7/16. Dell issued a statement regarding a pending investigation of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and an impending settlement.

Dell has disclosed that Dell and SEC staff have discussed a settlement. This would include the filing and settlement of a civil lawsuit, which would include counts alleging fraud and accounting and financial reporting violations. Dell would also pay $100 Million. The person Michael Dell would not be barred from serving as an officer or director of a public company, and he would continue as Chairman and CEO of the company Dell.

Dell wrote in its July 16 statement that "the company and Michael Dell, chairman and CEO, have proposed settlements to the staff" of the SEC, which "the staff has agreed to recommend to the SEC, concerning the previously reported SEC investigation, on terms consistent with the settlement framework described in the company's quarterly report on Form 10-Q for its fiscal quarter ended April 30, 2010."

The company Dell submitted its first quarter 2010 Form 10-Q [PDF] to the SEC on June 10, 2010. It disclosed in that Form 10-Q that the SEC began an investigation of Dell in 2005. It states that the company Dell and SEC staff have discussed a settlement that "would involve a civil injunctive action against the company for alleged violations of certain federal securities laws, including the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws, relating to certain accounting and financial reporting matters".

It would also involve fraud charges "relating to the company’s disclosures and alleged omissions prior to Fiscal 2008 regarding certain aspects of its commercial relationship with Intel Corp."

The Form 10-Q also disclosed a potential payment by Dell of $100 Million as part of the settlement.

It also states that the person Michael Dell "would not include any bar against his service as an officer and director of a public company" and that he "will continue to serve as Chairman and CEO of the company".

Dell added in its July 16 statement that "Any such settlements would be subject to approval by the SEC and a U.S. District Court."

The Form 10-Q also discloses information about related class action securities litigation. The entirety of the Form 10-Q's disclosure regarding the SEC matter is as follows:

"In August 2005, the SEC initiated an inquiry into certain of Dell's accounting and financial reporting matters and requested that Dell provide certain documents. The SEC expanded that inquiry in June 2006 and entered a formal order of investigation in October 2006. In August 2006, because of potential issues identified in the course of responding to the SEC's requests for information, Dell's Audit Committee, on the recommendation of management and in consultation with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Dell's independent registered public accounting firm, initiated an independent investigation, which was completed in the third quarter of Fiscal 2008. During the first quarter of Fiscal 2011, Dell learned that, in connection with the SEC investigation, several former Dell employees received ``Wells Notices´´ from the SEC staff, which indicate that the SEC staff has made a preliminary decision to recommend that the SEC commence a civil or administrative action against the recipients of the notices. In connection with ongoing settlement discussions between the company and the SEC staff, the parties have discussed a settlement framework. This settlement would involve a civil injunctive action against the company for alleged violations of certain federal securities laws, including the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws, relating to certain accounting and financial reporting matters. The settlement would also include non-scienter (negligence) based fraud charges, as well as other non-fraud based charges, relating to the company’s disclosures and alleged omissions prior to Fiscal 2008 regarding certain aspects of its commercial relationship with Intel Corp. Dell has recorded a liability as of April 30, 2010 for a potential settlement of $100 million covering all of these matters. In addition, subsequent to the close of the first quarter of Fiscal 2011, the SEC staff and counsel for Michael Dell, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Dell, commenced discussion of a settlement framework. This settlement would include a civil action for alleged violations of the non-scienter (negligence) based fraud provisions of the federal securities laws, as well as other non-fraud based provisions of the federal securities laws, with respect to the company’s disclosures and alleged omissions prior to Fiscal 2008 regarding certain aspects of the company’s commercial relationship with Intel Corp. With respect to Mr. Dell, the remedies under such a settlement would include injunctive and monetary relief, but would not include any bar against his service as an officer and director of a public company. The independent directors of the Board of Directors of Dell have determined that, in the context of such a settlement, Mr. Dell will continue to serve as Chairman and CEO of the company. Discussions concerning the potential settlements involving the company and Mr. Dell are ongoing. Any settlement would be made without admitting or denying the Commission’s allegations. No assurance can be given as to when any settlement might occur or as to the final terms and conditions of any settlement. Any settlement recommended by the SEC staff would be subject to approval by the Commission." (Parentheses in original. See, pages 23-24, PDF pages 28-29.)

7/15. The House Science Committee's (HSC) Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation held a hearing titled "Planning for the Future of Cyber Attack Attribution". See also, HSC Hearing Charter [4 pages in PDF].

Attribution pertains to determining the identity or location of a cyber attacker. One way for a nation to defend against cyber attack is to possess the ability to retaliate against the attacker. To do this, a nation must know who the attacker is.

The witnesses were David Wheeler (Institute for Defense Analyses), Robert Knake (Council on Foreign Relations), Ed Giorgio (Ponte Technologies), and Marc Rotenberg (Electronic Privacy Information Center).

Giorgio wrote in his prepared testimony [19 pages in PDF] that "Post-attack attribution today is not effective, and the protocols we have today are insufficient to provide it. The recent attacks on Google are neither new nor surprising."

"Current attribution capabilities are clearly no deterrent" he said.

He advocated "transitioning to a multi-protocol internet infrastructure where services offered over DoD network segments, and sensitive commercial and financial networks, would require transmission using new protocols that have accountability and attribution built in to their design".

For others, "Each citizen should have access to a certificate or other token that uniquely identifies the holder, along with others that provide less or even no identity information. It should be possible to acquire as many such identity certificates as are needed to support multiple online roles. Some organizations already provide physical analogs, in the form of pre-paid credit cards, or anonymous pay-as-you-go cell phones."

He also said that a "trusted third party" may be the only way to support anonymity, but that the "government has not yet earned the necessary trust to perform this role".

Knake wrote in his prepared testimony [12 pages in PDF] that "deterrence is the idea of using fear of reprisal in order to dissuade an adversary from launching an attack. For deterrence to work, it is critically important that we know who has carried out the attack and thus attribution is a central component of deterrence strategy."

He employed the example of nuclear deterrence in U.S. Soviet Union relations. The U.S. could attribute a Soviet attack by radar. The U.S. could retaliate in kind, and Soviet leaders, as rationale actors, were deterred by the prospect of a U.S. nuclear counterattack. But, wrote Knake, "Such parity does not exist in cyberspace." That is, "Many countries that possess sophisticated offensive capabilities do not have extensive societal reliance on the Internet or networked systems. If attribution could be achieved, deterrence might not follow because a state conducting an attack in cyberspace, may have little to lose through retaliation."

Moreover, wrote Knake, "it may be difficult to achieve proportionality in response to a cyber attack through other means. Deterrence may simply not be a useful concept to address our current state of cyber insecurity."

He also said that "The goal should not be to create ironclad attribution that would turn the Internet into the ultimate tool of the surveillance state. Rather, the end state should be protocols that prevent the spoofing of IP addresses and email."

He concluded that "the problem of attribution has been largely overstated. Ironclad or perfect attribution would not address the problems of cyber warfare, espionage, crime or other threats in cyberspace. Such a capability would, however, be injurious to freedom of expression and access to information for many people around the world. Stronger mechanisms for international law enforcement cooperation are necessary, as is the ability to stop attacks in progress, and improvements to the general hygiene of the Internet ecosystem. More than anything else, we need to develop better and stronger options for responding to threats in cyberspace and introduce consequences for states that do not cooperate in stopping attacks or in investigating them. Finally, we need to move beyond anonymity as the guarantor of privacy on the Internet and instead work to create privacy through both technical means and legal requirements."

Rotenberg, a privacy advocate, wrote in his prepared testimony [13 pages in PDF] that "proposals to mandate online identification will create new risks to privacy and security".

"It may be that governments establish attribution requirements to address cyber security concerns. But it also clear that governments impose these requirements to track the activities of citizens and to crack down on controversial political views." He cited as an example the People's Republic of China, and discussed its attribution activities in some detail.

"Anonymity is an important protection to shield the speakers of unpopular or controversial opinions." Rotenberg then reviewed U.S. case law regarding the First Amendment right to speak anonymously. He argued that "it would be unconstitutional for the United States government to impose an identity requirement for Internet users in the United States".

Rotenberg also argued that "no matter how good attribution technologies are, attribution will probably still fail to identify the most sophisticated attackers", because "sophisticated attackers often obscure their trail by routing activities through multiple countries, complete attribution capability would require the implementation of coordinated policies on a near-impossible global scale"

He also addressed the question of retaliation. He noted that for terrorist attacks or cybercrime, attribution is of little use because non-state terrorists "aren't deterred by the threat of retaliation".

Wheeler's prepared testimony [85 pages in PDF] consists of a 2003 paper co-authored by Wheeler titled "Techniques for Cyber Attack Attribution". It summarizes numerous techniques.

Wheeler wrote that "Attribution is difficult and inherently limited. In particular, attackers can cause attacks to be delayed and perform their attacks through many intermediaries in many jurisdictions, making attribution difficult. In some cases this can be partly countered, for example, by treating some information-gathering techniques as attacks (and attributing them), using multiple techniques, and using techniques that resist this problem (such as exploiting/forcing attacker self-identification and attacker surveillance). Nevertheless, because of the difficulty and uncertainty in performing attribution, computer network defense should not depend on attribution. Instead, attribution should be part of a larger defense-in-depth strategy." (Parentheses in original.)

7/14. The Progress & Freedom Foundation (PFF) hosted a panel discussion titled "The Future of Speech on the Borderless Internet". One of the many topics discussed by panelists and the audience was regulating the internet for cyber security purposes, including proposals to give the President emergency powers to stop certain internet traffic, sometimes referred to as either the "big red switch" or "kill switch".

Michelle Richardson, Legislative Counsel of the ACLU, was not on the panel, but spoke from the audience. She said that "The latest buzzword is most likely that Congress will pass legislation this fall -- September October -- regulating the internet for cyber security purposes. And, those proposals range from creating a private consortium that companies can voluntarily participate in, to, on the other end, ... giving the President emergency undefined authorities to compel private companies to take some sort of action. And, one of the ideas thrown out is perhaps having a company block all internet access into and out of a certain country."

The bill at issue is S 3480 [LOC | WW], the "Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act of 2010", introduced by Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT), Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), and Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) on June 10, 2010. The Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee amended and approved this bill on June 24, 2010.

Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA) introduced the companion bill in the House, HR 5548 [LOC | WW], also titled "Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act of 2010", on June 16, 2010.

Section 249 of the bill as introduced provides that "The President may issue a declaration of a national cyber emergency to covered critical infrastructure." The President shall then "notify the owners and operators of the specified covered critical infrastructure of the nature of the national cyber emergency".

The bill would also create a new Office of Cyberspace Policy (OCP) within the Executive Office of the President (EOP). It would be headed by a Director appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Section 249 also provides that this Director "shall ... develop and coordinate emergency measures or actions necessary to preserve the reliable operation, and mitigate or remediate the consequences of the potential disruption, of covered critical infrastructure". The bill also provides that "the owner or operator of covered critical infrastructure shall immediately comply with any emergency measure or action".

Section 248 lists some general principles regarding identifying and evaluating cyber vulnerabilities. Section 249 provides for compensation to service providers and immunity, under certain circumstances. However, the power is broad and vague.

Another key bill in play is S 773 [LOC | WW], the "Cybersecurity Act of 2009", introduced by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) on April 1, 2009. See, stories titled "Senate Commerce Committee Amends Cybersecurity Act" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,064, March 25, 2010, and "Senate Commerce Committee to Mark Up Revised Cyber Security Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,060, March 20, 2010.

A Verizon representative at the July 14 event stated that Verizon is one of the "companies that would be affected by the big red switch in the Oval Office. Operationally, we are not really sure how we would do this."

He continued that "the internet treats regulation as an outage, and routs around it. So, we may think we are cutting off access to the internet, but we are really not."

Danielle Citron, a professor at the University of Maryland School of Law, stated that the proposal to give the President emergency authority is "troubling".

Mark McCarthy of Georgetown University stated that "I think it is troubling, to make it explicit, but I think you all should be aware that if there were the kind of national security emergency that compelled official military and national security folk to say ``we have to shut down communications from this country, or else´´, I don't think that you would have a lot of resistance from the carriers. You just have to make the threat large enough, you know, and scary enough, and they would say ``yeah, I don't want a nuclear bomb to go off in New York City. If it means that I have to shut down communications from another country to accomplish that, I will do it.´´ But, I don't think having it on the books is such a great idea. But I think that as a practical matter, if there was the kind of devastating emergency that was being contemplated in this kind of circumstance, I think that you would get the cooperation of the carriers to do exactly what the measure is calling for."

The PFF's Berin Szoka raised the question of government use of such authority "to subtly coerce companies to maybe accomplish some ulterior motive", such as to "pressure a company that someone disagrees with".

McCarthy responded that "there is a one word response to that, which is FISA. We have experience in which, you know, government was able to compel the carriers to do things which were pretty clearly violations of law."

7/16. Several groups sent a letter [PDF] to Howard Schmidt, the Cybersecurity Coordinator in the Executive Office of the President (EOP), regarding the draft document [PDF] titled "National Strategy for Trusted Identity in Cyberspace" or "NSTIC", released on June 25, 2010. They want more time for public comment. They wrote that "A policy of this magnitude should be given at least a 90-day public comment period." The groups added that "The NSTIC outlines an ambitious identity management strategy for the United States, but public discussion has been extremely limited. The NSTIC is a very significant policy document, that may have an impact on Internet commerce, online speech, identity management, identity trust frameworks, and online anonymity." The groups that joined in the letter are the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF), and Liberty Coalition.

7/15. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) sent a request for records, pursuant to the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), to the National Security Agency (NSA), regarding an NSA program titled "Perfect Citizen". The program may involve the deployment of sensors in computer networks for critical infrastructure for the purpose of detecting impending cyber attacks. The NSA's contractor is Raytheon Company. The EPIC requests "All contracts and communications with Raytheon Company regarding the Perfect Citizen program" and "All analyses, legal memoranda, and related records regarding the Perfect Citizen program".

6/25. The Progress & Freedom Foundation (PFF) released a paper [5 pages in PDF] regarding S 3480 [LOC | WW], the "Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act of 2010". The paper is authored by James Dunstan, and is titled "Lieberman's Cyberspace Protection Bill: Enhancing Cybersecurity, or Establishing a New Uber-Authority?"

6/23. The House Intelligence Committee's (HIC) Subcommittee on Technical and Tactical Intelligence held a closed hearing titled "Cybersecurity" on June 23, 2010.

7/15. Google reported its second quarter 2010 financial results. It stated in a release that it reported "revenues of $6.82 billion for the quarter ended June 30, 2010, an increase of 24% compared to the second quarter of 2009". It also wrote that "GAAP operating income in the second quarter of 2010 was $2.37 billion, or 35% of revenues. This compares to GAAP operating income of $1.87 billion, or 34% of revenues, in the second quarter of 2009."

7/13. Intel reported its second quarter 2010 financial results. It stated in a release that it reported "revenue of $10.8 billion, up 34 percent year-over-year" and "operating income of $4.0 billion, net income of $2.9 billion and EPS of 51 cents."

7/16. The following are select forthcoming reports:

• Apple (Q3) -- July 20 at 5:00 PM ET.
• AT&T -- July 22 at 10:00 AM.
• Comcast -- July 28 at 8:30 AM.
• Microsoft -- July 22 after markets close.
• Verizon -- July 23 at 8:30 AM.

7/15. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted and released an Order [13 pages in PDF] that allows Dell and LG Electronics USA to manufacture, import, market, distribute, and sell television receivers designed for mobile use that exclude analog and, in some cases, standard non-mobile digital reception capability. The FCC thus waived Section 15.117 of its rules. It stated that this it will "facilitate the introduction of television receivers with Mobile DTV tuners that are designed to be used in motion". The FCC imposed the condition that the parties "clearly disclose to consumers that a specific device does not have the capability to receive analog signals, and, where applicable, standard non-mobile digital signals". This order is DA 10-1313 in MB Docket No. 10-111.

7/15. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) extended the deadline (from July 26 to August 2) to submit comments regarding its draft [76 pages in PDF] of its "FY 2010-2015 Strategic Plan". See, original notice in the Federal Register, July 9, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 131, at Pages 39493-39494, and notice of extension. See also, story titled "USPTO Releases Draft Five Year Plan" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,102, July 12, 2010.

7/14. Neelie Kroes, the European Commission VP for the Digital Agenda, gave a speech in Brussels, Belgium titled "Facilitating a competitive environment for SMEs to develop future Internet business models". She said that "we need to make it possible for SMEs to deal with all the copyright and licensing issues that currently discourage EU-wide business operations. It is no wonder the US online music business is five times bigger than Europe's! Or look at the example of Vente Privée ... This French fashion start-up has been the talk of Silicon Valley for months. Hundreds of businesses will try to copy its business model or apply it in other sectors in the coming months. And yet it is only available in 5 EU Member States. Why? How can governments effectively force companies like Vente Privée to shoot themselves in the foot like that? Let's make a deal to move on from such scenarios!" SME is an acronym for small and medium sized businesses.

7/15. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) amended and approved HR 2765 [LOC | WW], an untitled bill to prohibit recognition and enforcement of certain foreign defamation judgments, and certain foreign judgments against the providers of interactive computer services.

7/8. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) filed its brief [57 pages in PDF] with the U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir) in MetroPCS California v. FCC, App. Ct. No. 10-1003, a petition for review of a final order of the FCC that concluded that the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is the appropriate forum for determining reasonable compensation paid by a commercial mobile radio service (CMRS) provider to a local exchange carrier (LEC) to terminate intrastate calls that originate on the CMRS provider's network.

The House will not meet.

The Senate will not meet.

5:00 PM. Deadline to register to attend the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) July 20, 2010, hearing regarding its proposed three track patent examination system. See, notice in the Federal Register, June 4, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 107, at Pages 31763-31768. See also, story titled "USPTO Proposes Three Track Patent Examination System" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,092, June 4, 2010.

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) regarding its draft SP 800-131 [27 pages in PDF] titled "Recommendation for the Transitioning of Cryptographic Algorithms and Key Lengths".

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to the FCC's Public Notice [3 pages in PDF] regarding Purple Communication's petition for clarification or waiver regarding implementation of a call forwarding service for internet based Telecommunications Relay Service users. This item is DA 10-1253 in CG Docket No. 10-51.

The House will meet at 12:30 PM for morning hour debate, 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 6:00 PM. See, Rep. Hoyer's schedule for the week of July 19.

The Senate will meet at 2:00 PM. It will resume consideration of HR 5297 [LOC | WW], the "Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of 2010", a bill that would make available to certain businesses tax relief and loan programs. The House passed its version of this bill on June 17, 2010, on a party line vote of 241-182. See, Roll Call No. 375. There will be no votes.

11:00 AM - 3:00 PM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Department of Commerce (DOC) will host an event titled "Technology Showcase". The agenda also includes speeches and the showing of a video. This event pertains to the impact of technology on people with disabilities. See, notice. Location: Main Foyer, DOC, 1401 Constitution Ave., NW.

12:15 - 1:30 PM. The Executive Office of the President's (EOP) Office of the U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC) will host a meeting regarding enforcement of intellectual property laws. Victoria Espinel (IPEC) will speak. Reporters are barred. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) states that this is an FCBA event. Location: Hogan Lovells, 555 13th St., NW.

5:00 PM. Deadline to register to attend the two day joint meeting of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) titled "Enabling the Convergence of Communications and Medical Systems: Ways to Update Regulatory and Information Processes". See, FCC Public Notice (DA 10-1071 in ET Docket No. 10-120).

Extended deadline to submit comments to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB) regarding interoperability, out-of-band emissions, and equipment certification for 700 MHz public safety broadband networks. See, May 18, 2010, public notice, and June 14, 2010, public notice extending the deadline.

The House will meet at 10:30 AM for morning hour debate, and at 12:00 NOON for legislative business. The schedule for the week includes consider of numerous bills under suspension of the rules, including HR 4842 [LOC | WW], the "Homeland Security Science and Technology Authorization Act of 2010", HR 5566 [LOC | WW], the "Prevention of Interstate Commerce in Animal Crush Videos Act of 2010", and S 1749 [LOC | WW], the "Cell Phone Contraband Act of 2010", a bill pertaining to the use of cell phones in prisons. See, Rep. Hoyer's schedule for the week of July 19.

Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), the Senate Majority Leader, announced on July 15 the new Senator from the state of West Virginia will be sworn in at 2:15 PM on July 20, and that the Senate will then hold a cloture vote on HR 4213 [LOC | WW], the "American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010". Section 241 of this huge bill contains a one year extension of the research and development tax credit. Section 253 extends the deduction of corporate contributions of computer inventory for educational purposes. Section 255 extends the special rules for expensing certain movie and television productions.

8:00 - 10:00 AM. Broadband Census News LLC will host an event titled "The Smart Grid, Telecommunications and the Electric Infrastructure". The speakers will include Brett Kilbourne (Utilities Telecom Council), Nick Sinai (FCC), and Cynthia Brumfeld (UTC). Breakfast will be served. The price to attend is $47.12. Location: Clyde's of Gallery Place, 707 7th St., NW.

8:30 AM. Day one of a two day meeting of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Homeland Security Science and Technology Advisory Committee (HSSTAC). Most of this meeting is closed to the public. See, notice in the Federal Register, July 13, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 133, at Page 39955. Location: 4075 Wilson Blvd., Liberty Conference Center, 3rd floor, Arlington, VA.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold an executive business meeting. The agenda includes consideration of the nominations of Elena Kagan to be a Justice of the Supreme Court and James Cole to be Deputy Attorney General. See, notice. The SJC will webcast this event. Location: Room 216, Hart Building.

10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The House Science Committee's (HSC) Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight will hold a hearing titled "Building a Science of Economics for the Real World". Location: Room 2318, Rayburn Building.

The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Auction 88 (construction permits for 11 commercial FM stations, one commercial FM translator station, and one commercial AM station) is scheduled to begin. See, FCC's June 7, 2010, Public Notice (DA 10-1009).

1:00 PM. The House Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing titled "Efforts to Promote the Adoption and Meaningful Use of Health Information Technology". See, notice. Location: Room 1100, Longworth Building.

1:30 - 5:30 PM. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will hold a meeting regarding its proposed three track patent examination system. The deadline to register to attend is 5:00 PM on July 16. The deadline to submit written comments is August 20, 2010. See, notice in the Federal Register, June 4, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 107, at Pages 31763-31768. See also, story titled "USPTO Proposes Three Track Patent Examination System" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,092, June 4, 2010. The USPTO will also webcast this event. See, notice. Location: USPTO, South Auditorium, Madison West, 600 Dulany Street, Alexandria, VA.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding revising its Part 17 rules regarding the construction, marking, and lighting of antenna structures. The FCC adopted this NPRM on April 12, 2010, and released the text [54 pages in PDF] on April 20, 2010. It is FCC 10-53 in WT Docket No. 10-88. See, notice in the Federal Register, May 21, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 98, at Pages 28517-28540.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Public Notice [PDF] regarding Dish Network's Application for Certification as a qualified carrier pursuant to the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act of 2010. See, Section 105 of S 3333 [LOC | WW], signed into law on May 27, 2010. See also, story titled "Obama Signs Satellite TV Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,089, May 28, 2010. This item is DA 10-1036 in MB Docket No. 10-124.

9:00 AM. Day two of a two day meeting of the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Homeland Security Science and Technology Advisory Committee (HSSTAC). Most of this meeting is closed to the public. See, notice in the Federal Register, July 13, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 133, at Page 39955. Location: 4075 Wilson Blvd., Liberty Conference Center, 3rd floor, Arlington, VA.

10:00 AM. The House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) will hold a hearing titled "Protecting U.S. Intellectual Property Overseas: The Joint Strategic Plan and Beyond". The witnesses will be Victoria Espinel (U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator), John Morton (Director of the DHS's Immigration and Customs Enforcement), and Chris Israel. See, notice. Location: Room 2172, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM - 3:00 PM. The Senate Banking Committee (SBC) will hold a hearing titled "Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the Congress". The witness will be Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. See, notice. Location: Room SD-G50, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) will host an event related to proposals to expand the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) with respect to new information and communications technologies. The speakers will include Eric Holder (Attorney General). Location: Room 345 (Cannon Caucus Room), Cannon Building.

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will hold meeting "to discuss issues related to foreign ownership of common carrier wireless licenses under section 310(b)(4) of the Communications Act". Staff from the FCC's International Bureau and Office of the General Counsel (OGC) will preside. Reporters may be barred from attending this event. The FCBA asserts that this is a FCBA event. Location: Verizon, Suite 400 West, 1300 I St., NW.

12:30 - 2:00 PM. The American Bar Association's (ABA) Section of Intellectual Property Law will host a webcast and teleconferenced event titled "Bilski vs. Kappos: When Is a ``Process´´ Patentable?". The speakers will be Erik Hawes (Morgan Lewis & Bockius), Brian Pandya (Wiley Rein), Denise DeFranco (Finnegan Henderson), Thomas Goldstein (Akin Gump), and William Teoli (Syngenta). See, notice. Prices vary. CLE credit.

1:00 PM. The House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) may hold a hearing on HR 2267 [LOC | WW], the "Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act", a bill that would legalize, regulate, and tax certain internet gambling businesses. Location: Room 2128, Rayburn Building.

1:00 - 3:00 PM. The American Bar Association's (ABA) Section of Taxation Law will host a webcast and teleconferenced event titled "Implications of Bilski on Patenting Tax Strategies". The speakers will be Dennis Drapkin (Jones Day), Ellen Aprill (Loyola Law School), Barry Grossman (Foley & Lardner), and Matthew Young (AICPA). See, notice. Prices vary. CLE credit.

Deadline to submit requests to the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) to speak at the convention titled "2011 International CES", to be held on January 6-9, 2011, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

9:30 AM - 4:45 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a panel discussion titled "Legal Cybersleuth’s Guide to the Internet-Full Day". The speakers will be Carole Levitt and Mark Rosch. The price to attend ranges from $169 to $229. Reporters are barred from attending most DC Bar events. This event qualifies for CLE credits. See, notice. For more information, call 202-626-3488. Location: DC Bar Conference Center, 1101 K St., NW.

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host a panel discussion titled "Leading Innovations in Healthcare Technology". The speakers will be Robert Epstein (Medco) and Robert Atkinson (ITIF). See, notice. Location: Room 2226, Rayburn Building, Capitol Hill.

12:15 - 1:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCC) Young Lawyers Committee will host a brown bag lunch. The speaker will be Phil Weiser (EOP's National Economic Council). For more information, contact Micah Caldwell at mcaldwell at fh-law dot com or Mark Brennan at  mark dot brennan at hoganlovells dot com. Location: Hogan Lovells, 555 13th St., NW.

2:00 PM. The House Judiciary Committee (HJC) will hold a hearing titled "Americans with Disabilities Act at 20 -- Celebrating Our Progress, Affirming Our Commitment". Tom Perez (Assistant Attorney General in charge of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division) will testify. The HJC will webcast this event. See, notice. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

2:30 PM. The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) will hold an executive session. It will mark up up several bills, including S 3490 [LOC | WW], the "Spectrum Relocation and Improvement Act of 2010", S 3600 [LOC | WW], the "Fairness in Admiralty and Maritime Law Act", and S 3605 [LOC | WW], the "America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010". See, notice. Location: Room 253, Russell Building.

2:30 - 4:00 PM. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host a panel discussion titled "Open Forum on U.S. and OECD Innovation Policy". The speakers will be Andrew Wycoff (OECD), Karen Kornbluh (U.S. Ambassador to the OECD), Aneesh Chopra (EOP), and Robert Atkinson (ITIF). See, notice. Location: ITIF, Suite 610A, 1101 K St., NW.

Deadline to submit comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Third Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding adoption a new 800 MHz band plan for the U.S. Virgin Islands. The FCC adopted and released this item on April 26, 2010. It is DA 10-695 in WT Docket No. 02-55. See, notice in the Federal Register, June 22, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 119, at Pages 35363-35366.

10:00 AM. The Department of Justice (DOJ) will hold an event related to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The speakers will include Eric Holder (Attorney General) and Tom Perez (Assistant Attorney General in charge of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division). Location: DOJ main building, Great Hall, 950 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

Deadline to submit comments to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) regarding a proposal to add eight questions to the Census Bureau's October 2010 Current Population Survey (CPS) to gather data on broadband usage. See, notice in the Federal Register, May 24, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 99, at Pages 28781-28782.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to the FCC's Public Notice [3 pages in PDF] regarding Purple Communication's petition for clarification or waiver regarding implementation of a call forwarding service for internet based Telecommunications Relay Service users. This item is DA 10-1253 in CG Docket No. 10-51.

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