12/13. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR) released a report [9 pages in PDF] titled "Out-of-Cycle Review of Notorious Markets".

This report identifies internet and physical notorious markets located outside of the US that make available intellectual property infringing products.

It lists numerous deep linking web sites, cyber lockers, B2B and B2C sites, BitTorrent indexing sites, BitTorrent trackers, social media cites, and pay per download sites, as well as physical markets.

The OUSTR requested public comments in August to assist it in writing this report. See also, story titled "OUSTR Seeks Comments on Notorious Markets" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,431, August 17, 2012.

Last year the OUSTR released its notorious markets report on December 20, 2011. See, report [6 pages in PDF] titled "Out-of-Cycle Review of Notorious Markets", and story titled "OUSTR Releases Notorious Markets Report" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,321, December 21, 2011.

This 2012 report does not list the People's Republic of China based Taobao. The report states that Taobao "was included in previous Notorious Markets lists for the widespread availability of counterfeit and pirated goods in its electronic marketplace. Taobao has been removed from the 2012 List because it has undertaken notable efforts over the past year to work with rightholders directly or through their industry associations to clean up its site. In order to stay off the list in the future, we urge Taobao to further streamline procedures for submitting and responding to notifications to decrease the time required for taking down listings of counterfeit and pirated goods ..."

The list also no longer includes several cyber locker web sites that were on the 2011 list, but have since shut down as a result of government actions: MegaUpload, btjunkie, Demonoid, Modchip.ca and Consolesource.

USTR Ron Kirk (at right) stated in a release that "Piracy and counterfeiting, including online sales of pirated and counterfeit goods, is a problem that hurts the U.S. economy, harms some of this nation’s most creative and innovative entrepreneurs and companies and threatens jobs for significant numbers of middle-class American workers. We highlight the notorious markets that have a negative impact on legitimate businesses and industries of all sizes that rely on intellectual property to protect their goods and services".

The OUSTR notorious markets report is part of the Special 301 process. Section 301 is the statutory means by which the U.S. asserts its international trade rights, including its rights under World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements. In particular, under the "Special 301" provisions of the Trade Act of 1974, the OUSTR identifies trading partners that deny adequate and effective protection of intellectual property or deny fair and equitable market access to U.S. artists and industries that rely upon intellectual property protection. See, 19 U.S.C. § 2242.

Section 2242 contains no reference to the identification of notorious web sites, or notorious markets. Rather, it requires the OUSTR to identify "foreign countries". The OUSTR must identify, for example, countries that "deny adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights, or ... deny fair and equitable market access to United States persons that rely upon intellectual property protection".

Beginning in 2006, the OUSTR included sections on notorious markets in its annual Special 301 reports. In 2010, the OUSTR announced that it would also produce stand alone notorious markets reports. See, story titled "OUSTR Announces Separate Notorious Markets Process" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,138, October 4, 2010. The OUSTR released its first notorious markets report in February of 2011.

Jodie Kelley of the Business Software Alliance (BSA) stated in a release that "We commend USTR for continuing to make the fight against online piracy a top priority ... The 'notorious markets' report is a key tool for highlighting both the scope of the problem and the places where enforcement resources should be targeted."

12/13. Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX), Rep. Steve Chabot (R-IN), Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), and Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA) introduced HR 6654 [LOC | WW | PDF], the "Foreign Counterfeit Merchandise Prevention Act", a bill to allow the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to share certain information with the owners of copyrights and registered marks.

This is a revised version of HR 4216 [LOC | WW], the "Foreign Counterfeit Prevention Act", which the same four Representatives introduced on March 20, 2012. See, story titled "Rep. Poe and Rep. Chabot Introduce Bill to Allow Customs to Share Information with Rights Holders" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,354, March 23, 2012.

Both HR 4216 and HR 6654 were referred to the House Judiciary Committee (HJC). Rep. Poe (at right), and the other sponsors are members.

The HJC's Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security (not the Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet) held a hearing on March 28, 2012, on several bills, including HR 4216. See, hearing transcript and record.

Neither the HJC nor any of its Subcommittees took any further action on HR 4216. Also, HR 4216 is similar to language contained in Title VI of both S 1866 [LOC | WW] and HR 3476 [LOC | WW], both titled the "American Growth, Recovery, Empowerment, and Entrepreneurship Act" or "AGREE Act".

The DHS/CBP published a notice in the Federal Register (FR) on April 24, 2012 that announced, described, and recited its "interim final rule" that allows certain information sharing with rights holders by CBP. See, FR, Vol. 77, No. 79, April 24, 2012, at Pages 24375-24380.

This DBP notice states that these new rules "allow CBP, subject to limitations, to disclose to an intellectual property right holder information appearing on merchandise or its retail packaging that may comprise information otherwise protected by the Trade Secrets Act, for the purpose of assisting CBP in determining whether the merchandise bears a counterfeit mark."

The CBP manages border and point of entry operations. This includes enforcing laws pertaining to importations of merchandise bearing recorded trademarks or recorded trade names, and circumvention devices banned by the DMCA.

That is, it is a function of the CBP to detect and block the importation of counterfeit goods and circumvention devices. This protects the proprietary interests of rights holders. It also protects consumers. It also protects public safety, for example, in cases involving counterfeit and fake pharmaceutical products. Historically, the CBP has obtained assistance from rights holders to assist it in determining if goods are counterfeit. This entails giving information about suspected goods to rights holders.

However, in 2008 the CBP interpreted the Trade Secrets Act, which is codified at 18 U.S.C. § 1905, to bar this practice of sharing information with rights holders. Section 1905 is a broad criminal prohibition of disclosure of information by officers or employees of the federal government of certain trade secrets, proprietary information, and certain confidential commercial data that they obtain in the course of investigations.

Currently, the Section 1905 provides as follows: "Whoever, being an officer or employee of the United States or of any department or agency thereof ... publishes, divulges, discloses, or makes known in any manner or to any extent not authorized by law any information coming to him in the course of his employment or official duties or by reason of any examination or investigation made by, or return, report or record made to or filed with, such department or agency or officer or employee thereof, which information concerns or relates to the trade secrets, processes, operations, style of work, or apparatus, or to the identity, confidential statistical data, amount or source of any income, profits, losses, or expenditures ... shall be fined under this title, or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; and shall be removed from office or employment."

This 2008 CBP interpretation made it more difficult for the CBP to block importation of counterfeits, and circumvention devices banned by 17 U.S.C. § 1201. This interpretation had the effect of harming rights holders, consumers and public safety.

However, information sharing can also harm lawful importers, for example, when CBP provides sensitive information to the rights holders who are their competitors. The sharing of information by the CBP can entail providing competitors with information regarding where goods are made, by whom, when, and at what prices. It can also entail revealing sensitive information about the identity of wholesalers, exporters and other parties.

Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) wrote in his prepared testimony for the March hearing that "While I support the bill's goals, I cannot support the measure in its current form. The samples and images that the bill would allow" CBP " to release to rights-holders will include tracking and distribution codes that identify proprietary and confidential supply-chain information, even though these codes serve little if any purpose for the process of determining the authenticity of a product. Lawful importers will not have any protection or recourse from the release of this information."

Rep. Scott (at right) added that "I hope the bill moves forward, that the compromises will include guarantees that importers and exporters will have many a meaningful role in verifying products' authenticity, and also provide for penalties against rights-holders that knowingly provide false information to Customs and Border Patrol to damage a competing legitimate importer."

Gilbert Sandler, who testified in March on behalf of the American Free Trade Association (AFTA), stated that HR 4216 "lacks any of the safeguards we think are important to preserve legitimate parallel market trade."

HR 4216 is a short and somewhat strait forward bill that would amend the Trade Secrets Act to clarify that the CBP can forward information, and samples, to rights holders and other injured parties.

HR 6654 is a longer bill. It would amend the Trade Secrets Act with language almost identical to that of HR 4216. The main difference is that HR 6654 adds a provision that this amendment applies only to "tangible goods presented to" the CBP. Digital goods are not affected.

HR 6654 would also add a section titled "Prevention of Importation of Manufactured Goods Bearing Infringing Marks" that would amend Section 42 of the Lanham Act, which is codified at 15 U.S.C. § 1124. It would establish procedure for CBP sharing of information with rights holders.

Both HR 4216 and HR 6654 would provide that it is not a violation of § 1905 for the CBP,

"at the time that merchandise is presented for examination and thereafter, to provide the owner of a copyright or a registered mark, or any person who may be injured by a violation of section 1201 ... --
  (1) any information appearing on the merchandise, including its retail packaging;
  (2) a sample of such merchandise and its retail packaging; or
  (3) digital images of such merchandise and its retail packaging,
as it was presented to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, without redaction, whether imported into or exported from the United States, or attempted to be exported from the United States, for the purposes of determining whether the merchandise or its retail packaging infringes the copyright, bears or consists of a counterfeit mark of the registered mark, or is a violation" of § 1201.

Both also would provide that it is not a violation of § 1905 for the CBP, "after a determination is made that merchandise is in violation" of § 1201, to provide information enumerated by the bill "to persons injured by such violation".

HR 6654 alone would revise the Lanham Act. It provides that "With respect to critical merchandise that bears a registered trademark", if CBP "detains the merchandise because the merchandise is suspected of bearing a counterfeit mark, then, upon such detention, the Secretary (1) shall provide to the owner of the registered trademark any information on the critical merchandise and its packaging and labels, including, without redaction, photographs or digital images of the critical merchandise, packaging, and labels; and (2) may, at any time, subject to any applicable bonding and return requirements, provide to the owner of the registered trademark samples of the critical merchandise, without redaction."

The term "critical merchandise" is critical this bill. It is defined to include only certain enumerated classes of merchandise. The list includes "semiconductors", which in turn is defined as a "semiconductor chip product" as defined by 17 U.S.C. § 901.

Section 901 defines "semiconductor chip product" as "having two or more layers of metallic, insulating, or semiconductor material, deposited or otherwise placed on, or etched away or otherwise removed from, a piece of semiconductor material in accordance with a predetermined pattern; and (B) intended to perform electronic circuitry functions".

Critical merchandise is also defined to includes aircraft parts, drugs, food, and "devices", among other things.

12/13. The U.S. Court of Appeals (8thCir) issued its opinion [16 pages in PDF] in U.S. v. Petrovic, affirming the defendant's criminal conviction for stalking and threatening his ex-wife, based in part upon his publication of a web site containing video and pictures (involving sex and nudity) and text messages, all of which were embarrassing and distressing to his former wife.

The Court of Appeals quoted, and impliedly distinguished, the Supreme Court's recent opinion in Snyder v. Phelps.

The present case also involved offline actions, such as phone calls and post cards. In addition, the defendant offered to take down the web site in return for furniture, wedding and engagement rings, and $100,000.

Petrovic was charged and convicted for criminal interstate stalking in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2261A(2)(A) and interstate extortionate threat in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 875(d). Petrovic argued in the District Court and in this appeal that his actions were protected speech under the First Amendment.

The Court of Appeals affirmed his conviction. It concluded that "the communications for which Petrovic was convicted under the statute are not protected by the First Amendment". It reasoned that one exception to the limitation imposed by the First Amendment is "speech integral to criminal conduct".

"The communications for which Petrovic was convicted under § 2261A(2)(A) were integral to this criminal conduct as they constituted the means of carrying out his extortionate threats." The Court of Appeals also held that "Because Petrovic's harassing and distressing communications were integral to his criminal conduct of extortion under § 875(d), the communications were not protected by the First Amendment."

This principle provides a satisfying outcome for the defendant in this case, but not a rule that can be applied to many other potential cases. For example, under this rule, the Congress could prohibit any expression by criminalizing it, and then relying upon the "speech integral to criminal conduct" exception. Without further refinement, the Congress could bar expression of specified political facts or viewpoints.

The Court of Appeals elaborated further with a discussion of the concepts of individual privacy and public interest.

It wrote, quoting from the 2011 opinion of the Supreme Court in Snyder v. Phelps, that "where matters of purely private significance are at issue, First Amendment protections are often less rigorous ... because restricting speech on purely private matters does not implicate the same constitutional concerns as limiting speech on matters of public interest".

Actually, Snyder was a civil tort action in which the Supreme Court held that the speech at issue was protected by the First Amendment.

In that case Marine Lance Corporal Matthew Snyder was killed in Iraq in the line of duty. Fred Phelps and others picketed his funeral in the state of Maryland, carrying signs such as "Thank God for Dead Soldiers", "Thank God for IEDs", and "God Hates Fags".

His father, Albert Snyder filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court (DMd), under diversity jurisdiction, pleading five state law causes of action: defamation, publicity given to private life, intentional infliction of emotional distress, intrusion upon seclusion, and civil conspiracy.

The Supreme Court concluded that even though Phelps's speech affected the privacy interests of the Snyder family, and even thought "its contribution to public discourse may be negligible", the speech was, at bottom, a criticism of the United States and its policies. And, because these are matters of public interest, Phelps's speech is protected.

The 8th Circuit did not elaborate further on Synder, or distinquish its conclusion from that of the Supreme Court. But, perhaps its implied conclusion was that Petrovic's speech affected privacy interests, but had no public interest component such as that identified by the Supreme Court in Snyder, and hence, lies outside of First Amendment protection.

The Court of Appeals did write that it is "constitutionally permissible for a governmental entity to regulate the public disclosure of facts about private individuals", citing its 1997 opinion in Coplin v. Fairfield Public Access Television Committee, 111 F.3d 1395.

In that case, Jay Coplin had a public access cable television program. The Fairfield Public Access Television Committee terminated his program because of its content -- too much discussion of sex. Coplin filed a civil complaint alleging violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983, predicated upon alleged violation of his First Amendment rights.

In the present case, the Court of Appeals quoted from the 1997 opinion in Coplin. Speech "can be regulated ... because of its constitutionally proscribable content only if: (1) any such regulation is viewpoint-neutral; (2) the facts revealed are not already in the public domain; (3) the facts revealed about the otherwise private individual are not a legitimate subject of public interest; and (4) the facts revealed are highly offensive."

The Court then applied this to Petrovic. The criminal statute is "viewpoint neutral". His web site publications were not previously "in the public domain". The "public has no legitimate interest" in Petrovic's speech. And, Petrovic's speech was "highly offensive". Hence, under the holding in Coplin, Petrovic's web site publications were not protected free speech.

The Court also rejected Petrovic's argument that the federal stalking statute is overbroad.

This case is U.S.A. v. Jovica Petrovic, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit, App. Ct. No. 12-1427, an appeal from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, Judge Henry Autrey presiding. Judge Riley wrote the opinion of the Court of Appeals, in which Judges Smith and Colloton joined.

12/14. The U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir) issued its opinion in PMCM TV v. FCC, an appeal from an order of the FCC denying applications to reallocate VHF TV licenses under 47 U.S.C. § 331(a).

The Court of Appeals reversed. It held that the FCC's decision "conflicts with the statute's text and purpose" and "appellant can move its channels without creating signal interference".

See also, FCC brief [89 pages in PDF].

This case is PMCM TV, LLC v. FCC, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, App. Ct. No. 11-1330, an appeal from a final order of the FCC. Judge Tatel wrote the opinion of the Court of Appeals, in which Judges Garland and Kavanaugh joined.

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

The Senate will meet at 2:00 PM.

9:00 - 11:00 AM. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host a panel discussion titled "The 10th Anniversary of the E-Government Act: A Discussion of the Past and Future of E-Government". The speakers will be Alan Balutis (Cisco Systems), Doug Bourgeois (VMware), Dan Chenok (IBM), William Eggers (Deloitte Research), Mark Forman (Government Transaction Services), Tom Davis (Deloitte), Karen Evans, David Mihalchik (Google), and Robert Atkinson (ITIF). See, notice. Location: Room 215, Capitol Visitor Center.

11:00 AM - 12:30 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host an on site and webcast panel discussion titled "Balancing Cybersecurity & Privacy in Digital World". The speakers will be Andy Grotto (Senate Intelligence Committee staff), Michelle Richardson (American Civil Liberties Union), Jeff Greene (Symantec), and Jessica Flanigan (Monument Policy Group). The price is $15. No CLE credits. Lunch will be served. See, notice. Location: Crowell & Moring, 1001 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host an on site and webcast panel discussion titled "Understanding Network Effects in Mergers". The speakers will be Joe Tipograph (Capitol Forum), Logan Breed (Hogan Lovells), Robert Lepore (DOJ Antitrust Division, Telecommunications and Media Enforcement Section), and Joanna Tsai (Charles River Associates). Free. No CLE credits. See, notice. Location: Charles River Associates, 1201 F St., NW.

4:00 - 6:00 PM. The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) will host a book talk. Andrew Nathan (Columbia University) and Andrew Scobell (RAND Corporation) will discuss their book titled "China's Search for Security". The other discussants will be David Lampton (Johns Hopkins University), Randy Schriver (Armitage International), and Bonnie Glaser (CSIS). See, notice. Location: CSIS, basement conference room, 1800 K St., NW.

EXTENDED TO JANUARY 14. Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [146 pages in PDF] regarding its program access rules. The FCC adopted and released this item on October 5, 2012. It is FCC 12-123 in MB Docket No. 12-68. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 211, October 31, 2012, at Pages 66052-66065, and stories titled "FCC Lets Expire Its Per Se Ban on Exclusive Program Distribution Contracts", "FCC Adopts Report and Order on Program Access Rules", "FCC Adopts NPRM on Case by Case Analysis of Exclusive Contracts", and "Reaction to FCC's Program Access Order" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,460, October 6, 2012. See also, extension notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 234, December 5, 2012, at Pages 72295-72296.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for morning hour, and at 12:00 NOON for legislative business. The House will consider numerous items under suspension of the rules, including HR 6621 [LOC | WW], an untitled bill that would make numerous changes to the Patent Act, HR 2471 [ LOC | WW], a bill to amend the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), and S 3642 [LOC | WW], the "Theft of Trade Secrets Clarification Act of 2012". See, Rep. Cantor's schedule. See also, story titled "House to Take Up Tech Bills" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,491, December 15, 2012.

Day one of a two day closed meeting of the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade.

8:30 AM - 5:00 PM. Day one of a two day meeting of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Smart Grid Advisory Committee. The agenda includes presentations on cyber security coordination. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 230, November 29, 2012, at Pages 71169-71170. Location: NIST, Lecture Room A, Administration Building, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD.

9:30 - 11:30 AM. The Senate Banking Committee's (SBC) Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment will hold a hearing titled "Computerized Trading Venues: What Should the Rules of the Road Be?". See, notice. Location: Room 538, Dirksen Building.

12:30 - 2:00 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host an on site and webcast panel discussion titled "Upturn Downturn -- Should Antitrust Care?". The speakers will be Jeffrey Jacobovitz (McCarthy Sweeney & Harkaway), Michele Lee (Visa), Richard Parker (O'Melveny & Myers), Albert Foer (American Antitrust Institute), and Robert Levinson (Charles River Associates). Free. No CLE credits. See, notice. Location: O’Melveny & Myers, 10th floor, 1625 Eye St., NW.

1:00 - 2:00 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a webcast and teleconferenced panel discussion titled "International Data Governance and Legal Issues in New Data-Related Service Models". The speakers will be Ken Dreifach (ZwillGen), Gregory Voss (Toulouse Business School), and Jonathan Rubens (Javid Rubens). Prices vary. CLE credits. See, notice.

1:00 - 2:30 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a webcast and teleconferenced panel discussion titled "Navigating the Right of Publicity in the Age of Social Media". The speakers will be Sarah Bro (McDermott Will & Emery), Vineeta Gajwani (Electronic Arts), Lindy Herman (Wang Hartmann Gibbs & Cauley), and Lynne Boisineau (McDermott Will & Emery). Prices vary. CLE credits. See, notice.

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

3:00 - 4:30 PM. The The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) will host a panel discussion titled "Japan's Election Result and the U.S.-Japan Alliance" The speakers will be Yoshihisa Komori (Sankei Shimbun), Kurt Tong (Deputy Chief of Mission, U.S. Embassy, Tokyo), and Michael Green (CSIS). See, notice. Location: CSIS, basement conference room, 1800 K St., NW.

3:30 PM. The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) will hold an executive session at which it may vote on the nominations of Mignon Clyburn (FCC) and Joshua Wright (FTC). See, notice. Location: Room 253, Russell Building.

4:30 PM. The House Intelligence Committee (HIC) will hold a closed hearing titled "Ongoing Intelligence Activities". See, notice. Location: Room HVC-304. Capitol Visitor Center.

TIME? The Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will hold another in a series of meetings regarding consumer data privacy in the context of mobile applications. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 149, August 2, 2012, Pages 46067-46068. See also, NTIA web page titled "Privacy Multistakeholder Process: Mobile Application Transparency". Location?

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [42 pages in PDF] regarding disability access to televised emergency information. This NPRM is FCC 12-142 in MB Docket No. 12-107. The FCC adopted it on November 16, and released the text on November 19. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 229, November 28, 2012, at Pages 70970-70987.

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

Day two of a two day closed meeting of the U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade.

8:30 AM - 12:00 NOON. Day one of a two day meeting of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Smart Grid Advisory Committee. The agenda includes presentations on cyber security coordination. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 230, November 29, 2012, at Pages 71169-71170. Location: NIST, Lecture Room A, Administration Building, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD.

9:00 AM - 3:00 PM. The Department of Health and Human Services' (DHHS) Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology's (ONCHIT) HIT Standards Committee will meet by webcast. Open to the public. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 210, October 30, 2012, at Pages 65690-65691.

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.

12:00 NOON - 2:00 PM. The Georgetown University's (GU) Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy (GCBPP) will host an event titled "Challenge to the Net: What Happened in Dubai?" The speakers will be Jonathan McHale (Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, Deputy Assistant USTR for Telecommunications and Electronic Commerce Policy), Michael Wack (Department of State, Office of the U.S. Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy), David Gross (Wiley Rein), Amy Alvarez (AT&T), and Jacquelynn Ruff (Verizon Communications). Lunch will be served. Twitter #GCBPPontheHill. See, notice and registration page. Location: Room B-318, Rayburn Building..

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

9:00 AM. The House Intelligence Committee (HIC) will hold a closed business meeting. The agenda includes "Investigative Report on the U.S. National Security Issues Posed by Chinese Telecommunications Companies Huawei and ZTE".See, HIC notice. See also, story titled "House Intelligence Committee Report Finds Huawei and ZTE Could Undermine US National Security" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,461, October 15, 2012. Location: Room HVC-304, Capitol Visitor Center.

9:30 AM. The House Intelligence Committee (HIC) will hold a closed hearing titled "Ongoing Intelligence Activities". See, notice. Location: Room HVC-304. Capitol Visitor Center.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold an executive business meeting. The agenda contains no technology related items. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) will host panel discussion titled "The Results and Impact of the 2012 Korean Presidential Elections". See, notice. Location: CSIS, basement conference room, 1800 K St., NW.

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

Rep. Cantor's schedule states that the House will meet at 9:00 AM for legislative business.

Deadline to submit requests to participate in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) January 11, 2013 roundtable on the possibility of changing USPTO rules of practice to require the disclosure of real party in interest information during patent prosecution and at certain times post-issuance. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 227, November 26, 2012, at Pages 70385-70389. See also, story titled "USPTO to Host Roundtable on Requiring Real Party in Interest Disclosures" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,483, December 5, 2012.

EXTENDED TO JANUARY 25. Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [205 pages in PDF] regarding incentive auctions. The FCC adopted this NPRM on September 28, and released the text on October 2. It is FCC 12-118 in Docket No. 12-268. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 225, November 21, 2012, at Pages 69933-69992. See also, stories titled "FCC Adopts NPRM on Incentive Auctions" and "FCC Adopts Spectrum Aggregation NPRM" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,455, October 1, 2012. See, extension notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 239, December 12, 2012, at Page 73969.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Public Notice (PN) regarding implementation of Phase II of the Mobility Fund, which pertains to universal service fund subsidies for mobile broadband. The FCC released this PN on November 27, 2012. It is DA 12-1853 in WC Docket No. 10-90 and WT Docket No. 10-208.  See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 238, December 11, 2012, at Pages 73586-73589.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [50 pages in PDF] regarding spectrum aggregation limits and analyzing spectrum holdings. The FCC adopted and released this item on September 28, 2012. It is FCC 12-119 in WT Docket No. 12-269. See, notice in the Federal Register Vol. 77, No. 195, October 9, 2012, at Pages 61330-61350. See also, TLJ story titled "FCC Adopts Spectrum Aggregation NPRM" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,455, October 1, 2012.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [18 pages in PDF] regarding the amateur radio service. The FCC adopted this NPRM on October 1, 2012, and released the text on October 2. It is FCC 12-121 in WT Docket Nos. 12-283 and 09-209. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 206, October 24, 2012, at Pages 64947-64949.

12/16. Japan held legislative elections on December 16. The Liberal Democratic Party and a coalition party won two thirds of the seats in the lower house of the Diet. As a consequence, Shinzo Abe will replace Yoshihiko Noda as Prime Minister. President Obama stated in a release that "I congratulate Liberal Democratic Party President Shinzo Abe on his party's success in the elections in Japan today. The U.S-Japan Alliance serves as the cornerstone of peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific and I look forward to working closely with the next government and the people of Japan on a range of important bilateral, regional and global issues. I also extend my appreciation to Prime Minister Noda for his many contributions to U.S.-Japan relations."

12/17. David Christopher (at right) was named Chief of Operations at the Copyright Office (CO), effective December 17, 2012. He has worked at the CO since 2006. For the past 18 months he has been head of the CO's Information and Records Division. He replaces Melissa Dadant, who will retire in February. Maria Pallante remains the Register of Copyright. The CO stated in a release that he "will supervise the day-to-day operations of the Copyright Office, including financial controls, budget, human capital, statutory royalty investments, mandatory deposit and acquisitions, contracts and strategic planning functions. ... His first assignment will be to oversee a strategic reorganization of the Copyright Office, to better align the business functions with business needs and better manage resources".

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