8/21. The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) released a report [280 pages in PDF] on August 15, 2013, at the request of the Senate Finance Committee (SFC), titled "Digital Trade in the U.S. and Global Economies, Part 1". See also, USITC release.

Also, on August 21, the USITC published a notice in the Federal Register (FR) that announces dates and deadlines regarding its continuing investigation of this topic.

The just released report states that "Products and services delivered via the Internet make up a growing segment of the U.S. economy. Internet technologies have also transformed how many goods and services in the economy are produced and delivered. Digital sales make up more than half of music industry revenue; the digital shares of sales for games, videos, and books are smaller, but growing quickly. U.S. exports of digitally enabled services (one measure of international digital trade) grew from $282.1 billion in 2007 to $356.1 billion in 2011, with exports exceeding imports every year." (Parentheses in original.)

It continues that "Studies that have quantified the economic contributions of the Internet have generally found that it has made significant contributions to U.S. output, employment, consumer welfare, trade, innovation, productivity, and corporate financial performance. Digital trade can help producers lower their operating costs and work more efficiently. Small and medium-sized enterprises especially benefit from having lower-cost access to a wider range of products, services, and markets. Consumers benefit by gaining greater access to information about products and prices and more convenient ways to shop."

It finds that "Among the most notable barriers and impediments to digital trade reported were localization barriers, data privacy and protection measures, intellectual property-related issues, online censorship, as well as impediments to digitally enabled trade."

It explains that localization measures "compel companies to conduct certain digital trade-related activities within a country’s borders. They include policies that require data servers to be located in-country; policies requiring local content; and government procurement preferences and technology standards that favor local digital companies. These policies limit market access and may result in higher costs and sub-optimal processes for U.S. firms."

This report states that different industry sectors have different perspectives on intellectual property issues. "Representatives of the content industries -- including software, music, movies, books and journals, and video games -- identified Internet piracy as the single most important barrier to digital trade for their industries. By contrast, representatives of intermediaries were concerned about being held liable for the intellectual property-infringing or illegal conduct of users of their systems."

However, the report states the content providers and intermediaries are in accord on foreign censorship. Both "reported that online censorship of digital content and platforms is pervasive and growing. Digital content representatives noted that onerous content review systems in China and Vietnam, for example, shorten the window period for the legitimate distribution of digital products and cede the market to pirated content. Internet intermediaries compared the blocking and filtering of online platforms and content to customs officials stopping all goods from a particular company at the border; the negative economic effects can be substantial."

The report also states that "Divergent approaches to data privacy and protection, particularly as regards the United States and the European Union (EU), reportedly impose substantial costs and uncertainty on firms, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Industry representatives across digital industries highlighted the need to find common ground and interoperability in regulatory approaches to data privacy and protection."

The USITC will hold a hearing at 9:30 AM on September 25 at the NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California. The deadline to file requests to appear is September 12. The deadline for filing pre-hearing briefs and statements is September 18. The deadline to file post-hearing briefs and statements is October 3. The deadline for all other written submissions is March 21, 2014. The deadline for the USITC to submit its report to the SFC is July 14, 2014.

The USITC's FR notice states that the purpose of this investigation is to "estimate the value of U.S. digital trade and the potential growth of this trade (with the potential growth estimates to highlight any key trends and discuss their implications for U.S. businesses and employment); provide insight into the broader linkages and contributions of digital trade to the U.S. economy (such linkages and contributions may include effects on consumer welfare, output, productivity, innovation, business practices, and job creation); present case studies that examine the importance of digital trade to selected U.S. industries that use or produce such goods and services, with some of the case studies to highlight, if possible, the impact of digital trade on small and medium-sized enterprises; and examine the effect of notable barriers and impediments to digital trade on selected industries and the broader U.S. economy." (Parentheses in original.)

See, FR, Vol. 78, No. 162, August 21, 2013, at Pages 51744-51746, and USITC release.

8/17. The World Trade Organization (WTO) announced in a release that "Director-General elect, Roberto Azevêdo has announced the appointment of Yi Xiaozhun of China, Karl-Ernst Brauner of Germany, Yonov Frederick Agah of Nigeria and David Shark of the United States as his four Deputies Director-General. The new Director-General will begin his term on 1 September while his deputies begin service on 1 October 2013."

Azevedo (at right) stated that these four "will play a vital role in advancing the aims of the Organization at this key point in time. As global trade continues to play an important role in economic growth and social development, and as new players, patterns and practices continue to emerge, the role of the multilateral trading system has never been more important. The skills and experience that my Deputies bring will help ensure that we can develop and enhance the WTO's agenda across its many different areas of work, including at the Bali Ministerial meeting in December which is an immediate priority."

Michael Froman, the U.S. Trade Representative, stated in a release that "We welcome the strong leadership team announced today ... and applaud in particular the selection of David Shark as Deputy Director General. As U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission in Geneva, Dave has been a stalwart and steady voice for the United States at the WTO".

Yao Jian, spokesman for the People's Republic of China's (PRC) MOFCOM stated in a release that "China applauded the appointment of Mr. Yi Xiaozhun by Mr. Roberto Azevedo. It does not only recognize Mr. Yi Xiaozhun’s personal ability but also the positive and constructive role China and the developing countries play in WTO. ... China will continue to deepen the cooperation relation with WTO, support director-general's work, and make her own contributions to multi-lateral trade system and global governance."

The outgoing DG is Pascal Lamy.

8/21. The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) announced and published in the Federal Register (FR) its final determination regarding the country of origin of hard disk drives (HDDs) and self-encrypting drives (SEDs). The DHS/CBP concluded, in response to a request from Seagate, that "the programming operations performed in the United States, using U.S.-origin firmware, substantially transform non-TAA country HDDs. Therefore, the country of origin of the HDDs and SEDs is the United States for purposes of U.S. Government procurement". See, notice in the FR, Vol. 78, No. 162,  August 21, 2013, at Pages 51737-51740.

8/19. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR) published a notice in the Federal Register (FR) that requests comments to assist it in preparing its National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers (NTE). See, FR, Vol. 78, No. 160, August 19, 2013, at Pages 50481-50482.

8/26. SoundExchange filed a complaint [17 pages in PDF] in the U.S. District Court (DC) against Sirius alleging violation of the Copyright Act, and regulations thereunder, in connection with underpayment of royalties for its digital transmission of sound recordings in the years 2007 through 2012.

SoundExchange is a performance rights organization that collects digital performance and related royalties and distributes them to artists and copyright owners. Sirius is the one satellite digital audio radio service in the U.S. It has a statutory license, under 17 U.S.C. §§ 112 and 114(d)(2), for digital public performances of copyrighted sound recordings.

Subsection 114(f) then provides for the Library of Congress's Copyright Royalty Judges to adopt regulations that set royalty rates. The Copyright Royalty Judges have also designated SoundExchange to collect and distribute statutory royalties. The Copyright Royalty Judges set the statutory royalty at 6.0% of gross revenues for 2007, climbing to 8.0% of gross revenues in 2012.

The complaint alleges that Sirius has underpaid statutory royalties by making unauthorized exclusions for gross revenues, by excluding pre-1972 recordings. It states that "From at least January 1, 2007 until December 31, 2012, Sirius XM reduced its reported Gross Revenues by an amount that it deemed attributable to performances of pre-1972 sound recordings. The CRB’s regulations did not permit this reduction."

The complaint also alleges underpayment by partial exclusion of revenue from Sirius XM premier subscriptions, and by exclusion of revenue from its "Family Friendly" and "Mostly Music" subscriptions. The complaint also alleges failure to make late fee payments.

SoundExchange stated in a release that its seeks to "recover a massive underpayment of digital royalties for the period 2007-2012". The complaint asserts that Sirius has underpaid "not less than $50 million and up to $100 million or more".

This case is SoundExchange, Inc. v. Sirius XM Radio, Inc., U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, D.C. No.1:13-cv-01290.

SoundExchange is represented by Michael DeSanctis and others in the Washington DC office of the law firm of Jenner & Block.

8/22. Deborah Cohn, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's (USPTO) Commissioner for Trademarks, wrote in a short piece titled "Update on Trademark Performance From our Third Quarter Dashboard" that "Trademark application filings continue to set new record highs".

8/19. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced in a release that it will host an on site and webcast event titled "Software Partnership Meeting" on Thursday, October 17, 2013, at 8:30 AM until 12:30 PM at the UC Berkeley School of Law. The USPTO stated that "Senior USPTO officials will provide an overview of the executive actions related to patent assertion entities and U.S. innovation initiatives called for in President Obama’s executive actions on June 4th. Other topics of discussion will include feedback from the previous Software Partnership roundtables held in Silicon Valley and New York; a summary of the written comments received in response to the January Federal Register notice announcing the Software Partnership; proposed next steps by the USPTO; and an interactive discussion session on strategies to improve claim clarity, such as the use of glossaries in patent applications."

8/16. The Copyright Office's (CO) Copyright Royalty Judges published a notice in the Federal Register (FR) that announces a proceeding to determine the Phase II distribution of royalties deposited with the Register of Copyrights for the statutory license allowing distant retransmission of over the air television and radio broadcast signals by cable system operators. See, 17 U.S.C. § 111. The deadline to submit petitions to participate in, and pay the $150 filing fees for, this proceeding is September 16, 2013. See, FR, Vol. 78, No. 159, August 16, 2012, at Pages 50113-50114.

8/16. The Copyright Office's (CO) Copyright Royalty Judges published a notice in the Federal Register (FR) that announces a proceeding to determine the Phase II distribution of royalties deposited by satellite carriers for a statutory license to retransmit over the air television broadcast stations. See, 17 U.S.C. § 119. The deadline to submit petitions to participate in, and pay the $150 filing fees for, this proceeding is September 16, 2013. See, FR, Vol. 78, No. 159, August 16, 2012, at Pages 50114-50115.

8/13. Copyright Office's (CO) Copyright Royalty Judges issued their Final Determination of Distributions Phase II [66 pages in PDF] for cable royalty funds for the years 2000-2003 under 17 U.S.C. § 111.

8/13. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced in a release that its seeks nominations to fill upcoming vacancies on the Trademark Public Advisory Committee (TPAC). The deadline is September 30, 2013.

7/31. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) released a report [122 pages in PDF] titled "Copyright Policy, Creativity, and Innovation in the Digital Economy". This report is a long and thorough review the nature, history, and legal status of most of the current issues involving digital and online copyright. It contains recommendations. However, most are non-controversial. This is not an advocacy piece. This report is issued under the names of Penny Pritzger (the recently appointed Secretary of Commerce), Cameron Kerry (DOC General Counsel), Teresa Rea (acting head of the USPTO), Lawrence Stricking (head of the NTIA). However, the report lists Shira Perlmutter, Garrett Levin, Molly Torsen Stech, and Ann Chaitovitz of USPTO as the "principal drafters", and John Morris, Aaron Burstein, Jade Nester, and Ashley Heineman of the NTIA as contributors. See also, reaction of the Computer and Communications Industry Association, and reaction of the Copyright Alliance.

The House will not meet the week of August 26 through August 30. It will return from its August recess on Monday, September 9. See, House calendar for the 113th Congress, 1st Session.

The Senate will not meet the week of August 26 through August 30. It will return from its August recess on Monday, September 9. See, Senate calendar for the 113th Congress, 1st Session.

5:00 PM. Deadline to submit reply comments to the Copyright Office (CO) regarding its proposed rules changes regarding authentication of electronic signatures on electronically filed statements of account. See, original notice in the Federal Register (FR), Vol. 78, No. 123, June 26, 2013, at Pages 38240-38247, and correction notice in the FR, Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 126, July 1, 2013, at Page 39200.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [57 pages in PDF] regarding broadband services onboard airplanes and the 14.0-14.5 GHz band. This NPRM is FCC 13-66 in GN Docket No. 13-114. The FCC adopted and released this NPRM on May 9, 2013. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 132, July 10, 2013, at Pages 41343-41351.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Media Bureau (MB) in response to its June 25, 2013 Public Notice (PN) regarding the FCC's requirement that broadcast television stations publish their political files online. This PN is DA 13-1440 in MB Docket No. 00-168. See also, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 131, July 9, 2013, at Pages 41014-41016.

12:30 - 2:00 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a webcast and teleconferenced panel discussion titled "Avoiding Cybersecurity Snafus: Best Practices Ever". See, notice.

9:00 AM - 3:30 PM. The Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Judges Panel of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award will hold a closed meeting. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 151, August 6, 2013, at Page 47674. Location: NIST, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, MD.

Deadline for witnesses to submit their written testimony to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR) in advance of its September 9 hearing in its Section 301 investigation of the intellectual property related actions of government of Ukraine. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 143, July 25, 2013, at Page 45011. Location: OUSTR, 1724 F St., NW.

No events listed.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) [127 pages in PDF] regarding "how to streamline or eliminate legacy regulations contained in the Computer Inquiry proceedings and that are applicable to the Bell Operating Companies". This item is FCC 13-69 in CC Docket Nos. 95-20 and 98-10. The FCC adopted its huge titled "Memorandum Opinion and Order and Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking" on May 10, 2013, and released the text on May 17. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 126, July 1, 2013, at Pages 39233-39237.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding spectrum allocations for space related purposes. This NPRM makes two alternative proposals to modify the Allocation Table to provide interference protection for Fixed-Satellite Service (FSS) and Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) earth stations operated by federal agencies under authorizations granted by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) in certain frequency bands. This NPRM also proposes to amend a footnote to the Allocation Table to permit a Federal MSS system to operate in the 399.9-400.05 MHz band, and makes alternative proposals to modify the Allocation Table to provide access to spectrum on an interference protected basis to FCC licensees for use during the launch of launch rockets. This item is FCC 13-65 in ET Docket No. 13-115. The FCC adopted and released this item on May 9, 2013. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 126, July 1, 2013, at Pages 39200-39232.

Labor Day. This is a federal holiday. See, OPM list of 2013 federal holidays.

The House will not meet the week of September 2 through September 6. It will return from its August recess on Monday, September 9. See, House calendar for the 113th Congress, 1st Session.

The Senate will not meet the week of September 2 through September 6. It will return from its August recess on Monday, September 9. See, Senate calendar for the 113th Congress, 1st Session.

12:00 NOON - 3:00 PM. The Department of Energy's (DOE) Advanced Scientific Computing Advisory Committee will meet via teleconference. The DOE stated in its notice in the Federal Register (FR) that the purpose of the meeting is "to discuss progress of the subcommittee for the exascale challenges charge". See also, DOE letter of July 29, 2013. See, FR, Vol. 78, No. 160, August 19, 2013, at Pages 50404-50405.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Notice of Inquiry (FNPRM & NOI) regarding human exposure to RF electromagnetic fields. The FCC adopted this item on March 27, 2013, and released it March 29, 2013. It is FCC 13-39 in ET Docket Nos. 03-137 and 13-84. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 107, June 4, 2013, at Pages 33654-33687. See also, story titled "FCC Addresses Cellphone RF Exposure" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,543, April 1, 2013.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) regarding whether the FCC should "require apparatus manufacturers to ensure that their apparatus synchronize the appearance of closed captions with the display of the corresponding video". This FNPRM is FCC 13-84 in MB Docket No. 11-154. The FCC adopted this item on June 13, 2013, and released the text on June 14. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 127, July 2, 2013, at Pages 39691-39698. See also, story titled "FCC Again Addresses Closed Captioning Mandates for Video Programming Delivered Using IP" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,578, June 17, 2013.

Deadline to submit to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) initial comments and oppositions to the May 16, 2013 petition [14 pages in PDF of the Coalition of E-Reader Manufacturers (Amazon, Kobo and Sony) for a waiver of the FCC's disability access rules for e-readers. See, August 1, 2013 Public Notice, DA 13-1686 in CG Docket No. 10-213.

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) regarding its draft SP 800-38 G [30 pages in PDF] titled "Recommendation for Block Cipher Modes of Operation: Methods for Format-Preserving Encryption".

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