9/28. The House approved S 3304 [LOC | WW], previously titled the "Equal Access to 21st Century Communications Act", and then S 3828 [LOC | WW], the "Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010", under suspension of the rules, by voice votes, on Tuesday night, September 28, 2010.

The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) passed S 3304 on July 15, 2010. See, story titled "Senate Commerce Committee Approves Disability Access Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,107, July 19, 2010. The full Senate passed S 3304 on August 5, 2010. See, story titled "Senate Passes Disability Access Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,120, August 6, 2010. The Senate passed S 3824 on September 22, 2010. See, story titled "Senate Amends Its FCC Disability Access Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,134, September 28, 2010. S 3824 makes changes to S 3304.

Thus, a sweeping bill to expand the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) authority to regulate, in the name of disability access, software, computers, electronic devices, and services that are used for communications, is now ready for President Obama's signature.

Supporters of the bill include disability groups and some large incumbent communications companies.

Kyle McSlarrow, head of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA), stated in a release after final House passage that "We applaud the Congress for approving and sending to President Obama the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010. Lead sponsors Rep. Ed Markey and Sen. Mark Pryor deserve enormous credit for spearheading this important legislation that will significantly improve accessibility of communications services and equipment for Americans with disabilities."

McSlarrow added that "The Act is the result of thoughtful bipartisan process and we would also like to thank Sens. Rockefeller, Hutchison, Kerry and Ensign and Reps. Waxman, Barton, Boucher and Stearns for their significant efforts.  Our industry will work closely with the Federal Communications Commission to implement rules that will aid millions of Americans with disabilities in enjoying cable programming and services".

Walter McCormack, head of the US Telecom, stated in a release that "We salute Congress for passing this important legislation enabling Americans with disabilities to have greater access to the exciting new products and services that have resulted from the shift to IP-based communications and video programming technologies. The many months of hard work and consultations between USTelecom, its member companies, and the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology have resulted in what we believe is a sound legal roadmap for ensuring greater accessibility to cutting-edge communications technologies for people with disabilities."

9/28. A collection of groups sent a letter [PDF] to Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC), and Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), the ranking Republican on the SJC, urging the SJC to hold a hearing on S 3804 [LOC | WW], the "Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act", that would include "testimony from impacted industries and user constituencies".

They argue that the bill "raises numerous legal, political, and technical issues. If left unresolved, these issues could harm consumers, educational institutions, innovative technologies, economic growth and global Internet freedom."

Sen. Leahy and others introduced S 3804 on September 20, 2010. The bill would take new and novel approaches to online infringement that have not yet been examined in Congressional hearings. Sen. Leahy proposes to move the bill without a SJC hearing. The bill is on the agenda for the September 30, 2010, executive business meeting of the SJC.

See, story titled "Senators Introduce Bill to Enable DOJ to Shut Down Web Sites Dedicated to Infringement", "Bill Summary: Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act", and "Commentary: Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,132, September 21, 2010.

The groups joining in this letter include the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Home Recording Rights Coalition (HRRC), NetCoalition, and Public Knowledge (PK).

Library groups also joined in the letter: American Association of Law Libraries (AALL), American Library Association (ALA), Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), and Association of Research Libraries (ARL).

The letter states that the bill would enable the Department of Justice (DOJ) "to bring in rem actions against domestic and foreign domain names of websites dedicated to infringing activities, and, with respect to foreign sites, to obtain judicial orders mandating that Internet services, operators of domain name servers, financial transaction providers, and ad networks discontinue service to the designated sites."

The letter states, in addition, that the bill would authorize the DOJ "to maintain a public blacklist of websites that the Department determines ``upon information and reasonable belief´´ to be dedicated to infringing activities. Internet-related services will be encouraged to discontinue service to these websites."

The groups suggest that enactment of these provisions might lead "other countries to enact similar mechanisms to retaliate against U.S. companies abroad". The bill, they argue would provide for "extraterritorial application of U.S. intellectual property laws".

They also wrote that the administrative blacklist raises due process of law issues.

In addition, the letter argues that the blacklist would "undermine U.S. secondary liability law as established in" the Supreme Court's 1984 opinion in Sony v. Universal City Studios, 464 U.S. 417, and "ignores the culpable intent requirement" of the Supreme Court's 2005 opinion [55 pages in PDF] in MGM v. Grokster, 545 U.S. 913. See, story titled "Supreme Court Rules in MGM v. Grokster" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,163, June 28, 2005.

The letter asks, for example, "would the listing of a website on the blacklist constitute constructive knowledge for contributory infringement purposes, if a service provider did not discontinue providing service to a website after it was listed?"

The letter also states that the blacklisting provision raises "serious questions about the effect of this bill on existing copyright exceptions, limitations and defenses upon which a significant sector of the U.S. economy relies."

The letter requests that the bill be "evaluated thoroughly and carefully", and that there be a hearing that would include "impacted industries and user constituencies". The letter omits reference to testimony from the Department of Justice (DOJ), which would have sole authority to bring actions and maintain the blacklist. The letter also omits reference to testimony from the Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which is responsible domain name system (DNS) issues and the U.S.'s relations with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

9/28. Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) hosted a briefing on S 3804 [LOC | WW], the "Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act", on September 28. The CDT's David Sohn, Leslie Harris, John Morris, and Cynthia Wong focused on the public policy and First Amendment free speech implications of the bill.

The CDT also released a report [6 pages in PDF] titled "The Dangers of S. 3804: Domain Name Seizures and Blocking Pose Threats to Free Expression, Global Internet Freedom, and the Internet's Open Architecture". It states that this bill "would mark a sea change in U.S. policy towards the Internet".

The CDT argues that the bill would enable the Department of Justice (DOJ) to obtain court orders that impose prior restraints on protected free speech.

The CDT report states that "Our Constitution strongly counsels against prior restraints that block access to speech, even if the speech might later be proven to be unlawful. The First Amendment teaches that speech should be pro-actively blocked only in the rarest of circumstances. This is especially true because the type of restraint imposed by S. 3804 -- the total suspension or blocking of a site's domain name -- would unavoidably block lawful content as well as infringing content. Even a site that is deemed to be ``primarily designed´´ to offer infringing content under the bill's vague definition is almost certain to also contain at least some non-infringing content, which is fully protected by the First Amendment." (Footnote to the Supreme Court's 1931 opinion in Near v. Minnesota, 283 U.S. 697, omitted.)

An alternative argument, not advanced by the CDT, is that this bill would not regulate the content of protected speech, but would rather the regulate the time, place or manner of speech. U.S. Constitutional law affords less protection to speakers where the government is merely regulating the time, place or manner of speech.

That is, distributing infringing copies of movies and songs is not protected speech. The non-infringing speech on these web sites may be protected. But, this bill arguably would not bar this non-infringing speech. It would merely have the effect of enjoining it from being disseminated at the domains dedicated to infringing activity. The domain name operator, or persons who post speech at that domain, remain free to express themselves at other domains, and in other fora.

Cynthia Wong suggested that other countries might follow the example set by this bill. She said that "what the U.S. does domestically really does matter in setting the precedent for what other countries do around the world. There is no reason to believe that other countries won't follow our example in adopting the kind of methods that this bill really introduces into U.S. law."

She also stated, citing Russia, that "copyright methods can be easily misused to suppress political speech as well".

(The CDT report cites a September 11, 2010, New York Times story by Clifford Levy, titled "Russia Uses Microsoft to Suppress Dissent". The gist of the story is that Russia is enforcing its copyright laws against dissenting entities that use pirated copies of Microsoft's software. Microsoft's General Counsel Brad Smith then stated in a release that "To prevent non-government organizations from falling victim to nefarious actions taken in the guise of anti-piracy enforcement, Microsoft will create a new unilateral software license for NGOs that will ensure they have free, legal copies of our products.")

Harris also addressed whether appropriate legislation could be drafted that includes domain name seizure. She said that "the domain name system exists for a particular purpose ... we have been trying to come up with what would be appropriate in this circumstance, but we have really not been able to get to a point where we think you can square the use of the domain system seizure with our values. So, I think we are very worried about use of domain names as an approach."

However, Morris added that in the case of a criminal prosecution the government should be able to seize a domain name used in crime by a defendant.

Harris also noted that the bill provides for injunctions against financial transaction providers. She suggested that the option to "pull the financial plug may be the less intrusive way to begin to get at these sites without changing the nature of the internet entities". But then, the CDT functions as a trade group that advocates the policy interests of internet service providers, not financial institutions.

The CDT's lawyers spoke articulately regarding freedom of speech on the internet, and the policy implications of S 3804. However, in their presentations, and responses to questions, they demonstrated a lack of understanding of in rem procedure, injunction law, and law related to domain name seizure, perhaps inadvertently adding additional weight to their argument that a hearing on this bill is warranted.

The CDT teleconferenced most of the briefing. Harris asserted that some of her statements, not quoted here, were "off the record".

9/29. Neither President Obama, the Department of Justice (DOJ), nor the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have publicly released the text of any proposed legislation to expand government surveillance authority, or to impose new CALEA like mandates for information technologies, or encryption back door requirements.

However, the New York Times published a story by Charlie Savage on September 27, 2010, titled "U.S. Tries to Make It Easier to Wiretap the Internet" that discusses a forthcoming legislative proposal.

The Center for Democracy and Technology's (CDT) Jim Dempsey stated in the CDT web site that "They basically want to turn back the clock and make Internet services function the way that the telephone system used to function."

The Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) is a 1994 statute that provides that telecommunications carriers must design their equipment and networks to facilitate lawfully conducted wiretaps and other intercepts. Statutes other than the CALEA address what intercepts are lawful.

The CALEA was enacted to require that cell phone service providers make their networks subject to wiretaps sought by law enforcement agencies (LEAs), such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and state and local police. It also provided for some compensation for these network modifications.

The CALEA applies only to a "telecommunications carrier", and exempts "information services". While administrations and Attorneys General have sought legislation further expanding CALEA like mandates, there has been insufficient support on Capitol Hill to pass a bill.

Consequently, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) provided an end around the legislative process by conducting a rulemaking proceeding that extended the reach of the CALEA beyond the plain meaning of the statute, to also encompass broadband service providers and interconnected VOIP providers. See, story titled "FCC Amends CALEA Statute" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,191, August 9, 2005. See also, series of articles in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert 960, August 17, 2004, on this rulemaking proceeding.

The Congress did include a temporary CALEA like mandate in the Protect America Act of 2007 (PAA). This bill was S 1927 [LOC | WW] in the 110th Congress. It is Public Law No. 110-55. It provided temporary authority which has expired.

The PAA amended the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). It pertained to any "acquisition of foreign intelligence information", and extended beyond carriers and telecommunications. It provided that "the Director of National Intelligence and Attorney General may direct a person to ... provide the Government with all information, facilities, and assistance necessary to accomplish the acquisition ...", and then provided for compensation.

See also, story titled "Summary of Protect America Act" and related stories in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,638, September 11, 2007.

The CDT's John Morris stated during a briefing on September 28, 2010, that applying intercept capability requirements to cell phone communications was difficult and expensive for the large communications companies involved. He said that the administration proposal would apply to a large number of internet companies, including small businesses.

He argued that the administration proposal would impose design requirements, and "severely harm innovation and competition".

The CDT's Leslie Harris stated that "what the government is asking for here is a back door on every technology that allows people to communicate".

Morris predicted that if this proposal were enacted, "technology development would move outside of the U.S."

However, Harris disagreed. She argued that the effect would be that the U.S. standard would become the "standard around the world".

9/24. The Department of Justice (DOJ) published a notice in the Federal Register that announces the memberships of its Senior Executive Service (SES) Standing Performance Review Boards, by component. See, Federal Register, September 24, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 185, at Pages 58435-58443.

9/23. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a notice in the Federal Register that announces, in one list, the membership of its Senior Executive Service (SES) Performance Review Board. See, Federal Register, September 23, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 184, at Pages 57974-57976.

9/28. The European Commission (EC) announced in a release that it "has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition by the Taiwanese company Foxconn of a subsidiary of US computer manufacturer Dell in Poland."

9/27. The Department of Defense (DOD) published a notice in the Federal Register that announces, describes, and sets the comment deadline (November 26, 2010) for, it notice of proposed rulemaking regarding amending its Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) regarding patents, data, and copyrights, including for software. See, Federal Register, September 27, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 186, at Pages 59411-59468.

9/27. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) published a notice in the Federal Register that announces, and sets the effective date (November 9, 2010) for, its repeal of its regulations to implement and administer the Digital to Analog Converter Box Program. This coupon program is over, and the rules had become obsolete. See, Federal Register, September 27, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 186, at Pages 59100-59101.

9/24. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) sent a letter [PDF] to Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) and Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), the Chairman and ranking Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee's (SAC) Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies, regarding the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's (USPTO) performance management processes.

9/23. The National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) released its draft SP 800-56 C [13 pages in PDF] titled "Recommendation for Key Derivation through Extraction-then-Expansion". The deadline to submit comments is October 30, 2010.

9/20. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a notice in the Federal Register that requests comments regarding creating a "fast-track ex parte reexamination voucher pilot program to create incentives for technologies and licensing behavior that address humanitarian needs". The deadline to submit comments is November 19, 2010. See, Federal Register, September 20, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 181, at Pages 57261-57262.

9/20. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report [68 pages in PDF] titled "Global Positioning System: Challenges in Sustaining and Upgrading Capabilities Persist".

9/15. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report [38 pages in PDF] titled "Information Security: Progress Made on Harmonizing Policies and Guidance for National Security and Non-National Security Systems".

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. See, Rep. Hoyer's schedule for the week of September 27, and schedule for September 29.

The Senate will meet at 9:30 AM.

Day two of a three day conference hosted by the New America Foundation (NAF) titled "The Broadband Act of 2011: Designing a Communications Act for the 21st Century". Location: NAF, 4th floor, 1899 L St., NW.

Day one of a three day event hosted by the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB) and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) titled "Radio Show". At 9:00 - 10:15 AM, there will be a presentation titled "You're Closer to the Capitol Than You Think". The NAB/RAB state that "As the 111th Congress draws to a close, learn about the various radio issues at play on Capitol Hill, such as the performance tax and low-power FM, and discover how the November elections may change the political landscape for broadcasters." At 10:30 - 11:45 AM, there will be a panel titled "Disaster Recovery in the Digital Age". At 2:15 - 3:30 PM, there will be a panel titled "The Political Regulations FAQ". The speakers will include Bobby Baker of the FCC's Media Bureau. See, web site. Location: Grand Hyatt Washington, 1000 H St., NW.

10:00 AM - 4:00 PM. Day one of a two day meeting of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission to consider drafts of material for its 2010 Annual Report to the Congress. See, notice in the Federal Register, August 10, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 153, at Page 48412. Location: Room 233, Hall of States, 444 North Capitol St., NW.

2:00 PM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold a hearing on the nominations of James Graves (to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit), Edward Davila (U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California), Paul Holmes (USDC/WDArk), Anthony Battaglia (USDC/SDCal), and Diana Saldana (USDC/SDTex). See, hearing notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

6:00 - 8:00 PM. The University of Colorado's Silicon Flatirons Center (SFC) will host an event titled "Dale Hatfield Scholars and Research Program Reception". The SFC requests donations of $100 to $250 from attendees. Location: Conference Center, 1400 16th St., NW.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. See, Rep. Hoyer's schedule for the week of September 27.

Day three of a three day conference hosted by the New America Foundation (NAF) titled "The Broadband Act of 2011: Designing a Communications Act for the 21st Century". Location: NAF, 4th floor, 1899 L St., NW.

Day two of a three day event hosted by the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB) and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) titled "Radio Show". At 3:15- 4:30 PM, there will be a panel titled "C is for Commissions, Cookies and Conversation". The speakers will be Robert McDowell (FCC Commissioner) and Jane Mago (NAB). At 4:45- 5:30 PM, there will be a panel titled "Get Hands on with the FCC's New Consolidated Licensing System Screens". The speakers will be Jim Bradshaw (FCC) and Pat Rinn (FCC)See, web site. Location: Grand Hyatt Washington, 1000 H St., NW.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold an executive business meeting. The agenda again includes consideration of Robert Chatigny to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, and S 3804 [LOC | WW], the "Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act". See, story titled "Senators Introduce Bill to Enable DOJ to Shut Down Web Sites Dedicated to Infringement" and related stories in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,132, September 21, 2010. See also, SJC meeting notice. The SJC will webcast this event. The SJC rarely follows its published agendas. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee's (SENRC) Subcommittee on Energy will hold a hearing on S 3521 [LOC | WW], the "Rare Earths Supply Technology and Resources Transformation Act of 2010" or RESTART Act. See, notice. Location: Room 366, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM - 4:00 PM. Day two of a two day meeting of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission to consider drafts of material for its 2010 Annual Report to the Congress. See, notice in the Federal Register, August 10, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 153, at Page 48412. Location: Room 233, Hall of States, 444 North Capitol St., NW.

1:00 - 2:30 PM. The House Intelligence Committee's (HIC) Subcommittee on Intelligence Community Management will hold a public hearing titled "Update on Security Clearance Reform". See, notice. Location: Room 2118, Rayburn Building.

1:00 - 3:00 PM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB) will hold a webcast event regarding methods for combating the use of contraband cell phones in prisons. The deadline to register is September 28, 2010. See, notice. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room.

6:00 - 8:15 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a panel discussion titled "What Every Lawyer Needs to Know About Antitrust Law". The speakers will be Michael Brockmeyer (Frommer Lawrence & Haug) and Michael Kelly. The price to attend ranges from $89 to $129. 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.

Final deadline to submit "white papers" to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) regarding the NIST's Technology Innovation Program (TIP). See, notice in the Federal Register, September 4, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 171, at Pages 45823-45825.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Public Notice (PN) regarding disability access and wireless communications devices. The FCC released this PN on July 19, 2010. This PN is DA 10-1324 in CG Docket No. 10-145. See also, story titled "FCC Releases Two Public Notices Regarding Disability Access" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,108, July 20, 2010, and notice in the Federal Register, August 5, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 150, at Pages 47304-47305.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Notice of Inquiry (NPRM) [43 pages in PDF] regarding terrestrial broadband services within spectrum allocated to mobile satellite services (MSS). This NOI is FCC 10-126 in ET Docket No. 10-142. The FCC adopted and released this NOI on July 15, 2010. See, notice in the Federal Register, August 16, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 157, Pages 49871-49879. See also, story titled "FCC Adopts NPRM and NOI Regarding Use of MSS Spectrum for Mobile Broadband" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,105, July 15, 2010.

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) regarding its draft SP 800-135 [13 pages in PDF] titled "Recommendation for Existing Application-Specific Key Derivation Functions".

Deadline to submit initial comments to the The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding bidding procedures for Auction 90, regarding certain VHF construction permits. See, FCC Public Notice (DA 10-1351 in AU Docket No. 10-147) and notice in the Federal Register, September 23, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 184, at Pages 57947-57952. The auction is scheduled to commence on February 15, 2010.

Rep. Hoyer's schedule for the week of September 27 states that "no votes are expected in the House".

Day three of a three day event hosted by the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB) and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) titled "Radio Show". At 10:30 - 11:45 AM, there will be a panel titled "Copyright Compliance: The Next Generation". See, web site. Location: Grand Hyatt Washington, 1000 H St., NW.

Day one of a three day event hosted by the Future of Music Coalition (FOMC) titled "Future of Music Coalition Policy Summit". See, notice. Location: Georgetown University, 37th and O Streets, NW.

Day two of a three day event hosted by the Future of Music Coalition (FOMC) titled "Future of Music Coalition Policy Summit". See, notice. Location: Georgetown University, 37th and O Streets, NW.

Extended deadline to file amendments with the Federal Communications Commission to pending waiver requests or renewal applications or to file requests for permanent waivers of the newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership rule. See, FCC Order adopted and released on June 29, 2010. It is DA 10-1181 in MB Docket No. 06-121, MB Docket No. 02-277, MM Docket No. 01-235, MM Docket No. 01-317, MM Docket No. 00-244, MB Docket No. 04-228, and MM Docket No. 99-360.

Deadline to submit comments to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to assist it in preparing its annual National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers. The OUSTR seeks comments on, among other things, lack of intellectual property protection, trade restrictions affecting electronic commerce, and investment barriers, and technology transfer requirements. See, notice in the Federal Register, August 6, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 151, at Pages 47675-47676. See also, story titled "OUSTR Seeks Comments on Foreign Trade Barriers" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,120, August 6, 2010.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Ronald A. Katz Technologies v. American Airlines, App. Ct. No. 2009-1450, a patent case regarding interactive call processing. Location: Courtroom 201.

12:15 - 1:45 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Privacy & Data Security Committee will host a brown bag lunch titled "Pay It Forward -- The Smart Tween/Teen's Guide to Online Safety". The speakers will be Stephen Balkam (Family Online Safety Institute), David Pierce (NCTA), and John Heitmann (Kelley Drye & Warren). Location: USTelecom, Suite 400, 607 14th St., NW.

1:00 - 3:00 PM. The Department of Energy's (DOE) Advanced Scientific Computing Advisory Committee (ASCAC) will meet. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the Exascale Subcommittee Report. Public attendance is by teleconference only. Contact Melea Baker by October 4 at 301-903-7486 to receive a call in number. See, notice in the Federal Register, September 22, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 183, at Pages 57742-57743.

5:30 - 7:30 PM. The The Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI) will host a reception that precedes its October 6 event titled "IPI Communications Summit". Location: Room HVC-201, Capitol Building.

Day three of a three day event hosted by the Future of Music Coalition (FOMC) titled "Future of Music Coalition Policy Summit". See, notice. Location: Georgetown University, 37th and O Streets, NW.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Inquiry (NOI) [23 pages in PDF] regarding writing its next Section 706 report to the Congress. See, FCC Public Notice. The FCC adopted and released this NOI on August 6, 2010. It is FCC 10-148 in GN Docket No. 10-159.

9:00 AM - 1:00 PM. The Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI) will host an event titled "IPI Communications Summit". Lunch will be served. For more information, or to register, contact Erin Humiston at 972-874-5139 or erin at ipi dot org. Location: Reserve Officers Association Building, 5th floor, 1 Constitution Ave., NE.

12:15 - 1:45 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Engineering and Technical Practice and Young Lawyers Committees will host a brown bag lunch titled "Engineering for Lawyers: How Understanding Basic RF Issues Can Help You Advocate Better for Your Clients". The speaker will be Mitchell Lazarus (Fletcher Heald & Hildreth). For more information, contact Mark Brennan at mark dot brennan at hoganlovells dot com or Laura Stefani at lstefani at g2w2 dot com. Location: Hogan Lovells, 555 13th St., NW.

TIME? The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR) will hold a hearing to assist it in preparing its annual report to the Congress on the People's Republic of China's compliance with the commitments made in connection with its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). See, notice in the Federal Register, August 3, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 148, at Pages 45693-45694. Location?

Extended deadline to submit to the Department of Commerce's (DOC) Bureau of Industry and Security proposals for members of the President's Export Council Subcommittee on Export Administration (PECSEA). The BIS seeks "private-sector members with senior export control expertise and direct experience in one or more of the following industries: ... semiconductors, commercial communication satellites, high performance computers, telecommunications ..." See, notice in the Federal Register, September 9, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 174, at Page 54857.

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