6/7. President Obama defended secret government surveillance programs during a news conference on Friday, June 7, 2013. He decried the "hype that we've been hearing over the last day or so". See, transcript.

He offered no apologies. He proposed no changes to the programs. He declared that "they help us prevent terrorist attacks".

He disclosed little about either program. Rather, he emphasized that they are based on statutory authority, approved by a court, and subject to Congressional oversight.

He also argued that the phone records program is limited in nature, and recited some of the things that are not collected from phone companies.

He said that "the relevant intelligence committees are fully briefed on these programs. These are programs that have been authorized by broad bipartisan majorities repeatedly since 2006." He added that "these programs are subject to congressional oversight and congressional reauthorization and congressional debate".

He said that under the Section 215 based phone records program, "nobody is listening to your telephone calls. That's not what this program is about."

He said that "what the intelligence community is doing is looking at phone numbers and durations of calls. They are not looking at people's names, and they're not looking at content. But by sifting through this so-called metadata, they may identify potential leads with respect to folks who might engage in terrorism. If these folks -- if the intelligence community then actually wants to listen to a phone call, they've got to go back to a federal judge, just like they would in a criminal investigation."

He also briefly addressed the Section 702 based program, which does enable the government to acquire the content of communications. "Now, with respect to the Internet and emails -- this does not apply to U.S. citizens and it does not apply to people living in the United States. And again, in this instance, not only is Congress fully apprised of it, but what is also true is that the FISA Court has to authorize it."

6/7. A June 7 article in The Guardian and a June 7 article in the Washington Post both disclosed the existence of a National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance related program named "PRISM". Tech companies promptly disputed some of the statements in those stories.

The Guardian published a story by Glenn Greenwald and Ewen MacAskill titled "NSA taps in to user data of Facebook, Apple, Google and others, secret files reveal" early on June 7. The Guardian wrote that the NSA "has obtained direct access to the systems of Google, Facebook, Apple and other US internet giants, according to a top secret document obtained by the Guardian. The NSA access is part of a previously undisclosed program called PRISM, which allows officials to collect material including search history, the content of emails, file transfers and live chats, the document says."

The "top secret document" is a graphic slide show, not an order or other document of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC). The Guardian published four pages of this slide show. It latter published a fifth page that contains these words: "FAA702 Operations", "PRISM", and "Collection directly from the servers of these U.S. Service Providers: Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk AOL, Skype, YouTube Apple".

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) promptly released a statement on June 7 acknowledging the existence of PRISM, stating that the authority for it is Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, and asserting that the news stories "contain numerous inaccuracies", but not explaining the PRISM program or what is inaccurate in the news stories. (After tech companies disputed elements of the news stories, the ODNI released a second statement regarding the PRISM program.)

Technology companies refuted some elements of the news stories.

For example, Microsoft stated in a release on June 7 that "We provide customer data only when we receive a legally binding order or subpoena to do so, and never on a voluntary basis. In addition we only ever comply with orders for requests about specific accounts or identifiers. If the government has a broader voluntary national security program to gather customer data we don’t participate in it."

Also on June 7, Google's CEO Larry Page and Chief Legal Officer David Drummond released a joint statement. They wrote that "we have not joined any program that would give the U.S. government -- or any other government -- direct access to our servers. Indeed, the U.S. government does not have direct access or a ``back door´´ to the information stored in our data centers. We had not heard of a program called PRISM until yesterday."

They continued that "we provide user data to governments only in accordance with the law. Our legal team reviews each and every request, and frequently pushes back when requests are overly broad or don’t follow the correct process. Press reports that suggest that Google is providing open-ended access to our users’ data are false, period. Until this week’s reports, we had never heard of the broad type of order that Verizon received -- an order that appears to have required them to hand over millions of users’ call records. We were very surprised to learn that such broad orders exist. Any suggestion that Google is disclosing information about our users’ Internet activity on such a scale is completely false."

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, also released a statement. "I want to respond personally to the outrageous press reports about PRISM", he wrote. "Facebook is not and has never been part of any program to give the US or any other government direct access to our servers. We have never received a blanket request or court order from any government agency asking for information or metadata in bulk, like the one Verizon reportedly received. And if we did, we would fight it aggressively. We hadn't even heard of PRISM before yesterday."

"When governments ask Facebook for data, we review each request carefully to make sure they always follow the correct processes and all applicable laws, and then only provide the information if is required by law. We will continue fighting aggressively to keep your information safe and secure", wrote Zuckerberg.

Yonatan Zunger, Chief Architect of Google+, was even more blunt in a June 7 piece about the government's PRISM program. He stated that "I'm not sure what the details of this PRISM program are, but I can tell you that the only way in which Google reveals information about users are when we receive lawful, specific orders about individuals -- things like search warrants. And we continue to stand firm against any attempts to do so broadly or without genuine, individualized suspicion, and publicize the results as much as possible in our Transparency Report. Having seen much of the internals of how we do this, I can tell you that it is a point of pride, both for the company and for many of us, personally, that we stand up to governments that demand people's information."

"I can also tell you that the suggestion that PRISM involved anything happening directly inside our datacenters surprised me a great deal; owing to the nature of my work at Google over the past decade, it would have been challenging -- not impossible, but definitely a major surprise -- if something like this could have been done without my ever hearing of it. And I can categorically state that nothing resembling the mass surveillance of individuals by governments within our systems has ever crossed my plate", wrote Zunger.

"If it had, even if I couldn't talk about it, in all likelihood I would no longer be working at Google: the fact that we do stand up for individual users' privacy and protection, for their right to have a personal life which is not ever shared with other people without their consent, even when governments come knocking at our door with guns, is one of the two most important reasons that I am at this company: the other being a chance to build systems which fundamentally change and improve the lives of billions of people by turning the abstract power of computing into something which amplifies and expands their individual, mental life."

"Whatever the NSA was doing involving the mass harvesting of information, it did not involve being on the inside of Google. And I, personally, am by now disgusted with their conduct: the national security apparatus has convinced itself and the rest of the government that the only way it can do its job is to know everything about everyone. That's not how you protect a country. We didn't fight the Cold War just so we could rebuild the Stasi ourselves", wrote Zunger.

6/8. On Saturday, June 8, James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), released a second statement regarding the PRISM program first publicly disclosed by articles published by The Guardian and Washington Post early on June 7. This latest statement, which still lacks a description of the program, is titled "Facts on the Collection of Intelligence Pursuant to Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act".

Clapper (at right) also released a shorter statement regarding PRISM on June 7. He also released a statement of June 7 regarding the order of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) that directs Verizon to produce the phone call records of its customers on a daily basis.

The just released DNI statement states that "PRISM is not an undisclosed collection or data mining program. It is an internal government computer system used to facilitate the government’s statutorily authorized collection of foreign intelligence information from electronic communication service providers". (Emphasis added.)

However, while this statement stretches into three pages, it discloses nothing else about what PRISM is. The rest of the statement is devoted to a discussion Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the policy merits of Section 702, and oversight of its use by the Office of the DNI, the Congress, and the FISC.

6/8. The June 8 statement of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) regarding the PRISM system references "electronic communication service providers" or ECSPs. Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the basis for the PRISM related surveillance program, references ECSPs.

50 U.S.C. § 1881a codifies Section 702 authority for acquisition of "outside" the U.S. communications. 50 U.S.C. S 1881(b)(4) codifies the definition of ECPS.

Basically, it includes everything: PSTN voice communications, VOIP, e-mail (stored or in transit), anything stored in the cloud, and social networking services such as those offered by Facebook and Twitter.

It provides that an "electronic communication service provider" means:

"(A) a telecommunications carrier, as that term is defined in section 153 of title 47;
(B) a provider of electronic communication service, as that term is defined in section 2510 of title 18;
(C) a provider of a remote computing service, as that term is defined in section 2711 of title 18;
(D) any other communication service provider who has access to wire or electronic communications either as such communications are transmitted or as such communications are stored; or
(E) an officer, employee, or agent of an entity described in subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or (D)."

The term "remote computing service" is defined at 18 U.S.C. § 2711. The term "electronic communication service" is defined at 18 U.S.C. § 2510. These definitions were enacted as part of the original 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA). They are now out of date, and in need of revision. However, as applied, they cover a wide range of new information technologies used for communicating and storing data.

6/6. Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee (HJC), stated in a release regarding the recent public disclosure of the government's phone records surveillance program that the HJC "takes this kind of action very seriously and so we will be looking into the details of this case very closely."

Rep. Goodlatte (at right) stated that "I am very concerned that the Department of Justice may have abused the intent of the law and we will investigate that and whether the law needs to be changed as a result. Furthermore, we will raise this issue with FBI Director Mueller when he appears next week before the House Judiciary Committee for an oversight hearing."

The HJC has scheduled an oversight hearing on the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for 10:00 AM on Thursday, June 13. The witness will be FBI Director Robert Mueller. See, notice.

Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), the ranking Democrat on the HJC, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), the ranking Democrat on the HJC's Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice, and Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA), the ranking Democrat on the HJC's Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations also issued a statement following disclosure of the phone records surveillance program.

They wrote that "The recent revelation that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court has approved the blanket and ongoing collection of telephone records -- including those of everyday Americans with absolutely no ties to terrorism -- is highly problematic and reveals serious flaws in the scope and application of the USA PATRIOT Act. We believe this type of program is far too broad and is inconsistent with our nation’s founding principles. We cannot defeat terrorism by compromising our commitment to our civil rights and liberties."

They also addressed Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act, which is the authority for the phone records surveillance program. They wrote that "we have long fought against Congress’s grant of such overbroad surveillance authority to the executive branch. The intended goal of Section 215 was to ensure that our law enforcement and intelligence agencies have the ability to investigate foreign-based terrorist activities. But we have long voiced our concerns that, as drafted and interpreted, Section 215 does not require a sufficient connection to terrorist activity before allowing for the potentially overbroad collection of information."

They added that ""We strongly disagree with those who would assert that because this type of program appears to be long standing and Members of Congress may have been briefed, that it is acceptable to us or the Congress. A classified briefing which does not permit any public discussion does not imply approval or acceptance. We believe the House Judiciary Committee should conduct oversight hearings about this situation and promptly consider legislation to help correct this matter."

Rep. Conyers released a second statement on June 7 after President Obama spoke in defense of the just disclosed surveillance programs. in which he stated that "I believe it imperative that Congress in general and the Judiciary committee in particular -- which has a unique sensitivity to civil rights and liberties -- engage in a full and candid review and discussion of these matters. I look forward to working with the administration, Chairman Goodlatte, and my colleagues on the committee in the coming days and weeks on these critical issues."

Rep. Conyers stated that "It is vital that we understand the legal underpinnings as well as the utility and impact of on privacy concerning the full panoply of legal tools being used by our government -- from surveillance to leak investigations to drone policy."

6/8. There is a pattern in the breakdown of Senate Republicans regarding their criticism or support for the secret government surveillance programs that were disclosed on June 6 and 7 by The Guardian and Washington Post.

The Republican Senators who have publicly defended the secret surveillance programs are senior members who participated in the debates and negotiations that resulted in passage of the USA PATRIOT Act in 2001, the Protect America Act (PAA) in 2007, and the FISA Amendments Act (FAA) in 2008.

The Republican Senators who have publicly criticized the secret surveillance programs are junior members, elected in 2010, 2011 and 2012, after the political deals were struck that lead to the creation of the secret surveillance programs.

An alternative hypothesis would be that there is a divide on this issue is between older conservative Republicans and younger libertarian Republicans.

The most vocal Republican critics in the past few days have been Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), elected in 2010, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), elected in 2012, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), elected in 2010, and Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV), elected in 2011. (Sen. Heller was elected to the Senate in a special election in 2011. He was previously a member of the House, having been first elected in 2006, just before passage of the PAA and FAA.)

Also, Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), who was elected to the Senate in 2006, has not criticized the programs, but has called for the Obama administration to explain the programs.

The most vocal defenders have been Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), elected to the Senate in 2002, and to the House in 1994, and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), elected to the Senate in 2002, and to the House in 1994. Both were members of the Gingrich class of '94.

Sen. Chambliss was a member of the House Intelligence Committee (HIC) when the House passed the USA PATRIOT Act, and became a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee (SIC) after election to the Senate. Sen. Graham was a member of the House Judiciary Committee (HJC) for passage of the USA PATRIOT Act, and a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) for passage of the PAA and FAA. The Intelligence and Judiciary Committees have jurisdiction over surveillance and surveillance related bills.

The Statutes. The USA PATRIOT Act was HR 3162 in the 107th Congress, titled "USA PATRIOT Act", signed October 26, 2001, Public Law 107-56. It includes the infamous Section 215, which is the authority for the phone records program.

From the 110th Congress, S 1927 [LOC | WW], is the "Protect America Act", also sometimes referred to as the "PAA", Public Law No. 110-55.

From the 110th Congress, HR 6304 [LOC | WW], is the "Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 Amendments Act of 2008", also sometimes referred to as the "FAA", Public Law No. 110-261.

The PAA was a temporary measure. Title VII of the FAA added Section 702 to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978. Section 702 is the authority for the surveillance program related to the PRISM system.

What They Said. Sen. Heller stated in a release on June 7 that "This is yet another example of government overreach that forces the question, ‘What sort of state are we living in?’ There is clearly a glaring difference between what the government is doing and what the American people think they are doing. Of course, keeping American citizens safe is one of government’s most important responsibilities, but there is a fine line between protecting our nation and protecting our Fourth Amendment rights. Our government continues to come close to that line and in some areas may have even crossed it. It is exactly these types of concerning reports that spotlight the need for transparency and access to information that I have fought for in Congress and will continue to work towards".

On June 7, Sen. Mike Lee stated in a release that "I am deeply disturbed by reports that the FISA Court issued an extremely broad order requiring Verizon turn over to the National Security Agency on a daily basis the company’s metadata on its customers’ calls. Under this secret court order, millions of innocent Americans have been subject to government surveillance. The Fourth Amendment safeguards liberty by protecting against government abuse of power. Overzealous law enforcement, even when well-intended, carries grave risks to Americans’ privacy and liberty.  Members of Congress cannot continue to grant broad discretion to government agents and not expect these types of troubling outcomes. The abuses resulting from this court order illustrate the reasons why I have opposed, and continue to oppose, controversial provisions of the PATRIOT Act and the FISA Amendments Act that are inconsistent with the Fourth Amendment."

On June 7, Sen. Cruz stated in a release that "on one hand the Obama Administration says this enemy is in retreat, yet on the other, they are implementing what appears to be an unprecedented and intrusive surveillance system on private American citizens in the name of guarding against that enemy. Just today, the president encouraged us to trust him on this -- to trust that there are safeguards to ensure our privacy is protected, trust that there is a system of checks and balances to prevent an abuse of power. But in light of this Administration's track record, how can they expect to be trusted? We have discovered over the past few months an ongoing pattern of wanton disregard not only for Americans' privacy, but for the truth -- DOJ's refusal to be forthcoming about drone policy, IRS's targeting groups for their political beliefs and then misleading the American people about it, DOJ's targeting of journalists for doing their jobs, and now what seems an unprecedented intrusion into Americans' personal phone records and potentially into their broader online activities. Americans trusted President Obama when he came to office promising the most transparent administration in history. But that trust has been broken and the only way to earn it back is to tell the truth."

Sen. Paul stated in a release that "The National Security Agency's seizure and surveillance of virtually all of Verizon's phone customers is an astounding assault on the Constitution. After revelations that the Internal Revenue Service targeted political dissidents and the Department of Justice seized reporters' phone records, it would appear that this Administration has now sunk to a new low."

On June 7, Sen. Corker sent a letter to President Obama in which he wrote that "The Administration must therefore immediately come to Congress and to the American people to explain whether this story is accurate, what is being collected, what it is used for, and how the privacy and civil liberties of Americans are protected. Specifically, the Administration should explain exactly why this information is necessary to protect national security, what investigations this information is used for, how this information is stored, who has access to it and under what conditions, and whether and what restrictions apply to the government’s use of this information once it is accessed."

6/6. Attorney General Eric Holder (at right) testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee's (SAC) Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science on the FY 2014 budget for the Department of Justice (DOJ). Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) asked Holder about the Verizon phone records order. "Could you assure to us that no phones inside the Capitol were monitored, of Members of Congress?" Holder evaded: "I don't think that this is an appropriate setting for me to discuss that issue".

6/7. The Washington Times published a piece by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) in which he relates his discussions with tech companies in Silicon Valley regarding surveillance. He wrote that "I met with Facebook, eBay, Google and smaller companies. What I heard was very encouraging. They are concerned with our fiscal mess and job-killing tax policies. They are worried their industry will soon be overregulated as most others are, and they think their customers' right to privacy is in danger from an overreaching federal security state. I was impressed to learn that both Facebook and Google are going a step above the letter of the law in protecting their customers. The trend in law enforcement in recent years has been to seek information from third parties and circumvent the Fourth Amendment rights of the consumers. I think that is wrong. I think your credit card bills, emails and other information that you share only with your provider should remain private and that your rights remain protected. I was pleased to learn that some of these tech companies quietly agree, and they now refuse to turn over email content without a warrant. This is a big step by some of the tech industry’s biggest players, and I encourage others to follow suit in this important protection of constitutional rights."

6/7. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) stated in a release that "The powerful law enforcement tools authorized by the USA PATRIOT Act require careful monitoring and close oversight. That is why I pressed for sunset provisions, judicial review and other safeguards, many of which were included in the original law. Since then I have continued to push for greater oversight and transparency in the way the government conducts electronic surveillance. The privacy rights of Americans can be especially fragile when powerful technologies are applied in secrecy. I have consistently voted against extending certain PATRIOT Act provisions because of a lack of sufficient oversight and privacy protections. I will continue working to reform and improve the PATRIOT Act, just as I have worked in a bipartisan way to update the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA). I hope that all Senators will join me in our efforts to protect the privacy rights and civil liberties of all Americans, by swiftly passing my bipartisan ECPA reform bill, to protect Americans’ email privacy, and by carefully re-examining legal authorities in the PATRIOT Act that could authorize broad government surveillance."

6/7. Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) (at left) stated in a release that "There's a balance to strike between protecting Americans' privacy and protecting our country's national security. I don't think we've struck that balance. I'm concerned about the lack of transparency of these programs. The American public can't be kept in the dark about the basic architecture of the programs designed to protect them. We need to revisit how we address that balance. I agree with Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) that the relevant significant FISA Court opinions should be made public to the degree possible, consistent with protecting national security." During Senate consideration of HR 5949 [LOC | WW], the "FISA Amendments Act Reauthorization Act of 2012", in December of 2012, Sen. Merkey offered Amendment No. 3435 which would have required the Attorney General to disclose each decision, order, or opinion of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) that includes a significant legal interpretation of either Section 215 or 702 authority. It failed by a vote of 37-54. See, Roll Call No. 233. See also, stories in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,499, December 30, 2012.

6/7. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) submitted a narrow request for records regarding phone records surveillance to the Department of Justice (DOJ) pursuant to the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which is codified at 5 U.S.C. § 552. The request references the April 25, 2013 order of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC). The EPIC requests "documents containing communication with members of Congress regarding the government's legal justification for collecting all call detail records" by Verizon.

6/7. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) sent a letter to members of Congress urging committees to hold "oversight hearings on the legality of orders issued by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court compelling Verizon to turn over millions of records of American telephone customers to the National Security Agency concerning communications solely within the United States. In our view, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court simply lacks the legal authority to authorize this program of domestic surveillance."

6/7. Sacha Meinrath of the New America Foundation (NAF) stated in a release that the FBI should make public other similar orders to the Verizon order, "as should the telephone companies that have received them". He added that "Consumers have a right to know what is being surveilled, the extent of their government's fishing expedition, and whether it consists of personal and private information like geolocation and private correspondences, how regularly this information is updated, and if it covers every call originating in the United States." With respect to the PRISM system, he said that "online companies that are collaborating should be compelled to come clean with their users about how this practice functions and whether they have been turning over private chats, pictures, videos, emails, and connection logs."

6/7. Video clips:

• Rep. Jim Rogers (R-MI), Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee (HIC), Associated Press clip on YouTube, defending secret government surveillance programs.
• Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Fox News clip on YouTube, defending the phone records program.
• Jim Harper (Cato Institute) on WSJ Live.

The House will meet at 3:00 PM in pro forma session. See, Rep. Cantor's schedule.

The Senate will meet at 2:00 PM. The schedule includes resumption of consideration of the motion to proceed to S 744 [LOC | WW], the immigration bill.

Day one of a three day event hosted by the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) titled "Cable Show". See, web site. Location: Washington Convention Center, 801 Mount Vernon Place, NW.

? TIME? The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) will hold an executive business meeting at which it will consider the nomination of Penny Pritzker to be Secretary of Commerce. See, story titled "President Obama Picks Democratic Fund Raiser for Secretary of Commerce" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,557, May 6, 2013. Location: Room 253, Russell Building.

12:00 NOON - 1:00 PM. The American Bar Association's (ABA) Section of Antitrust will host a teleconferenced panel discussion titled "May In-House Counsel Antitrust Update". The speakers will be Anita Banicevic (Davies Ward), and Andrea Murino, Mark Rosman, Michael Rosenthal, and Daniel Wieck (all of Wilson, Sonsini). Free. No CLE credits. See, notice.

5:00 PM. Deadline to submit initial comments to the Copyright Office (CO) regarding its proposed rules regarding verification of statements of account submitted by cable
operators and satellite carriers. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 90, May 9, 2013, at Pages 27137-27153.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [47 pages in PDF] regarding implementation of the 2012 spectrum act's provisions regarding deployment of a nationwide public safety broadband network in the 700 MHz band under a nationwide license issued to the FirstNet. See, HR 3630 [LOC | WW], the "Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012", Public Law No. 112-96. The FCC adopted this item on March 7, 2013, and released the text on March 8. It is FCC 13-31 in PS Docket Nos. 12-94 and 06-229, and WT Docket No. 06-150. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 79, April 24, 2013, at Pages 24138-24147.

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

Day two of a three day event hosted by the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) titled "Cable Show". See, web site. Location: Washington Convention Center, 801 Mount Vernon Place, NW.

8:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Day one of a two day meeting of the Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology (VCAT). See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 98, May 21, 2013, at Pages 29704-29705. Location: NIST, Portrait Room, Administration Building, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD.

8:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Day one of a two day meeting of the Executive Office of the President's (EOP) Office of Science and Technology Policy's (OSTP) Nanoscale Science, Engineering, and Technology Subcommittee. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 79, April 24, 2013, at Page 24241. Location: USDA Conference and Training Center, Patriots Plaza III, 355 E St., SW.

8:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Day one of a two day event hosted by Georgetown University's (GU) Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy (GCBPP) titled "Workshop on the Economics of Information Security". See, notice. Location: GU, Hariri Building, McDonough School of Business.

8:30 - 10:00 AM. The Microsoft and Georgetown University will host an event titled "Privacy in a Digital World". The speakers will be Julie Brill (FTC Commissioner), Marc Rotenberg (EPIC), and Jules Polenetsky (Future of Privacy Forum). See, notice. Location: Washington Post, 1150 15th St., NW.

8:30 AM - 5:30 PM. Day one of a two day meeting of the Department of the Interior's (DOI) National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC). The agenda includes discussion of the Strategic Plan of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI), which provides data for, among other things, Google Maps and Microsoft Bing maps. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 99, May 22, 2013, at Page 30328. Location: South Interior Building Auditorium, 1951 Constitution Ave., NW.

9:00 AM. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) Bureau of Industry and Security's (BIS) Regulations and Procedures Technical Advisory Committee will hold a partially closed meeting. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 102, May 28, 2013, Page 31884. Location: DOC, Room 3884, Hoover Building, 14th Street between Constitution and Pennsylvania Avenues, NW.

9:00 AM - 2:30 PM. The Federalist Society will host an event titled "Executive Branch Review Conference". This event will include numerous panels, including ones titled "Is Government a Friend or Foe of Innovation", "Is the Administrative State on the Rise?", and "Regulation and the Rule of Law". Lunch will be served. Free. The price for CLE credits is $50. See, notice and registration page. Location: National Press Club, 529 14th St., NW.

RESCHEDULED FROM JUNE 4. 9:30 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold a hearing on nominations, including that of Stuart Delery to be the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Civil Division. Delery has been acting AAG since February of 2012. The SJC will provide a live and archived webcast. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

9:30 AM. The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) will hold a hearing in its proceeding titled "U.S. Trans Pacific Partnership Free Trade Agreement Including Japan: Advice on the Probable Economic Effect of Providing Duty-Free Treatment for Imports". See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 94, May 15, 2013, at Pages 28623-28625. Location: USITC, 500 E St., SW.

10:30 AM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Communications and Technology (SCT) will hold a hearing titled "The Satellite Television Law: Repeal, Reauthorize, or Revise". See notice. The witnesses will be __. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.

RESCHEDULED FROM JUNE 5. 10:30 AM. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (SHSGAC) will hold a hearing titled "Reducing Duplication and Improving Outcomes in Federal Information Technology". The witnesses will be Steven VanRoekel (Office of Management and Budget), Simon Szykman (Department of Commerce), Frank Baitman (Department of Health and Human Services), and David Powner (Government Accountability Office). See, notice. Location: Room 342, Dirksen Building.

12:15 PM. The New America Foundation (NAF) will host a discussion of the book [Amazon] titled "Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now". The speakers will be Douglas Rushkoff (author), Christine Rosen (NAF) and Marvin Ammori (NAF). See, notice. Location: NAF, Suite 400, 1899 L St., NW.

1:00 - 5:00 PM. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will hold another in its series of meetings regarding mobile application transparency. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 62, April 1, 2013, at Pages 19461-19462. Location: American Institute of Architects, 1735 New York Ave., NW.

1:00 PM. The US Telecom will host a webcast seminar to present a report titled "Independent Telco Benchmark Report". The speaker will be Tim Owens of Cronin Communications. The price for a copy of the report and access to this seminar is $395. See, notice.

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

4:00 - 5:00 PM. The New America Foundation (NAF) will host a panel discussion titled "The Story of WPFW and A Crisis in Grassroots Media". The speakers will be Askia Muhammad (WPFW), Jean Yves Point du Jour (WPFW) and Mark Lloyd (NAF). See, notice. Location: NAF, Suite 400, 1899 L St., NW.

5:00 - 6:00 PM. The New America Foundation (NAF) will host a panel discussion titled "A Crisis in Grassroots Media: Local Outlets and Global Content". The speakers will be Catherine Komp and Alice Ollstein (both of Free Speech Radio News) and Mark Lloyd (NAF). See, notice. Location: NAF, Suite 400, 1899 L St., NW.

Deadline to submit to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) replies to oppositions to the Western Telecommunications Alliance's, Eastern Rural Telecom Association's, and National Exchange Carrier Association's April 18, 2013 petition for reconsideration [36 pages in PDF] of the FCC's Sixth Order on Reconsideration and Memorandum Opinion and Order regarding the Connect America Fund and high cost universal service subsidies. The FCC adopted that item on January 31, and released it on February 27. It is FCC 13-16 in WC Docket Nos. 10-90 and 05-337. See also, FCC Public Notice regarding deadlines, and notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 96, May 17, 2013, at Pages 29097-29098.

Deadline to submit to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) replies to oppositions to the US Telecom Association's April 4, 2013 petition for reconsideration and clarification [34 pages in PDF] of the FCC's 2011 USF/ICC Transformation Order regarding the reporting requirements to which eligible telecommunications carriers (ETC) are expected to adhere. See also, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 96, May 17, 2013, at Page 29097.

Extended deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB) in response to its Public Notice (PN) regarding rural call completion. This PN is DA 13-780 in WC Docket No. 13-39. The FCC released it on April 18, 2013. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 88, May 7, 2013, at Pages 26572-26573. See also, FCC's May 22 Public Notice (DA 13-1196) extending the reply comment deadline.

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 three of a three day event hosted by the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) titled "Cable Show". See, web site. Location: Washington Convention Center, 801 Mount Vernon Place, NW.

8:00 AM - 1:00 PM. Day two of a two day meeting of the Executive Office of the President's (EOP) Office of Science and Technology Policy's (OSTP) Nanoscale Science, Engineering, and Technology Subcommittee. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 79, April 24, 2013, at Page 24241. Location: USDA Conference and Training Center, Patriots Plaza III, 355 E St., SW.

8:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Day two of a two day event hosted by Georgetown University's (GU) Georgetown Center for Business and Public Policy (GCBPP) titled "Workshop on the Economics of Information Security". See, notice. Location: GU, Hariri Building, McDonough School of Business.

8:30 - 11:45 AM Day two of a two day meeting of the Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Visiting Committee on Advanced Technology (VCAT). See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 98, May 21, 2013, at Pages 29704-29705. Location: NIST, Portrait Room, Administration Building, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD.

8:30 AM - 4:00 PM. Day two of a two day meeting of the Department of the Interior's (DOI) National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC). The agenda includes discussion of the Strategic Plan of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI), which provides data for, among other things, Google Maps and Microsoft Bing maps. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 99, May 22, 2013, at Page 30328. Location: South Interior Building Auditorium, 1951 Constitution Ave., NW.

10:00 AM. The House Appropriations Committee (HAC) will meet to mark up the FY 2014 defense appropriations bill. See, notice. Location: Room 2359, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (SHSGAC) will hold a hearing on the nomination of Howard Shelanski to be Administrator of the Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. See, notice, and story titled "Obama Picks Shelanski for OMB Post" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,557, May 6, 2013. Location: Room 342, Dirksen Building.

12:15 - 1:45 PM. The DC Bar Association's Media Law Committee will host a closed brown bag lunch meeting to discuss media and communications law developments. Free. No CLE credits. Reporters are barred from covering this event. For more information, contact the DC Bar at 202-626-3463 or Kurt Wimmer (Covington & Burling) at kwimmer at cov dot com or Jim McLaughlin at mclaughlinj at washpost dot com. See, notice. Location: Washington Post, 1150 15th St., NW.

2:00 PM. The Senate Appropriations Committee (SAC) will hold a hearing titled "Cybersecurity: Preparing for and Responding to the Enduring Threat". The witnesses will be General Keith Alexander (Commander of the U.S. Cyber Command, Director of the National Security Agency, and Chief of the Central Security Service), Rand Beers (acting Deputy Secretary, DHS), Patrick Gallagher (Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology), and Richard McFeely (FBI). See, notice. Location: Room G-50, Dirksen Building.

Deadline to submit to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) objections to AT&T's April 17, 2013 application to discontinue certain domestic telecommunications services that utilize obsolete technologies. See, Public Notice [3 pages in PDF], DA 13-1083 in WC Docket No. 13-126.

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

Supreme Court conference day. See, Supreme Court calendar.

RESCHEDULED FOR JUNE 27. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host an event titled "Is Technology Responsible for American Job Loss?".

10:00 AM. The House Judiciary Committee (HJC) will hold an oversight hearing on the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The witness will be FBI Director Robert Mueller. See, notice. Location: Room 2141, Rayburn Building.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold an executive business meeting. The agenda includes consideration of Tony West (to be the Associate Attorney General) and four judicial nominees: Valerie Caproni (USDC/SDNY), and Vernon Broderick (USDC/SDNY), See also, story titled "Senate Judiciary Committee Holds Hearing on West" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,568, May 31, 2013, and story titled "Obama Nominates Caproni to District Court" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,474, November 19, 2012. Live and archived webcast. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

1:00 - 4:00 PM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Technological Advisory Council (TAC) will meet. Tom Wheeler is the Chairman of the TAC. See, story titled "Obama to Nominate Tom Wheeler to Be FCC Chairman" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,556, May 1, 2013. See also, FCC's Public Notice, and notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 106, June 3, 2013, at Page 33092. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room, 445 12th St., SW.

1:00 - 2:30 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a webcast and teleconferenced panel discussion titled "Cyber Security for the Overseas Attorney: Understanding and Mitigating the Risk to Client Information When Traveling Abroad". The speakers will be David Manning (Applied Security, Inc.), Keith Riggins (Pamir Consulting), Allen Vaughn (Applied Security, Inc.), and Chandran Iyer (Sughrue Mion). Prices vary. CLE credits. See, notice.

1:00 - 3:15 PM. The DC Bar Association will host an event titled "Cloud Computing Transactions Workshop: A Systems Approach to Avoiding Thunderstorms". 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. For more information, call 202-626-3488. The DC Bar has a history of barring reporters from its events. See, notice. Location: DC Bar Conference Center, 1101 K St., NW.

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

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) regarding the 45 day public trial of Google's TV bands database system that was completed on April 17, 2013. See, FCC's May 29, 2013 Public Notice, DA 13-1220 in ET Docket No. 04-186.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) regarding the 45 day public trial of Keybridge's TV bands database system that was completed on April 24, 2013. See, FCC's May 29, 2013 Public Notice, DA 13-1222 in ET Docket No. 04-186.

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

8:00 AM - 4:00 PM. The Georgetown University's Georgetown Center for Business & Public Policy (GCBPP) will host an event titled "Optimal Coevolution of Mobile Broadband Technology and Spectrum Policy". See, notice and registration page. Location: McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University.

9:00 AM - 4:30 PM. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) Bureau of the Census's (BOC) Federal Economic Statistics Advisory Committee (FESAC) will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 99, May 22, 2013, at Page 30269. Location: BOC Conference Center, 4600 Silver Hill Road, Suitland, MD.

10:30 AM - 3:30 PM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Emergency Access Advisory Committee (EAAC) will meet to discuss ensuring access to 911 by individuals with disabilities. See, FCC Public Notice. Location: FCC, Commission Meeting Room, 445 12th St., SW.

12:00 NOON - 1:15 PM. The American Bar Association's (ABA) Section of Antitrust Law will host a an on site and teleconferenced panel discussion titled "Patent Pools". The speakers will be Amanda Reeves (Latham & Watkins), Patrick Kuhlmann (DOJ Antitrust Division), Jeffrey Blumenfeld (Crowell & Moring), and Bob Levinson (Charles River Associates). Free. No CLE credits. See, notice. Location: Latham & Watkins, Suite 1000, 555 11th St., NW.

4:30 PM. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) Bureau of the Census's (BC) Federal Economic Statistics Advisory Committee Meeting will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 99, May 22, 2013, at Page 30269. Location: BC Conference Center, 4600 Silver Hill Road, Suitland, MD.

Deadline to submit Expressions of Interest to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's (NTIA) regarding serving on the Board of Directors of the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet). See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 106, June 3, 2013, at Pages 33072-33073.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Public Notice (PN) requesting comments that supplement the record regarding the 600 MHz wireless band plan. This PN is DA 13-1157 in GN Docket No. 12-268. See, statement of Commissioner Ajit Pai explaining that this PN has "substantive and procedural infirmities that I fear will lead the incentive auction rulemaking astray". See also, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 101, May 24, 2013, at Pages 31472-31475.

Deadline to submit comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding the Section 214 application [18 pages in PDF] of MCI Communications Services, Inc. dba Verizon Business Services to discontinue MCI 900 Service. See also, FCC's Public Notice. This proceeding is WC Docket No. 13-139.

11:00 AM - 12:30 PM. The American Bar Association's (ABA) Section of Antitrust Law will host a teleconferenced panel discussion titled "A day with the French Data Protection Authority, the CNIL". The speakers will be Florence Raynal (head of the Commission Nationale de L'informatique et des Libertés' Department of European and International Affairs) and Marie-Andrée Weiss. Free. No CLE credits. See, notice.

12:00 NOON. The Tech Freedom and Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) will host a panel discussion titled "What Should Congress Do about Cell Phone Unlocking?" The speakers will be __. See, notice. Location: Methodist Building, 101 Maryland Ave., NE.

12:15 - 1:45 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Intellectual Property and Video Programming and Distribution Committees will host a brown bag lunch titled "Copyright, Technology, and Media Litigation: A Mid-Year Review". Location: Wiley Rein, 1776 K St., NW.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [55 pages in PDF] regarding equipment authorization processes. The FCC adopted this NPRM on February 12, 2013, and released the text on February 15, 2013. It is FCC 13-19 in ET Docket No. 13-44. See also, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 86, May 3, 2013, at Pages 25916-25938.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Public Notice (PN) requesting input and data on mobile wireless competition to assist the FCC in preparing a report titled "Seventeenth Annual Report on the State of Competition in Mobile Wireless". This PN is DA 13-1139 in WT Docket No. 13-135.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB) in response to its May 16 Public Notice (PN) regarding promoting the availability of voice and broadband capable networks in rural areas served by rate of return carriers. This PN is DA 13-1112 in WC Docket No. 10-90. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 109, June 6, 2013, at Pages 34016-34020.

Deadline to submit comments to the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) in its proceeding titled "U.S. Trans Pacific Partnership Free Trade Agreement Including Japan: Advice on the Probable Economic Effect of Providing Duty-Free Treatment for Imports". See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 94, May 15, 2013, at Pages 28623-28625.

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