11/17. The Congressional Executive Commission on China (CECC) held a hearing titled "China's Censorship of the Internet and Social Media: The Human Toll and Trade Impact". The hearing addressed the use of internet censorship to restrict individual freedom in the People's Republic of China (PRC), and to protect PRC internet companies from outside competition.

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Co-Chairman of the CECC, stated that China has strengthened its control over the internet. He stated that "China's internet restrictions and controls not only hurts its citizens, but also hurts countries seeking to better China through international trade".

"China has not only failed to comply with its WTO commitments, it has exploited our expectations to create an unlevel playing field hurting the competitiveness of U.S. businesses and workers alike."

Rep. Smith said that "the promise of information technology cannot be achieved when it is used by repressive governments to find, capture, convict, and so often, torture ordinary citizens for voicing concerns publicly".

"Information technology cannot be advanced when it involves the systematic exclusion of commercial competitors in rampant disregard for transparency and intellectual property. China is one of the most repressive and restrictive countries when it comes to the control of the internet and the impact goes far beyond the commercial losses to U.S. companies that want to participate in that market."

He also pointed out that "sometimes it is U.S. companies" that provide the technology of repression. "Cisco has so enabled the secret police to track down people".

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), the other Co-Chairman, stated the purpose of the hearing is "to shed light on the darkness of China's repressive internet and social media censorship", which is also "unfair to U.S. trade interests, especially for U.S. tech companies".

He also noted that China blocks access to too many websites website of the CECC. "China's internet control forces private companies, including US. companies, to censor the internet on vague and arbitrary standards".

"This policy benefits Chinese domestic companies at the expense of companies like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

U.S. companies are "forced to be an arm of the Chinese government". He added that Facebook and Twitter are blocked, while Chinese companies that provide copycat versions and are beholden to the Chinese government, raise money on U.S. capital markets.

Ed Black, head of the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), wrote in his prepared testimony that "In addition to doing great injury to human rights, actions to restrict the free flow of information online also have serious economic repercussions."

"The Chinese government censors, blocks, and discriminates against foreign-based web services and content, practices which directly or indirectly advantage domestic firms. It has repeatedly blocked sites and services, including Facebook, Flickr, Foursquare, Google and Twitter", said Black. "China has singled out U.S. companies for censorship even when Chinese-owned services carry the same, banned content".

"This double standard strongly suggests that the motivation here is protectionism rather than morals." He added that "Since China gets full access to United States markets in sectors where it has a competitive advantage, such as low-cost manufacturing, it is disconcerting that the United States Government has not done more to ensure that America’s Internet companies get the same liberalized access to the Chinese market".

"Internet censorship is part of a continuing pattern of the Chinese government using trade and regulatory policies that seek to either restrict access to Chinese markets or force foreign companies to acquiesce to Chinese government demands as the price of access. China’s behavior signifies its belief that access to its markets is a coin that enables them to buy their way out of playing by the global trading system rules. From its “Indigenous Innovation” policies to its export quotas for rare earth elements, China has consistently shown a willingness to flaunt international trade rules until confronted by multiple trading partners."

He also criticized two pending bills, S 968 [LOC | WW], the "Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2011 ", and HR 3261 [LOC | WW], the "Stop Online Piracy Act". He stated that they "share some disturbing similarities with China's approach to centralized Internet control".

He argued that these bills have "vague standards for liability and ask private companies and Internet intermediaries to police and censor their users. When coupled with blanket immunity provisions for actions taken while attempting to comply with the legislation, this bill would encourage overbroad filtering that will remove both legal and illegal content. Although the purported goal of fighting intellectual property infringement is completely different from Chinese authoritarianism, legitimizing censorship and prior restraints on speech and enforcing it through a draconian system of DNS filtering allows China to point to our own actions to justify theirs and makes the job of our diplomats much harder."

Alex Li, a student in the U.S., testified about his father's imprisonment in the PRC for political speech.

John Zhang, a Christian pastor in the U.S. who was imprisoned in the PRC following the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, criticized Cisco Systems for its facilitation of surveillance and censorship in the PRC.

Gil Kaplan (a trade lawyer at King & Spalding) explained how the PRC's internet censorship policies violate its obligations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).

Harry Wu and Xiao Qiang (UC Berkeley) also testified.

11/10. President Obama withdrew the nomination of Edward Dumont to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. At the same time, President Obama nominated Richard Taranto for this position.

See, White House news office release and release. See also, Congressional Record, November 10, 2011, at Page 7393.

Dumont is an attorney in the Washington DC office of the law firm of Wilmer Hale. Taranto is an attorney with the two attorney Washington DC law firm of Farr & Taranto. He has wide appellate experience in patent, copyright and communications cases.

Taranto represented various Verizon companies in Verizon Services v. Cox Fibernet. This was a patent infringement case involving voice over internet protocol (VOIP) technology brought by Verizon in the U.S. District Court (EDVa). The trial jury returned a verdict of noninfringement as to some patents, and invalidity as to others. Verizon appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir), which affirmed. See, April 16, 2010, opinion.

Taranto represented Lucent in Lucent Technologies v. Gateway, patent infringement cases involving methods for compressing digital audio files to reduce consumption of storage space -- MP3 technology. See, September 25, 2008 opinion of the Federal Circuit, and story titled "Federal Circuit Affirms in Lucent v. Gateway", TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,832, September 25, 2008.

Taranto represented Rambus over many years in some of the many proceedings relating to its participation in the JEDEC standards setting process and later assertion of patent rights.

In 2005 Taranto represented Grokster before the Supreme Court in MGM v. Grokster. See, story titled "Supreme Court Hears Oral Argument in MGM v. Grokster" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,106, March 30, 2005. The Supreme Court ruled against Grokster. See, story titled "Supreme Court Rules in MGM v. Grokster" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,163, June 28, 2005.

Over a decade ago, in the late 1990s, during the Section 271 turmoil, Taranto represented Bell Atlantic, a predecessor of Verizon. For example, Bell Atlantic, represented by Taranto, was an intervening party in SBC v. FCC. See, TLJ web page titled "SBC v. FCC". Back then, the regional bell operating companies or RBOCs (the incumbent phone companies created by the breakup of AT&T in the 1984 Modified Final Judgment) wanted to provide in region interlata service (long distance). But, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was applying 47 U.S.C. §§ 271-275, which were enacted in the Telecommunications Act of 1996, to reject the RBOCs' requests. SBC, the once and future component of AT&T, filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court (NDTex) alleging that Section 271 constitutes an unconstitutional bill of attainder. Other RBOCs intervened. The District Court ruled for SBC and against the FCC. A divided U.S. Court of Appeals (5thCir) reversed. See, story titled "Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Reverses Judge Kendall's Decision in SBC v. FCC", Tech Law Journal, September 5, 1998. The Supreme Court denied certiorari. See, story titled "Supreme Court Denies Certiorari in SBC v. FCC", Tech Law Journal, January 21, 1999.

Still further back, he represented Warner Jenkinson before the Supreme Court in Warner Jenkinson v. Hilton Davis Chemical, a patent case involving the doctrine of equivalents. See, March 3, 1997, opinion of the Supreme Court.

Tech Law Journal publishes a free access web site and a subscription e-mail alert. The basic rate for a subscription to the TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert is $250 per year for a single recipient. There are discounts for subscribers with multiple recipients.

Free one month trial subscriptions are available. Also, free subscriptions are available for federal elected officials, and employees of the Congress, courts, and executive branch. The TLJ web site is free access. However, copies of the TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert are not published in the web site until two months after writing.

For information about subscriptions, see subscription information page.

Tech Law Journal now accepts credit card payments. See, TLJ credit card payments page.

TLJ is published by David Carney
Contact: 202-364-8882.
carney at techlawjournal dot com
3034 Newark St. NW, Washington DC, 20008.

Privacy Policy
Notices & Disclaimers
Copyright 1998-2011 David Carney. All rights reserved.

The House will meet at 9:00 AM for legislative business. See, Rep. Cantor's schedule for the week.

The Senate will meet at 9:00 AM. It will resume consideration of consideration of S 1867 [LOC | WW], the "Department of Defense Authorization Act".

8:30 AM - 5:30 PM. Day five of a five day closed meeting of the Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Panel of Judges. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 190, Friday, September 30, 2011, at Page 60806. Location: NIST, Administration Building, Lecture Room E, Gaithersburg, MD.

9:00 AM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade will hold a hearing titled "Internet Gaming: Regulating in an Online World". The witnesses will be Rep. John Campbell (R-CA), Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), Mark Lipparelli (Nevada Gaming Control Board), Charles McIntyre (New Hampshire Lottery Commission), Frank Fahrenkopf (American Gaming Association), and Rachel Volberg (University of Chicago). See, notice. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's (USPTO) National Medal of Technology and Innovation Nomination Evaluation Committee will hold a closed meeting. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 213, Thursday, November 3, 2011, at Page 68167. Location: USPTO, 600 Dulany Street, Alexandria, VA.

Deadline to submit applications to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for membership on its Homeland Security Information Network Advisory Committee. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 212, Wednesday, November 2, 2011, at Pages 67750-67751.

12:00 NOON. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) will host a lunch. The speaker will be Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Robert McDowell. Prices vary. Location: Mayflower Hotel, 1127 Connecticut Ave., NW.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) [48 pages in PDF] regarding phone bill cramming. The FCC adopted and released this item on July 12, 2011. It is FCC 11-106 in CG Docket Nos. 11-116 and 09-158, and CC Docket No. 98-170. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 163, Tuesday, August 23, 2011, a Pages 52625-52632. See also, stories titled "Senate Commerce Committee Holds Hearing on Phone Bill Cramming" and "FCC Adopts Cramming NPRM" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,258, July 14, 2011.

Deadline for Facebook to respond to the October 28, 2011 letter from Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) regarding Facebook's "consumer data collection and storage practices".

12:30 - 2:00 PM. The New America Foundation (NAF) will host an event titled "Context: Further Selected Essays on Productivity, Creativity, Parenting, and Politics in the 21st Century". The speaker will be Cory Doctorow. The NAF notice states that Doctorow is an "technology activist" whose speech has something to do with "lambasting the corporations that profit by limiting inherent intellectual freedoms". Location: NAF, Suite 400, 1899 L St., NW.

No events listed.

Thanksgiving Day. This is a federal holiday. See, OPM list of 2011 federal holidays. This is also a Supreme Court holiday.

5:00 PM. Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) regarding its document [209 pages in PDF] titled "Draft NIST Framework and Roadmap for Smart Grid Interoperability Standards, Release 2.0". See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 76, No. 206, Tuesday, October 25, 2011, at Page 66040.

11/17. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) held an executive business meeting at which it held over the nominations of Jacqueline Nguyen (to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit), Gregg Costa (U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas), and David Guaderrama (USDC, Western District of Texas). All three nominations are again on the agenda for the SJC executive business meeting of December 1, 2011. Nguyen has been a California state trial court judge since 2002. Before that, she worked in the U.S. Attorneys Office. See, White House news office release and release.

11/17. President Obama nominated Gershwin Drain to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. See, White House news office release and release. He is a longtime state court judge in Michigan.

11/15. The Senate confirmed Yvonne Rogers to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California by a vote of 89-6. See, Roll Call No. 207. See also, Congressional Record, November 15, 2011, at Page S7585. She has been a California state trial court judge, in Alameda County, since 2008. She previously worked for the law firm of Cooley Godward.

11/15. The Senate confirmed Sharon Gleason to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska by a vote of 87-8. See, Roll Call No. 206. See also, Congressional Record, November 15, 2011, at Page S7585.

11/10. President Obama nominated Gonzalo Curiel to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. See, White House news office release and release. He is a state trial court judge in California. Before that, he was a long time federal prosecutor in California.

11/10. President Obama nominated John Tharp to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. See, White House news office release and release. He is an attorney in the Chicago office of the law firm of Mayer Brown.

11/10. President Obama nominated John Lee to be Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. See, White House news office release and release. He is an attorney in the Chicago law firm of Freeborn & Peters.

11/10. President Obama nominated George Russell to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. See, White House news office release and release. He is currently a state court judge in Maryland. Before that, he was an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland.

11/10. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) held an executive business meeting at which it approved by voice vote the nomination of Susie Morgan to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

11/8. The Senate confirmed Evan Wallach to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit by a vote of 99-0. See, Roll Call No. 199. See, Congressional Record, November 8, 2011, at Page S7228. He has been a Judge of the U.S. Court of International Trade since 1997.

11/3. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) approved four judicial nominations in one unanimous voice vote: Stephanie Thacker (to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit), Michael Fitzgerald (U.S. District Court for the Central District of California), Ronnie Abrams (U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York), and Rudolph Contreras (U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia). The SJC also approved the nomination of Miranda Du to be a Judge of the U.S. District Judge for the District of Nevada on a straight party line vote of 10-8. Republicans voted against.

11/3. The Senate confirmed Scott Skavdahl to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming by a vote of 96-0. See, Roll Call No. 197.

11/3. The Senate confirmed Richard Andrews to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware.

11/3. President Obama nominated Kristine Baker to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. See, White House news office release.

11/2. President Obama nominated Andrew Hurwitz to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. See, White House news office release and release. He has been a Justice of the Supreme Court of Arizona since 2003.

10/31. The Senate confirmed Stephen Higginson to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit by a vote of 88-0. See, Roll Call No. 188.

10/31. President Obama withdrew the nomination of Charles Day to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. See, Congressional Record, October 31, 2011, at Page S6929, and White House news office release. The President made this nomination on January 5, 2011.

10/19. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) approved the nominations of Mark Hornak (to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania), Robert Mariani (U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania), and Robert Scola (U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida).

10/17. The Senate confirmed Cathy Bissoon to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. See, Congressional Record, October 17, 2011, at Page S6622.