4/10. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Communications and Technology (SCT) approved by voice vote 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."

Several Democrats have expressed concerns about this bill. SCT Chairman Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR) and SCT ranking Democrat Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) agreed that members and staff will meet before the full Committee mark up to attempt to develop compromise language.

Rep. Walden said at the April 11 mark up that "There still appears to be a misunderstanding about what this legislation does. ... What I heard Ranking Members Waxman and Eshoo and their colleagues say in their opening statements yesterday is that this legislation would require the FCC to strike down its network neutrality regulations. I respectfully disagree. We know how to draft legislation requiring the FCC to strike the network neutrality regulations. We drafted and passed through the House last Congress a resolution of disapproval to do just that."

He wrote in his statement that "This legislation does not require the FCC to strike its network neutrality regulations. As a matter of law, a statement of policy does not impose statutorily mandated responsibilities on an agency, and this legislation neither requires nor authorizes the FCC to take any action with respect to its network neutrality regulations or any other rules. The FCC knows this well. It is the reason the D.C. Circuit threw out the Commission’s attempt to sanction Comcast for its network management of Internet traffic."

The U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir) issued its opinion [36 pages in PDF] in Comcast v. FCC on April 6, 2010, vacating the August 2008 order [67 pages in PDF] of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that asserted authority to regulate the network management practices of broadband internet access service providers. The Court held that the FCC lacks statutory authority to do this. See also, story titled "Court of Appeals Vacates FCC's Comcast Order" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,072, April 7, 2010.

Rep. Walden continued that "The FCC had claimed it was authorized to do so by another policy statement already in the Communications Act. The appeals court disagreed. And just as a policy statement cannot authorize the FCC to adopt network neutrality regulations, it cannot require the FCC to strike them if the agency otherwise has authority to impose them in the first place as the FCC claims in the current appeal of its rules."

See also, HCC release and story titled "House Commerce Subcommittee Begins Mark Up of Internet Freedom Resolution" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,549, April 10, 2013.

4/11. Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), Chairman of the House Rules Committee (HRC), announced in a letter to members of the House of Representatives that the HRC "may meet the week of April 15th to grant a rule that could limit the amendment process for floor consideration of" HR 624 [LOC | WW], the "Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act".

The House Intelligence Committee (HIC) amended this bill in a closed session on April 10. See, HR 624 as amended [31 pages in PDF].

The deadline for members to submit proposed amendments to the HRC is 10:00 AM on Tuesday, April 16, 2013. The HRC will meet to adopt a rule at 3:00 PM on April  16 in Room H-313 of the Capitol Building.

The HIC announced in a release, backdated to April 10, that "The bill is expected to be considered by the full House next week."

Marking up a bill that would create public law in secret session is extraordinary procedure. The general House rule is that markups must be open to the public. However, the open mark up rule only applies to standing committees, and the HIC is a select committee. See, Rule XI(g)(1) of the Rules of the House of Representatives [48 pages in PDF] at page 17.

Bringing up a bill in the House so soon after mark up is also extraordinary, and even more so given the length and complexity of the bill, the extensive changes made in the mark up, and the delay in releasing the amendments to the public.

The extent to which the bill is enacted under closed and non-transparent procedure will also be affected by the decisions of the HRC regarding what amendments it makes in order.

These procedures have the effect of prejudicing the opposition's ability to analyze the bill, and inform affected entities and voters of its contents. Such rapid and closed procedure inhibits the organization of opposition, open debate, and public understanding of and participation in democratic processes.

However, it might be said in defense of the House and HIC leadership that when Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), the Senate Majority Leader, attempted to pass the cyber security bill backed by President Obama in the 112th Congress, he followed even less open and transparent procedure. That bill was not marked up by any Senate committee, and Sen. Reid barred amendments on the floor.

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

4/11. Members of the House have not yet introduced a bill in the 113th Congress that would revise the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). Also, the House Judiciary Committee (HJC), which would have jurisdiction, has not yet announced a hearing or mark up. However, opponents of a draft bill have circulated and criticized this draft bill.

The CFAA, which is codified at 18 U.S.C. § 1030, provides for both criminal prosecution, and private rights of action, for unauthorized access to protected computer systems. It is the primary anti computer hacking statute.

The Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) and others sent a letter dated April 2 to leaders of the HJC to express their opposition to "draft legislation reportedly slated for consideration this month to amend the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act by increasing penalties and expanding the scope of conduct punishable under the statute".

The signers of the letter are members of groups that span the ideological spectrum, from the ACLU, Free Press and Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) to the Heritage Foundation (HF), Tech Freedom (TF) and Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI).

The letter states that "As currently written, the CFAA imposes criminal and civil liability for accessing a protected computer without or ``in excess of authorization.´´ ``Exceeds authorized access´´ is vague, and the government and civil litigants have pressed courts to find CFAA violations whenever someone uses computers in a fashion that the system owner doesn't like. This means private companies write federal criminal law when they draft their computer use policies. As a result, CFAA cases have been brought against users who violate websites’ terms of service (TOS), employees who violate their employers’ policies, and customers who breach software licenses."

The letter raises that matter of Aaron Schwartz. See, stories titled "Grand Jury Returns Indictment for Unauthorized Downloading of 4.8 Million JSTOR Articles" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,264, July 20, 2011, "Aaron Schwartz Commits Suicide" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,508, January 15, 2013, and "Senate Judiciary Committee Holds DOJ Oversight Hearing" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert 2,532, March 7, 2013.

It also states that "the draft under discussion is a significant expansion of the CFAA at a time when public opinion is demanding the law be narrowed".

This is a large bill that addresses many subjects other than amendments to the CFAA. It would also create a new criminal prohibition, with significant penalties, including 30 year prison sentences, for "Aggravated Damage to a Critical Infrastructure Computer". It would also create a federal data security and data breach notification regime. See, related story in this issue titled "Summary of Draft CFAA Amendments Bill".

4/11. Members of the House have not yet introduced a bill in the 113th Congress that would revise the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). However, a draft bill has been circulated. This article summarizes some of the key provisions of this draft bill.

The draft bill has also been criticized. See, related story in this issue titled "Critics Comment on Draft CFAA Amendments Bill".

The CFAA, which is codified at 18 U.S.C. § 1030, provides for both criminal prosecution, and private rights of action, for unauthorized access to protected computer systems. It is the primary anti computer hacking statute.

Title I of this draft bill pertains mostly to computer hacking, the CFAA, and related matters. Title II pertains to data security and data breach notification.

Economic Espionage. Section 101 would amend 18 U.S.C. § 1831, regarding economic espionage, by raising the maximum prison term from 15 to 20 years. This picks up where the 112th Congress left off late last year.

The Congress passed HR 6029 [LOC | WW], the "Foreign and Economic Espionage Penalty Enhancement Act of 2012", late in the 112th Congress. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), and others introduced this bill on June 27, 2012. See, story titled "Representatives Introduce Bill to Increase Penalties for Economic Espionage" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,405, July 9, 2012. The House passed this bill on August 1. See, story titled "House Passes Bill that Increases Penalties for Economic Espionage" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,418, August 2, 2012. The Senate amended and passed this bill on December 19, 2012. See, story titled "Senate Passes Economic Espionage Penalties Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,496, December 21, 2012. The House then passed this Senate version on January 1, 2013. See, story titled "House Passes Senate Version of Foreign and Economic Espionage Penalty Enhancement Act of 2012" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,501, January 1, 2013.

In short, the House bill would have increased the maximum penalty from 15 to 20 years. The Senate took out this provision. And, that is what became law. Now, the draft bill at hand would enact the clause that got deleted late last year.

Another proposal for addressing hacking for economic espionage and theft of trade secrets, which is not in this bill, is to amend the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) to confer jurisdiction in the federal courts over private rights of action against foreign governments, and government owned business entities, for such conduct.

RICO Predicate Offenses. Section 102 of this draft bill would amend 18 U.S.C. § 1961 to make violation of the CFAA a predicate offense for prosecution or civil action under the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute. The list of predicate offenses is already huge.

This draft bill would also add violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1029, regarding access device fraud, to the list of predicate offenses.

This draft bill would also add violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1084, regarding transmission of gambling information, to the list of predicate offenses. This is not germane to a bill regarding computer hacking and cyber security.

Trafficking in Passwords. Section 103 of this bill would add trafficking in passwords to the list of actions barred by the CFAA.

It provides that whoever "knowingly and with intent to defraud traffics (as defined in section 1029) in any password or similar information or means of access through which a protected computer ... may be accessed without authorization" shall be punished. (Parentheses in original.)

Increased Penalties for Violations of the CFAA. Section 103 of this draft bill would also increase penalties for many types of violation of the CFAA.

Critical Infrastructure. Section 104 of this draft bill would add a new Section 1030A, titled "Aggravated Damage to a Critical Infrastructure Computer".

This bill defines "critical infrastructure computer" as "a computer that manages or controls systems or assets vital to national defense, national security, national economic security, public health or safety, or any combination of those matters, whether publicly or privately owned or operated, including -- (A) gas and oil production, storage, and delivery systems; (B) water supply systems; (C) telecommunication networks; (D) electrical power delivery systems; (E) finance and banking systems; (F) emergency services; (G) transportation systems and services; (H) government operations that provide essential services to the public."

The prohibition, would be as follows: "Whoever, during and in relation to a felony violation of section 1030, intentionally causes or attempts to cause damage to a critical infrastructure computer, and such damage results in (or, in the case of an attempt, would, if completed have resulted in) the substantial impairment -- (1) of the operation of the critical infrastructure computer, or (2) of the critical infrastructure associated with the computer, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned for not more than 30 years, or both." (Parentheses in original.)

More Provisions. Section 105 of this draft bill would require the Administrative Office of the United States Courts to write a report" providing an assessment of the vulnerability of the Federal courts’ computer and network systems to cyber intrusion and attacks that includes recommendations on changes and improvements to the Federal courts’ computer and network security systems ..."

Section 106 of this draft bill would authorize the Department of Justice (DOJ) to create a National Cyber Investigative Joint Task Force.

This draft bill does not contain definitions of either "without authorization" or "exceeds authorized access". Nor does it address the Lori Drew, or terms of service, issue. However, it does address "without authorization" and "exceeds authorized access" in the context of just one of the many categories of actions barred by the CFAA -- Subsection 1030(a)(2).

Data Security and Data Breach Notification. Title II of this draft bill would create a federal data security and data breach notification regime, with a strong federal preemption clause.

4/11. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) held an executive business meeting at which it held over the nomination of Gregory Phillips to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit. This nomination is again on the agenda for the SJC's meeting of April 18.

4/11. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) held an executive business meeting at which it approved by voice vote the nomination of Kenneth Gonzales to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico.

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The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. It will consider HR 1120 [LOC | WW], the "Preventing Greater Uncertainty in Labor-Management Relations Act". See, Rep. Cantor's schedule.

The Senate will not meet.

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.

The House will meet. The schedule for the week includes consideration of HR 634 [LOC | WW], the "Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act" or CISPA.

The Senate will meet at 2:00 PM.

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.

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.

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 AM. Deadline for members of the House to submit proposed amendments to HR 634 [LOC | WW], the "Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act" or CISPA to the House Rules Committee (HRC). See, notice.

10:00 AM. The House Judiciary Committee (HJC) will hold a hearing titled "Mismanagement at the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice". The witnesses will be __. See, notice. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Finance Committee (SFC) will hold a hearing titled "Tax Fraud and Tax ID Theft: Moving Forward with Solutions". See, notice. Location: Room 215, Dirksen Building.

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 Judiciary Committee's (HJC) Subcommittee on Court, Intellectual Property and the Internet will hold a hearing titled "Abusive Patent Litigation: The Issues Impacting American Competitiveness and Job Creation at the International Trade Commission and Beyond". The witnesses will be __. See, notice. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

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.

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 PM. The House Rules Committee (HRC) will meet to adopt a rule for consideration of HR 634 [LOC | WW], the "Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act" or CISPA. Location: Room H-313, Capitol Building.

6:00 - 8:00 PM. The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) will host an event titled "CES on the Hill". The exhibitors will include AT&T, Blackberry, Google, HTC, Intel, LG Electronics, Microsoft, Panasonic, Pandora, Qualcomm, Samsung, Verizon and others. Location: Cafeteria, Room B-357, Rayburn Building.

TIME? The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will host an event titled "Annual Open House" to allow vendors to show "how libraries use electronic or digital content to provide 24/7 cyberspace access for a wide array of personal use devices". For more information, contact Lisa dot Leyser at fcc dot gov or 202-418-0450. See, FCC release. Location: __.

9:00 AM - 12:15 PM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau will host an event titled "Workshop: Bill Shock and Cramming". Free. Open to the public. See, notice. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room, 445 12th St., SW.

10:00 AM. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) will hold an executive business meeting to consider the nomination of Sylvia Burwell to be Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). See, notice. Location: Room 342, Dirksen Building.

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host an on site and webcast panel discussion titled "Flying Eyes in the Domestic Skies: Balancing Security, Surveillance, and Privacy with the Amazing New Technologies for Unmanned Aerial Systems". The speakers will be Missy Cummings (MIT), Gretchen West (Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International), Kirk Shaffer (Crowell & Moring), and Mark Borowski. The price is $15. Lunch will be served. No CLE credits. See, notice. Location: Crowell & Moring, 1001 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.

2:00 PM. The House Financial Services Committee's (HFSC) Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will hold a hearing titled "Examining the SEC’s Failure to Implement the JOBS Act and its Impact on Economic Growth". The witnesses will be __. See, notice. Location: Room 2128, Rayburn Building.

2:00 PM. The House Science Committee's (HSC) Subcommittee on Research will hold a hearing on the FY 2014 budget for the National Science Foundation (NSF). The witnesses will be Cora Marrett (acting NSF Director) and Dan Arvizu (Chairman of the National Science Board). See, notice. Location: Room 2318, Rayburn Building.

2:00 PM. The Department of State's (DOS) International Telecommunication Advisory Committee (ITAC) will meet to discuss preparation for the ITU World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC 2014). See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 57, March 25, 2013, at Pages 17992-17993. Location: DOS.

2:30 PM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold a hearing titled "Comprehensive Immigration Reform Legislation". See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

6:00 - 8:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Transactional Practice Committee will host an event titled "Nuts and Bolts of Applications for Approval of Assignments or Transfers of Wireline Authorizations and Wireless Licenses". Registrations and cancellations are due by 12:00 NOON on April 16. Prices vary. CLE credits. No webcast. See, notice. Location: Mayer Brown, 1999 K St., NW.

6:30 PM. The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) will host an event titled "Digital Patriots Dinner". The speakers will include Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO). The reception will begin at 6:30 PM. Dinner will begin at 7:30 PM. Location: Mayflower Renaissance Hotel, 1127 Connecticut Ave., NW.

9:00 AM. The House Intelligence Committee (HIC) will hold a closed hearing titled "Ongoing Intelligence Activities". See, notice. Location: Room HVC-304, Capitol Visitor Center.

10:00 AM. The House Small Business Committee's (HSBC) Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Tax and Capital Access will hold a hearing titled "Innovation as a Catalyst for New Jobs". The witnesses will be Julie Kirk (Startup Maryland), Steve Johnson (CreatiVasc), Jack Roach (Southeastern Institute of Manufacturing and Technology), and Michael McGeary (Hattery Labs). Webcast. See, notice. Location: Room 2360, Rayburn Building.

RESCHEDULED FROM APRIL 10. 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.

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

10:30 AM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will host an event titled "open meeting". See, tentative agenda and story titled "FCC Releases Tentative Agenda for April 18 Meeting" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,542, March 27, 2013. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room, TW-C305, 445 12th St., SW.

1:00 - 5:30 PM. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) Bureau of the Census's Census Scientific Advisory Committee will hold a webcast meeting. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 62, April 1, 2013, at Page 19446.

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

Supreme Court conference day. See, Supreme Court calendar.

8:30 AM - 1:30 PM. The George Mason University's (GMU) Information Economy Project will host an event titled "From Monopoly to Competition or Competition to Monopoly? U.S. Broadband Markets in 2013". The keynote speaker will be Joshua Wright (FTC Commissioner). The first panel is titled "Competition and Monopoly in Broadband Markets". The speakers will be Eli Noam (Columbia Business School), Babette Boliek (Pepperdine University School of Law) and Marius Schwartz (Georgetown University). The second panel is titled "The Social Value of Ultra-Fast Broadband". The speakers will be Robert Kenny (Communications Chambers) and Scott Wallsten (Technology Policy Institute). The luncheon speaker will be Robert Crandall (Brookings Institution). Breakfast will be served at 8:00 AM. Lunch will be served at 12:00 NOON. Free. Open to the public. See, registration page. Location: Hazel Hall 215, GMU law school, 3301 Fairfax Dr., Arlington, VA.

8:30 AM - 5:00 PM. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Smart Grid Advisory Committee will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 58, March 26, 2013, at Page 18322. Location: NIST, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD.

10:00 AM - 1:00 PM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will host an event titled "Distracted Driving Technology Showcase". See, notice. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room.

12:15 - 1:30 PM. Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) International Telecommunications Committee will host a brown bag lunch titled "Satellite 101: An Overview of Regulatory Considerations Involving Satellites". The speakers will include Robert Nelson (Chief Engineer of the FCC's, International Bureau) and Tom Tycz (Goldberg Godles). Location: Mintz Levin, 701 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.