10/8. Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder that propounds several interrogatories for the Department of Justice (DOJ) regarding its interpretation of Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act.

This letter follows up on his letter of September 6, 2013 to the DOJ. Rep. Sensenbrenner is concerned about, among other things, use of Section 215 by the Obama administration to target gun owners for activities protected by the Second Amendment of the Constitution.

Rep. Sensenbrenner (at right) asked questions, and requested written responses by September 30. The DOJ did not respond. So, he sent this second letter, that propounds the same interrogatories.

The Obama DOJ is unlikely to provide a responsive set of answers. The Bush DOJ also repeatedly slighted him on Section 215 and related surveillance issues.

See for example, story titled "Inspector General Fine to Leave DOJ" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,166, December 2, 2010. See also, subsection titled "Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner on Caproni" of story titled "Obama Nominates Caproni to District Court" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,474, November 19, 2012.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) released a heavily redacted copy [46 pages in PDF] of a document titled "Amended Memorandum Opinion" that pertains to "ongoing daily production" to the National Security Agency (NSA) of "certain call detail records or "telephony metadata" in bulk, pursuant to Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act.

Questions for the DOJ. In both letters Rep. Sensenbrenner asked, does the DOJ "believe" that Section 215 "authorizes it to collect all records of commercial transactions between Americans?"

Also, does the DOJ "believe that it has the authority to bulk collect all records of firearms sales?"

Also, does the DOJ "believe that Section 215 allows the administration to assemble a database of gun owners?"

Also, "Is the administration collecting records in bulk other than phone records?"

Finally, he asked "If the Department does not believe it has the authority to collect records of commercial transactions in bulk, how does the Department distinguish phone records from commercial transactions?"

September 6 Letter. Rep. Sensenbrenner wrote in his September 6 letter that "the administration has collected the details of every call made by every American, even though the overwhelming majority of these calls have nothing to do with terrorism."

He asserted that in enacting Section 215, the "Congress intended to allow the government to access specific records. The administration's interpretation to allow for bulk collection is at odds with Congressional intent and with both the plain and legal meanings of ``relevance´´."

He continued that this "flawed interpretation ... would seem to support bulk collection of other personal data."

He wrote that the FBI "could easily conclude that it is interested, not only in the type of firearms being purchased, but also in who is selling firearms to whom -- thereby ascribing importance to the connection between the buyers and sellers. The potential importance of these connections makes commercial transactions like firearms sales indistinguishable from phone records under the administration's analysis. The administration's sweeping legal view of Section 215 could support building a national gun registry despite Congress's express disapproval and the Second Amendment."

Section 215. This authority is codified at 50 U.S.C. § 1861. It is also known as Section 501 of the FISA. The 2001 surveillance act (Section II of the USA PATRIOT Act) amended Section 1861/501 in its Section 215. Hence, this authority is usually, but not always, referred to as Section 215 authority.

See also, HR 3162, 107th Congress, titled "USA PATRIOT Act", signed October 26, 2001, Public Law 107-56.

This 1861/501/215 authority enables the FBI to obtain from the body titled "Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court" (FISC), an order requiring the production business records, including phone company, ISP, library, and bookseller records. While the FISC body bears very few attributes of an Article III court, the statute counts the FISC as a court.

This section 1861 further provides that if the government submits an application to the court that states that there are "reasonable grounds to believe that the tangible things sought are relevant to an authorized investigation", then the "judge shall enter an ex parte order as requested". This is a very low standard. The judge is left with almost no discretion.

Precisely, section 1851 requires that such application "shall include ... a statement of facts showing that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the tangible things sought are relevant to an authorized investigation (other than a threat assessment) conducted in accordance with subsection (a)(2) to obtain foreign intelligence information not concerning a United States person or to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities, such things being presumptively relevant to an authorized investigation if the applicant shows in the statement of the facts that they pertain to -- (i) a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power; (ii) the activities of a suspected agent of a foreign power who is the subject of such authorized investigation; or (iii) an individual in contact with, or known to, a suspected agent of a foreign power who is the subject of such authorized investigation".

The referenced subsection (a)(2) merely requires that the investigation be conducted pursuant to "guidelines approved by the Attorney General" and that it "not be conducted of a United States person solely upon the basis of activities protected by the first amendment to the Constitution".

It should also be noted that Section 1851 also requires that the FBI's application contain an "enumeration of the minimization procedures adopted by the Attorney General". However, Roger Vinson's order does not reference minimization.

Section 1861 also grants broad immunity from liability for anyone who complies with a Section 1861 order.

10/4. The Guardian published a series or articles by James Ball, Bruce Schneier, and Glenn Greenwald on October 4, 2013 titled "NSA and GCHQ target Tor network that protects anonymity of web users". These articles are based upon documents disclosed by Edward Snowden.

Tor states in its web site that it is "free software and an open network" that "protects you by bouncing your communications around a distributed network of relays run by volunteers all around the world: it prevents somebody watching your Internet connection from learning what sites you visit, and it prevents the sites you visit from learning your physical location."

The three wrote that Snowden documents "reveal that the agency's current successes against Tor rely on identifying users and then attacking vulnerable software on their computers. One technique developed by the agency targeted the Firefox web browser used with Tor, giving the agency full control over targets' computers, including access to files, all keystrokes and all online activity. But the documents suggest that the fundamental security of the Tor service remains intact."

18 U.S.C. § 1030, which criminalized unauthorized access to computers, contains an exception for intelligence agencies. Subsection 1030(f) provides that "This section does not prohibit any lawfully authorized investigative, protective, or intelligence activity of a law enforcement agency of the United States, a State, or a political subdivision of a State, or of an intelligence agency of the United States."

How the NSA Compromises Tor Users' Computers. Schneier wrote a related article published in the Guardian titled "Attacking Tor: how the NSA targets users' online anonymity" that discusses the technology in more detail.

He wrote that "Tor is a high-priority target" for the National Security Agency (NSA).

He explained that "one successful technique the NSA has developed involves exploiting the Tor browser bundle, a collection of programs designed to make it easy for people to install and use the software. The trick identified Tor users on the internet and then executes an attack against their Firefox web browser."

Schneier wrote that the NSA has the resources to identify Tor traffic. "The very feature that makes Tor a powerful anonymity service, and the fact that all Tor users look alike on the internet, makes it easy to differentiate Tor users from other web users. On the other hand, the anonymity provided by Tor makes it impossible for the NSA to know who the user is, or whether or not the user is in the US."

Then, "After identifying an individual Tor user on the internet, the NSA uses its network of secret internet servers to redirect those users to another set of secret internet servers, with the codename FoxAcid, to infect the user's computer. FoxAcid is an NSA system designed to act as a matchmaker between potential targets and attacks developed by the NSA, giving the agency opportunity to launch prepared attacks against their systems."

"Once the computer is successfully attacked, it secretly calls back to a FoxAcid server, which then performs additional attacks on the target computer to ensure that it remains compromised long-term, and continues to provide eavesdropping information back to the NSA."

Schneier concluded that "Tor is a well-designed and robust anonymity tool, and successfully attacking it is difficult. The NSA attacks we found individually target Tor users by exploiting vulnerabilities in their Firefox browsers, and not the Tor application directly."

EPIC's FOIA Request to the BBG. On May 31, 2013, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) submitted a request to the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), pursuant to the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. § 552, asking for documents related to the Tor anonymous web use software.

The EPIC wrote in this request that "Internet users around the world use Tor to maintain anonymity and circumvent Internet restrictions. It works by encrypting Internet data and routing it through a series of ``nodes´´ hosted by volunteers to create a secure relay between the user and their destination. This obscures both the origin and destination of the user. Tor is used by academics, political dissidents, law enforcement, journalists, whistleblowers, NGOs, the U.S. Navy, and everyday individuals. The BSG has been a sponsor of Tor since 2006, and has contributed over $Im in funding since then." (Footnotes omitted.)

The EPIC asked for "All agreements and contracts concerning BBG funding or sponsorship of The Tor Project, Inc., Tor Solution Corporation, and Tor Solutions Group", "Technical specifications of all BBG computers running Tor nodes", "All reports related to BBG's modification of the Tor software", and "All agreements and contracts between the BBG and The Tor Project, Inc., Tor Solution Corporation, and Tor Solutions Group regarding features or capabilities in the Tor software".

The BBG broadcasters, which are funded by Congressional appropriations, include the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (Alhurra TV and Radio Sawa), Radio Free Asia, and the Office of Cuba Broadcasting (Radio and TV Marti).

The EPIC filed a complaint [10 pages in PDF] against the BBG on September 9 in the U.S. District Court (DC).

The EPIC wrote in its web site on September 25 that its received documents [75 pages in PDF] from the BBG, and that they "reveal no efforts by the NSA to undermine the security or reliability of the Tor network".

10/4. Academics and interest groups filed statements with the panel that President Obama selected following widespread public criticism of government surveillance activities and operations disclosed by Edward Snowden.

Commenters argue that the review group must examine highly complex and technical ICT systems and surveillance tactics, but cannot, because it lacks the technical expertise to understand all of this. Moreover, the process lacks transparency. In particular, there is no meaningful opportunity for public input. It also lacks independence.

On August 9, 2013, President Obama announced the formation of a small group of people titled "President’s Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technology".

The formation of this group is largely an exercise in delay and deception. It serves the purposes of manufacturing the appearance that the government has more concern for the interests and Constitutional rights of persons who utilize information and communications technologies (ICT) than actually exists, and to fabricate the appearance the the government is taking action to remedy unpopular aspects of government surveillance programs. It also provides a pretext for the government and Congress to delay taking any action to redress public concerns.

Also, in the context of notice and comment proceedings, this is an exercise in absurdity. Government bodies frequently seek public comments on written proposals, which often contain the actual texts of changes to law. In the present matter, the government has proposed nothing, and released nothing. There is nothing upon which to comment, except news media stories, the accuracy and patriotism of which the government vehemently denies.

The group's self imposed deadline to submit a report is December 15, 2013. See, ODNI release of August 12, and White House news office release of August 27. The group could release the full text of a draft report, and request comments upon that, but it will not.

A collection of academics and interest group representatives submitted an item [11 pages in PDF] titled "Technologists' Comment to the Director of National Intelligence Review Group on Intelligence and Communications Technology".

This letter complains that while government surveillance is "complex, systemic and state-of-the-art", the review group "does not have a technologist". The letter argues that the group "needs competent technical advice to do its job properly", and that a "lack of technical understanding in existing oversight bodies has already resulted in substantial material defects in" government surveillance programs.

Moreover, the letter insists not only that the group needs technical advisors, but that they must be independent of the intelligence community.

The group is comprised of Cass Sunstein (law professor and former Obama administration official), Michael Morrell (former Deputy Director of the CIA), Geoffrey Stone (law professor), Richard Clarke (former government official, now a cyber security consultant), and Peter Swire (law professor). Two are Chicagoans, Sunstein and Stone, like Obama.

This letter overstates the lack of technical expertise on the review group. None are scientists or engineers with specialties related to ICT and surveillance. However, during the Bush administration Clarke was Special Advisor to the President on Cybersecurity. Swire is a law professor, but has focused on legal issues involving ICT, including surveillance, since the 1990s. He co-chairs the Do Not Track standards process of the World Wide Web Consortium.

Also, the letter states that the government body titled "Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court" or "FISC" also lacks technical expertise. It states that "without an understanding of the technical details of surveillance programs, the FISC has been forced to accept unsupported assertions that the government has made about those programs". Moreover, "It is deeply problematic that the court has no way to verify these types of assertions, and that the court is not provided an independent technologist or adviser outside of the intelligence community."

The letter continues that the FISC must be changed so that it becomes "a transparent adversarial process". It states that "the government's adversary as well as the court itself need to have independent technical experts on staff with all the requisite security clearances to be wholly read in to all of the technical details of the NSA surveillance programs."

The letter does not identify who would be the "government's adversary" in each of the FISC processes. For example, a set of related FISC orders may be directed to phone companies that are not adverse to the government, and which cannot be relied upon to advocate the interests of people who rely upon communications technologies.

This letter also addresses the circumstance that the NSA has two missions that irreconcilably conflict -- breaking other people's encryption, and advancing information assurance. Weaker information assurance furthers its paramount mission of breaking encryption and accessing other people's data, conversations and e-mail.

The letter states that recent disclosures have revealed that NSA activities "fundamentally undermine general systems security in dangerous ways. In the NSA's dual role as both an information assurance and signals intelligence entity, clearly the signals intelligence mission has trumped information assurance."

The letter explains. First, "the NSA has been working to subvert standards-setting efforts. In one case -- the standard random number generator called ``Dual_EC_DRBG´´-- it is widely acknowledged that the NSA planted a ``trap door´´ in the algorithm that allows the agency to decrypt communications that use Dual_EC_DRBG." (Footnote omitted.)

The letter continues that this undermined the efforts of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) "to produce secure cryptographic standards", and "resulted in massive product recalls and expensive internal audits at businesses to determine if products they had relied on for strong security were in fact quite weak."

Second, the NSA has "apparently engaged in subversion to undermine encryption online".

Third, the letter states that "the NSA has reportedly worked to covertly and overtly plant backdoors in software and hardware products, undermining the security and privacy of vast swaths of Internet users in an indiscriminate, dragnet manner."

The interest groups whose representatives signed this letter include the ACLU, Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), and New America Foundation (NAF).

The NAF also submitted a separate letter. It too argued that the President's review group "is limited in technical expertise, making it difficult to fully analyze the technical implications of the government's surveillance programs and activities".

It also urged that "special attention should be paid to Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act as well as Section 702 of the 2008 FISA Amendments Act."

The NAF warned that unless the review process is reformed, "we will see a further movement by many nations to impose data localization and traffic routing requirements that will not only contribute to a balkanization of the open Internet but also facilitate network architectures that would further empower authoritarian states to surveil and censor communications".

It also wrote that the government must "rebuild trust in the United States as a benevolent steward of the Internet and reaffirm the nation's respect for international law and commitment to protecting civil liberties and human rights both at home and abroad. Restoring trust is critical as well to ensuring that the country’s burgeoning technology sector remains vibrant, open, and healthy."

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The House will meet at 10:00 AM.

The Senate will meet at 9:30 AM.

8:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Day one of a three day meeting of the Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board (ISPAB). See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 171, September 4, 2013, at Page 54454. See also, story titled "NIST ISPAB to Hold Three Day Meeting" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,594, September 3, 2013. Location: U.S. Access Board, Suite 800, Conference Room, 1331 F St., NW.

8:00 - 11:30 AM. Day one of a two day event hosted by the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Advisory Committee for Mathematical and Physical Sciences' Synchrotron Subcommittee. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 185, September 24, 2013, at Page 58569. Open to the public. Location: Residence Inn, 650 N. Quincy St., Arlington, VA.

9:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. Day two of a two day meeting of the Department of Energy's (DOE) Advanced Scientific Computing Advisory Committee (ASCAC). The ASCAC will discuss Exascale. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 179, September 16, 2013, at Page 56871. Location: American Geophysical Union, 2000 Florida Ave., NW.

9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Day three of a five day meeting of the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) RTCA Special Committee 159, Global Positioning Systems. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 182, September 19, 2013, at Pages 57672-57673. Location: RTCA, Inc., Suite 910, 1150 18th St.,  NW.

9:00- 10:30 AM. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host a panel discussion titled "Next Gen Data Centers: Bringing Energy Efficiency to Government". The speakers will be Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Robert Atkinson (ITIF), Colin Coyle (Hewlett Packard), Dean Garfield (Information Technology Industry Council), Eric Masanet (Northwestern University), and Kathrin Winkler (EMC Corporation). Free. Open to the public. See, notice. Location: Room 121, Cannon Building, Capitol Hill.

POSTPONED. 10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold a hearing on the pending judicial nominations of __. See, notice. Webcast. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM - 4:30 PM. The Cato Institute will host an on site and webcast conference titled "NSA Surveillance: What We Know; What to Do About It". The speakers will include Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI), and Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI). See, notice. Location: Cato, 1000 Massachusetts Ave., NW.

5:30 - 9:00 PM. The Public Knowledge (PK) will host an event titled "10th Annual IP3 Awards". Location: Pavilion Room, Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center.

FILING WINDOW SUSPENDED. 6:00 PM. Deadline to submit to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) FCC Form 180 (short form applications) in connection with FCC Auction 902, the Tribal Mobility Fund Phase I support reverse auction. See, FCC's August 7, 2013 Public Notice (DA 13-1672 in AU Docket No. 13-53), and notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 179, September 16, 2013, at Pages 56875-56895. See also, FCC's September 25, 2013 Public Notice (DA 13-1978). See, notice (DA 13-2014 in AU Docket No. 13-53) of suspension of filing window.

Day four of a four day event hosted by the George Mason University law school and the American Bar Association's (ABA) Section of Antitrust Law titled "Antitrust Law and Economics Institute". See, notice. For more information, call Kayla Lahti at 703-993-8008. Location: GMU law school, 3301 Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA.

Deadline to submit comments to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding Imperium LLC's proposed parental consent method and the FTC's rules implementing the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 177, September 12, 2013, at Pages 56183-56184.

Deadline to submit to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) nominations for membership on its DHS Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee. This committee provides advice regarding "programmatic, policy, operational, administrative, and technological issues within DHS that relate to personally identifiable information (PII), as well as data integrity and other privacy-related matters". See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 174, September 9, 2013, at Pages 55088-55089.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for morning hour, and at 12:00 NOON for legislative business.

The Senate will meet at 10:30 AM.

7:30 AM - 12:15 PM. The George Mason University law school will host a conference titled "Competition Among Online Platforms". See, notice. For more information, call Jeff Smith at 703-993-8382. Location: GMU law school, Founders Hall, 3351 Fairfax Drive, Arlington, VA.

8:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Day two of a three day meeting of the Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board (ISPAB). See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 171, September 4, 2013, at Page 54454. See also, story titled "NIST ISPAB to Hold Three Day Meeting" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,594, September 3, 2013. Location: U.S. Access Board, Suite 800, Conference Room, 1331 F St., NW.

9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Day four of a five day meeting of the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) RTCA Special Committee 159, Global Positioning Systems. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 182, September 19, 2013, at Pages 57672-57673. Location: RTCA, Inc., Suite 910, 1150 18th St., NW.

10:00 AM. The House Intelligence Committee (HIC) will hold a closed meeting titled "Ongoing Intelligence Activities". See, notice. Location: Room HVC-304, Capitol Visitor Center.

10:30 AM - 12:00 NOON. The Brookings Institution (BI) will host an event titled "NSA Surveillance Programs and the Najibullah Zazi Terrorist Threat". The speaker will be Matt Apuzzo (Associated Press). See, notice. Location: BI, 1775 Massachusetts Ave., NW.

2:30 PM. The Senate Intelligence Committee (SIC) will hold a closed meeting to mark up undisclosed legislation, and/or dispose of other undisclosed matters. See, notice. Location: Room 219, Hart Building.

6:00 - 8:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) will host an event titled "Conflicts of Interest and Unauthorized Practice: Pitfalls for FCC Lawyers to Avoid". The speakers will be Gregg Skall (Womble Carlyle), Barry Cohen (Crowell & Moring), Grif Johnson (Telecommunications Law Professionals), Cynthia Wright (Assistant U.S. Attorney and Chair of the Unauthorized Practice of Law of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals), Lawrence Movshin (Wilkinson Barker Knauer), Thomas Mason (Zuckerman Spaeder), and Julia Porter (Senior Assistant Bar Counsel, District of Columbia). Prices vary. No webcast. CLE credits. See, notice. Location: Bingham McCutchen, 2020 K St., NW.

6:30 - 8:00 PM ET. (6:30 - 8:00 AM Beijing Time.) The American Bar Association's (ABA) Section of Antitrust Law will host an on site and teleconferenced panel discussion titled "Antitrust Principles & Institutional Design". This is the first in a nine part series titled "U.S. Antitrust Law Fundamentals for Chinese Practitioners Series". The speakers will be Yan Luo (Covington & Burling), William Kovacic (George Washington University Law School, and former Chairman of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission), Wan Xiaoye (Hunan University). Free. Open to the public. No CLE credits. See, notice. Location: Covington & Burling, 2301 Tower C Yintai Centre, 2 Jianguomenwai Avenue, Beijing, People's Republic of China.

Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding the proposed merger involving Globecomm Systems, Telaurus Communications, and Wasserstein Cosmos. See, FCC's September 26, 2013 Public Notice (DA 13-1987 in WC Docket No. 13-235).

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding DISH Network Corporation's September 9, 2013 Petition for Waiver and Request Extension of Time [22 pages in PDF] regarding the FCC's AWS-4 rules applied to offering terrestrial broadband service. See, FCC's September 13, 2013 Public Notice (DA 13-1877 in WT Docket No. 13-225) and notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 188, September 27, 2013, at Pages 59633-59635.

Supreme Court conference day. See, October Term 2013 calendar.

TIME? The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) will hold a hearing titled "The Impacts of the Government Shutdown on Our Economic Security". The witnesses will be __. Webcast. See, notice. Location: Room 253, Russell Building.

Day one of a two day event hosted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) titled "18th Annual Independent Inventor Conference". See, notice. Location: USPTO Campus, Madison North Auditorium, 600 Dulany St., Alexandria, VA.

8:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. Day three of a three day meeting of the Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board (ISPAB). See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 171, September 4, 2013, at Page 54454. See also, story titled "NIST ISPAB to Hold Three Day Meeting" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,594, September 3, 2013. Location: U.S. Access Board, Suite 800, Conference Room, 1331 F St., NW.

POSTPONED. 9:00 - 10:30 AM. The US Telecom will host an on site and webcast panel discussion titled "The National Cybersecurity Framework -- The First Major Milestone". Patrick Gallagher, head of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), will give an opening speech. There will then be a panel comprised of Charlie Mitchell (Inside Cybersecurity), Donna Dodson (NIST), Adam Sedgewick (NIST), Robert Dix (Juniper Networks), Sara Andrews (Verizon Communications), and Rosemary Leffler (AT&T). Larry Clinton ( Internet Security Alliance) will give a closing speech. Free. Open to the public. Breakfast will be served. See, notice. Location: First Amendment Room, National Press Club, 529 14th St., NW.

9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Day five of a five day meeting of the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) RTCA Special Committee 159, Global Positioning Systems. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 182, September 19, 2013, at Pages 57672-57673. Location: RTCA, Inc., Suite 910, 1150 18th St., NW.

10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Motorola Mobility v. USITC, App. Ct. No. 12-1666, an appeal from the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC). Panel L. Location: Courtroom 201, 717 Madison Place, NW.

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will hold an event titled "Spectrum, Medical Devices, and Broadband for Rural Health Care: An Introduction to FCC Programs and Initiatives Affecting Health Care". The speakers will be Matthew Quinn (FCC Director of Health Care Initiatives) and Linda Oliver (Deputy Chief of the FCC's WCB's Telecommunications Access Policy Division). Free. Bring your own lunch. No webcast. No CLE credits. The FCBA asserts sponsorship. Location: CTIA, 6th floor, 1400 16th St., NW.

12:00 NOON - 1:00 PM. The American Bar Association's (ABA) Section of Antitrust Law will host a teleconferenced panel discussion titled "September Antitrust Update for In-House Counsel". The speakers will be Carter Simpson (SNR Denton), and Allan Van Fleet, Warren Rosborough, Alison Smith, and Andrea Hamilton (all of McDermott Will & Emery). The price to attend ranges from free to $25. No CLE credits. See, notice.

Deadline to submit comments to the Department of Commerce's (DOC) Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) regarding its proposed changes to its Export Administration Regulations (EAR). The proposed changes, among other things, would require exporters to file an Automated Export System (AES) record for all exports subject to the EAR involving a party or parties to the transaction who are listed on the Unverified List, aka UVL. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 176, September 11, 2013, Pages 55664-55671.

EXTENDED TO OCTOBER 25. Deadline to submit comments to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR) to assist it in preparing a report on the internet and physical notorious markets that exist outside the US and that may be included in the OUSTR's 2013 Notorious Markets List. See, notice in the Federal Register (FR), Vol. 78, No. 183, September 20, 2013, at Pages 57924-57925, and story titled "USTR Seeks Comments on Notorious Foreign Markets" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,606, September 27, 2013. See also, September 23 release which extends the deadline to October 25, and extension notice in the FR, Vol. 78, No. 190, October 1, 2013, at Page 60367. The docket number is USTR-2013-0030.

Deadline for 12 operators of consumer facing web sites to respond to interrogatories sent by Sen. John Rockefeller (D-WV). See, September 24, 2013 letter, and story titled "Sen. Rockefeller Queries Consumer Facing Web Sites About Their Data Collection and Sharing Practices" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,606, September 27, 2013.

Day two of a two day event hosted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) titled "18th Annual Independent Inventor Conference". See, notice. Location: USPTO Campus, Madison North Auditorium, 600 Dulany St., Alexandria, VA.

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

The House will not meet the week of October 14 through October 18. It will return from its Columbus Day recess on Monday, October 21. See, House calendar for the 113th Congress, 1st Session.

The Senate will not meet the week of October 14 through October 18. It will return from its Columbus Day recess on Monday, October 21. See, Senate calendar for the 113th Congress, 1st Session.

POSTPONED. 8:00 - 10:00 AM. Broadband Census News LLC will host a panel discussion titled "Global and Mobile: How Wireless Broadband Spurs Economic Development". The speakers will be __. 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, and US Telecom. Location: Clyde's of Gallery Place, 707 7th St., NW.

8:30 - 10:30 AM. The Technology Policy Institute (TPI) will host an event titled "Competition, Net Neutrality and Other Issues Facing the New FCC". The speakers will include Reed Hundt, Jim Cicconi (AT&T), and Scott Wallsten (TPI). Breakfast will be served. See, notice and registration page. Location: City Club, 555 13th St., NW.

9:00 - 10:30 AM. The New America Foundation (NAF) will host a panel discussion titled "How Socially Innovative Entrepreneurship Can Build the Middle East". The speakers will be Tarik Yousef (Silatech), Fadi Ghandour (ARAMEX), Christopher Schroeder (author of the book titled "Startup Rising -- The Entrepreneurial Revolution Remaking the Middle East", Dina Sherif (NAF), and Leila Hilal (NAF). See, notice. Location: George Washington University, Marvin Center, 3rd Floor, 800 21st St., NW.

12:15 - 1:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Young Lawyers Committee will host a brown bag lunch. The topic will be "what it means to be a legal advisor at the FCC and hear about others' career paths". For more information, contact Lindsey Tonsager at ltonsager at cov dot com or Justin Faulb at jfaulb at eckertseamans dot com. Free. No webcast. No CLE credits. Location: FCC, 445 12th St., NW.

Deadline for Eligible Telecommunications Carriers (ETCs) to submit annual reports with FCC Form 481 to the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB). See, August 6, 2013 Public Notice (DA 13-1707 in WC Docket Nos. 10–90 and 11-42).

Deadline for the Department of Energy's (DOE) Advanced Scientific Computing Advisory Committee (ASCAC) to submit its preliminary comments on exascale computing. See, DOE letter of July 29, 2013.

Deadline to submit to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) replies to oppositions to petitions to deny AT&T's planned acquisition of Leap Wireless. See, FCC August 28, 2013 Public Notice (DA 13-1831 in WT Docket No. 13-193). See also, the FCC's Office of General Counsel's (OGC) web page for this merger review.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding Mobile Relay Associates' (MRA) request for waiver of Sections 2.106 and 90.35 of the FCC's rules to to operate on frequency pairs 462/467.5375 MHz and 462/467.7375 MHz at multiple locations in the Los Angeles, Denver, Las Vegas, and Miami metropolitan areas. See, FCC's August 29, 2013 Public Notice (DA 13-1838 in WT Docket No. 13-212).

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) regarding its draft SP 800-161 [285 pages in PDF] titled "Supply Chain Risk Management Practices for Federal Information Systems and Organizations".

Deadline to submit comments to the Department of Commerce's (DOC) National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) that may be discussed at its October 30, 2013 meeting regarding the Internet Policy Task Force's paper [122 pages in PDF] titled "Copyright Policy, Creativity, and Innovation in the Digital Economy", released on July 31, 2013. The deadline to submit all other comments is November 13. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 192, October 3, 2013, at Pages 61337-61341.

9:00 - 10:30 AM. The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host a panel discussion titled "Nordic Innovation: What Can America Learn from the Scandinavian Innovation Ecosystem". The speakers will be Robert Atkinson (ITIF), Niels Heltberg (Danish Embassy), Rolf Höijer (Swedish Embassy), and Jukka Salminiitty (FinNode USA). Free. Open to the public. See, notice. Location: ITIF/ITIC, Suite 610A, 1101 K St., NW.

12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a webcast panel discussion titled "International Laws Governing Cross Border Discovery, Privilege, Confidentiality and Data Privacy". The speakers will be Katherine Blostein (Outten & Golden), Lloyd Chinn (Proskauer), Christopher Jordan (CMS Hasche Sigle), Ellis Parry (BP International), George Washington (Orange Business Services), and Michael Royal (Fisher & Phillips). Prices vary. CLE credits. See, notice.

12:30 - 1:30 PM. The American Bar Association's (ABA) Section of Antitrust Law's Privacy and Information Security Committee will host a teleconferenced panel discussion titled "A Day in the Life of the Irish Data Protection Commissioner". The speakers will be Billy Hawkes (Ireland Data Protection Commissioner) and Abigail Slater (FTC). The price to attend ranges from free to $25. No CLE credits. See, notice.

5:30 - 6:30 PM. The DC Bar Association will host an event titled "Technology in Court: Learning Electronic Courtroom 215". The speaker will be Judge Herbert Dixon. Free. No CLE credits. For more information, call 202-626-3463. The DC Bar has a history of barring reporters from its events. See, notice. Location: D.C. Superior Court, Courtroom 215, 500 Indiana Ave., NW.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) [175 pages in PDF] regarding its e-rate tax and subsidy program for school and libraries. The FCC adopted and released this NPRM on July 19, 2013, and released it on July 23. It is FCC 13-100 in WC Docket No. 13-184. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 161, August 20, 2013, at Pages 51597-51644.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) [102 pages in PDF] regarding making spectrum in the 1695-1710 MHz, 1755-1780 MHz, 2020-2025 MHz, and 2155-2180 MHz bands available for Advanced Wireless Services (AWS). The FCC adopted and released this NPRM on July 23, 2013. It is FCC 13-102 in GN Docket No. 13-185. See, notice in the Federal Register, Vol. 78, No. 161, August 20, 2013, at Pages 51559-51595.