8/25. As directed by statute, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted a Report and Order (R&O) [48 pages in PDF] that reinstates and revises its video description rules. These rules mandate that audio be added to certain television programming to describe video content for the benefit of blind and visually impaired people.

The rules state that video description is the "insertion of audio narrated descriptions of a television program's key visual elements into natural pauses between the program's dialogue".

The rules will be reinstated on October 8, 2011. The compliance deadline is July 1, 2012.

The FCC adopted a Report & Order in 2000 that included video description rules. That R&O is FCC 00-258 in MM Docket No. 99-339. However, the FCC lacked statutory authority to impose that mandate in 2000.

In 2002, the U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir) vacated that order in MPAA v. FCC, 309 F.3d 796. See, story titled "DC Circuit Vacates FCC's Video Description Rules" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 547, November 12, 2002.

Although, some broadcasters and cable companies continued to provide video description without any statutory or regulatory mandate.

Late last year the 111th Congress enacted the "Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010", or CVAA, a huge bill, that among other things, directed the FCC to reinstate and revise its video description rules.

See, S 3304 [LOC | WW], previously titled the "Equal Access to 21st Century Communications Act", which contains the substantive language, and S 3828 [LOC | WW], the "Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010", which President Obama signed into law on October 8, 2010. It is now Public Law No. 111-260.

Section 202 of Title II of S 3304 provides that the FCC "shall, after a rulemaking, reinstate its video description regulations contained" in its 2000 R&O. Section 202 also provides that "Such regulations shall be modified" as specified in the statute.

The FCC adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [158 pages in PDF] on March 2, 2011. It released the text on March 3, 2011. It is FCC 11-36 in MB Docket No. 11-43.

The just adopted rules provide that "Commercial television broadcast stations that are affiliated with one of the top four commercial television broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC), and that are licensed to a community located in the top 25 DMAs, as determined by The Nielsen Company as of January 1, 2011, must provide 50 hours of video description per calendar quarter, either during prime time or on children's programming, on each programming stream on which they carry one of the top four commercial television broadcast networks." (Parentheses in original.)

Also, "Beginning July 1, 2015, commercial television broadcast stations that are affiliated with one of the top four commercial television broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC), and that are licensed to a community located in the top 60 DMAs, as determined by The Nielsen Company as of January 1, 2015, must provide 50 hours of video description per calendar quarter, either during prime time or on children's programming, on each programming stream on which they carry one of the top four commercial television broadcast networks." (Parentheses in original.)

And, "Multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD) systems that serve 50,000 or more subscribers must provide 50 hours of video description per calendar quarter during prime time or children's programming, on each channel on which they carry one of the top five national nonbroadcast networks, as defined by an average of the national audience share during prime time of nonbroadcast networks that reach 50 percent or more of MVPD households and have at least 50 hours per quarter of prime time programming that is not live or near-live or otherwise exempt under these rules." (Parentheses in original.)

The rules also contain a pass through requirement. The rules also exempt "live or near live" programming. Also, the rules do not reach "consumer-generated media".

The National Association of Broadcasters' (NAB) Zamir Ahmed stated in a release that the "NAB applauds the leadership of Chairman Genachowski in implementing the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010. We appreciate the efforts of the Chairman, his fellow Commissioners and the FCC staff to craft rules that work for all the interested parties. Broadcasters are committed to meeting the programming needs of all members of their local communities. We look forward to working with the agency on a practical approach that ensures this service to the visually impaired community is realized on a timely and reasonable basis."

The National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA) stated in a release that "We commend the Commission's balanced approach in implementing the video description requirements of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010. The Order adopted by the Commission today provides the cable industry the flexibility to implement the rules in a responsible way that will serve the interests of those who are visually impaired."

The FCC adopted this R&O on August 24, 2011, and released the text on August 25, 2011. It is FCC 11-126 in MB Docket No. 11-43.

8/19. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced that it will hold an event titled "public workshop" on September 8, 2011, in connection with two broadband related proceeding in which the FCC seeks to expand old communications regulatory regimes into VOIP and broadband. See, notice.

The FCC has an open rulemaking proceeding regarding expansion and adaptation of its outage reporting requirements to cover broadband internet access service (BIAS) providers and interconnected voice over internet protocol (VOIP) service providers, and an open inquiry proceeding regarding expansion and adaptation of its reliability and continuity standards to cover broadband networks.

The FCC lacks statutory authority to expand either of these regulatory regimes.

On May 12, 2011, the FCC adopted and released its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [62 pages in PDF] regarding expanding the entities covered by outage reporting requirements. It released this NPRM on May 13. See, story titled "FCC Proposes Expanding Outage Reporting Requirements to VOIP and BIAS Providers" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,240, May 13, 2011. It is FCC 11-74 in PS Docket No. 11-82.

On April 7, 2011, the FCC adopted a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) [26 pages in PDF] regarding whether the FCC should impose standards of reliability and resiliency of broadband networks. It is FCC 11-55 in Docket No. 11-60. September 1 is the deadline to submit reply comments.

This event will be held from 9:30 AM to 3:00 PM in the FCC's Commission Meeting Room. The FCC will webcast this event. The FCC will condition attendance, either in person or online, upon pre-registration by September 6. See, registration page.

8/19. Xi Jinping, Vice President of the People's Republic of China (PRC), gave speech in Beijing in which he addressed intellectual property rights (IPR) protection in the PRC, and export controls in the US.

He stated that "China will continue to free its mind and stay committed to reform and opening up. We will -- running the country according to the law, and make continual improvements to our laws and regulations related to foreign business cooperation. We will intensify IPR protection and treat all businesses as equals in terms of the accreditation of indigenous innovation products and government procurement."

He also stated that "At the same time, we hope the United States will eliminate the interferences of trade and investment protectionism. We hope that there will be early and concrete actions on the part of the United States on issues which are of high concern to the Chinese side, including easing the export restrictions of high-tech products to China and providing a fair environment for Chinese businesses to make investment in the United States."

8/21. Vice President Joe Biden gave a speech at the Sichuan University in Chengdu, People's Republic of China (PRC). He said that the US and PRC share the same interests in mutual prosperity, trade, and cooperation. He also addressed reform of export controls in the US, protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) in the PRC, and human rights and freedom.

"China and the United States face many of the same threats and share many of the same objectives and responsibilities", said Biden.

"We often hear about Chinese exports to the United States, but last year American companies in America exported $110 billion worth of goods and services to China, supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs in America." He said that "it's in our mutual interest in each of our countries to promote that exchange."

"A more prosperous China will mean more demand for American-made goods and services and more jobs back home in the United States of America. So our desire for your prosperity is not borne out of some nobility. It is in our self-interest that China continue to prosper." He continued that "as the world’s two largest economies with ever growing ties of investment and commerce, what you do matters to us and matters to the American people. And what we do matters to you and to the people of China. To state it bluntly, we have a stake in one another’s success.

He also discussed several technology related policy areas, including reforming the US visa system, modernizing the US export control regime, PRC restriction on foreign investment in the PRC, and PRC protection of intellectual property rights (IPR).

He said that the US "should undertake to make it easier for Chinese business people to obtain visas to travel to the United States. It takes much too long for that to happen."

He also said that the US is "in the midst of a total reform of our export control system. Already, we have made thousands of new items available for export to China for exclusive civilian use that were not available before, some of which require a license, while others don't. And tens of thousands of more items will become available very soon. That's a significant change in our export policy and a rejection of those voices in America that say we should not export that kind of technology to -- for civilian use in China. We disagree, and we're changing."

He also addressed foreign investment in the PRC. He said that "we are troubled when American investors are prohibited from having wholly owned, fully owned subsidiaries of their own company in many sectors in China and excluded from sectors, entirely excluded from competing in other sectors; restrictions that no other major economy in the world imposes on us or anyone else so broadly."

He also advocated greater protection of IPR. He said that "we have pushed Chinese officials to protect intellectual property rights. We have welcomed the Chinese State Council’s recent campaign to enforce intellectual property rights, a commitment that President Hu made when he visited and he’s keeping. But the effort must be strengthened and extended."

Biden said, citing the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC), that "American companies lose $48 billion a year and tens of thousands of jobs because of pirated goods and services. These protections -- intellectual property protections not only benefit the United States and United States workers, United States companies, but I would argue Chinese companies, as well, as they increasingly seek to safeguard their own creations."

He argued that "It's very much in your interest that intellectual property be protected because some of you are the future artists, the future entertainers, the future innovators who will want to be able to have a market for what you do.  But if it can be acquired cheaply and pirated, why would anybody pay you for the same service?"

8/25. Teresa Rea, Deputy Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), who has returned from a two week trip to the People's Republic of China (PRC), wrote a short piece titled "Report From China and a Look at Our China Team".

She disclosed that the USPTO and the PRC's State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) "are close to reaching an agreement on a Patent Prosecution Highway pilot" program.

She wrote that "My goals for this trip were to meet and speak with U.S. stakeholders in China about the challenges of patent enforcement in-country and develop recommendations; to promote and educate the Chinese inventor community on IP commercialization and technology transfer; and to promote bilateral cooperation with Chinese central-, provincial-, and municipal-level agencies responsible for IP administration and enforcement."

She also wrote that "We reinforced our commitment to sustained, consistent enforcement of IP rights, and encouraged continued support for education and capacity building."

She also discussed the USPTO's China Team. "China’s patent and trademark offices are among the largest in the world in terms of filings, and its intellectual property enforcement system is being increasingly utilized by U.S. right holders. Ensuring that the Chinese IP system works in an effective and efficient manner is essential to U.S. companies. That’s why the USPTO has an established “China team” consisting of seven attorneys in Alexandria and IP Attachés in Beijing and in Guangzhou, all with extensive knowledge and experience with China’s intellectual property system."

8/23. Eric Hinkes was named 2011-2012 Legal Policy Fellow at the Internet Education Foundation (IEF).

8/18. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published a notice in the Federal Register (FR) that lists the members of the FTC's Performance Review Board: Eileen Harrington (Executive Director), Willard Tom (General Counsel), Pauline Ippolito (Deputy Director of the Bureau of Economics), Richard Feinstein (Director of the Bureau of Competition), and Jessica Rich (Deputy Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection). See, FR, Vol. 76, No. 160, Thursday, August 18, 2011, at Pages 51368-51369.

8/15. Jorge Amigo Castaneda was named Vice Chairman of the International Intellectual Property Institute (IIPI). Bruce Lehman remains the Chairman of the IIPA. Castaneda is a former Director General of the Instituto Mexicano de la Propiedad Industrial (IMPI), or Mexican Institute of Intellectual Property. The IMPI is Mexico's counterpart to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

The House will meet in pro forma session at 10:30 AM.

The Senate will meet in pro forma session at 11:15 AM.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Public Notice (PN) seeking further comments in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding its Lifeline and Link Up Universal Service programs. The FCC released this PN on August 5, 2011. It is DA 11-1346 in WC Docket Nos. 03-109 and 11-42, and CC Docket No. 96-45. The FCC adopted this NPRM on March 3, 2011, and released it on March 4. It is FCC 11-32. See also, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 159, Wednesday, August 17, 2011, at Pages 50969-50971.

The House will not meet. It is in recess until 2:00 PM on September 7. However, it will hold pro forma sessions twice per week until then.

The Senate will not meet. It is in recess until 2:00 PM on September 6. However, it will hold pro forma sessions twice per week until then.

Deadline to submit comments to the Department of Transportation's (DOT) Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) in response to the notice in the Federal Register requesting comments regarding Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) learning, including "connected vehicle technology that will feature a connected transportation environment among vehicles, the infrastructure, and passengers' portable devices". See, Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 145, Thursday, July 28, 2011, at Pages 45334-45335.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Third Notice of Proposed Rule Making (3rdNPRM) [32 pages in PDF] regarding the impact of the enactment of the Local Community Radio Act of 2010 (LCRA) on "the procedures previously adopted to process the approximately 6,500 applications which remain pending from the 2003 FM translator window". The FCC adopted and released this item on July 12, 2011. It is FCC 11-105 in MM Docket No. 99-25 and MB Docket No. 07-172. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 146, Friday, July 29, 2011, at Pages 45491-45499, and story titled "FCC Adopts LPFM NPRM" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,258, July 14, 2011.

The House will meet in pro forma session at 10:00 AM.

The Senate will meet in pro forma session at 10:00 AM.

2:00 - 2:15 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a Training Tuesday webcast event titled "From Signature to E-Signature". See, notice. Free.

3:00 PM. Extended deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) regarding the governance structure for its National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC). See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 158, Tuesday, August 16, 2011, at Page 50719.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Inquiry (NOI) [27 pages in PDF] regarding rights of way policies and wireless facilities siting requirements. The FCC adopted and released this item on April 7, 2011. It is FCC 11-51 in WC Docket No. 11-59. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 95, Tuesday, May 17, 2011, at Pages 28397-28403.

Extended deadline for Bloomberg to file with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) its reply to Comcast's answer to its complaint regarding channel placement. See, story titled "Sen. Franken Writes FCC Regarding Bloomberg's Complaint Against Comcast" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,280, August 5, 2011.

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) regarding its draft SP 800-67 Rev. 1 [35 pages in PDF] titled "Recommendation for the Triple Data Encryption Algorithm (TDEA) Block Cipher".

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Public Notice regarding certain universal service and intercarrier compensation reform issues. The FCC released this item on August 3, 2011. It is DA 11-1348 in WC Docket Nos. 10-90, 07-135, 05-337, and 03-109, CC Docket Nos. 01-92 and 96-45, and GN Docket No. 09-51. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 154, Wednesday, August 10, 2011, at Pages 49401-49408.

10:00 AM - 2:30 PM. The American Constitution Society for Law and Policy will host an event titled "Legal Policy Shifts Since 9/11". At 10:00 - 11:30 AM there will be a panel titled "Surveillance". The speakers will be Kenneth Wainstein (O’Melveny & Myers, and former head of the DOJ's National Security Division), Jeffrey Rosen (George Washington University law school), Michael German (ACLU), Deepa Iyer (South Asian Americans Leading Together), Gregory Nojeim (Center for Democracy and Technology), and Suzanne Spaulding (Bingham Consulting Group). William Lietzau (Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Rule of Law and Detainee Policy) will be the lunch speaker. At 1:00 - 2:30 PM there will be a second panel. The speakers will be Charlie Savage (New York Times), David Cole (Georgetown University Law Center), Richard Klingler (Sidley Austin), Wendy Patten (Open Society Foundations), Deborah Pearlstein (Princeton University), Geoffrey Stone (University of Chicago Law School). Location: National Press Club, 13th floor, 529 14th St., NW.

12:00 NOON - 1:00 PM. Shannon Rossmiller, an independent online terrorism investigator, will give a speech. See, notice. Location: Heritage Foundation, 214 Massachusetts Ave., NE.

Deadline to submit Form 477 to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

The House will meet in pro forma session at 10:00 AM.

The Senate will meet in pro forma session at 10:00 AM.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [36 pages in PDF] regarding removing the International Settlements Policy (ISP) from all U.S. international routes except Cuba. The FCC adopted this NPRM on May 12, 2011, and released the text on May 13, 2011. This item is FCC 11-75 in IB Docket No. 11-80. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 138, Tuesday, July 19, 2011, at Pages 42625-42631.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [82 pages in PDF] regarding reporting requirements for providers of international telecommunications services. The FCC adopted this NPRM on May 12, 2011, and released the text on May 13, 2011. This item is FCC 11-76 in IB Docket No. 04-112. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 138, Tuesday, July 19, 2011, at Pages 42613-42625.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Public Notice (PN) seeking further comments in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding its Lifeline and Link Up Universal Service programs. The FCC released this PN on August 5, 2011. It is DA 11-1346 in WC Docket Nos. 03-109 and 11-42, and CC Docket No. 96-45. The FCC adopted this NPRM on March 3, 2011, and released it on March 4. It is FCC 11-32. See also, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 159, Wednesday, August 17, 2011, at Pages 50969-50971.

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) regarding its draft SP 800-53 Appendix J [24 pages in PDF] titled "Privacy Control Catalog".

8/25. The Obama administration launched a web site to publicize claims by the Obama administration that it is cutting waste and saving money. The URL is performance.gov. Jeffrey Zients, Deputy Director of the Executive Office of the President's (EOP) Office of Management and Budget (OMB) stated in a release that this web site "provides a window into the Obama Administration's approach to improving Federal Government performance and ensuring accountability of senior officials for achieving results".

8/23. The office of Sen. John Rockefeller (D-WV), the Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee (SCC), commented on emergency communications and the earthquake in the eastern US on on the August 23, 2011. His office issued a brief statement that this earthquake "is yet one more wake-up call that first responders need a unified, dedicated communications system that is interoperable and will work in times of emergency- like today when cell phone coverage is over-utilized and over-whelmed. When Congress returns in September- it's critical they immediately take up consideration of Sen. Rockefeller's spectrum bill because nothing's more important than the public's safety."

8/23. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released Public Notice regarding the three minute test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) scheduled for 2:00 PM on November 9, 2011. See also, the FCC's Public Notice of June 9, 2011.

8/23. The Washington Post published an editorial titled "Bill would help combat copyright offenders on the Internet". It pertains to S 968 [LOC | WW], the "Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2011", or PROTECT IP Act. "Fake goods -- from sneakers to pharmaceuticals -- are produced half a world away but can be marketed to U.S. consumers through foreign Web sites. Some sites stream pirated U.S.-produced or -owned movies and television shows. Such theft costs the copyright- or trademark-holders billions of dollars each year", the Washington Post states. "There may still be room to tweak these provisions to ensure that they are not more sweeping than necessary. But there is a need for a legal tool that stops those who persistently leech off of the innovations of others."

8/11. AT&T announced in a release that it is "investing in a new mobile security platform" that "will allow customers to better protect their devices against security threats." AT&T elaborated that it "has executed an agreement with Juniper Networks to deliver this security capability and additional services based on the platform in the future."

8/11. The National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) released its draft SP 800-38 F [31 pages in PDF] titled "Recommendation for Block Cipher Modes of Operation: Methods for Key Wrapping". The deadline to submit comments is October 1, 2011.

8/1. The National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) released its draft SP 800-133 [24 pages in PDF] titled "Recommendation for Cryptographic Key Generation". The deadline to submit comments to September 30, 2011.

7/28. The Public Utilities Commission of the State of California adopted an order that contains rules to protect the privacy and security of customer data generated by Smart Meters concerning the usage of electricity that are deployed by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), Southern California Edison Company (SCE), and San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E). These rules regulate access to this data by third parties, data breach notification, data security practices, data minimization, and customer access to data.

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