4/20. Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR), and Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) sent a letter [PDF] to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski regarding the public safety equipment and device market, in which Motorola is the dominant vendor.

They stated their concerns that "public safety equipment is often more expensive than comparable commercial equipment, and that interoperability is undermined", and that "certain public safety jurisdictions that have received, or have applied for, waivers for early deployments of 700 MHz broadband networks have already awarded contracts" to Motorola.

The letter propounds numerous interrogatories, and requests the production of documents. They request a "list of waiver recipients and applicants that have already selected a vendor, and identify the vendor", and ask "whether these jurisdictions followed a competitive bidding process in the selection of the vendor that is to construct the broadband public safety network".

The letter also asks whether these vendors are supplying "equipment that conforms with open, commercial LTE standards", and whether, and how, they are implementing "proprietary broadband wireless technologies".

The letter requests a response by May 5.

The letter is signed by the Chairmen and ranking Democrats of the House Commerce Committee (HCC) and its Subcommittee on Communications and Technology.

4/26. FCC Commissioner Michael Copps gave another speech in which he lamented media consolidation and the state of journalism. He argued for more FCC regulation of broadcasters, news media and political speech, and condemned efforts to limit National Public Radio (NPR) subsidies.

In this speech, at the University of Southern California's (USC) Annenberg School, Copps revisited themes that he has expressed previously. See, for example, December 3, 2010 speech [8 pages in PDF] and story titled "Copps Wants to Impose Public Value Test on Broadcasters".

Copps referenced "the blistering pace of media consolidation", "rampant private sector speculation", and "stations owned by hedge funds, banking trusts and private equity firms for whom the public interest may be a wholly alien concept".

He accused the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of "abdication of public interest responsibilities". He argued that prior "Commissions not only blessed just about every media merger transaction that came their way, but they wiped the slate virtually clean of the public interest guidelines and responsibilities of licensees that had been built up by generations of reformers".

He said that "real change at the FCC awaited bigger change in Washington that would open a window for change. Then that new era finally came and a window opened, and many of us thought real media reform was just around the corner. Alas, it's been 27 months now -- and we're still waiting. Still waiting for media reform -- or even a down-payment on media reform."

He elaborated that he wants an FCC based "public-interest licensing system" in which the FCC passes judgment on news reporting. He said that he wants more than the current "slam-dunk license renewal system".

He also restated his desire for more FCC regulation of political campaign speech, and in particular, "Anonymous ads". He added that "Both sides of the political spectrum have committed sins of commission and omission here".

He also condemned members of Congress who advocate reduced federal subsidies for NPR. See, HR 1076 [LOC | WW], and story titled "House Passes Bill to Limit NPR Funding" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,205, March 21, 2011.

Copps said that "It is utterly unfathomable to me that some in Washington are trying to gut the very limited funding we currently provide for this precious news, information and education resource. Other democracies leave us in the dust by investing meaningful resources in public broadcasting while the issue here is lining it out of the budget."

4/20. The Department of Justice's (DOJ) Antitrust Division issued a release announcing that it will allow CPTN Holdings LLC's acquisition of patents and patent applications from Novell, Inc. to proceed, subject to certain conditions.

CPTN is a consortium created by Microsoft, Oracle, Apple and EMC for the purpose of acquiring the Novell patents.

The DOJ stated that "as originally proposed, the deal would jeopardize the ability of open source software, such as Linux, to continue to innovate and compete in the development and distribution of server, desktop, and mobile operating systems, middleware, and virtualization products." The DOJ continued that CPTN and its owners have "altered their original agreements to address the department's antitrust concerns".

In particular, "Microsoft will sell back to Attachmate all of the Novell patents that Microsoft would have otherwise acquired, but will continue to receive a license for the use of those patents, the patents acquired by the other three participants and any patents retained by Novell", "EMC will not acquire 33 Novell patents and patent applications that have been identified as related to virtualization software", "All of the Novell patents will be acquired subject to the GNU General Public License, Version 2, ... and the Open Invention Network (OIN) License, a significant license for the Linux System", and "CPTN does not have the right to limit which of the patents, if any, are available under the OIN license". With these and other changes, the DOJ will allow the transaction to proceed.

4/25. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a notice in the Federal Register in which it announced that it will hold a hearing on its ex parte and inter partes reexamination proceedings. The notice also requests public comments, propounds questions, and sets the deadline for responses.

The USPTO will hold a hearing on June 1, 2011, at 1:30 PM, at the USPTO, South Auditorium of Madison West, 600 Dulany Street, Alexandria, Virginia.

The deadline to request to testify at the hearing is 5:00 PM on May 11, 2011. The deadline to register to attend the hearing is 5:00 PM on May 25, 2011. The deadline to submit written comments is June 29, 2011.

See, Federal Register, April 25, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 79, at Pages 22854-22861.

The House and Senate are also considered broad patent reform legislation that would revise post grant reexamination procedure at the USPTO. See, S 23 [LOC | WW], passed by the Senate on March 8, 2011, and HR 1249 [LOC | WW], approved by the House Judiciary Committee (HJC) on April 14, 2011. Both are titled "America Invents Act".

The just published notice states that "the changes proposed in this document are complementary to the post-grant provisions in the pending America Invents Act currently being considered by Congress. In particular, the America Invents Act would not alter ex parte reexamination, and it would provide a transition period of several years during which inter partes reexamination could still be requested. Therefore, it is important for the USPTO to continue its efforts to improve the existing reexamination system."

The USPTO also issued a release that summarizes the proposed changes. "The proposed changes include: standardizing the way information is presented in reexamination requests; focusing examiners' attention on the best prior art; reducing the need for late submission of evidence and amendments; clarifying petitions practice; allowing patent owners to waive their optional ex parte statement; consolidating the inter partes action closing prosecution and right of appeal notices; and reducing unnecessary briefings in inter partes appeals."

4/25. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) released a report [242 pages in PDF] titled "World Economic Outlook: April 2011: Tensions from the Two-Speed Recovery: Unemployment, Commodities, and Capital Flows".

The IMF released a table with this report that projects the gross domestic product (GDP) based on purchasing power parity (PPP) valuation of country GDP for the United States and the People's Republic of China (PRC) for the years 2009 through 2016. It projects the PRC overtaking the US in 2016.

The IMF report also states that the US maintains an "unsustainable fiscal outlook" and that the US "stands out as the only large advanced economy where the cyclically adjusted fiscal deficit is expected to increase in 2011 compared with 2010". (See, page 63.)

This IMF report presents data and projections for aggregate levels of economic activity. It does not provide breakdowns by sectors, such as information technology or communications.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, stated in a release that "The IMF forecast that in five years China will surpass America as the world's leading economic power is a call to action. It's time to get our economy in fighting shape. Our enormous surging debt may already be costing us a million jobs a year."

Sen. Sessions continued that "A prominent study by economists Reinhart and Rogoff shows that when debt exceeds ninety percent of GDP it results in a loss of one percent in GDP growth. Treasury Secretary Geithner called this study ‘excellent’ and warned that `it understates the risks.´ Our debt burden has already passed ninety percent of GDP and is expected to reach one hundred percent in just five months. To avoid a crisis we must control our spending. Federal spending has increased from $1.8 trillion in 2001 to $3.7 trillion this year. We need a budget that spends less, not one that takes more -- an honest budget that lifts our crushing debt burden and allows our nation to compete, to thrive, and to lead in the 21st century."

See, paper titled "Growth in a Time of Debt" by Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff.

The IMF report documents the much higher GDP growth rate in the PRC in the last two decades compared to the US, Japan and Europe. It projects a similar trend going forward.

4/25. Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Homeland Security, gave a speech at University of California at Berkeley titled "Securing Cyberspace: Our Shared Responsibility".

She touted the Obama administration's April 15, 2011 proposal [52 pages in PDF] regarding online authentication. She said that "What it aims to do is make online transactions more trustworthy in a simple but fundamental way: by moving away from passwords and instead toward secure, reliable credentials available to consumers who want them."

See also, story titled "EOP Paper Calls for Online Authentication" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,223, April 20, 2011.

Napolitano (at right) added that "Instead of having to remember dozens of passwords, you would have a single credential to log into any website, with more security than passwords alone could provide. And when you're not doing secure transactions, you can protect your anonymity online. Dozens, if not hundreds, of companies could offer these credentials -- which could be unique software on a smartphone, a smart card or perhaps a token -- so you'll have plenty of choices."

And, "we want to see better authentication mechanisms that protect against identity theft and spoofing, are affordable, easy to use and administer, and are scalable and interoperable".

She also discussed her understanding of the cyber security mission of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). She said that "if the security of our cyber networks is compromised, modern life -- our economies, our health care systems, and our transportation networks -- effectively grinds to a complete halt. That possibility is why DHS has a clear mission and a clear vision when it comes to cyber."

She said that "We see cyber as part-and-parcel of a secure homeland and something that can’t be treated as separate and distinct from our other missions. Specifically, our cyber mission is two-fold. First, we're working to create a safe, secure, resilient cyber environment. And, second, we're promoting cybersecurity awareness and innovation with our many partners outside the Department."

She added that "cyberspace is fundamentally a civilian space" and that she wants a "healthy partnership between the government and the private sector".

She also spoke in vague terms about a forthcoming legislative proposal. She said that "the Administration is also putting forward a legislative proposal to Congress that will allow us to implement what I’ve been talking about here today. Government has a unique role, through legislation and regulation, to drive the outcomes we want as a nation and align them with incentives that can help get us there."

She added that "any government rules for cyberspace should identify where we want to be, not proscribe exactly how to get there, and should allow ample space for innovation. They should also be clear, fair and broadly supported, and respect and reflect the diversity of the society in which we live."

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The House will be in recess the week of Monday, April 18 through Friday, April 22, and the week of Monday, April 25 through Friday, April 29. The House will return at 2:00 PM on Monday, May 2.

The Senate will be in recess the week of Monday, April 18 through Friday, April 22, and the week of Monday, April 25 through Friday, April 29. The Senate will return at 2:00 PM on Monday, May 2.

8:30 AM - 5:30 PM. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) NASA Advisory Council's Information Technology Infrastructure Committee will meet. The agenda includes "Computing Environment -- Diverse Needs and Solutions", "Network Environment and Mission Network Support", and "IT Security Risk Management". See, notice in the Federal Register, April 5, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 65, at Pages 18800-18801. Location: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Road, Building 12, Room C100D, Greenbelt, MD.

9:00 - 10:30 AM. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host a panel discussion titled "The Case for a National Manufacturing Strategy for the United States". The speakers will be Robert Atkinson (ITIF), Stephen Ezell (ITIF) and Mark Rice (Maritime Applied Physics Corporation). See, notice and registration page. Location: ITIF/ITIC, Suite 610A, 1101 K St., NW.

9:00 AM - 4:30 PM. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP) will host a one day workshop regarding the NIST Information Technology Laboratory, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), NVLAP accreditation of laboratories to perform testing of health information technology, and electronic health record technology. The deadline to register to attend is April 20. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 22, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 55, at Pages 15945-15946. Location: Gaithersburg Marriott Washingtonian Center, 9751 Washingtonian Boulevard, Gaithersburg, MD.

9:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The Missouri School of Journalism will host an event titled "The Future of Public Broadcasting: Innovating to Connect Communities". See, notice. Location: National Press Club, 13th Floor, 529 14th St. NW.

12:00 NOON - 2:00 PM. The DC Bar Association will host an event titled "Private Lawyers as Counsel to Governments in WTO Disputes". The speakers will be Benjamin Caryl (U.S. International Trade Commission), Aluisio De Lima-Campos (Brazilian Embassy), and Gary Horlick. See, notice. The price to attend ranges from $20 to $35. For more information, call 202-626-3463. Location: McKenna Long & Aldridge, 1900 K St., NW.

9:30 AM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will host a second workshop its intercarrier compensation system and universal service fund. The first was on April 6, 2011. See, FCC notice of second workshop, and NPRM [289 pages in PDF] adopted on February 8, 2011, and released on February 9, 2011. It is FCC 11-13 in WC Docket No. 10-90, GN Docket No. 09-51, WC Docket No. 07-135, WC Docket No. 05-337, CC Docket No. 01-92, CC Docket No. 96-45, and WC Docket No. 03-109. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room, 445 12th St., SW.

10:00 AM. The Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) will host a news briefing titled "Unpacking the Kerry-McCain Privacy Bill". The Kerry McCain bill is S 799 [LOC | WW], the "Commercial Privacy Bill of Rights Act of 2011". See also, HR 1528 [LOC | WW], the "Consumer Privacy Protection Act of 2011" (Stearns Matheson); HR 654 [LOC | WW], the "Do Not Track Me Online Act of 2011" (Speier); and HR 611 [LOC | WW], the "Building Effective Strategies To Promote Responsibility Accountability Choice Transparency Innovation Consumer Expectations and Safeguards Act" or "BEST PRACTICES Act" (Rush). Leslie Harris, Justin Brookman, and other CDT staff will speak and answer questions. The call in number is 800-377-8846; the participant code is 92874158 #. Location: CDT conference room, 11th floor, 1634 I St., NW.

12:30 - 2:00 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a webcast panel discussion titled "Viacom v. YouTube: Does Third Party Contributory Copyright Infringement Really Exist for Internet Service Providers (ISPs)?". The speakers will be Carole Handler (Lathrop & Gage), William Henslee (Florida A&M University College of Law), and Cliff Sloan (Skadden Arps). Prices vary. CLE credits. See, notice and registration page.

TIME? The National Coordination Office for Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NCO/NITRD) will host a workshop on cyber security research titled "Trust Anchors are Invulnerable". This is part of its series titled "Assumption Buster Workshops". See, NITRD issue summary, and notice in the Federal Register, February 25, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 38, at Page 10627-10628. Location: __, Savage, MD.

The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Auction 91, regarding certain FM Broadcast Construction Permits, is scheduled to commence. See, March 10, 2011, Public Notice, and notice in the Federal Register, January 21, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 14, at Pages 3892-3906. See also, September 21, 2010, FCC Public Notice (DA 10-1711 in AU Docket No. 10-183) and notice in the Federal Register, October 6, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 193, at Pages 61752-61756.

8:30 AM - 5:30 PM. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will host an event titled "Public Workshop: Debt Collection 2.0: Protecting Consumers as Technologies Change". See, notice in the Federal Register, March 15, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 50, at Pages 14010-14014, and story titled "FTC Workshop to Address Use of Facebook and Other New Technologies for Debt Collection" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,204, March 15, 2011.

8:30 AM - 4:00 PM. Day one of a two day meeting of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) NASA Advisory Council's Technology and Innovation Committee. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 8, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 68, at Page 19793. Location: NASA Headquarters, Room MIC-6A (6H45), 300 E St.,  SW.

9:00 - 10:00 AM. The Washington International Trade Association (WITA) will host an event titled "Breakfast with USTR Ron Kirk". See, notice. Location: Horizon Ballroom, Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

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

8:30 AM - 12:30 PM. Day two of a two day meeting of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) NASA Advisory Council's Technology and Innovation Committee. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 8, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 68, at Page 19793. Location: NASA Headquarters, Room MIC-6A (6H45), 300 E St.,  SW.

1:00 - 2:00 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a webcast panel discussion titled "The Nuts and Bolts of Trademark Law". Prices vary. CLE credits. See, notice and registration page.

Deadline to submit applications to the Department of Commerce (DOC) for membership on the U.S.-Brazil CEO Forum. See, DOC notice.

Target date for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR) to release its 2011 Special 301 report, regarding countries that deny adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) or deny fair and equitable market access to U.S. persons who rely on IP protection. See, notice in the Federal Register, December 30, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 250, at Pages 82424-82426. See also, story titled "OUSTR Seeks Input for Special 301 Report" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,191, January 3, 2011.

The House will return from its April recess at 2:00 PM.

The Senate will return from its April recess at 2:00 PM.

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host a panel discussion titled "China is not Simply the Latest Paper Tiger". The speakers will be Robert Atkinson (ITIF), Adam Segal (Council on Foreign Relations) and Bruce Stokes (German Marshall Fund). See, notice and registration page. Location: ITIF/ITIC, Suite 610A, 1101 K St., NW.

The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will consider on the briefs Odom v. Microsoft Corporation, App. Ct. No. 2011-1160. Location: Courtroom 201, 717 Madison Place, NW.

Deadline for the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) to release its second report on intellectual property rights (IPR) infringement in the People's Republic of China (PRC). This second report will describe the size and scope of reported IPR violations and provide quantitative analysis of the effect of IPR infringement and indigenous innovation policies in the PRC on the U.S. economy and jobs. See, first report [196 pages in PDF] titled "China: Intellectual Property Infringement, Indigenous Innovation Policies, and Frameworks for Measuring the Effects on the U.S. Economy", released on December 13, 2010. See also, story titled "USITC Releases First Report on IPR Infringement in the PRC" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,178, December 14, 2010.

Deadline to submit comments to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) regarding its online employment application process for patent examiners. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 1, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 40, at Pages 11206-11208.

Deadline to submit comments to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) regarding substantive submissions made during prosecution of a trademark application. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 1, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 40, at Pages 11208-11210.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding the payment of filing fees by winning bidders in auctions of construction permits in the broadcast services. The FCC adopted this NPRM on February 28, 2011, and released the text on March 3, 2011. It is FCC 11-21 in GEN Docket No. 86-285. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 1, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 63, at Pages 18137-18138.

Deadline to submit comments to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding its Agreement Containing Consent Order [9 pages in PDF] with Google regarding Google Buzz. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 5, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 65, at Pages 18762-18765. See also, stories titled "FTC Issues and Settles Complaint Against Google" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,213, March 31, 2011, and "EPIC Launches Campaign Regarding FTC Settlement with Google on Buzz" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,218, April 6, 2011.

10:00 AM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Communications and Technology will hold a hearing titled "FCC Process Reform". See, notice. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The House Intelligence Committee (HIC) will hold a closed hearing titled "Consolidated Cryptologic Program FY 20012 Budget Overview". See, notice. Location: Room HVC-304, Capitol Visitor Center.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Cybersource Corp. v. Retail Decisions, Inc., App. Ct. No. 2009-1358, an appeal from the U.S. District Court (NDCal) in a business method patent case involving a method and system for detecting fraud in a credit card transaction between a consumer and a merchant over the internet. Location: Courtroom 402, 717 Madison Place, NW.

10:15 AM. The House Judiciary Committee (HJC) will hold a hearing titled "Oversight Hearing on the United States Department of Justice". See, notice. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

10:30 AM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold a hearing titled "White House Transparency, Visitor Logs and Lobbyists". See, notice. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is also investigating this issue, and in particular, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski's frequent White House visits. Location: Room 2322, Rayburn Building.

12:15 - 1:30 PM. The DC Bar Association and the Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) will host a brown bag lunch titled "Consumer Privacy -- Is there an App for That?". Location: Latham & Watkins, Suite 1000, 555 11th St.,  NW.

3:00 - 4:30 PM. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host a panel discussion titled "Medical Data Innovation: Building the Foundations of a Health Information Economy". The speakers will be Cathy Betz (Wolters Kluwer Pharma Solutions), Marc Rodwin (Suffolk University law school), Ann Waldo (Wittie Letsche & Waldo), and Daniel Castro (ITIF). See, notice and registration page. Location: ITIF/ITIC, Suite 610A, 1101 K St., NW.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding implementation of S 30 [LOC | WW], the "Truth in Caller ID Act. This statute prohibits caller ID spoofing, but only if the purpose is to defraud or cause harm. See, stories titled "Obama Signs Truth in Caller ID Act" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,187, December 23, 2010, and "House Passes Truth in Caller ID Act" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,180, December 16, 2010. The FCC adopted and released this NPRM on March 9, 2011. It is FCC 11-41 in WC Docket No. 11-39. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 23, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 56, at Pages 16367-16375.