3/27. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) released its long awaited report [155 pages in PDF] titled "An Assessment of the Viability of Accommodating Wireless Broadband in the 1755 - 1850 MHz Band".

This report concludes that "it is possible to repurpose all 95 megahertz of the band. The challenges still to be met include the high cost and long timeline of the undertaking, estimated to be approximately $18 billion over 10 years, assuming relocation of most existing federal users, not including costs to incumbent systems in comparable destination bands. However, the extent to which the spectrum can be made exclusively available to commercial interests requires further investigation, as some federal systems could remain in the band indefinitely." (Footnote omitted.)

The report states that compared to the reallocation of the 1710-1755 MHz band, "the 1755-1850 MHz band presents significantly greater challenges".

The report also concludes that "spectrum sharing is a vital component of satisfying the growing demand for access to spectrum and that both federal and non-federal users will need to adopt innovative sharing techniques to accommodate this demand".

Larry Strickling (at right), head of the NTIA, stated in a release that this report "sets a path for putting prime spectrum into commercial wireless broadband use, in support of the Obama Administration's goal to encourage investment and innovation while enhancing America’s economic competitiveness".

The report pertains to the entire band. However, it also notes that "the wireless industry is initially most interested in the 1755-1780 MHz portion of this band".

The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) March 2010 staff report titled "National Broadband Plan" stated that "Potential synergies exist between the AWS-3 band and spectrum currently allocated to federal use at 1.7 GHz. There are a number of countries that have allocated spectrum in the 1710-1780 MHz band for commercial use and devices already exist in the international market for that spectrum. Consequently, pairing the AWS-3 band with spectrum from the 1755-1780 MHz band has the potential to bring benefits of a global equipment ecosystem to this band." (Footnote omitted.) See, Recommendation 5.8.3.

The FCC's 2010 report recommended that the NTIA conduct the just released study, and complete it in 2010.

That FCC report also stated that "If there is a strong possibility of reallocating federal spectrum to pair with the AWS-3 band, the FCC, in consultation with NTIA, should immediately commence reallocation proceedings for the combined band. If, at the end of this inquiry, there is not a strong possibility of reallocation of federal spectrum, the FCC should proceed promptly to adopt final rules in 2010 and auction the AWS-3 spectrum on a stand-alone basis in 2011".

The band known as AWS-3 is 20 MHz located at 2155-2175 MHz. The FCC designated this block for Advanced Wireless Service (AWS) in 2005. On September 19, 2007, the FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [86 pages in PDF] in its proceeding titled "In the Matter of Service Rules for Advanced Wireless Services in the 2155-2175 MHz Band". It is FCC 07-164 in WT Docket No. 07-195. See, story titled "FCC Releases NPRM for Service Rules for 2155-2175 MHz Band" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,645, September 25, 2007.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski stated in a March 27 release that "it's time to focus on the 1755-1780 MHz band. This is a real and unique opportunity to free up 25 MHz of high-value spectrum in the near future."

He added that "repurposing the entire band would be very expensive, affect important federal uses and commercial broadcast services, and could take a decade or more".

Steve Largent, head of the CTIA, stated in a release that "we are happy to learn that NTIA concludes that they will be able to repurpose the 1755 to 1850 MHz bands", and "We look forward to seeing the maximum amount of this spectrum cleared as soon as possible."

Largent continued that "the immediate focus should be on the 1755-1780 MHz band, recognizing that limited government operations may remain in the band beyond the near-term. We will be significantly concerned if NTIA's efforts to clear the 1755-1780 portion of the band remain in limbo until relocation of all of the operations in the entire 1755-1850 MHz band can be completed. Moving forward with 1755-1780 MHz, which has a natural AWS 3 pairing identified in the recent spectrum legislation, should be of paramount importance for NTIA and the Administration."

Joan Marsh of AT&T stated in a release that this report "is an important step by the Administration. AT&T commends NTIA and Assistant Secretary Larry Strickling for moving aggressively and creatively toward the reallocation of a significant amount of spectrum vitally needed by the wireless industry."

AT&T stated in a comment submitted to the FCC on July 8, 2011, that the FCC "should continue to work with NTIA to repurpose the 1755-1780 MHz band and pair it with the AWS-3 band at 2155-2175 MHz and the upper portion of the AWS-2 J Block at 2175-2180 MHz." See also, Verizon Wireless comment, Sprint Nextel comment, and T-Mobile comment of July 8, 2011.

Harold Feld of the Public Knowledge (PK) stated in a release on March 27 that "This is a watershed moment because the government recognizes that new approaches are needed to spectrum policy. We can no longer rely on squeezing more spectrum from Federal users to meet our ever-expanding needs for wireless services."

Matt Wood of the Free Press stated in a release that "There is a growing consensus that clearing this spectrum entirely and then auctioning it off to incumbent wireless carriers would be a complex and expensive task, and we are glad to see lawmakers, wireless industry players, technology companies and consumer advocates all coming together to make quicker, smarter and better use of this band by sharing it."

See also, Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) release.

3/23. The U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir) issued an order in Verizon v. FCC, its consolidated proceeding on petitions for review and appeals of the FCC's December 2010 order adopting rules for the regulation of broadband internet access service (BIAS) providers' network management practices.

The FCC adopted this order, also know as the network neutrality order, on December 21, 2010, and released the text on December 23, 2010. See, Report and Order (R&O) [194 pages in PDF]. It is FCC 10-201 in GN Docket No. 09-191 and WC Docket No. 07-52.

See also, stories in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,186, December 22, 2010, and TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,188, December 24, 2010.

Judicial review has been long delayed, largely as a result of dilatory tactics by the FCC, such as withholding publication of a notice in the Federal Register, and moving to hold all proceedings in abeyance.

All of the petitions for review and appeals have been consolidated in, and assigned by lottery to, the DC Circuit. However, the Court has yet to set a briefing schedule.

This March 23 order states as follows:

"It appearing that these consolidated cases present potential problems of duplicative briefing, it is
ORDERED, on the court's own motion, that the parties submit within 30 days of the date of this order, proposed formats for the briefing of these cases. The parties are strongly urged to submit a joint proposal and are reminded that the court looks with extreme disfavor on repetitious submissions and will, where appropriate, require a joint brief of aligned parties with total words not to exceed the standard allotment for a single brief. Whether the parties are aligned or have disparate interests, they must provide detailed justifications for any request to file separate briefs or to exceed in the aggregate the standard word allotment. Requests to exceed the standard word allotment must specify the word allotment necessary for each issue."

This case is Verizon v. FCC, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, App. Ct. No. 11-1355. It is consolidated with Verizon v. FCC and USA, App. Ct. No. 11-1356, MetroPCS, et al. v. FCC, App. Ct. No. 11-1403, MetroPCS, et al. v. FCC and USA, App. Ct. No. 11-1404, and Free Press v. FCC and USA, App. Ct. No. 11-1411.

3/26. Kenneth Wainstein joined the Washington DC office of the law firm of Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft. After working as a career federal prosecutor in Washington DC and the Southern District of New York, he held a series of high level technology related positions throughout the Bush administration.

First, he was Director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys. He was also General Counsel of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Chief of Staff to FBI Director Robert Mueller, and then U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. He next served as Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department of Justice's (DOJ) National Security Division (NSD). Finally, he was Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism at the end of the Bush administration.

Much of his work during the Bush administration related to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the 2001 electronic surveillance act (Title II of the USA PATRIOT Act), subsequent extensions and amendments to that act, and other surveillance matters.

He then became a partner in the Washington DC office of the law firm of O'Melveny & Myers (OMM). The OMM web site states that he worked in the firm's "White Collar Defense and Corporate Investigations Practice", and handled Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) matters, and other types of cases.

A Cadwalader release states that he will work in the firm's "Business Fraud and Complex Litigation Department". Cadwalader's Washington DC office does not have a communications law section. However, it does have an extensive antitrust practice, and its clients include Microsoft. TLJ requested, but did not receive, an interview with Wainstein regarding his electronic surveillance related work experience.

3/27. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced in a release that it has retained two auction consulting firms, and one government IT support firm, to assist it in implementing the incentive auction authority provisions of HR 3630 [LOC | WW]. The three firms are Auctionomics, Power Auctions and MicroTech.

This act gives the FCC authority to conductive incentive auctions, which provide for the sharing of spectrum auction proceeds with the licensees, such as TV broadcasters, who voluntarily relinquish that spectrum. President Obama signed this act into law on February 22, 2012.

The FCC stated that this "team of auction experts is led by" Paul Milgrom of Auctionomics, who is also a professor at Stanford University. The team will also include Jonathan Levin and Ilya Segal, both of Auctionomics and Stanford.

The team will also include Lawrence Ausubel of Power Auctions and the University of Maryland.

MicroTech is firm based in Vienna, Virginia, that provides information technology support to government agencies. The FCC release states that it "will provide state-of-the-art security, systems development and implementation support directly tied to their cloud computing solutions".

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski stated in this release that "Our implementation of this new Congressional mandate will be guided by the economics, and will seek to maximize the opportunity to unleash investment and innovation, benefit consumers, drive economic growth, and enhance our global competitiveness."

See also, recent TLJ stories:

• "House and Senate Negotiators Reach Agreement on Spectrum Legislation", "Summary of Spectrum Bill", and "Reaction to Spectrum Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,339, February 17, 2012.
• "House and Senate Pass Spectrum Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,340, February 18, 2012.
• "Obama Signs Spectrum Bill into Law" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,345, February 23, 2012.

3/27. The House passed the HR 3309 [LOC | WW], the "Federal Communications Commission Process Reform Act of 2012". The vote on final passage was 247-174. See, Roll Call No. 138. Republicans voted 235-0. Democrats vote 12-174.

3/26. The Executive Office of the President (EOP) released a document that states that the Obama administration "opposes House passage of H.R. 3309".

3/26. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report [48 pages in PDF] titled "Export Controls: Proposed Reforms Create Opportunities to Address Enforcement Challenges".

3/26. Peggy Focarino, the Commissioner for Patents at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), wrote a short piece titled "Realignment in the Office of the Commissioner for Patents Helps to Improve Efficiency".

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The House will meet at 10:00 AM for morning hour, and at 12:00 NOON for legislative business. It will consider HConRes 112, a budget resolution. See, Rep. Cantor's schedule for the day.

The Senate will meet at 10:00 AM. It will consider S 2230 [LOC | WW], a tax bill.

8:30 AM - 5:00 PM. Day three of a five day event hosted by the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) National Cyber Security Division (NCSD), Department of Defense (DOD), and National Institute of Standards Technology (NIST) titled "16th Semi-Annual Software Assurance (SwA) Forum". On Wednesday, March 28, the agenda is "Designed-in Security". The opening speakers will include Douglas Maughan (DHS). There will then be panels titled "Designed-In Security Enabling Trustworthy Cyberspace", "Education and Training Programs Relevant to Software Assurance" and "SwA Initiatives Supporting the Blueprint for a Secure Cyber Future". Free. Registration required. See, notice and agenda. Location: Mitre Corporation, Building MITRE-1, 7525 Colshire Drive, McLean, VA.

9:00 AM. Day three of a four day event hosted by the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) titled "9-1-1 Goes to Washington". At 11:00 AM there will be a panel comprised of Congressional committee staff. At 12:00 NOON Jamie Barnett, Chief of the FCC's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, will give a lunch speech. See, notice and agenda. Location: L’Enfant Plaza Hotel, 480 L’Enfant Plaza, SW.

9:00 - 10:30 AM. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host a panel discussion titled "Transforming Higher Education with IT". The speakers will be Robert Atkinson (ITIF), Stephen Ruth (George Mason University's School of Public Policy), and Steve Crawford (George Washington University's Institute of Public Policy). See, notice. Location: ITIF/ITIC: Suite 610, 1101 K St., NW.

9:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. Day two of a two day meeting of the Department of Energy's (DOE) Advanced Scientific Computing Advisory Committee (ASCAC). The agenda includes an update on Exascale computing and the Magellan Report for Cloud Computing in Science [170 pages in PDF]. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 42, Friday, March 2, 2012, at Page 12823. Location: American Geophysical Union (AGU), 2000 Florida Ave., NW.

10:00 AM. The House Homeland Security Committee (HHSC) will meet to mark up several bills, including HR 3563 [LOC | WW], the "Integrated Public Alert and Public Warning System Modernization Act of 2011". See, notice. See also, story titled "House Homeland Security Committee to Mark Up IPAWS Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,357, March 26, 2012. Location: Room 311, Cannon Building.

10:00 AM. The House Judiciary Committee's (HJC) Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security will hold a hearing on several bills, including HR 4216 [LOC | WW], the "Foreign Counterfeit Prevention Act", and HR  3668 [LOC | WW], the "Counterfeit Drug Penalty Enhancement Act of 2011". See, notice. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Communications and Technology will hold a hearing titled "Cybersecurity: Threats to Communications Networks and Public-Sector Responses". The witnesses will be Fiona Alexander (National Telecommunications and Information Administration), James Barnett (Chief of the FCC's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau), Bob Hutchinson (Sandia National Laboratories), Greg Shannon (CERT, Carnegie Mellon University), and Roberta Stempfley (acting DHS Assistant Secretary for Cyber Security and Communications). See, notice. Location: Room 2322, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) will hold a hearing titled "Investigating the Chinese Threat, Part One: Military and Economic Aggression". The witnesses will be Dean Cheng (Heritage Foundation), John Tkacik (International Assessment and Strategy Center), and Larry Wortzel (Commissioner, US-China Economic and Security Review Commission). See, notice. Location: Room 2172, Rayburn Building.

12:15 - 1:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Homeland Security and Emergency Communications Committee will co-host a lunch. The speaker will be Jamie Barnett, Chief of the FCC's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau. This lunch is a part of the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) four day conference titled "9-1-1 Goes to Washington". Location: Monet Ballroom, L’Enfant Plaza Hotel, 480 L'Enfant Plaza, SW.

1:00 - 2:00 PM. The National Science Foundation's (NSF) National Science Board's (NSB) Committee on Strategy and Budget Task Force on Data Policies will meet to discuss "data policies". The meeting will be teleconferenced. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 50, Wednesday, March 14, 2012, at Page 15141. Location: Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 50, Wednesday, March 14, 2012, at Page 15141. Location: 4201 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA.

1:00 - 4:00 PM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Technological Advisory Council will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 42, Friday, March 2, 2012, at Page 12839. Location: FCC, 445 12th St.,  SW.

2:00 PM. The House Appropriations Committee's (HAC) Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government will hold a hearing on the FY 2013 budget for the Judiciary. See, notice. Location: Room 2359, Rayburn Building.

TIME CHANGE. 2:30 PM. 3:00 PM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold a hearing titled "Nominations". See, notice. The SJC will webcast this event. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

2:30 PM. The House Foreign Affairs Committee's (HFAC) Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold a hearing titled "The Price of Public Diplomacy with China". The witnesses will be Steven Mosher (Population Research Institute), Kai Chen, and Greg Autry. See, notice. Location: Room 2172, Rayburn Building.

The House will meet at 9:00 AM for legislative business.

8:30 AM - 5:00 PM. Day four of a five day event hosted by the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) National Cyber Security Division (NCSD), Department of Defense (DOD), and National Institute of Standards Technology (NIST) titled "16th Semi-Annual Software Assurance (SwA) Forum". On Thursday, March 29, there will be a Static Analysis Tool Exposition (SATE) workshop. Free. Registration required. See, notice and agenda. Location: Mitre Corporation, Building MITRE-1, 7525 Colshire Drive, McLean, VA.

9:00 AM - 4:00 PM. Day four of a four day event hosted by the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) titled "9-1-1 Goes to Washington". This day is set aside for "Hill Visits". See, notice and agenda. Location: L’Enfant Plaza Hotel, 480 L’Enfant Plaza, SW.

9:30 AM - 2:00 PM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) North American Numbering Council (NANC) will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 42, Friday, March 2, 2012, at Pages 12839-12840. Location: Room 5-C162, FCC, 445 12th St., SW.

9:30 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold an executive business meeting. The agenda again includes consideration of the nominations of Richard Taranto to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir), Robin Rosenbaum to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court (SDFl), and Gershwin Drain to be a Judge for the USDC/EDMich. The agenda also includes, for the first time, the nominations of William Kayatta, to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals (1stCir), John Fowlkes (USDC/WDTenn), Kevin McNulty (USDC/DNJ), Michael Shipp (USDC/DNJ), and Stephanie Rose (USDC/SDIowa). The SJC will webcast this event. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade will hold a hearing tilted "Balancing Privacy and Innovation: Does the President's Proposal Tip the Scale?". See, notice. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

TIME CHANGE. 10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. 9:30 - 11:30 AM. The House Science Committee's (HSC) Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight will hold a hearing titled "Federally Funded Research: Examining Public Access and Scholarly Publication Interests". See, notice. Location: Room 2318, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM - 5:00 PM. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (CFTC) Technology Advisory Committee will meet. The agenda includes "automated and high frequency trading, final recommendations of the subcommittee on data standardization, and market structure and technology issues relating to credit limit checks". Written comments are due by March 28. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 52, Friday, March 16, 2012, at Page 15737. Location: CFTC, Three Lafayette Centre, 1155 21st St., NW.

1:00 PM. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR) will hold a hearing to assist it in preparing its 2011 Annual GSP Product Review. The hearing will cover only the petitions for new products and CNL waivers that have been previously submitted and accepted for review in the 2011 GSP Annual Review. Post hearing comments are due by 5:00 PM on April 16, 2012. See, original notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 34, Tuesday, February 21, 2012, at Pages 10034-10036. See also, notice of change of date in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 52, Friday, March 16, 2012, at Page 15841. Location: OUSTR, 600 17th St., NW.

2:30 PM. The Senate Intelligence Committee (SIC) will hold a closed hearing. See, notice. Location: Room 219, Hart Building.

TIME? The U.S. China Economic and Security Review Commission will hold a hearing titled "European Union Relations and Implications for the U.S.". Location: :__.

Rep. Cantor's schedule states that "no votes are expected in the House".

Supreme Court conference day. See, calendar. Closed.

8:30 AM - 5:00 PM. Day five of a five day event hosted by the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) National Cyber Security Division (NCSD), Department of Defense (DOD), and National Institute of Standards Technology (NIST) titled "16th Semi-Annual Software Assurance (SwA) Forum". Free. Registration required. See, notice and agenda. Location: Mitre Corporation, Building MITRE-1, 7525 Colshire Drive, McLean, VA.

RESCHEDULED FOR APRIL 13. 12:00 NOON - 1:00 PM. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Robert McDowell will speak. Free. Brown bag lunch. The FCBA states that this is an FCBA event of its Young Lawyers Committee. Location: FCC, 8th floor South Conference Room, 445 12th St., SW.

Possible date for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR) to release its annual report titled "National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers".

Deadline to submit nominations for the National Medal of Technology and Innovation (NMTI) to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 9 Friday, January 13, 2012, at Pages 2047-2048. For more information about this program, see stories titled "Bush Awards National Medals of Technology and Science", "House Democrats Promote Their Innovation Agenda", and "Commentary: National Medal of Technology Program" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,312, February 17, 2006.

The House will not meet on the week of Monday, April 2, through Friday, April 6, or on the week of Monday, April 9, through Friday, April 13.

The Senate will not meet on the week of Monday, April 2, through Friday, April 6, or on the week of Monday, April 9, through Friday, April 13.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in 1st Media v. Electronic Arts, App. Ct. No. 2011-1435. Panel B. Location: Courtroom 402.

6:00 PM. Deadline to submit draft papers to the National Science Foundation (NSF) National Coordination Office (NCO) for Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) for its June 11, 2012, event titled "National Symposium on Moving Target Research". The purpose of this symposium is to examine whether there is scientific evidence to show that moving target techniques are a substantial improvement in the defense of cyber systems. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 45, Wednesday, March 7, 2012, at Page 13656.

Deadline to submit requests to testify at any of the Copyright Office's (CO) hearings regarding its triennial review of exemptions to the anticircumvention provisions of 17 U.S.C. § 1201. These hearing will be on May 11 in Washington DC, May 17 and 18 in Los Angeles, and May 31, June1, and June 4-6 in Washington DC. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 51, Thursday, March 15, 2012, at Pages 15327-15329. Location: CO, Copyright Hearing Room, LM-408, James Madison Building, Library of Congress, 101 Independence Ave., SE.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) [339 pages in PDF] regarding it Lifeline and Link Up universal service tax and subsidy programs. The FCC adopted this FNPRM on January 31, 2012 and released the text on February 6, 2012. It is FCC 12-11 in WC Docket Nos. 11-42, 03-109, and 12-23, and CC Docket No. 96-45. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 42, Friday, March 2, 2012, at Pages 12784-12791.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to NextG Networks of California, Inc.'s December 21, 2011, Petition for Declaratory Ruling (part 1 and part 2) regarding whether it is a "commercial mobile radio service" or "CMRS" within the meaning of the FCC's rules. See, FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau's (WTB) February 16, 2012 Public Notice (DA 12-202 in WT Docket No. 12-37). See also, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 39, Tuesday, February 28, 2012, at Pages 12055-12056. And see, NextG Networks web site.

Deadline to submit comments to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regarding the information collection burdens imposed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in connection with implementation of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 42, Friday, March 2, 2012, at Pages 12837-12839.

EXTENDED FROM MARCH 26. 5:00 PM. Deadline to submit comments to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) in response to its request for comments in its wide ranging private sector data privacy inquiry. The NTIA seeks comments regarding "substantive consumer data privacy issues that warrant the development of legally enforceable codes of conduct, as well as procedures to foster the development of these codes". See, original notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 43, Monday, March 5, 2012, at Pages 13098-13101, and extension notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 58, Monday, March 26, 2012, at Page 17460.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Personalized Media Communications v. Scientific Atlanta, App. Ct. No. 2011-1466. Panel D+. Location: Courtroom 402.

1:00 - 2:00 PM. The law firm of Fulbright & Jaworski will host a webcast panel discussion titled "The Latest on the ADA: A Review of the Final Regulations on Their One-Year Anniversary and Recent Noteworthy Court Decisions". The speakers will be Laurie Vasichek (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission), Jennifer Mathis (Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law), Jeff Wray (F&J) and Barbara D'Aquila (F&J). CLE credits. See, notice and registration page.

3:00 - 5:00 PM. The DC Bar Association will host an event titled "International Trade Law & Policy Debate". The topics to be covered include US PRC relations. The speakers will be Gary Horlick (solo practice) and Paul Rosenthal (Kelley Drye & Warren). The price to attend ranges from $5 to $15. No CLE credits. See, notice. For more information, call 202-626-3463. The DC Bar has a history of barring reporters from its events. Location: U.S. International Trade Commission, 500 E St., SW.

9:00 AM - 4:30 PM. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative's (OUSTR) Industry Trade Advisory Committee on Small and Minority Business (ITAC-11) will hold a partially closed meeting. The meeting will be open to the public from 9:00 - 10:30 AM. The committee will discuss the Small Business Administration (SBA) State Trade and Export Promotion Grants Process. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 47, Friday, March 9, 2012, at Page 14459. Location: Room 1412, Herbert C. Humphrey Building, 1401 Constitution Ave., NW.

10:00 AM - 3:00 PM. The Department of Health and Human Services' (DHHS) Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology's (ONCHIT) HIT Policy Committee will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 52, Friday, March 16, 2012, at Pages 15760-15761. Location: Washington Marriott, 1221 22nd St., NW.

12:30 - 2:00 PM. The American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) will host a webcast presentation titled "ITC Proceedings and Beyond". The speakers will be James Altman (Foster Murphy Altman & Nickel) and Bert Reiser (Latham & Watkins). CLE credits. CD, MP4 download, archived webcast, and other formats available. Prices vary. See, registration page.

Deadline to submit comments to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding the consent agreement in its administrative proceeding titled "In the Matter of Western Digital Corporation", regarding Western Digital's proposed acquisition of Viviti Technologies Ltd., formerly known as Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Ltd. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 48, Monday, March 12, 2012, at Pages 14523-14525. See also, Complaint, Decision and Order, and FTC web page with hyperlinks to other documents. This proceeding is FTC Docket No. C-4350.