6/5. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released online a paper [23 pages in PDF] titled "Using a Market to Obtain the Efficient Allocation of Signal Interference Rights". This paper had previously been circulated without formal release, and cited in other works.

The FCC allocates spectrum bands, adopts service rules governing use of spectrum bands, and then auctions the spectrum. Service rules govern such things as transmitting power, the amount of bandwidth over which it can operate, and limits on the amount of radiation outside the licensee's assigned bandwidth that adjacent and non-adjacent bands can experience. These service rules are established by the FCC in an administrative process.

This paper examines the possibility of allowing markets to address service rule issues. This paper applies economic theory, and especially a game theoretical analysis, to examine whether an administrative process or a market process would achieve greater efficiency in spectrum usage.

This paper states that in the administrative process, the FCC operates without complete information regarding licensees' costs and benefits, and hence, it cannot set an efficient set of service rules.

This paper finds that "in a three-person game in which market participants know the value that other participants place on different signal interference levels (i.e., have complete information), a market might be able to efficiently allocate interference rights." (Parentheses in original.)

However, it also concedes that the assumptions may not hold in the field, and that there is also a collective action problem.

This paper builds on the landmark article by Ronald Coase titled "The Federal Communications Commission", published in the Journal of Law and Economics, Volume 2, October 1959.

The authors of the just released paper are Mark Bykowsky and William Sharkey, who are economists in the FCC's Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis. See also, FCC release.

See also, 2012 paper titled "Spectrum Trading with Interference Rights" by Martin Weiss and Liu Cui, and 2011 paper titled "Tradable Spectrum Interference Rights" by Weiss and Cui.

6/1. The Technology Policy Institute (TPI) release a short paper titled "Hey, FCC: Stop Counting!" The author is the TPI's Scott Wallsten.

The argument is that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) engages in empirical analysis based upon an outmoded and difficult methodology. It tries to count every single phone line in the US when it should be using surveys that employ statistical sampling to obtain an estimate.

"Most economic and social policy is based on surveys conducted by agencies such as the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. We rely on surveys because gathering information on an entire population is typically not feasible."

Wallsten continued that the FCC "attempts to count all lines, connections, and other factors related to telecommunications by requiring companies to provide certain data. Large firms spend significant resources providing these data. Small firms often do not have the resources to provide this information, and the FCC’s skilled data staff then must spend enormous time and effort trying to gather this information from firms who either will not or cannot respond. The result is that the FCC has the least reliable count data in precisely the topical and geographic areas that it needs data for sound decisionmaking."

He argued that "Nearly all other areas of economic policy are informed by surveys, many of which are conducted monthly to provide real-time information to markets and policymakers. Nothing in particular about telecommunications requires a total population count rather than survey data. Additionally, there is no reason why the FCC itself should be responsible for data collection."

5/30. Federal departments and offices touted the creation of a group dedicated to voluntary cooperation between government and private sector trade associations titled the "Industry Botnet Group" or IBG.

Also on May 30, the IBG released a modest set of principles titled "Industry Botnet Group Principles for Voluntary Efforts to Reduce the Impact of Botnets in Cyberspace".

This process has imposed no industry regulation, or proposal for regulation. The principles impose little burden on the trade groups or their member companies. Government sponsorship of this process provides competitors legitimacy for cooperating, coordinating and sharing information.

The government entities involved are the Department of Commerce (DOC), and especially its National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Executive Office of the President's (EOP) Cybersecurity Office. See, DOC release.

The industry members include the Business Software Association (BSA), Tech America, SIIA, National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA), US Telecom, Financial Services Roundtable (FSR), and others.

Botnet is a slang term of derived from the words robot network. It is used to describe a collection of software robots that reside on a collection of compromised computers, almost always without the authority or knowledge of the owners or operators, that are controlled remotely for various nefarious purposes. The compromised computers are often referred to as zombies.

The purposes for forming botnets include sending spam, running denial of service attacks, committing click fraud, and infecting computers with spyware. Botnet based spam can be used for less harmful purposes, such as marketing, or for more harmful purposes, such as pump and dump securities fraud, theft of personal and financial information to commit further crimes, and various consumer fraud schemes. Also, Botnet operators sometimes lease spamming capacity to others.

The DOC stated in its release that "The IBG was formed in response to a September 2011 request for information issued from Commerce and DHS to learn more about existing efforts and new areas to explore combating botnets." See, story titled "NIST, NTIA and DHS Propose Botnet Mitigation Regime for Internet Access Service Providers" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,303, September 22, 2011.

The IBG's just announced principles are limited. There are proposals for information sharing: "participants should share information about botnet incidents and other malicious activities among public, private, and non-profit stakeholders" and "participants should share lessons learned, particularly their view of the effectiveness of various tactics, technologies, sound practices and other tried measures to thwart the effectiveness of botnets across the lifecycle".

The IBG's principles also provide that "Participants should make available access to resources to help educate customers". However, there are no requirements regarding monitoring of customers by ISPs, or terminating service to any consumers.

Robert Holleyman, head of the BSA, stated in a release that "This is an important achievement because it underscores how the private sector can address common threats without regulatory intervention from government".

The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council (CSRIC) announced on March 22, 2012, that it "adopted recommendations for voluntary action by Internet service providers (ISPs) to combat three major cyber security threats, including botnets, attacks on the Domain Name System (DNS), and Internet route hijacking". See, story titled "FCC CSRIC Makes Recommendations Regarding ISP Cyber Security" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,355, March 24, 2012.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski stated in a speech on May 30, 2012, that "addressing cyber threats requires the commercial communications ecosystem to engage in a way that’s different than other threats. Private networks are of course a major part of Internet communications." Also, "addressing cyber threats requires interagency collaboration. Different agencies have different areas of expertise and responsibilities relevant to tackling Cybersecurity."

But, said Genachowski, "we need to do it in a way that preserves the ingredients that have fueled and will fuel the Internet’s growth and success. That means solutions that preserve Internet freedom and the open architecture of the Internet, which have been essential to the Internet’s success as an engine of innovation and economic growth.

See also, story titled "DOJ Prosecutes Botnet Seller" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,818, August 27, 2008, and story titled "Microsoft Obtains Ex Parte TRO in Waledac Botnet Case" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,053, March 2, 2010.

6/5. The Walt Disney Company announced in a release that it has adopted food advertising standards to "inspire kids to lead healthier lifestyles" for all Disney owned TV, radio, cable and web assets.

Michelle Obama stated in a White House news office release that "Disney is doing what no major media company has ever done before in the U.S. -- and what I hope every company will do going forward."

Former Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Deborah Tate also focused on industry voluntary adoption of children' advertising standards.

Disney stated in its release that it is "the first major media company to introduce new standards for food advertising on programming targeting kids and families." It elaborated that "Under Disney's new standards, all food and beverage products advertised, sponsored, or promoted on Disney Channel, Disney XD, Disney Junior, Radio Disney, and Disney-owned online destinations oriented to families with younger children will be required by 2015 to meet Disney’s nutrition guidelines. The nutrition guidelines are aligned to federal standards, promote fruit and vegetable consumption and call for limiting calories and reducing saturated fat, sodium, and sugar."

The White House news office release states that "American children see an estimated $1.6 billion a year worth of food and beverage marketing, and many of those ads are" for foods "that are high in calories and sugar, but low in nutrition."

5/25. The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Privacy Office will host a one day event on June 20 titled "Privacy Compliance Workshop".

The DHS stated in a notice in the Federal Register (FR) that this event will "provide in-depth training on the privacy compliance process at DHS. The morning session will consist of overview presentations, including the privacy compliance fundamentals, privacy and data security, and the privacy compliance life cycle. A learning lunch will provide attendees with the opportunity to interact with compliance experts at DHS. The afternoon sessions will cover advanced presentations, including the Paperwork Reduction Act, the Freedom of Information Act, Privacy Compliance Reviews, and program case studies."

This event is free and open to the public. It will be held at the FTC satellite building. The deadline to register is 5:00 PM on Friday, June 15. See, FR, Vol. 77, No. 102, Friday, May 25, 2012, at Page 31371.

6/4. The Senate confirmed Timothy Hillman to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court (DMass) by a vote of 88-1. See, Roll Call No. 114.

6/4. FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel announced in a release that she has appointed Priscilla Argeris as Legal Advisor with responsibility for wireline and consumer issues. Argeris previously worked for the law firm of Wiley Rein. Rosenworcel also announced that she has named Valery Galasso as Confidential Assistant and Special Advisor.

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Notices & Disclaimers
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The House will meet at 12:00 NOON for morning hour, and at 2:00 PM for legislative business. The House will consider numerous non-technology related items under suspension of the rules. Votes will be postponed until 6:30 PM. See, Rep. Cantor's schedule for the week.

The Senate will meet at 10:00 AM. It will resume consideration of S 3220 [LOC | WW], the "Paycheck Fairness Act". This bill was introduced by Democrats on May 23 without expectation that it will be enacted, but rather to influence election outcomes in November. The bill pertains to gender and income.

9:00 AM. The Copyright Office (CO) will continue its hearing regarding its triennial review of exemptions to the anticircumvention provisions of 17 U.S.C. § 1201. The deadline to submit requests to testify is 5:00 PM EDT on April 2, 2012. See, story titled "Copyright Office Schedules Hearings on Proposed Anticircumvention Exemptions" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,351, March 20, 2012. Location: CO, Copyright Hearing Room, LM-408, James Madison Building, Library of Congress, 101 Independence Ave., SE.

9:30 - 11:00 AM. The DC Bar Association will host a presentation titled "What You Need to Know About the New Patent Laws under the AIA". The price to attend is $15. Reporters are barred from attending most DC Bar events. No CLE credits. See, notice. For more information, call 202-626-3463. Location: DC Bar Conference Center, 1101 K St., NW.

12:00 NOON - 2:00 PM. The Internet Caucus will host an event titled "What Role Should the UN Have in Governing the Internet? A Briefing on the UN's Internet Governance Initiative". The speakers will include Fiona Alexander (Associate Administrator of the NTIA), Richard Beaird (Department of State), David Gross (Wiley Rein), Commissioner Robert McDowell (FCC), and Sally Wentworth (Internet Society). Free. Open to the public. Register by contacting rsvp at netcaucus dot org or 202-407-8829. Lunch will be served. Location: Room B-369, Rayburn Building.

1:00 - 2:00 PM. American Bar Association's (ABA) Section of Antitrust Law will host a webcast and teleconferenced panel discussion titled "Privacy and Information Security Update". The speakers will be Aryeh Friedman (Dun & Bradstreet), Lisa Sotto (Hunton & Williams) and Aaron Simpson (Hunton & Williams). For more information, and to register, contact Jeanne Welch at jawelch at vorys dot com. See, notice.

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

Day one of a three day conference hosted by the Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) titled "Cloud Computing Forum & Workshop V". See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 87, Friday, May 4, 2012, at Page 26509. Location: DOC, Hoover Building, Room __, 401 Constitution Ave., NW.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for morning hour, and at 12:00 NOON for legislative business. See, Rep. Cantor's schedule for the week.

8:00 AM - 2:30 PM. Day one of a two day event titled "Health Privacy Summit". See, notice. Location: Georgetown Law Center, 600 New Jersey Ave., NW.

Day two of a three day conference hosted by the Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) titled "Cloud Computing Forum & Workshop V". See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 87, Friday, May 4, 2012, at Page 26509. Location: DOC, Hoover Building, Room __, 401 Constitution Ave., NW.

9:00 AM. The Copyright Office (CO) will conclude its hearing regarding its triennial review of exemptions to the anticircumvention provisions of 17 U.S.C. § 1201. The deadline to submit requests to testify is 5:00 PM EDT on April 2, 2012. See, story titled "Copyright Office Schedules Hearings on Proposed Anticircumvention Exemptions" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,351, March 20, 2012. Location: CO, Copyright Hearing Room, LM-408, James Madison Building, Library of Congress, 101 Independence Ave., SE.

9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Day one of a two day conference hosted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) titled "Safeguarding Health Information: Building Assurance through HIPAA Security". See, notice. The price to attend is $395. Location: Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center.

ROOM CHANGE. 10:15 AM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Communications and Technology will hold a hearing titled "The Future of Audio". The witnesses will be Ben Allison (National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences), David Israelite (National Music Publishers’ Association), Cary Sherman (Recording Industry Association of America), Jeff Smulyan (Emmis Communications), Steven Newberry (Commonwealth Broadcasting Corp.), Tim Westergren (Pandora), Christopher McCabe (CTIA), and Gary Shapiro (Consumer Electronics Association). See, notice. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

11:00 AM. The House Judiciary Committee (HJC) will meet to mark up numerous bills. The third item on the agenda is HR 4377 [LOC | WW], the "Responsibly And Professionally Invigorating Development Act of 2012", or "RAPID Act". See, notice. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host a discussion of the book [Amazon] titled "Time to Start Thinking". The speakers will be the author, Ed Luce, and Robert Atkinson (head of the ITIF). See, notice. Free. Open to the public. Location: ITIF/ITIC, Suite 610, 1101 K St., NW.

1:30 PM. The House Foreign Affairs Committee's (HFAC) Subcommittee on Asian and the Pacific will hold a hearing titled "What's Next for the U.S.-Korea Alliance?". See, notice. Location: Room 2172, Rayburn Building.

2:30 PM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold a hearing on the nominations of Lorna Schofield (to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York), Terrence Berg (USDC/EDMich), and Jesus Bernal (USDC/CDCal). The SJC will webcast this event. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

6:00 - 8:00 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Wireless Telecommunications Committee will host a program titled "The Road Ahead for Spectrum". Registrations and cancellations are due by 12:00 NOON on June 5. The price to attend ranges from $25 to $125. Location: Wiley Rein, 1776 K St., NW.

6:00 - 8:30 PM. The Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal & Economic Public Policy Studies will host a speech by Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE), Vice Chairman of the House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, and a panel discussion titled "Communications Act and FCC Reform". The speakers will be Neil Fried (HCC's Chief Communications and Technology Counsel), David Gross (Wiley Rein), Robert Quinn (AT&T), and Howard Symons (Mintz Levin). RSVP to 202-274-0235 or roundtable at phoenix-center dot org. Location: University Club, Roof, 1135 16th St., NW.

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) regarding its its draft NIST IR-7848 [38 pages in PDF] titled "Specification for the Asset Summary Reporting Format 1.0".

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for morning hour, and at 12:00 NOON for legislative business. See, Rep. Cantor's schedule for the week.

8:00 AM - 2:30 PM. Day two of a two day event titled "Health Privacy Summit". See, notice. Location: Georgetown Law Center, 600 New Jersey Ave., NW.

Day three of a three day conference hosted by the Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) titled "Cloud Computing Forum & Workshop V". See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 87, Friday, May 4, 2012, at Page 26509. Location: DOC, Hoover Building, Room __, 401 Constitution Ave., NW.

9:00 AM - 4:30 PM. Day two of a two day conference hosted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) titled "Safeguarding Health Information: Building Assurance through HIPAA Security". See, notice. The price to attend is $395. Location: Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center.

9:30 AM. The House Judiciary Committee (HJC) will hold a hearing titled "Oversight of the United States Department of Justice". See, notice. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

9:30 AM - 2:00 PM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) North American Numbering Council (NANC) will meet. Location: FCC, 445 12th St., SW.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold an executive business meeting. The agenda includes consideration of five judicial nominees: Robert Bacharach (to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit), Paul Grimm (U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland), John Dowdell (USDC/NDOkla), Mark Walker (USDC/NDFl), and Brian Davis (USDC/MDFl). See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The House Intelligence Committee (HIC) will hold a closed hearing titled "Ongoing Intelligence Activities". See, notice. Location: Room HVC-304, Capitol Visitor Center.

11:00 AM - 12:30 PM. American Bar Association's (ABA) Section of Intellectual Property Law will host a webcast and teleconferenced panel discussion titled "International Patent Litigation: A Compare and Contrast of Patent Litigation in Different Countries". The speakers will be Koen Bijvank (Vereenigde), David Hill (Finnegan Henderson), Steve Schad (ESCO Corporation), and Stephanie Roberts (Banner & Witcoff). The price ranges from $75 to $195. See, notice.

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. American Bar Association's (ABA) Section of International Law will host a webcast and teleconferenced panel discussion titled "HIPAA and HITECH Act Fundamentals: What You Need to Know Now About the Privacy and Security Rules". The speakers will be Eddie Williams (Holland & Knight), Elaine Zacharakis (Zacharakis Loumbas Law), and Clay Countryman (Breazeale Sachse & Wilson). The price ranges from $95 to $195. CLE credits. See, notice.

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

Day one of a two day event hosted by the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) titled "Legal Secretaries & Administrators Conference". For more information, contact aipla at aipla dot org or call 703-415-0780. Location: USPTO, Alexandria, VA.

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

9:30 AM. The House Ways and Means Committee's (HWMC) Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures will hold a hearing on expiring tax provisions, including the research and development (R&D) tax credit. It is codified at 21 U.S.C. § 41, but expired on December 31, 2011. It was last extended at the end of 2010. See, story titled "Tax Bill Enacted With R&D Tax Credit Extension" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,182, December 18, 2010. See, notice. Location: Room 1100, Longworth Building.

Day two of a two day event hosted by the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) titled "Legal Secretaries & Administrators Conference". For more information, contact aipla at aipla dot org or call 703-415-0780. Location: USPTO, Alexandria, VA.

Deadline to submit comments to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in response to its Patents External Quality Survey. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 68, Monday, April 9, 2012, at Pages 21086-21087.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) National Coordination Office (NCO) for Networking and Information Technology Research and Development (NITRD) will host an 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. Location: Historic Inns of Annapolis, Annapolis, MD.

Deadline to submit to the Department of Health and Human Services' (DHHS) Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONCHIT) nominations to its Health Information Technology Standards Committee (HITSC) and Health Information Technology Policy Committee (HITPC). See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 106, Friday, June 1, 2012, at Pages 32639-32640.

9:00 AM. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) Bureau of Industry and Security's (BIS) Regulations and Procedures Technical Advisory Committee (RPTAC) will hold a partially closed meeting. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 103, Tuesday, May 29, 2012, at Pages 31567-31568. Location: DOC, Hoover Building, Room 3884, 14th Street between Constitution and Pennsylvania Avenues, NW.

12:00 NOON. The National Press Club (NPC) will host a class titled "Social Media Trends for Social Media Managers". See, notice. The price to attend ranges from $62.50 to $125. Location: Bloomberg Room, NPC, 13th Floor, 529 14th St. NW.

5:00 PM. Deadline to submit speaker applications to the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) for the 2013 International CES to be held in Las Vegas, Nevada, on January 8-11, 2013. See, notice.