4/9. The Fair Search (FS) announced in a release that it filed a complaint with the European Commission (EC) "laying out Google's anti-competitive strategy to dominate the mobile marketplace and cement its control over consumer Internet data for online advertising as usage shifts to mobile". The FS did not release the text of its complaint.

The FS is a group that represents Expedia, Microsoft, Nokia, Oracle, TripAdvisor and other mostly U.S. companies in seeking to induce antitrust regulators around the world to regulate Google's business practices.

The EC is already investigating Google search related business practices. The just filed complaint introduces allegations regarding tying the Android mobile operating system to other Google products.

The FS is shopping its complaints to multiple fora. It has already complained to, but failed to obtain significant redress from, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). See, story titled "FTC Concludes Its Investigation of Google" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,504, January 7, 2013.

The EC has demonstrated in other proceedings that it is willing to take enforcement actions against U.S. technology companies following complaints from other U.S. technology companies. It has also demonstrated that it is willing to take actions that are inconsistent with the prior determinations of U.S. antitrust regulators.

The EC derives substantial revenues from the huge fines that it imposes on U.S. technology companies. Also, EC based lawyers and lobbyists derive much income from representing U.S. companies in their internecine antitrust disputes.

Thomas Vinje of the Brussels office of the law firm of Clifford Chance stated in the FS release that "Google is using its Android mobile operating system as a `Trojan Horse´ to deceive partners, monopolize the mobile marketplace, and control consumer data".

He continued that "We are asking the Commission to move quickly and decisively to protect competition and innovation in this critical market. Failure to act will only embolden Google to repeat its desktop abuses of dominance as consumers increasingly turn to a mobile platform dominated by Google's Android operating system."

The FS release states that the complaint alleges that "Google achieved its dominance in the smartphone operating system market by giving Android to device-makers for `free.´ But in reality, Android phone makers who want to include must-have Google apps such as Maps, YouTube or Play are required to pre-load an entire suite of Google mobile services and to give them prominent default placement on the phone ..."

The FS release adds that "Google's predatory distribution of Android at below-cost makes it difficult for other providers of operating systems to recoup investments in competing with Google's dominant mobile platform".

4/8. The House Intelligence Committee (HIC) announced that it will mark up HR 634 [LOC | WW], the "Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act" or CISPA at 2:00 PM on Wednesday, April 10, 2013.

This mark up will be held in Room HVC-304 of the Capitol Visitor Center, and will be open to the public. See, notice. A collection of groups sent a letter to the HIC on April 3 urging it to hold its mark up in public session.

The CISPA is directed at incenting cyber threat information sharing, in part by providing immunities to private sector entities. CISPA would not create a new government regulatory regime.

The House passed another version of the CISPA in the 112th Congress, on April 26, 2012. See, HR 3523 [LOC | WW], also titled CISPA. The vote on final passage was 248-168. See, Roll Call No. 192. See also, story titled "House Passes CISPA" and story titled "Amendment by Amendment Summary of House Consideration of CISPA" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,380, April 25, 2012.

President Obama threatened to veto the CISPA in the 112th Congress. He has not yet threatened to veto HR 634.

Instead, President Obama has sought legislation that would give the federal government broad and open ended authority to regulate business practices under the rubric of promoting cyber security. Neither the House, Senate, nor any committee has passed such a bill.

See also, stories titled "Senate Again Rejects Cloture on Bill to Impose Cyber Security Regulatory Regime" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,473, November 14, 2012, and "Senate Rejects Cloture on Sen. Lieberman's Cyber Security Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,419, August 3, 2012.

On February 13, 2013, President Obama signed an Executive Order (EO) that begins the process of creating a federal cyber security regulatory regime. See, story titled "Obama Signs Cyber Security Order and Policy Directive" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,525, February 19, 2013.

On April 8, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) and Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD), the Chairman and ranking Democrat on the HIC, held a joint news conference regarding the CISPA, followed by a joint news conference conducted by Republican and Democratic HIC staff.

Rep. Ruppersburger (at right) said that the House passed the CISPA by a "strong bipartisan margin" last year, and since then the cyber security situation has gotten worse.

The two Representatives announced and described several amendments that would be offered on April 10. However, they did not release the texts.

One amendment will eliminate what some have described as the "hacking back provision". Rep. Rogers said that it had never been their intent to give companies the authority to hack other companies' networks. However, critics of the bill had argued that the bill would have created private hack back authority.

The actual language is as follows: "No civil or criminal cause of action shall lie or be maintained in Federal or State court against a protected entity, self-protected entity, cybersecurity provider, or an officer, employee, or agent of a protected entity, self-protected entity, or cybersecurity provider, acting in good faith -- (A) for using cybersecurity systems to identify or obtain cyber threat information or for sharing such information in accordance with this section; or (B) for decisions made based on cyber threat information identified, obtained, or shared under this section." (See, page 9 of PDF version of bill as introduced.)

The argument of critics was that creating immunity for all "decisions made based on cyber threat information" authorized the decision to hack back.

Rep. Rogers said that another amendment will "strike the national security use language from the bill". He added that there has been the "widest misunderstanding" of this provision, but it will nevertheless be taken out.

The relevant language is as follows: "The Federal Government may use cyber threat information shared with the Federal Government ... (E) to protect the national security of the United States." (See, pages 10-11 of the PDF version of the bill as introduced.)

Rep. Ruppersburger said that other amendments will mandate government minimization of information received from the private sector, and provide for oversight by the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB).

The two said that there has been dialogue with "the White House", but Rep. Ruppersburger added that "the White House is not behind our bill".

Rep. Rogers said that "we are wide open to further suggestions to clarify the bill".

Both said that there have been "perception" issues with the CISPA. Rep. Ruppersburger added that "there is a lot of false information that is out there".

One HIC staffer said that "I can imagine that Chinese intelligence services would not be happy about this bill."

See also, April 8 statement by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and April 8 statement by the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT).

4/5. The Department of Labor's (DOL) Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released employment data for the U.S. for the month of March 2013. The BLS stated in a release that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the US in March was 7.6%. This is a decrease from February, when it was 7.7%.

Overall Employment Data. A drop in the unemployment rate is good. However, the underlying data for March show substantial economic weakness, and a worsening employment picture.

On the bright side, the unemployment rate dropped, and the BLS estimated that employment increased by 88,000. On the other hand, the BLS collects employment data in two ways -- by a survey of employers (see, BLS Table B-1), and by a survey of individual households (see, BLS Table A-1). The employer survey produced the estimate of a gain of 88,000. The household survey produced an estimate that total employment fell by 206,000, from 143,492,000 in February to 143,286,000 in March.

It is this household survey data that the BLS uses to calculate the unemployment rate. So, how can the BLS report a huge drop in the number of people with jobs, but also report a drop in the unemployment rate?

Simply put, the BLS also shifted almost one half million people out of the workforce in March. The BLS reported that the number of people in the workforce dropped from 155,524,000 in February to 155,028,000 in March. It also reported that the workforce participation rate dropped from 63.5% in February to 63.3% in March.

During the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, as large numbers of women entered the workforce, the participation rate climbed slowly but steadily from about 59% to about 67%. There was an 8% gain over three decades. In the past four years, the participation rate has dropped by almost 3 percentage points.

There are likely to be numerous consequences for political attitudes, voting behavior, and policy outcomes, including tech policy. There is a large and growing number of able bodied and trained workers who no longer have jobs. They no longer count in calculating the unemployment rate, but they still vote. Politicians and protectionists may seek their support by casting blame for their lack of employment on foreign competition. This may result in policies that undermine free trade, and the free flow of services, capital, data, and tech workers. This would further harm tech companies and workers, and consumers, both in and outside of the US.

See also, story titled "Commentary: Unemployment Rate, Participation Rate, and Tech Policy" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,505, January 8, 2012.

Janet Yellen, Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board (FRB), gave a speech in Washington DC on April 4, 2013 in which she discussed at length the employment rate, and the FRB's target unemployment rate, without mentioning trends in labor force participation, discouraged workers, or early retirements.

Keith Hall, who was Director of the Bureau of Labor Statistics from 2008 through 2012, will give a luncheon speech on April 11 to the National Economists Club titled "How has the Measured Unemployment Rate Performed during the Great Recession?". See, notice.

Tech Related Employment Data. The BLS data shows that employment in legal services and most technology related categories was flat in March.

However, the long term growth trend in computer systems design continued. The BLS reported total employment in the category of "Computer systems design and related services" increased in March by 3,900. It is up 79,100 from March of 2012.

The table below contains ICT related excerpts from the BLS table titled "Table B-1. Employees on nonfarm payrolls by industry sector and selected industry detail". This is the seasonally adjusted data.

4/9. The Senate confirmed Patty Schwartz to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals (3rdCir) by a vote of 64-34. See, Roll Call No. 93. All of the no votes were cast by Republicans. Schwartz was blocked by filibuster in the 112th Congress. See, statement by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC), praising Schwartz.

4/9. Janet Lute, Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, announced that she will leave the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

4/8. The Senate confirmed Mary Jo White to be Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the remainder of the term expiring on June 5, 2014. The Senate confirmed her without debate, and by unanimous consent. See, Congressional Record, April 8, 2013, at Pages S2439 and S2474.

4/8. President Obama nominated Brian Deese to be Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). See, White House news office release. President Obama announced his intent to nominate Deese on April 1.

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The House will return from its Spring recess. It will meet at 2:00 PM for legislative business. It will consider several non-technology related items under suspension of the rules. See, Rep. Cantor's schedule.

The Senate will meet at 10:00 AM.

10:00 AM. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing on the nomination of Ernest Moniz to be Secretary of Energy. See, notice. Location: Room 366, Dirksen Building.

10:30 AM. The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) will hold a hearing titled "State of Rural Communications". The witnesses will be John Strode (Ritter Communications), Steven Davis (CenturyLink), Patricia Jo Boyers (BOYCOM Cablevision), and Leroy Carlson (U.S. Cellular). See, notice. Location: Room 253, Russell Building.

2:30 PM. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (SHSGAC) will hold a hearing on the nomination of Sylvia Burwell to be Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). See, notice. Location: Room 342, Dirksen Building.

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

Day one of a three day event hosted by the American Bar Association (ABA) titled "Antitrust Law 2013 Spring Meeting". See, notice. Location: JW Marriott Hotel, 1331 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

POSTPONED. 10:00 AM. The House Appropriations Committee's (HAC) Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies will hold a hearing on the Department of Justice (DOJ). Attorney General Eric Holder will testify. See, notice. Location: Room 2359, Rayburn Building.

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host an event titled "The Social and Economic Case for Autonomous Vehicles". The speakers will be Robert Atkinson (ITIF), Bill Krenik (Texas Instruments), and Jason Schultz (Toyota). See, notice. Location: Room B-338, Rayburn Building, Capitol Hill.

2:00 PM. The House Intelligence Committee (HIC) will meet to mark up HR 634 [LOC | WW], the "Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act" or CISPA. See, notice. Location: Room HVC-304, Capitol Visitor Center.

2:30 PM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold a hearing on the nomination of Srikanth Srinivasan to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir). Webcast. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

4:00 PM. Day one of a two day meeting of the House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Communications and Technology to mark up HR __ [LOC | WW | PDF], a yet to be introduced bill that states that "It is the policy of the United States to promote a global Internet free from government control and to preserve and advance the successful multistakeholder model that governs the Internet." See, notice. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

6:00 - 8:00 PM. The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) will host an event to promote the book [Amazon] by Gary Shapiro titled "Ninja Innovation: The Ten Killer Strategies of the World's Most Successful Businesses". There will be a reception from 6:00 until 8:00. There will be speeches at 6:30. Location: 1776 Campus, 12th floor, 1133 15th St., 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.

Day two of a three day event hosted by the American Bar Association (ABA) titled "Antitrust Law 2013 Spring Meeting". See, notice. Location: JW Marriott Hotel, 1331 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

9:00 - 10:30 AM. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host a discussion of the book [88 pages, Amazon] titled "The Need for Speed: A New Framework for Telecommunications Policy in the 21st Century". The speakers will be the two authors, Robert Litan (Kauffman Foundation) and Hal Singer (Navigant Economics), and Robert Atkinson (ITIF) and Blair Levin (Aspen Institute). See, notice. Location: ITIF/ITIC, Suite 610A, 1101 K St., NW.

10:00 AM. The House Small Business Committee's (HSBC) Subcommittee on Investigations, Oversight and Regulations will hold a hearing titled "JOBS Act Implementation Update". The witnesses will be Lona Nallengara (acting Director of the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance), John Ramsey (acting Director of the SEC's Division of Trading and Markets), Kevin Rustagi (SBE Council), and Jean Peteres (Angel Capital Association). See, HSBC notice. The 112th Congress enacted the JOBS Act one year ago, but has not written key implementing rules. See, story titled "Walter Addresses SEC's Failure to Write Crowd Funding Rules" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,544, April 2, 2013. Location: Room 2360, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The House Intelligence Committee (HIC) will hold a partially closed hearing titled "Worldwide Threats". See, notice. Location: the open portion of this hearing will be in Room HVC-210, House Visitor Center; the closed portion will be in Room HVC-304.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold an executive business meeting. The agenda includes consideration of the nominations of Kenneth Gonzales (USDC/DNMex) and Gregory Phillips (USCA/10thCir). See, notice. Webcast. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Appropriations Committee (SAC) will hold a hearing on FY 2014 appropriations for the Department of Commerce (DOC). Acting Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank will testify. See, notice. Location: Room 192, Dirksen Building.

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The National Economists Club will host a lunch. Keith Hall, who was Director of the Bureau of Labor Statistics from 2008 through 2012, will give a speech to the titled "How has the Measured Unemployment Rate Performed during the Great Recession?".Prices vary. Open to the public. Register by 12:00 NOON on April 10. See, notice and registration page. Location: Chinatown Garden Restaurant, 618 H St., NW.

1:30 PM. The House Appropriations Committee's (HAC) Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies will hold a hearing on the Department of Commerce (DOC). See, notice. Location: Room 2359, Rayburn Building.

2:15 PM. Day two of a two day meeting of the House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Communications and Technology to mark up HR __ [LOC | WW | PDF], a yet to be introduced bill that states that "It is the policy of the United States to promote a global Internet free from government control and to preserve and advance the successful multistakeholder model that governs the Internet." See, notice. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

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

3:00 - 4:30 PM. The Heritage Foundation (HF) will host a panel discussion titled "Asia 2013: the View from Capitol Hill". The speakers will be Carolyn Leddy (Senate Foreign Relations Committee Republican staff), Eric Sayers (office of Rep. Randy Forbes (R-VA)), Victor Cervino (office of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)), and Walter Lohman (HF). Free. Open to the public. Webcast. See, notice. Location: HF, 214 Massachusetts Ave., NE.

4:00 PM. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will host an event titled "Patents for Humanity Awards Ceremony". The speakers will include Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Teresa Rea (acting Director of the USPTO). See, notice. See also, story titled "Sen. Leahy Introduces a Bill to Make USPTO Acceleration Certificates Alienable" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,487, December 10, 2012. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

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

Supreme Court conference day. See, Supreme Court calendar.

Day three of a three day event hosted by the American Bar Association (ABA) titled "Antitrust Law 2013 Spring Meeting". See, notice. Location: JW Marriott Hotel, 1331 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

5:00 PM. Deadline to submit comments to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR) regarding competitive need limitations (CNLs) under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 53, March 19, 2013, at Pages 16908-16910.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB) in response to its Public Notice (PN) regarding implementation of its Connect America Phase II subsidy program. This PN is DA 13-284 in WC Docket No. 10-90. The WCB released it on February 26, 2013. See also, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 51, March 15, 2013, at Pages 16456-16460.

9:00 - 10:00 AM. The New America Foundation (NAF) will host a discussion of the book [Amazon] titled "To Save Everything, Click Here". The speakers will be Evgeny Morozov (author) and Christine Rosen (NAF). See, notice. Location: NAF, Suite 400, 1899 L St., NW.

9:30 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir) will hear oral argument in Conference Group v. FCC, App. Ct. No. 12-1124. See also, FCC brief filed on __. Judges Garland, Rogers and Silberman will preside. This is the first item on the Court's agenda. Location: Courtroom 11, 4th floor, Prettyman Courthouse, 333 Constitution Ave., NW.

Deadline to submit to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) oppositions to petitions to deny AT&T's acquisition of Atlantic Tele-Network's U.S. retail wireless operations. See, AT&T release of January 22, 2013, and FCC Public Notice [5 pages in PDF], DA 13-352 in WT Docket No. 13-54.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Media Bureau (MB) in response to its Public Notice, DA 13-281 in MB Docket No. 13-50, released on February 26, 2013, regarding the August 31, 2012 letter from the Coalition for Broadcast Investment regarding FCC restrictions on foreign ownership and voting interests. See, notice in the Federal Register Vol. 78, No. 55, March 21, 2013, at Pages 17395-17403.

Extended deadline to submit comments to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in response to its notice in the Federal Register (FR) regarding potential practices that patent applicants can employ at the drafting stage of a patent application in order to facilitate examination and bring more certainty to the scope of issued patents. See, FR, Vol. 78, No. 10, January 15, 2013, at Pages 2960-2961. See also, story titled "USPTO Seeks Comments on Preparation of Patent Applications" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,512, January 20, 2013. And see, extension notice in the FR,  Vol. 78, No. 51, March 15, 2013, at Pages 16474-16475.

8:00 - 10:00 AM. Broadband Census News LLC will host a panel discussion titled "Mobile Health: Will Wireless Devices Help Solve the Nation's Health Crises?". The speakers will be Jacob Reider (Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology), Robert Jarrin (Qualcomm), Deven McGraw (Center for Democracy and Technology), and Paul Kirby (TRDaily). 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., NCTA TIA, and US Telecom. Location: Clyde's of Gallery Place, 707 7th St., NW.

10:00 - 11:00 PM. The Heritage Foundation (HF) will host a panel discussion titled "A Congressional Guide to Cybersecurity: Seven Steps to U.S. Security, Prosperity, and Freedom". The speakers will be Paul Rosenzweig (HF), Steven Bucci (HF), Kiersten Todt (Liberty Group Ventures), and Michael Franc (HF). Free. Open to the public. Webcast. See, notice. Location: HF, 214 Massachusetts Ave., NE.

12:15 - 1:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Young Lawyers Committee will host a brown bag lunch titled "Apps: The Legal and Business Landscape". For more nformation, contact Elvis Stumbergs at estumbergs at cinnamonmueller dot com, Rachael Bender at RBender at mobilefuture dot org, or Brendan Carr at Brendan dot Carr at fcc dot gov. Location: Hogan Lovells, Room 12 West - 600, 555 13th St., NW.

1:00 - 2:30 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a webcast and teleconferenced panel discussion titled "10 in 2013: Top Ten Privacy and Data Protection Issues to Watch This Year". The speakers will be Allison Dolan (Massachusetts General Hospital), Ann Killilea (McDermott Will & Emery), Web Hull (Iron Mountain), James Shreve (Buckley Sandler), and Agnes Scanlan (Treliant Risk Advisors). Prices vary. CLE credits. See, notice.

1:00 - 2:30 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a webcast panel discussion titled "Litigation Joinder Requirements Under the America Invents Act". The speakers will be Heather Faltin (Comcast Cable) and George Medlock (Alston & Bird). Prices vary. CLE credits. See, notice.

2:00 PM. The House Foreign Affairs Committee's (HFAC) Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia and Emerging Threats will hold a hearing titled "China's Rapid Political and Economic Advances in Central Asia and Russia". The witnesses will be John Tkacik (International Assessment and Strategy Center), Rensselaer Lee (Foreign Policy Research Institute) and Dmitry Shlapentokh (Indiana University South Bend). See, notice. Location: Room 2200, Rayburn Building.

2:30 PM. The Senate Judiciary Committee's (SJC) Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights will hold a hearing titled "Oversight of the Enforcement of the Antitrust Laws". The witnesses will be William Baer (Assistant Attorney General in charge of the DOJ's Antitrust Division) and Edith Ramirez (Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission). See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.