5/11. Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) and others introduced HR 1834 [LOC | WW | PDF], "The Freedom to Invest Act", a tax bill that would provide a one time earnings repatriation holiday. It is popular with many US tech companies.

This bill would amend the Internal Revenue Code to provide a one time deduction for US owners of foreign corporations that repatriate certain foreign earned income. This is a stand alone repatriation holiday bill, rather than a comprehensive reform of corporate taxation.

The US corporate tax system is old and outdated. Also, it imposes the comparatively high rate of 35%. And, it is vulnerable to the criticism that it makes the US less competitive internationally, and incents companies to locate outside the US.

There are other proposals for reform, such as overall reduction of the tax rate, and shifting to territorial, or source based, tax. The repatriation holiday proposal is particularly popular with information and communications technology companies. Some other industry sectors oppose it, and seek other changes to tax law instead.

This bill would amend 26 U.S.C. § 965, titled the "Temporary dividends received deduction", which currently provides for a 85% deduction for certain "cash dividends" received by a "United States shareholder" from "controlled foreign corporations". However, Section 965 only provides this deduction for the tax years 2004 through 2006.

This bill would allow the deduction of Section 965, but only for the tax years 2011 and 2012. Also, the reduction in tax would be reduced if the taxpaying company does not maintain an average employment level at least equal to its prior average employment.

In short, under current US tax system, US companies are taxed on a worldwide basis, but allowed foreign tax credits. Also, US companies can defer the tax on profits earned by foreign subsidiaries until dividends are paid to the US parent company. HR 1834 would allow US companies, for tax years 2011 or 2012, to receive dividends from their foreign subsidiaries, and receive an 85% deduction in tax, providing for an effective tax rate of 5.25%. The argument of the sponsors and supporters is that it would incent companies with foreign subsidiaries to send money to the US, that money would be invested in the US, and that investment would boost economic activity and employment in the US.

Rep. Brady (at right) stated in a release that "This is about creating jobs, expanding U.S. businesses and strengthening American companies."

The original cosponsors are Rep. Jim Matheson (D-UT), Rep. Robert Dold (R-IL), Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN), Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) and Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO).

Rep. Cooper stated that "Our corporate tax rates are the highest in the world and they keep American companies from investing their overseas earnings here in the United States, ... Over $1 trillion is sitting in foreign banks; money that could be used to create jobs and get our economy back on track."

Rep. Polis added that in addition to this bill, "we still need comprehensive tax simplification with a  lower overall rate to help U.S. companies keep their competitive edge".

Rep. Matheson stated in a release that "Under this measure, companies who would return any foreign profits—above and beyond what they would ordinarily return -- would be taxed at a fraction of the current 35% corporate tax rate. At no cost to taxpayers, the extra money would help companies expand here at home and provide revenue to the federal treasury that it otherwise would not get".

Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA), the House Majority Leader, stated in a release that "repatriation is an interim step that we can take to encourage businesses to bring investment back into our country. Such a step adds capital that would otherwise go overseas directly into our economy which will help create jobs, investment, and growth. I applaud the introduction of this bipartisan legislation".

A coalition of companies and trade groups operating under the title of "Working to Invest Now in America" or "WIN America" states in its web site that "Congress should pass legislation to offer an immediate reduction of taxation on income earned overseas by innovative American businesses to allow that money to be brought home and invested in the United States."

WIN America represents many technology related companies and groups. Its company members include Adobe, Apple, Broadcom, Cisco, Google, Microsoft, Oracle, and Qualcomm. Its trade group members include the Association for Competitive Technology (ACT), Business Software Alliance (BSA), Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA), Tech America (TA), and Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA).

The WIN America adds that "Currently, there is over $1 trillion earned by American businesses trapped overseas. We strongly support corporate tax reform – it is essential to keeping us competitive. But as Washington works on broader reform -- likely to be a long process -- an essential first step would be to allow these worldwide American businesses the freedom to bring up to $1 trillion in global earnings home to invest it now into our still fragile economy. Unfortunately, our broken tax system actually penalizes U.S. businesses that want to bring their global earnings to America."

Grant Seiffert, head of the TIA, stated in a release that "With over 95% of the world's population outside of the United States it's no surprise that foreign subsidiaries of American companies are earning profits abroad ... However, our tax code inhibits the repatriation of these earnings due to prohibitively high U.S. tax rates on this income. ... Providing U.S. companies with the option to repatriate these earnings at a 5.25% tax rate is a terrific incentive to bring these dollars back for investment in the United States".

5/12. The House Ways and Means Committee (HWMC) held a hearing titled "The Need for Comprehensive Tax Reform to Help American Companies Compete in the Global Market and Create Jobs for American Workers". It considered proposals for corporate tax reform, including a one time repatriation holiday.

Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI), the Chairman of the HWMC, wrote in his opening statement that "It's been 25 years since we reformed the tax code, and almost 50 years since we undertook a bottom-up review of our international tax laws."

He said that "a common complaint that we hear from American companies trying to compete abroad is that our tax code, with its complexity and its high corporate rates, acts as a hindrance. The tax code's antiquated features have diminished the attractiveness of the U.S. as the premiere country in which to locate a business."

He continued that "America's combined federal-state corporate tax rate of 39.2 percent is only outpaced by Japan's rate of 39.5 percent -- and Japan has already indicated its intent to lower its rate. Such action will leave America with the highest corporate tax rate in the world -- 50 percent higher than the 26-percent average rate for OECD countries."

Moreover, "the U.S. is one of the last major economies to operate a worldwide tax system for active business income, which many believe is a further barrier to the growth of American companies.

Rep. Camp concluded that "Ensuring long-term prosperity in the face of increasing global competition requires Congress to re-examine the tax code.  As we pursue comprehensive tax reform, this Committee intends to develop solutions that empower American companies to become more competitive and make the U.S. a more attractive place to invest and create the jobs this country needs."

See also, opening statement of Rep. Sander Levin (D-MI), the ranking Democrat on the HWMC.

Jane Gravelle of the Congressional Research Service (CRS) wrote in her prepared testimony [10 pages in PDF] that "The current U.S. system for taxing international business is a hybrid of worldwide and territorial principles. In part the system is based on a residence principle, applying U.S. taxes on a worldwide basis to U.S. firms while granting foreign tax credits, to alleviate double taxation. The system, however, also permits U.S. firms to defer the tax on profits earned by foreign subsidiaries until dividends are paid to the U.S. parent."

She added that "Deferral means that the U.S. system, while generally residence-based, has elements of a territorial system. It also encourages firms to conduct activities and retain earnings abroad."

She discussed proposals to move to either a worldwide or territorial system, and to reduce the tax rate. She also discussed repatriation holidays.

She said that "One aspect of our deferral system is that it encourages firms to retain profits abroad if they are in circumstances where adequate foreign tax credits do not exist to offset U.S. tax. This incentive is somewhat constrained because if firms pay taxes in the future they will pay them with interest and because funds may be needed to pay dividends. This incentive could, however, be eliminated either through a territorial tax or through a repeal of deferral."

She also said that there was a repatriation holiday in 2004, and that the evidence suggests "that funds were used to pay shareholders" and "that the holiday increased the tendency of firms to retain profits abroad in later years, possibly in anticipation of another holiday".

In contrast, Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX), a member of the HWMC, wrote in a May 11, 2011, release that "A similar law passed in 2004 resulted in an inflow of $312 billion in private capital that likely would have stayed abroad otherwise. Companies like Adobe, Oracle and Duke Energy used this cash to create or retain jobs, finance new capital spending and pay down domestic debt."

As for another repatriation holiday, Gravelle said that "the arguments are perhaps less compelling currently because of the large amount of liquid funds already held by corporations", and because granting another holiday might "reinforce firms' beliefs that they will periodically be allowed to repatriate at a low tax cost, and might further encourage future retentions abroad".

5/12. The House Judiciary Committee (HJC) approved, without amendment, HR 1800 [LOC | WW], the "FISA Sunsets Reauthorization Act of 2011".

Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) introduced this bill on Friday, May 6, 2011. The HJC's Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security held a hearing on Wednesday, May 11. See also, story titled "House Judiciary Committee to Mark Up Surveillance Sunsets Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,237, May 10, 2011, and story titled "House Crime Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Extending Surveillance Provisions" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,239, May 12, 2011.

The final vote was 22-13. But first, the HJC rejected numerous amendments, all of which were offered by Democrats. It held seven roll call votes on amendments. Some were off topic.

The Committee divided largely along partisan lines. On the roll call votes on amendments, no Republican cast a vote in favor, and no Democrat cast a vote against.

However, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX), who has expressed concerns about the bill, and government surveillance activities generally, did not vote in the first five roll calls. And, on the final vote, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) voted against the bill, while Puerto Rico's Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi (D-PR) and Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) voted for the bill.

On May 27, 2011, three provisions of surveillance law are scheduled to sunset. The three provisions are codified in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). They pertain to (1) treating lone wolf individuals like agents of foreign governments or terrorists organizations (see, 50 U.S.C. § 1801(b)'s definition of the term "agent of a foreign power"), (2) access to business records, including library records (see, 50 U.S.C. § 1861 as amended by Section 215 of the 2001 surveillance act), and (3) roving wiretaps (see, 50 U.S.C. § 1805).

This short bill provides a six year extension (until December 31, 2017) of the sunset for roving wiretap and Section 215 business records authority. It makes permanent lone wolf authority.

The HJC rejected an amendment offered by Rep. Sheila Lee (D-TX) that would have provided a three year sunset for Section 215, roving wiretap, and lone wolf authority. It failed on a roll call vote of 11-20. The HJC divided along partisan lines.

The HJC rejected an amendment offered by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) that would have excluded library records from Section 215 authority. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) argued that the amendment "could make libraries a safe haven for spies and terrorists". It failed on a roll call vote of 10-17. The HJC divided along partisan lines.

The HJC rejected an amendment offered by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) that would have provided a heightened standard for obtaining library records under Section 215. It failed on a roll call vote of 11-21. The HJC divided along partisan lines.

The HJC rejected an amendment offered by Rep. Lee that would have required the President to submit a report to the Congress regarding whether the current degree of secrecy of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) is necessary. It failed on a roll call vote of 11-20. The HJC divided along partisan lines.

The HJC rejected an amendment offered by Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) regarding the collection of location information from personal electronic devices, such as cell phones tablet computers. Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) argued that this amendment relates to private sector marketing, not the three government surveillance provisions addressed in HR 1800. He said that "this is an issue for another time and place". This amendment failed on a voice vote.

The HJC rejected an amendment offered by Rep. Johnson that would have imposed new requirements for approval of lone wolf orders, and imposed new reporting requirements. It failed on a voice vote.

The HJC rejected an amendment offered by Rep. Johnson that would have added the requirement that requests for roving wiretaps describe the target "with particularity". It failed on a voice vote of 11-18. The HJC divided along partisan lines.

The HJC rejected an amendment offered by Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) that would have allowed individuals served with a Section 215 order for records to immediately challenge in court an associated gag order. Currently, the statute provides that one must wait one year before seeking judicial review.

The HJC also rejected an amendment offered by Rep. Chu that would have provided for annual reports by the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Office of the Inspector General (OIG). She said that these reviews would extend to use of Section 215 and pen register and trap and trace authority.

It was DOJ/OIG reports that disclosed wrongdoing by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the use of national security letters (NSLs) and exigent letters.

The two amendments offered by Rep. Chu failed in an en bloc vote of 12-18. The HJC divided along partisan lines.

Finally, the HJC rejected an off topic amendment offered by Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) regarding sale of firearms. It failed on a roll call vote of 11-21. The HJC divided along partisan lines.

The Senate has not yet passed this or another bill regarding extending these sunsets. However, on March 10, 2011, the Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) approved S 193 [LOC | WW], the "USA PATRIOT Act Sunset Extension Act of 2011".

5/12. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted, but did not release, a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding further expansion of its network outage reporting requirements to also cover broadband internet access service (BIAS) providers and voice over internet protocol (VOIP) providers.

The FCC did not release this NPRM. It only released a short press release and statements by four Commissioners. The FCC release states that this NPRM "proposes to expand outage reporting requirements relating to 9-1-1 to interconnected VoIP providers and broadband Internet service providers".

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski made the case for imposing this mandate in his prepared statement. He said that people "increasingly rely on broadband networks and services", which are not subject to the FCC's current outage reporting requirements, so "if Hurricane Katrina were to happen again, or if there was another attack on American soil, we simply wouldn't have the facts to ascertain the impact on our critical communications infrastructure."

The FCC created its network outage reporting requirements for wireline phone service providers in 1992. It has since expanded this mandate to encompass voice and paging services provided by regulated wireline, wireless, cable and satellite service providers. However, the Communications Act contains no provision that directs the FCC to impose network outage reporting requirements. Moreover, the Act does not authorize the FCC to regulate BIAS providers. Hence, this NPRM proposes that the FCC impose a mandate without statutory authority.

FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell wrote in his statement that "we do not have Congress's authority to act as suggested". However, he still voted for this item.

The FCC's release does not cite any statutory authority.

FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn asserted in her statement that "the President has assigned the FCC the mission essential function of ensuring continuous operation of critical communications services". She also asserted that 47 U.S.C. § 615a-1 provides a Congressional mandate.

However, this section pertains only to VOIP service providers, and not to BIAS providers. Moreover, its only reference to "network outages" is in the context of cooperative efforts to develop "best practices" for, among other things, "call-handling in the event of call overflow or network outages". The subsection that directs the FCC to write regulations says nothing about reporting network outages.

Also, network outage is an old concept, applicable to the PSTN, PSAPs and ANI/ALI. If the FCC does expand its mandate, it will have to rewrite its definitions to explain what is a network outage in the context of internet access.

The FCC release states that this NPRM also "seeks comment on the definition of outage reporting for these services, the proposed reporting thresholds, the effectiveness of mandatory reporting, how the reporting process should work, what information should be reported, and confidential treatment of the outage reports."

The FCC issued a Public Notice (PN) [6 pages in PDF] on this subject on July 2, 2010. That PN is DA 10-1245 in ET Docket No. 04-35, WC Docket No. 05-271, and GN Docket Nos. 09-47, 09-51, and 09-137.

This NPRM is FCC 11-74 in PS Docket No. 11-82.

5/12. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted, but did not release, a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding removing certain regulations governing the exchange of telephone traffic between U.S. and foreign carriers. See, FCC release. This NPRM is FCC 11-75 in IB Docket No. 05-254.

The FCC also adopted, but did not release, a Report and Order (R&O) and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) regarding eliminating certain reporting requirements regarding international telephone service. See, FCC release. This item is FCC 11-76 in IB Docket No. 04-112.

FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell summarized these items in his statement. "Today, the FCC takes a small but positive step toward eliminating unnecessary reporting requirements regarding international telephone service. The Commission is also issuing a further notice seeking comment on streamlining remaining international data reporting to ensure our rules are relevant in light of a rapidly evolving market. Furthermore, we are also voting on a companion notice of proposed rulemaking on potentially eliminating the international settlements policy altogether. This notice recognizes the fundamental progress made in the marketplace while also asking important questions on areas where the Commission may need to maintain a more active presence."

AT&T stated in a release that this order "is a welcome measure that will eliminate unnecessary burdens on industry and the FCC.  Indeed, the reporting requirements removed today had ceased to have any relevance to the Commission's duties because of increased competition in the markets and associated changes in Commission policies."

AT&T also stated that the FCC's International Settlements Policy is now "at best obsolete, and at worst, an unintended impediment to further competition by US carriers in a global marketplace".

The House will meet at 9:00 AM for legislation business. It will resume consideration of HR 754 [LOC | WW], the "Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011", subject to a rule. See, stories titled "Intelligence Authorization Bills Seek to Counter WikiLeaks" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,235, May 7, 2011, and "House Rules Committee Adopts Rule for Consideration of Intelligence Authorization Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,239, May 12, 2011. See, Rep. Cantor's schedule for week of May 9.

The Senate will not meet.

RESCHEDULED FROM MAY 3. 10:00 AM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Communications and Technology will hold a hearing titled "FCC Process Reform". The witnesses will be the five members of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). See, notice. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The House Foreign Affairs Committee's (HFAC) Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights will hold a hearing titled "China’s Latest Crackdown on Dissent". See, notice. Location: Room 2172, Rayburn Building.

1:00 PM. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Office of Law Enforcement Standards (OLES) and the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Office for Interoperability and Compatibility (OIC) will host a teleconferenced meeting regarding testing for conformity with interoperability standards for public safety communications. This meeting pertains to Project 25 (P25). These agencies state that "An initial goal of P25 is to specify formal standards for interfaces between the components of a land mobile radio (LMR) system. LMR systems are commonly used by emergency responders in portable handheld and mobile vehicle-mounted devices. Although formal standards are being developed, no process is currently in place to confirm that LMR equipment advertised as P25-compliant meets all aspects of P25 standards." The deadline to request to attend is May 6. The deadline to submit written comments is May 6. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 29, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 83, at Pages 23992-23993.

4:45 - 6:15 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a webcast panel discussion titled "Cloud Computing: Will It Reduce IT Costs?". Prices vary. CLE credits. See, notice and registration page.

5:00 PM. Deadline to submit applications to participate in the June 20, 2001, cyber security research workshop hosted by the National Coordination Office for Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NCO/NITRD) titled "Abnormal Behavior Detection Finds Malicious Actors". This is part of its series titled "Assumption Buster Workshops". See, NITRD issue summary, and notice in the Federal Register, April 25, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 79, at Pages 22925-22926.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [152 pages in PDF] regarding disability access and S 3828 [LOC | WW], the "Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010" (CVAA), signed into law on October 8, 2010, and S 3304 [LOC | WW]. This NPRM proposes to adopt rules implementing the new Section 716 of the Communications Act. The CVAA, at S 3304, Title I, Section 104, gives the FCC sweeping direction and authority to regulate "user equipment, network equipment, and software" to ensure that it is "accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities". The FCC adopted this item on March 2, 20111, and released the text on March 3, 2011. It is FCC 11-37 in CG Docket No. 10-213, WT Docket No. 96-198, CG Docket No. 10-145. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 14, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 49, at Pages 13799-13849.

The House will be in recess the week of Monday, May 16 through Friday, May 20.

The Senate will meet at 2:00 PM.

9:30 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir) will hear oral argument in Warren C. Havens v. FCC, App. Ct. No. 02-1359. Judges Sentelle, Ginsburg and Garland will preside. Location: 333 Constitution Ave., NW.

10:30 AM - 12:00 NOON. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will host an event titled "Cybersecurity Roundtable: Protecting Small Businesses". See, notice. The FCC will webcast this event. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room, 445 12th St., SW.

12:00 NOON - 3:00 PM. The Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI) will host an event titled "Growing Trade, Growing Jobs: The Benefits and Challenges of Free Trade". The keynote speakers will be Stan McCoy (Assistant USTR for IP & Innovation) and Mike Moore (New Zealand Ambassador to the US). There will also be a panel titled "How Expanding Trade Benefits U.S. Job Creation" and another panel titled "Pending Challenges: Exploring Patents, Copyrights, Data Flow & IT Services". This event is free and open to the public. To register, contact Erin Humiston at erin at ipi dot org or 972-874-5139. Location: Holeman Lounge, National Press Club, 529 14th St., NW.

5:00 PM. Deadline to submit requests to participate in the two day meeting of the Copyright Office (CO) on June 2-3, 2011, regarding bringing sound recordings fixed before February 15, 1972 under federal jurisdiction. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 89, Monday, May 9, 2011, at Pages 26769-26771. See also, notice in the Federal Register, November 3, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 212, at Pages 67777-67781, and 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, 2011.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its 2nd Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (2ndFNPRM), regarding broadcasting near tribal lands. This item is FCC 11-28 in MB Docket No. 09-52. The FCC adopted and released this item on March 3, 2011. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 16, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 51, at Pages 14362-14366.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding video relay service (VRS) rates. The FCC adopted this item on April 14, 2011, and released it on April 15, 2011. It is FCC 11-62 in CG Docket Nos. 10-51 and 03-123. See, notice in the Federal Register, May 2, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 84, at Pages 24442-24443.

8:00 -10:00 AM. Broadband Census News LLC will host a panel discussion titled "International Hacking and Cybersecurity: Is the Internet Secure Enough?" "AT&T - T-Mobile: Going Big or Going Home?". Breakfast will be served. This event is open to the public. The price to attend is $47.12. See, notice and registration page. This event is also sponsored by the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA), Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) and USTelecom. Location: Clyde's of Gallery Place, 707 7th St., NW.

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host a panel discussion titled "Waves of Innovation: Spectrum Allocation in the Age of the Mobile Internet". The speakers will be Charles Jackson (George Washington University), Matthew Hussey (office of Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME)), Thomas Hazlett (George Mason University), Steven Crowley, and Richard Bennett (ITIF). See, notice and registration page. Location: Room 2168, Rayburn Building, Capitol Hill.

TIME? The National Coordination Office for Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NCO/NITRD) will host a workshop on cyber security research  titled "Distributed Data Schemes Provide Security". See, NITRD issue summary and notice in the Federal Register, March 28, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 59, at Page 17158-17159. Location: __, Gaithersburg, MD.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [158 pages in PDF] regarding video description rules. This would reinstate and modify the video description rules adopted by the FCC in 2000, and subsequently vacated by the U.S. Court of Appeals, pursuant to S 3828 [LOC | WW], the "Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010" (CVAA), signed into law on October 8, 2010, and S 3304 [LOC | WW], at Title II, Section 202. The FCC adopted this item on March 2, 20111, and released the text on March 3, 2011. It is FCC 11-36 in MB Docket No. 11-43. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 18, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 53, at Pages 14856-14871.

Deadline to submit comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding possible elimination of ten year old rules, pursuant to Section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980. See, notice in the Federal Register, March 18, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 53, at Pages 14871-14882.

8:30 AM - 3:30 PM. The National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Technology Innovation Program (TIP) Advisory Board will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 1, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 63, at Pages 18166-18167, and notice in the Federal Register, April 22, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 78, at Pages 22673-22674. Location: NIST, Portrait Room, Building 101, Gaithersburg, MD.

1:00 - 4:00 PM. The Department of Transportation's (DOT) Intelligent Transportation Systems Program Advisory Committee (ITS/PAC) will host a web conference on ITS. The deadline to submit requests to participate is May 11. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 25, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 79, at Page 22940.

6:00 - 7:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) will host an event titled "Management of Federal Spectrum -- A Guide to NTIA Procedures, Intersecting NTIA/FCC Issues, and Navigating the Maze". CLE credits. The deadline to register is 5:00 PM on May 16. Prices vary. Location: __.

Deadline to submit comments to the Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Telecommunications and Information Administration's (NTIA) Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee regarding matters to be discussed at its May 25, 2011, meeting. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 28, 2011 Vol. 76, No. 82, at Pages 23796-23797.

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

9:00 AM - 5:30 PM. Day one of a two day meeting of the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Advisory Committee for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences. See, notice in the Federal Register, April 29, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 83, at Page 24062. Location: NSF, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Stafford II, Room 555, Arlington, VA.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold an executive business meeting. The agenda again includes consideration of S 623 [LOC | WW], the "Sunshine in Litigation Act". The SJC rarely follows its published agendas. The SJC will webcast this event. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

10:00 PM. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Reform Committee (SHSGRC) will hold a hearing titled "Ten Years After 9/11: Is Intelligence Reform Working?: Part II". See, notice. The SHSBRC will webcast this hearing. Location: Room 342, Dirksen Building.

11:00 AM - 1:00 PM. The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee will meet by teleconference. See, notice in the Federal Register, May 4, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 86, at Pages 25361-25362.

12:00 NOON - 1:00 PM. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host a panel discussion titled "Life in the Cloud: A View of Cloud Computing for Personal, Business and Government Use". The speakers will be Jeff Bergeron (HP), Karen Kerrigan (Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council), and Robert Atkinson (ITIF). See, notice. Register at hpinnovationrsvp at pstrategies dot com. Location: Room 2203, Rayburn Building, Capitol Hill.

12:30 - 2:00 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a brown bag lunch. The speaker will be Timothy Reif (General Counsel of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative). Free. No CLE credits. Reporters are barred from this event. See, notice. Location: Wilmer Hale, 1875 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

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

2:30 - 3:30 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a webcast panel discussion titled "Ethics of Social Networking". Prices vary. CLE credits. See, notice and registration page.

Deadline to submit comments to the Copyright Office (CO) in response to its proposal to amend its rules to "provide reporting of uses of sound recordings performed by means of digital audio transmissions pursuant to statutory license for the period April 1, 2004, through December 1, 2009". See, notice in the Federal Register, April 19, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 75, at Pages 21833-21835.

9:00 AM - 1:00 PM. Day two of a two day meeting of the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Advisory Committee for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences. The agenda for May 20 includes consideration of "Cyberinfrastructure Framework for the 21st Century". See, notice in the Federal Register, April 29, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 83, at Page 24062. Location: NSF, 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Stafford II, Room 555, Arlington, VA.

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) regarding its draft NIST IR-7511 Rev. 2 [41 pages in PDF] titled "Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP) Version 1.0 Validation Program Test Requirements".

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) regarding its draft NIST IR-7696 [32 pages in PDF] titled "Common Platform Enumeration: Name Matching Specification Version 2.3".

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Inquiry (NOI) [46 pages in PDF] regarding how its rules and policies could be modified to provide greater economic, market entry, communication adoption opportunities, and incentives for Native Nations. This notice is FCC 11-30 in CG Docket No. 11-41. The FCC adopted it on March 3, 2011, and released the text on March 4, 2011. See, notice in the Federal Register: April 5, 2011, Vol. 76, No. 65, at Pages 18759-18761.

5/12. President Obama announced that he wants a two year extension of the term of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Robert Mueller.

Mueller (at left) is serving a ten year term that ends on September 4, 2011. See, White House news office release.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, stated that the FBI "has seen significant transformation since September 11, 2001, and Director Mueller has handled this evolution with professionalism and focus. The FBI plays a critical role in our efforts to protect national security. I appreciate Director Mueller's continued service to the nation, and I am fully supportive of this decision".

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), the ranking Republican on the SJC, stated in a release that "This is an unusual step by the President, and is somewhat of a risky precedent to set. Thirty-five years ago Congress limited the FBI director's term to one, 10-year appointment as an important safeguard against improper political influence and abuses of the past. There's no question that Director Mueller has proven his ability to run the FBI. And, we live in extraordinary times. So, I’m open to the President's idea, but I will need to know more about his plan to ensure that this is not a more permanent extension that would undermine the purposes of the term limit."

5/12. The Senate confirmed Michael Urbanski to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court (WDVa) by a vote of 94-0. See, Roll Call No. 70.

5/11. Former Representative and Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R-GA) announced his candidacy for President in 2102.

5/11. Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) was named to the Senate Finance Committee (SFC), which has jurisdiction over trade issues. See, SFC release.

5/12. Burson Marsteller (BM), a public relations firm, disclosed in a release that it "undertook an assignment" for Facebook, which "requested that its name be withheld". The Wall Street Journal wrote in a May 12, 2011, story by Geoffrey Fowler and Amir Efrati titled "Facebook Hired PR Firm to Target Google" that "The social-networking company secretly hired a public-relations firm to push stories critical of Google's privacy practices." BM stated that "Whatever the rationale, this was not at all standard operating procedure and is against our policies, and the assignment on those terms should have been declined."

5/12. Microsoft released an report [89 pages in PDF] titled "Security Intelligence Report: Volume 10".

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