1/10. President Obama signed HR 6671 [LOC | WW], the "Video Privacy Protection Act Amendments Act of 2012". See, White House news office release.

This Act revises the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) to facilitate practices of social media web sites. See, stories titled "House Passes Video Privacy Protection Act Amendments" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,494, December 19, 2012, and "Senate Passes VPPA Amendments" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,496, December 21, 2012.

Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) stated in a release on January 10 that "Federal laws need to catch up with the technology of today ... Over the past two decades, video distribution and the way consumers view video content has changed dramatically.  Social media users, especially young people, do not understand why they cannot share information about their favorite movies or TV shows in the same way that they can music or books. My legislation preserves careful protections for consumers' privacy while modernizing the law to empower consumers to do more with their video consumption preferences, including sharing favorite TV shows or recently watched movies via social media networks in a simple way."

1/10. The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a civil complaint [21 pages in PDF] in the U.S. District Court (NDCal) against Bazaarvoice Inc. alleging that Bazaarvoice's acquisition of PowerReviews Inc. in June of 2012 lessened competition substantially in interstate trade and commerce in violation of Section 7 of the Clayton Act, which is codified at 15 U.S.C. § 18.

Section 7 provides in part that "No person engaged in commerce or in any activity affecting commerce shall acquire, directly or indirectly, the whole or any part of the stock or other share capital" or "acquire the whole or any part of the assets of another person engaged also in commerce or in any activity affecting commerce, where in any line of commerce or in any activity affecting commerce in any section of the country, the effect of such acquisition may be substantially to lessen competition, or to tend to create a monopoly." (Emphasis added.)

Bill Baer, who was confirmed as Assistant Attorney General in charge of the DOJ's Antitrust Division at the close of the 112th Congress, stated in a release that "Bazaarvoice bought PowerReviews knowing that it was acquiring its most significant rival and hoping to benefit from diminished price competition".

Baer (at right) added that "Without competitive pressure from PowerReviews, Bazaarvoice will be able to increase prices to retailers and manufacturers for its product ratings and reviews platform. This lawsuit seeks to prevent one firm from dominating the product rating and review platforms market, and demonstrates that transactions that are not reported to us are not immune from scrutiny."

The complaint alleges that "many retailers and manufacturers purchase product ratings and reviews platforms ("PRR platforms") to collect and display consumer-generated product ratings and reviews online. Bizaarvoice provides the market-leading PRR platform, and PowerReviews was its closest competitor. No other PRR platform competitor has a significant number pf PRR platform customers in the United States. By acquiring PowerReviews, Bazaarvoice elilminated it most significant rival and effectively insulated itself from meaningful competition."

The complaint requests that this acquisition "be adjudged to violate Section 7 of the Clayton Act", and that "the Court order Bazaarvoice to divest assets, whether possessed originally by PowerReviews, Bazaarvoice, or both, sufficient to create a separate, distinct, and viable competing business that can replace PowerReviews' competitive significance in the marketplace."

This case is U.S.A. v. Bazaarvoice, Inc., U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California, D.C. No. C-13-0133-JSC.

1/8. The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced in a release that Xiang Li pled guilty in the U.S. District Court (DDel) to conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement, in violation of 17 U.S.C. § 506(a)(1)(A), 18 U.S.C. § 371, and 18 U.S.C. § 2319, and wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1343 and 1349.

This is not a typical criminal copyright infringement case, for several reasons. First, the illegal operations were based in the People's Republic of China (PRC), beyond the reach of US prosecutors and courts. However, in this case, the US lured one defendant, Xiang Li, to the island of Saipan, where he was arrested. Second, the scale was particularly large. The ICE estimated the retail value of illegally sold software to be at least $100 Million. Third, while Xiang Li pled guilty to only copyright and wire fraud related charges, the underlying facts suggest other criminal offenses.

See, DHS/ICE's presentation slides explaining the criminal operations that gave rise to this case.

Documents released by the US on January 8 do not disclose whether or not PRC law enforcement officials assisted their US counterparts in this case. TLJ phone calls to the ICE and DOJ went unreturned.

The U.S. Attorney's Office (USAO) for the District of Delaware filed a Government's Statement of Facts on January 4, 2013 that states that "Between April 2008 and June 2011, Defendant Xiang Li operated an online business through which he engaged in the unauthorized reproduction and distribution of copyrighted software via the Internet. The copyrighted software sold by Defendant was ``cracked,´´ meaning that the digital license files and access control features created to prevent unauthorized access to the copyrighted software had been disabled or circumvented."

This document continues that this "Defendant engaged in over 500 transactions through which he distributed approximately 550 different copyrighted software titles to at least 325 purchasers located in at least 28 states and over 60 foreign countries. ... These software products were owned by approximately 200 different manufacturers. More than one-third of these purchases were made by individuals within the United States, including small business owners, government contractors, students, inventors, and engineers." retail value "totaling at least $100 million".

The USAO disclosed some of the defendant's purchasers. For example, "Defendant sold and transmitted via the Internet 12 cracked software programs to Cosburn Wedderburn, who was then a NASA electronics engineer, working at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, in Greenbelt, Maryland."

Also, this "Defendant sold and transmitted via the Internet 10 cracked software programs to Dr. Wronald Best, who held the position of ``Chief Scientist´´ at a Kentucky-based government contractor that services the U.S. and foreign militaries and law enforcement with a variety of applications such as radio transmissions, radar usage, microwave technology, and vacuum tubes used in military helicopters."

This document states that Xiang Li that had a co-conspirator in Chengdu, PRC. A previously released indictment disclosed his name, Chun Yan Li. See also, Department of Justice (DOJ) release of April 12, 2012.

Also, Cosburn Wedderburn previously pled guilty to conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement.

US law enforcement authorities arranged for Xiang Li to travel from Chengdu, China to the Island of Saipan in June of 2011 to meet with undercover agents. The Statement of Facts discloses that "Defendant stated that he had approximately twenty gigabytes of valuable internal data from an American software company, which he offered to sell to the undercover agents for an additional $3,000."

This "Defendant also provided the agents with disks containing approximately twenty gigabytes of proprietary data unlawfully obtained from an American software company."

The December 13, 2012 plea agreement also provides for forfeiture of DVDs, thumb drives, an external hard drive, a laptop computer, and six domain names.

Jodie Kelley of the Business Software Alliance (BSA) praised the ICE in a release. She stated that "The massive scale of this single case highlights the broader, persistent problem we face with software piracy around the world ... Software piracy has huge economic consequences, which underscores the need for continued vigilance by industry, law enforcement authorities, and end users."

This case is U.S.A. v. Xiang Li, U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, D.C. No. Cr. A. No. 10-112-LPS.

1/9. The U.S. Court of Appeals (1stCir) issued its opinion in Swarovski v. Building #19, a civil trademark infringement case.

Swarovski makes luxury goods, including the crystal figurines at issue in this case, which it sells via posh retailers. Building #19 is a discount store chain that acquired a large amount of Swarovski's figurines at an insurer's salvage sale after a severe storm damaged the warehouse where they had been stored by their prior owner. Building #19 ran newspaper ads that used the word Swarovski in huge print.

Swarovski, which holds U.S. trademarks, filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court (DRI) seeking an injunction against use of its name. The Court of Appeals opinion applies the four prong test for injunctive relief to trademark infringement cases. The Court of Appeals reversed the District Court's preliminary injunction, and remanded.

This case is Swarovski Aktiengesellschaft, et al. v. Building #19, Inc., U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit, App. Ct. No. 12-1659, an appeal from the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island, Judge Mary Lisi presiding. The Court of Appeals issued a per curiam opinion of a two judge panel comprised of Judges Lynch and Woodlock.

1/11. The U.S. Court of Appeals (9thCir) issued its amended opinion [62 pages in PDF] in Carlin v. Dairy America.

This case involves milk, which is regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. However, the issue in this case is when the filed rate doctrine, which is also known as the filed tariff doctrine, applies, and if so, whether it bars certain state law causes of action. These issues also arise in some common carrier telecommunications cases.

The District Court held that the filed rate doctrine does apply to the USDA program at issue, and that it bars the plaintiff's state law claims. The Court of Appeals held that the filed rate doctrine applies, but that it does not operate as a bar to the state law causes of action. The amended opinion did not alter the original opinion of the majority.

This case is Gerald Carlin, et al. v. Dairy America, Inc., et al., U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, App. Ct. No. 10-16448, an appeal from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, D.C. No. 1:09-CV-00430, Judge Anthony Ishii presiding. Judge George Wu (USDC/CDCal sitting by designation) wrote the opinion of the Court of Appeals, in which Judge Johnnie Rawlinson joined. Judge Raymond Fisher wrote a concurring opinion; in the original opinion he joined with the majority.

1/11. Sen. John Rockefeller (D-WVa) announced that he will not run for re-election in 2014. He is the Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee (SCC). He issued a release in which he listed his major accomplishments, including "authoring the E-Rate program". He added that he "will use the next two years to secure the future of the E-Rate program ... to incorporate new technologies", and to "continue his work on Internet privacy and security -- from Do Not Track to data brokering to cyber security to cyber bullying". See also, statement by President Obama, and statement by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski.

1/11. Joshua Wright was sworn in as Commission of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). See, FTC release.

1/9. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis announced in a letter to Department of Labor (DOL) employees that "This afternoon, I submitted my resignation to President Obama". See also, statement by President Obama.

1/7. President Obama nominated John Brennan to be Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee (HIC), stated in a release that "I congratulate Mr. Brennan on his nomination to lead the CIA. I look forward to working with him."

1/7. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced in a release that Jordan Usdan "will step down as Acting Director of Public-Private Initiatives this month", and that Rebecca Hanson, who is Senior Advisor in the FCC's Media Bureau, will take her place. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski created this initiative in March of 2012. He stated then in a release that this initiative will "drive collaboration among government and private sector entities, including non-profit organizations, on broadband-related national priorities."

1/7. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced in a release that Geoffrey Aronow will become SEC General Counsel "later this month". He is a partner in the Washington DC office of the law firm of Bingham McCutchen.

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The House will meet at 2:00 PM. See, House calendar for 113th Congress, 1st Session.

The Senate will not meet. It will next meet on January 21.

8:00 AM. There will be a closed event titled "Learn How to Increase Your Blog Traffic by 1000%". The speaker will be Devon Hopkins (Social Driver). This event is open only to members of the National Press Club (NPC). See, notice. For more information, contact Anthony Shop at anthony at socialdriver dot com. Location: NPC, Truman Lounge, 13th Floor, 529 14th St., NW.

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The American Bar Association's (ABA) Section of Antitrust Law will host a teleconferenced panel discussion titled "Selecting and Working with Experts in Antitrust". The speakers will be Jonathan Bowater (Compass Lexecon), Shari Lahlou (Crowell & Moring), Greg Rosston (Stanford University), and Judith Zahid (Zelle Hofmann). Free. No CLE credits. See, notice.

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The Federal Society's Washington DC Lawyers Chapter will host a lunch at which Rep. Tom Cotton (R-AR) will speak. The price to attend ranges from $15 to $20. Location: Tony Cheng's Restaurant, 619 H St.,  NW.

1:00 - 2:30 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a webcast panel discussion titled "Moving Your Law Practice to the Cloud Safely and Ethically". The speakers will be Natalie Kelly (Georgia State Bar Association), John Simek (Sensei Enterprises), and Daniel Siegel. Prices vary. CLE credits. See, notice.

6:00 PM. The House Ways and Means Committee (HWMC) will hold its organizational meeting for the 113th Congress. See, notice. Location: Room 1100, Longworth Building.

6:00 - 8:15 PM. The DC Bar Association will host a program titled "The 10 Most Important Cloud Computing Issues". The speakers will be Henry Classen (Computer Sciences Corporation) and Philip Porter (Hogan Lovells). The price to attend ranges from $89 to $129. CLE credits. See, notice. For more information, call 202-626-3488. The DC Bar has a history of barring reporters from its events. Location: DC Bar Conference Center, 1101 K St., NW.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (PSHSB) in response to its Public Notice (PN) regarding Next Generation 911 (NG911) services. This PN is DA 12-1831 in PS Docket Nos. 10-255, 11-153, and 12-333. The FCC released it on November 13, 2012.

EXTENDED FROM DECEMBER 17. Extended 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.

Deadline to submit replies to oppositions to Motorola Solutions's petition for reconsideration of the FCC's Report and Order regarding certification and use of Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) technology on certain Part 90 land mobile radio frequencies. This R&O is FCC 12-114 in WT Docket No. 11-69. See also, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 243, December 18, 2012, at Pages 74822-74823.

EXTENDED FROM DECEMBER 24. Extended deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding its licensing and operating rules for satellite services. The FCC adopted and released this NPRM on September 28, 2012. It is FCC 12-117 in IB Docket No. 12-267. See, original notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 217, November 8, 2012, at Pages 67171-67201. See also, extension notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 250, December 31, 2012, at Pages 77001-77002.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. It will consider HR 152, the "Disaster Relief Appropriations Act, 2013". See, Rep. Cantor's schedule.

The Senate will not meet. It will next meet on January 21.

10th anniversary of the Supreme Court's opinion in Eldred v. Ashcroft, 537 U.S. 186 (2003). See, story titled "Supreme Court Upholds CTEA in Eldred v. Ashcroft" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 584, January 16, 2003.

Day one of a three day conference hosted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) titled "NIST Cloud Computing and Big Data Forum and Workshop". Free. See, NIST notice and notice in the Federal Register Vol. 77, No. 243, December 18, 2012, at Pages 74829-74830. Location: NIST, Red Auditorium, Administration Building, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD.

8:00 - 10:00 AM. Broadband Census News LLC will host a panel discussion titled "The President Elect's and Congress' New Broadband Agenda". The speakers will be Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE), and David Grossman (Rep. Eshoo's staff). Breakfast will be served. This event is open to the public. The price to attend is $47.12. See, notice and registration page. This event is also sponsored by Comcast, Google, ICF Intl., TIA, and US Telecom. Location: Clyde's of Gallery Place, 707 7th St., NW.

12:00 NOON - 1:15 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host an on site and teleconferenced panel discussion titled "How Far Can Patent Holders Go?". The speakers will be Mark Whitener (General Electric), Jonathan Gleklen (Arnold & Porter), Hwang Lee (Korea Univ. School of Law), Frances Marshall (DOJ Special Counsel for IP), and Yizhe Zhang (Jones Day). Free. No CLE credits. See, notice. Location: Arnold & Porter, Room 220, 555 12th St., NW.

3:00 PM. The House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) will hold its organizational meeting for the 113th Congress. See, notice. Location: Room 2172, Rayburn Building.

4:30 - 8:00 PM. The CCIA, CEA, CEI, PK, Tech Freedom, Twin Logic, and numerous other entities will host an event titled "Celebration of Internet Freedom". This is the first anniversary of the successful grass roots lobbying campaign to block Congressional passage of the SOPA and PIPA. At 4:30 PM there will be a pre-screening cocktail reception. From 5:00 - 6:00 PM there will be the premiere screening of a short film titled "Silicon Prairie: America's New Internet Economy", followed by a panel discussion. From 6:00 - 8:00 PM there will be a reception. Location: Knight Studio, Newseum, 555 Pennsylvania Ave., NW. (Enter via the 6th Street entrance.)

6:00 - 8:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Wireless Telecommunications Committee will host an event titled "The Role of Spectrum Sharing in Addressing the Bandwidth Crunch". There will be a panel of government speakers: Shawn Chang (Democratic staff, House Commerce Committee), David Redl (Republican staff, HCC), Peter Tenhula (NTIA), and John Leibovitz (Deputy Chief of the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau). There will be a second panel of industry representatives: Scott Bergmann (CTIA), Dean Brenner (Qualcomm), Mark Racek (Ericsson), and Steve Sharkey (T-Mobile). CLE credits. Prices vary. See, notice. Reservations and cancellations are due by 12:00 NOON on January 14. Location: Arnold & Porter, 555 12th St., NW.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [21 pages in PDF] regarding applications and notifications from foreign carriers or affiliates of foreign carriers for entry into the U.S. market for international telecommunications services and facilities under section 214 of Communications Act. This pertains to the effective competitive opportunities test or ECO Test. The FCC adopted this NPRM on October 10, and released the text on October 11. It is FCC 12-125 in IB Docket No. 12-299. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 227, November 26, 2012, at Pages 70400-70407.

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) regarding its draft NIST IR-7298 Rev. 2 [222 pages in PDF] titled "Glossary of Key Information Security Terms".

The House will meet. See, House calendar for 113th Congress, 1st Session.

Day two of a three day conference hosted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) titled "NIST Cloud Computing and Big Data Forum and Workshop". Free. See, NIST notice and notice in the Federal Register Vol. 77, No. 243, December 18, 2012, at Pages 74829-74830. Location: NIST, Red Auditorium, Administration Building, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD.

10:00 AM. The Supreme Court will hear oral argument in City of Arlington v. FCC (Sup. Ct. No. 11-1545) and Cable, Telecommunications and Technology v. FCC (Sup. Ct. No. 11-1547). See, Supreme Court calendar. See also, FCC merits brief. At issue is whether, in reviewing an agency's interpretation of its statutory authority, a court should apply the two part analysis set forth in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, 467 U.S. 837 (1984). Location: Supreme Court, 1 First St., NW.

10:00 AM. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC), will give a speech titled "The Agenda for the Senate Judiciary Committee for the 113th Congress". Reporters may register by contacting mediarelations at law dot georgetown dot edu. Location: Georgetown University law school, Hart Auditorium, McDonough Hall, 600 New Jersey Ave., NW.

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy (GCBPP) will host a panel discussion titled "U.S. Trade Policy: Where We've Been and Where We're Going". The speakers will be Linda Dempsey (National Association of Manufacturers), Bill Reinsch (National Foreign Trade Council), Howard Rosen (Peterson Institute for International Economics), Bradford Jensen (GCBPP), and Robert Vastine (GCBPP). Location: Room B-318, Rayburn Building.

12:10 - 1:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Wireline Committee will host a brown bag lunch titled "The Lifeline Broadband Pilot Program". Location: Wiley Rein, 1750 K St., NW.

4:00 - 5:30 PM. The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) will host an on site and webcast event titled "Still a series of tubes? The dynamic Internet and competition policy". The speakers will be Jeffrey Eisenach (Navigant Economics), Christopher Yoo (University of Pennsylvania law school), Jonathan Nuechterlein (Wilmer Hale), and Kevin Hassett (AEI). See, notice. Free. Open to the public. Location: AEI, 12th Floor, 1150 17th St., NW.

The House will not meet. See, House calendar for 113th Congress, 1st Session.

Day three of a three day conference hosted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) titled "NIST Cloud Computing and Big Data Forum and Workshop". Free. See, NIST notice and notice in the Federal Register Vol. 77, No. 243, December 18, 2012, at Pages 74829-74830. Location: NIST, Red Auditorium, Administration Building, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD.

10:00 AM - 1:00 PM. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Telecommunications and Information Administration's (NTIA) Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 224, November 20, 2012, at Pages 69597-69598. Location: DOC, Hoover Building, Room 4830, 1401 Constitution Ave., NW.

1:00 PM. The US Telecom will host a webcast presentation titled "LTE Essentials". The speaker will be Annabel Dodd (Northeastern University). See, notice.

5:15 - 6:45 PM. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host a panel discussion titled "Chased by the Dragon: Competition and Innovation in China and the United States". The speakers will be Robert Atkinson (ITIF), Nicholas Bloom (Stanford), Philip Levy (University of Virginia), Jimmy Goodrich (ITIC), and Alan Wolff (McKenna Long & Aldridge). See, notice. Location: ITIF/ITIC, Suite 610A, 1101 K St., NW.

6:00 - 7:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) International Committee will host a reception in honor of WCIT Ambassador Terry Kramer. Location: Wiley Rein, 1776 K St., NW.

Deadline to submit comments to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in response to its request for comments regarding how to "block illegal robocalls on landlines and mobile phones". The FTC states that this is a "competition". See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 77, No. 205, October 23, 2012, at Pages 64802-64808.

The House will not meet. See, House calendar for 113th Congress, 1st Session.

Supreme Court conference day. See, Supreme Court calendar.

12:00 NOON. There will be a closed event titled "Evolving Your Facebook Strategy". The speaker will be Mary Nahorniak (USA Today Social Media Editor). This event is open only to members of the National Press Club (NPC). Sold out. See, notice. For more information, contact Anthony Shop at anthony at socialdriver dot com. Location: NPC, McClendon Room, 13th Floor, 529 14th St., NW.

Inauguration Day.

The House will meet. See, House calendar for 113th Congress, 1st Session.

Martin Luther King's birthday. This is a federal holiday. See, OPM list of 2013 federal holidays.