at Pages 4760-4768.

8:00 AM - 4:00 PM. Day two of a two day meeting of the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office (NNCO) and the Executive Office of the President's (EOP) Office of Science and Technology Policy's (OSTP) National Science and Technology Council's (NSTC) Nanoscale Science, Engineering, and Technology (NSET) Subcommittee. The meeting will address "science related to environmental, health, and safety aspects of nanomaterials". See, notice in the Federal Register, February 26, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 38, at Pages 9007-9008. Location: Holiday Inn Rosslyn-Key Bridge, 1900 N. Fort Myer Drive, Arlington, VA.

9:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. Day one of a two day meeting of Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Science's Advanced Scientific Computing Advisory Committee (ASCAC). See, notice in the Federal Register, March 4, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 42, at Page 9887. Location: American Geophysical Union, 2000 Florida Ave., NW.

9:30 - 11:30 AM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB) will hold a meeting regarding the public safety and homeland security related portions of the FCC's March 16, 2010, staff report [376 pages in PDF] titled "National Broadband Plan". Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room.

1:00 - 5:00 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Mass Media Committee will host an event titled "Media Regulation and the First Amendment in the 21st Century". The price to attend ranges from $50 to $350. This event qualifies for continuing legal education credits. Location: Newseum, 555 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

5:00 PM. Deadline to submit nominations to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for National Medal of Technology and Innovation awards. See, nomination form [MS Word].

Deadline for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR) to issue its Section 1377 report regarding the operation, effectiveness, and implementation of, and compliance with, the telecommunications provisions of the World Trade Organization (WTO) General Agreement on Trade in Services, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), free trade agreements (FTAs) with Australia, Bahrain, Chile, Morocco, Oman, Peru, and Singapore, and the Dominican Republic -- Central America -- U.S. Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR). See, notice in the Federal Register, November 17, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 220, at Pages 59339-59340.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Public Notice (PN) requesting comments on the Petition for Rulemaking [18 pages in PDF] regarding 700 MHz band mobile equipment design and procurement practices. This PN is DA 10-278 in RM No. 11592. The FCC released it on February 18, 2010. The Petition was filed on September 29, 2009, by four lower 700 MHz Band A Block licensees. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 1, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 39, at Pages 9210-9211.

Deadline for facilities based carriers that provide international telecommunications services to file a Circuit Status Report with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). See, notice.

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