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March 2, 2011, 9:30 AM, Alert No. 2,201.
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House Subcommittee to Mark Up Resolution Disapproving FCC's BIAS Rules

3/1. On February 16, 2011, Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR) and others introduced HJRes 37, a resolution disapproving of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) rules that regulate broadband internet access service (BIAS) providers.

HJRes 37 resolves "That Congress disapproves the rule submitted by the Federal Communications Commission relating to the matter of preserving the open Internet and broadband industry practices (Report and Order FCC 10-201, adopted by the Commission on December 21, 2010), and such rule shall have no force or effect." (Parentheses in original.)

See, FCC's Report and Order (R&O) [194 pages in PDF] adopted on December 21, 2010, and released on December 23, 2010. This R&O is FCC 10-201 in GN Docket No. 09-191 and WC Docket No. 07-52. See also, stories in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,186, December 22, 2010, and TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,188, December 24, 2010.

Rep. Walden is the Chairman of the House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Communications and Technology (SCT). On Monday, February 28, 2011, the HCC announced that the SCT would meet to mark up HJRes 37 on Wednesday, March 2. See, notice.

On Tuesday, March 1, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), the ranking Democrat on the HCC, and Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), the ranking Democrat on the SCT, sent a letter to Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), the Chairman of the full Committee, and Rep. Walden seeking delay. They argued that a hearing should be held before any mark up.

They wrote that there are many companies and groups that favor the FCC's rules, and they should be heard before the SCT acts.

The two Democrats also wrote that "We are not aware of any time constraints or deadlines that require us to act tomorrow. The FCC's rules will not go into effect for some time, giving us plenty of opportunity to hear views that have been excluded from the process."

Almost all of the 37 cosponsors are Republicans.

Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), a member of the HCC and Vice Chair of the SCT, spoke at an event on Capitol Hill on March 1 hosted by the Tech Freedom. She stated that "there is bipartisan opposition" to the FCC's rules.

The mark up is scheduled for 9:30 AM in Room 2123 of the Rayburn Building.

Senate Continues Consideration of Patent Reform Bill

3/1. The Senate continued its consideration of S 23 [LOC | WW], the "Patent Reform Act of 2011", or "America Invents Act", on Tuesday, March 1, 2011. The Senate approved a managers' amendment [PDF] that makes numerous changes to the bill.

This amendment, offered by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), and Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), changes the name of the bill to the "America Invents Act", and addresses fee diversion, reduction of fees for small entity patents, business method patents, and other matters.

Sen. Kyl stated in the Senate that "The big fight, once again, is over first to file, with battle lines drawn that run extremely deep. Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) is expected to file an Amendment stripping the first to file provisions, which could be supported by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)." See, Congressional Record, March 1, 2011, at Page S1042.

Sen. Leahy said that "I will be offering a managers' amendment along with Senator Grassley that incorporates additional improvements being made at the suggestion of Senator Coburn, Senator Coons, Senator Bennet and our House counterparts, Chairman Smith and Mr. Conyers of the House Judiciary Committee. When we adopt this managers’ amendment, I believe we will have moved very close to a consensus bill that the Senate can and should pass to help create good jobs, encourage innovation and strengthen our recovering economy." See, Sen. Leahy's transcript. See also, Congressional Record, March 1, 2011, at Page S1036.

The Senate approved this amendment by a vote of 97-2. See, Roll Call No. 27.

The Coalition for Patent Fairness, a group that represents Adobe, Apple, Cisco, Dell, Google, Intel, Intuit, Micron, Oracle, RIM, SAP, Symantec, and Verizon, stated in a release on March 1 that it supports the just adopted amendment. It wrote, "Thanks to the manager's amendment, the bill is moving in a promising direction".

However, it added that "The high tech community still supports additional changes." For example, "We will be supporting the Risch amendment to strike the inter parties provisions. Inter partes reexams should not be made more burdensome with controversial changes, and these provisions should be removed unless we have real consensus."

Fee Diversion. Sen. Leahy said that "I appreciate the efforts of the Senator from Oklahoma to end patent fee diversion. This is a reform that Senator Hatch and I have long supported. I appreciated his working with me and withholding this amendment during Committee consideration. We are incorporating his amendment in the managers’ amendment."

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) explained that "Unfortunately, over the last 10, 15 years, $800 million of those fees have not been left at the Patent Office. They have been taken and used somewhere else. So when you pay a fee for a patent, that money isn't going to pay for the examination of the patent. Right now, we find ourselves with 718,000 patents waiting for first action. If I file a patent today, what we will see is that 26 months from now my patent will have first action -- the first reading by an examiner."

Sen. Tom CoburnSen. Coburn (at right) added that "If we want to create jobs and stay on top of the world in terms of innovation, we cannot allow that process to continue. So what the amendment does is say we are not going to take the money people use to pay for a patent application and spend it somewhere else; we are actually going to spend it on patent applications. That is what it was set up for."

The amendment would create a revolving fund at the Department of the Treasury. Both patent and trademark fees that are paid to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) would be directly allocated back to the USPTO.

Sen. Grassley, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and others also argued at length for ending fee diversion at the USPTO. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) said that the Congress should end fee diversion, not only at the USPTO, but at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Business Method Patents. The amendment also adds a new Section 18 to the bill that pertains to business method patents. This new section would require the USPTO to establish "a transitional post-grant review proceeding for review of the validity of covered business-method patents."

It further provides that "A person may not file a petition for a transitional proceeding with respect to a covered business-method patent unless the person or his real party in interest has been sued for infringement of the patent or has been charged with infringement under that patent."  It also addresses the circumstances in which the District Court shall grant a stay of civil litigation.

This transitional program would sunset after four years.

The amendment defines "covered business-method patent" as "a patent that claims a method or corresponding apparatus for performing data processing operations utilized in the practice, administration, or management of a financial product or service, except that the term shall not include patents for technological inventions."

Sen. Leahy stated that "We also incorporate in the managers' amendment an amendment from Senator Schumer that concerns business method patents. We provide a process for their reexamination by the Patent and Trademark Office. This should also help improve patent quality."

Sen. Schumer stated that his amendment addresses "the scourge of business method patents currently plaguing the financial sector. Business method patents are anathema to the protection the patent system provides because they apply not to novel products or services but to abstract and common concepts of how to do business."

Sen. Charles SchumerSen. Schumer (at right) continued that "Often, business method patents are issued for practices that have been in widespread use in the financial industry for years, such as check imaging or one-click checkout. Because of the nature of the financial services industry, those practices aren't identifiable by the PTO as prior art and bad patents are issued. The holders of business method patents then attempt to extract settlements from the banks by suing them in plaintiff-friendly courts and tying them up in years of extremely costly litigation."

He said that the amendment "will allow companies that are the target of one of these frivolous business method patent lawsuits to go back to the PTO and demonstrate, with the appropriate prior art, that the patent shouldn't have been issued in the first place. That way bad patents can be knocked out in an efficient administrative proceeding, avoiding costly litigation."

And, he said that "One of the most critical elements of this amendment has to do with the stay of litigation while review of the patent is pending at the PTO. The amendment includes a four-factor test for the granting of a stay that places a very heavy thumb on the scale in favor of the stay."

Enforcement Abroad. This bill reforms U.S. patent law. It does not pertain to enforcement of patents by other countries, or efforts by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR) and other entities to obtain greater protection of patents abroad.

However, Senators discussed enforcement. For example, Sen. Coburn said that "It is amazing how much of our intellectual property is being stolen by China today. I wish to relate a conversation I had with their Secretary of Commerce -- their equivalent to ours -- in China 3 years ago. I asked him about intellectual property rights. He was bold in his statement to say: We are not going to honor them. We are a developing nation and you would not have honored them either -- even though they are a signatory to the World Trade Organization."

Sen. Coburn continued that "It is important we understand whom we are dealing with -- people who will cheat and steal intellectual property from America. Fixing the patent apparatus will help us get there, but it is just as important to have tough laws on our books that create sanctions on nations that do not honor intellectual property."

Other Patent Related Provisions. Sen. Leahy also added that "We incorporate suggestions from the House about the removal of certain damages and venue provisions that are no longer necessary in light of recent court decisions, such as the so-called gatekeeper provision."

Federal Spending. This patent reform bill is also operating as a vehicle for Senate Republicans, Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) and Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA), to pursue legislation to limit federal spending and address the federal debt.

Sen. Leahy stated that "What we should not do is delay or sacrifice the job creating potential of this bill to a side debate about the debt limit or whether to amend the Constitution of the United States.  The bipartisan America Invents Act is too important to be turned into a mere vehicle to launch speeches and debates about pet causes.  This is not the bill to have debates about whether if the U.S. were to reach its debt ceiling the Government should favor paying creditors like the Chinese before meeting its other obligations to the American people. That theoretical debate has nothing to do with the patent reform in this bill."

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In This Issue
This issue contains the following items:
 • House Subcommittee to Mark Up Resolution Disapproving FCC's BIAS Rules
 • Senate Continues Consideration of Patent Reform Bill
Washington Tech Calendar
New items are highlighted in red.
Wednesday, March 2

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for morning hour, and at 12:00 NOON for legislative business. See, Rep. Cantor's schedule for week of February 28.

The Senate will meet at 10:00 AM. It may resume consideration of S 23 [LOC | WW], the "Patent Reform Act" or "America Invents Act".

8:30 AM - 4:45 PM. Day one of a three day meeting of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board (ISPAB). The agenda includes discussion of a "National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace" and other topics. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 11, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 29, at Page 7818. Location: Homewood Suites by Washington, 1475 Massachusetts Ave., NW.

9:00 AM - 1:30 PM. The Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI) will host its third annual event titled "Communications Summit". The keynote speakers will be Meredith Baker (FCC Commissioner), former Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA), Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and Andrew Keen. There will be three panels. The first is titled "Network Innovation and Internet Regulation: Friends or Enemies?". Its speakers are Richard Bennett (Information Technology and Innovation Foundation), Larry Downes, Randy May (Free State Foundation), and Carolyn Brandon (Georgetown University business school). The second panel is titled "Communications Sector as a Force for Economic Growth". Its speakers are John Horrigan (TechNet), Jeffrey Eisenach (Navigant Economics), and Michael Mandel (Progressive Policy Institute). The third panel is titled "Our Spot in the World -- A Global Perspective of Wireless & Innovation". Its speakers are Philip Verveer (U.S. Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy, Department of State), David Gross (Wiley Rein), and Christopher Boam (Verizon). See, notice. Location: Reserve Officers Association Building, 5th Floor, One Constitution Ave., NE.

9:00 AM. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) Bureau of Industry and Security's (BIS) Materials Processing Equipment Technical Advisory Committee will hold a partially closed meeting. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 16, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 32, at Page 9001. Location: DOC, Room 6087B, Hoover Building, 14th Street between Pennsylvania and Constitution Avenues, NW.

9:00 AM. The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies will host a panel discussion titled "National Broadband Plan and the Underserved -- One Year Later". See, notice. Location: National Press Club, 13th floor, 529 14th St., NW.

9:30 AM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Communications and Technology will meet to mark up HJRes 37, a resolution disapproving the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) rules regulating broadband internet access service (BIAS) providers. See, notice. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The House Appropriations Committee's (HAC) Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science will hold a hearing on the FY 2012 budget for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The witness will be David Kappos. Location: Room H-309, Capitol Building.

10:00 AM. The House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) will hold a hearing titled "Monetary Policy and the State of the Economy". The witness will be Ben Bernanke. See, notice. Location: Room 2128, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM - 1:00 PM. The House Intelligence Committee (HIC) will hold a closed hearing titled "Ongoing Intelligence Activities". See, notice. Location?

10:00 AM. The Senate Appropriations Committee (SAC) will hold a hearing on the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) budget request for FY 2012. Janet Napolitano (Secretary of Homeland Security) will testify. See, notice. Location: Room 138, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) will hold a hearing titled "The Future of American Manufacturing: Maintaining America's Competitive Edge". The witnesses will include Gary Locke, Secretary of Commerce. See, notice. Location: Room 253, Russell Building.

10:00 AM - 3:00 PM. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR) will hold a hearing regarding Special 301 designations. The Trade Act of 1974, in what is commonly known as its Special 301 provisions, requires the executive branch to identify countries that fail to protect the IPR and market access of U.S. companies, and take certain actions against those countries. See, OUSTR calendar. Location: OUSTR, 1724 F St., NW.

12:15 - 1:30 PM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will hold a meeting titled "Meet the Federal Communications Commission's Office of General Counsel". The participants will be Austin Schlick (FCC General Counsel), Julie Veach (Deputy General Counsel for Administrative Law), and Peter Karanjia (Deputy General Counsel for Litigation). The FCBA states that this is an FCBA event. Location: Jenner & Block, 1099 New York Ave., NW.

2:00 PM. The House Appropriations Committee (SAC) will hold a hearing on the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) budget request for FY 2012. Janet Napolitano (Secretary of Homeland Security) will testify. Location: Room 2359, Rayburn Building.

1:00 - 2:00 PM. The Center for American Progress (CAP) will host an event titled "Harnessing Trade for Shared Growth, American Competitiveness and Just Jobs". The speaker will be U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk. See, notice. Location: CAP, 10th floor, 1333 H St., NW.

3:00 PM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold a hearing titled "Nominations". The witnesses will be Goodwin Liu (nominated to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit), Kevin Sharp (USDC/MDTenn), Roy Dalton (USDC/MDFl), Claire Cecchi (USDC/DNJ), and Esther Salas (USDC/DNJ). See, notice. The SJC will webcast this event. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

FURTHER EXTENDED TO APRIL 13. Extended deadline to submit reply comments to the Library of Congress's (LOC) Copyright Office (CO) in response to its Notice of Inquiry (NOI) regarding federal coverage of sound recordings fixed before February 15, 1972. See, notice in the Federal Register, November 3, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 212, at Pages 67777-67781. This notice states that the deadline to submit reply comments is December 3, 2010. The LOC web site corrects the reply comment deadline: January 19, 2011. See also, correction notice in the Federal Register, November 18, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 222, at Pages 70704-70705. This proceeding is LOC Docket No. 2010-4. See also, story titled "Library of Congress Issues NOI on Extending Copyright Act to Pre 1972 Sound Recordings" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,150, November 8, 2010.  See also, extension notice in the Federal Register, December 1, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 230, at Pages 74749-74750. See, further extension notice in the Federal Register, February 24, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 37, at Pages 10405-10406.

Thursday, March 3

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. See, Rep. Cantor's schedule for week of February 28.

8:30 AM - 5:30 PM. Day two of a three day meeting of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board (ISPAB). See, notice in the Federal Register, February 11, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 29, at Page 7818. Location: Homewood Suites by Washington, 1475 Massachusetts Ave., NW.

10:00 AM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade will hold a hearing titled "Innovation in Job Creation and Economic Growth". See, notice. Location: Room 2322, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold an executive business meeting. The agenda includes consideration of S 193 [LOC | WW], the "USA PATRIOT Act Sunset Extension Act of 2011". It also includes consideration of two judicial nominees: Caitlin Halligan, to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir), Mae D'Agostino (USDC/NDNY), Jimmie Reyna (USCA/FedCir), John Kronstadt (USDC/CDCal), Vincent Briccetti (USDC/SDNY), Arenda Allen (USDC/EDVa), and Michael Urbanski (USDC/WDVa). The SJC rarely follows its published agendas. The SJC will webcast this event. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The National Industrial Security Program Policy Advisory Committee (NISPPAC) will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 7, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 25, at Pages 6636-6637. Location: National Archives and Records Administration, Archivist's Reception Room, Room 105, 700 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

10:00 AM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will hold an event titled "open meeting". The FCC will meet at 10:00 AM to adopt the three items regarding tribal lands. The FCC will meet at 2:00 PM to adopt a NPRM on retransmission consent, a NPRM on expanding the Lifeline and Linkup universal service subsidy programs to include broadband, and two NPRMs on disability access. See, FCC agenda [4 pages in PDF], and story titled "FCC Releases Agenda for March 3 Meeting" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,199, February 28, 2011. The FCC will webcast this event. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room, 445 12th St., SW.

12:15 - 1:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) will host a brown bag lunch titled "What You Need To Know About Cross-Border Transactions at the FCC" and "Discussion of the FCC Regulatory Processes for International Transfers of Control, Assignments, and Other Transactions". The speakers will be David Krech (FCC's International Bureau), Neil Chilson (Wilkinson Barker Knauer), Jeffrey Carlisle (LightSquared), Kalpak Gude (Intelsat), Colleen King (Wiley Rein), Erin Emmott (TELUS Communications). For more information, contact Mark Brennan (Hogan Lovells) at mark dot brennan at hoganlovells dot com or Jennifer Ullman (J Group Planning & Consulting) at jennifer at thejgroupplanning dot com. Location: Wiley Rein, 10th floor, 1750 K St., NW.

4:00 - 6:00 PM. The New America Foundation (NAF) will host an event titled "Can Technology Save Foreign Aid?". See, notice. Location: NAF, Suite 400, 1899 L St., NW.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding its CORES Registration System. The FCC adopted this NPRM on November 19, 2010, and released the text on December 7, 2010. It is FCC 10-192 in MD Docket No. 10-234. See, Federal Register, February 1, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 21, at Pages 5651-5677.

Friday, March 4

The House will meet at 2:00 PM in pro forma session. See, Rep. Cantor's schedule for week of February 28.

Supreme Court conference day (discussion of argued cases, and decision on cert petitions). Closed.

8:30 AM - 12:30 PM. Day three of a three day meeting of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board (ISPAB). The agenda includes discussion of undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 11, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 29, at Page 7818. Location: Homewood Suites by Washington, 1475 Massachusetts Ave., NW.

12:00 NOON - 2:00 PM. The Technology Policy Institute (TPI) will host a panel discussion titled "Online Privacy after the DOC and FTC Reports". The speakers will be William Kovacic (FTC Commissioner), Daniel Sepulveda (Sen. John Kerry's staff), Daniel Weitzner (NTIA), Catherine Tucker (MIT business school), and Tom Lenard (TPI). See, notice. Lunch will be served. The event is free and open to the public. Location: Room B-340, Rayburn Building.

Monday, March 7

1:30 - 5:30 PM. The Public Knowledge (PK) will host a half day conference titled "Toward a Copyright Office for the 21st Century". See, notice.
 • 1:30 PM. Opening by Gigi Sohn (PK).
 • 1:35 PM. Keynote by Maria Pallante (acting Register of Copyright).
 • 2:05 PM. Panel titled "Modernizing the Copyright Registration & Recordation Systems". The speakers will be Tracey Armstrong ( Copyright Clearance Center), Leila Boujnane (TinEye), James Cavanaugh (American Society of Media Photographers), Jule Sigall (Microsoft), Pallante, and Michael Weinberg (PK).
 • 3:30 PM. Keynote by Aneesh Chopra (EOP's Office of Science and Technology Policy).
 • 4:00 PM. Panel titled "Making the Copyright Office a Model of Openness and Transparency". The speakers will be Tom Lee (Sunlight Labs), Jamie Love (Knowledge Ecology), Stephanie Moore (Minority Counsel, House Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet), Pallante, and Sohn.
Location:  Mandarin Oriental, 1330 Maryland Ave., SW.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [18 pages in PDF] regarding expanding the scope of the permitted operations of the Travelers' Information Stations (TIS). The FCC adopted this item on December 29, 2010, and released the text on December 30, 2010. It is FCC 10-203 in PS Docket No. 09-19. See, notice in the Federal Register, January 19, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 12, at Pages 3064-3069. See also, story titled "FCC Releases NPRM Regarding Government Low Power AM" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,191, January 3, 2011.

Deadline to submit comments to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) regarding proposed changes to its Prioritized Examination Track (Track I) of the Enhanced Examination Timing Control Procedures. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 4, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 24, at Pages 6369-6376. See also, notice in the Federal Register, June 4, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 107, at Pages 31763-31768, and story titled "USPTO Proposes Three Track Patent Examination System" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,092, June 4, 2010.

Tuesday, March 8

8:00 -10:00 AM. Broadband Census News LLC will host a panel discussion titled "Patent Reform in the 112th Congress". The speakers will include retired Judge Paul Michel. Breakfast will be served. This event is free and open to the public. See, notice and registration page. This event is also sponsored by the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) and the Public Knowledge (PK). Location: Clyde's of Gallery Place, 707 7th St., NW.

10:00 AM - 5:00 PM. The Executive Office of the President's (EOP) Office of Science and Technology Policy's (OSTP) President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) will hold a partially closed meeting. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 10, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 28, at Pages 7593-7594. Location: Marriott Metro Center, Junior Ballroom, 775 12th St., NW.

11:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Advisory Committee for the 2012 World Radiocommunication Conference will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 2, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 22, at Page 5810. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room (Room TW-C305), 445 12th St., SW.

1:00 - 3:00 PM. The National Science Foundation's (NSF) National Science Board (NSB) will meet by teleconference. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 1, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 40, at Page 11288.

2:30 PM. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (SHSGAC) will hold a hearing on the nomination of Heather Higginbottom to be Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). See, notice. Location: Room 342, Dirksen Building.

Wednesday, March 9

8:30 AM. Day one of a two day partially closed meeting of the Department of Commerce's (DOC) Bureau of Industry and Security's (BIS) Emerging Technology and Research Advisory Committee. The Wednesday portion of the meeting is open to the public. It will be on site and teleconferenced. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 23, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 36, at Pages 10004-10005. Location: DOC, Room 3884, Hoover Building, 14th Street between Pennsylvania and Constitution Avenues, NW.

8:30 - 11:30 AM. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host an event titled "The Obama Administration's Innovation Policy". The speakers will be Aneesh Chopra, Austan Goolsbee, Philip Weiser, and Robert Atkinson (ITIF). See, notice. Location: Hamilton Crowne Plaza, 1001 14th St., NW.

9:30 AM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) North American Numbering Council (NANC) will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 8, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 26, at Pages 6787-6788. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room.

10:00 AM. The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing titled "The President’s 2011 Trade Agenda". The witness will be U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk. See, notice. Location: Room 215, Dirksen Building.

1:00 - 5:00 PM. The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee will meet. The agenda includes discussion of implementation of privacy protections in DHS operations, cybersecurity efforts, USCIS implementation of DHS privacy policy, and privacy protections for DHS use of social media. See, notice in the Federal Register, February 15, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 31, at Pages 8754-8755. Location: Carl Hayden Room, 8th floor, U.S. Government Printing Office, 732 North Capitol St., NW.