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Tech Law Journal |
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| News, records, and analysis of legislation, litigation, and regulation affecting the computer, internet, communications and information technology sectors | |
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7/14. FCC Commissioners and the NTIA chief exchanged words over the role of the NTIA in FCC proceedings. The Commission voted to approve its ultra- wideband Order on Feb. 2, but it was not released until July 14. This Order denied a petition for reconsideration of an earlier order granting three waivers to use UWB technology. Petitioners argued it might interfere with GPS operations. But the issue was that after approval of the Order, FCC staff and the NTIA spent over five months negotiating new language for the Order, without notifying all Comm'rs. Comm'r Furchtgott-Roth called this an "unacceptable distortion of the appropriate consultative role that NTIA should play in our decision making" which "undermines our independence and the integrity of our processes." He added that "it turns our voting process into a sham." Comm'r Ness wrote that "Orders adopted by the Commission should be released within seven days of their adoption." NTIA chief Greg Rhode replied: "Any suggestion that NTIA delayed the Commission's processes is unfounded." 7/14. The Senate stripped the R&D tax credit (and all other) amendments from the Death Tax Elimination Act before final passage. See, Tech Law Journal story. 7/13. The Senate adopted an amendment offered by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) to the Death Tax Elimination Act that would permanently extend the research and development tax credit. [Amendment No. 3823 to HR 8.] Last year the Congress passed, and Clinton signed, a five year extension. See, Hatch release. See also, Tech Law Journal summary of R&D tax credit bills. 7/13. The Senate also adopted an amendment to eliminate the 3% excise tax on telephones. The House passed this measure as HR 3916 on May 25. 7/13. The IPO gave Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC) its "Intellectual Property Legislator of the Year" awards. 7/13. European Commissioner for Internal Market Frits Bolkestein told the European Parliament's Civil Liberties Committee that he will propose to the European Commission that it recognize that the safe harbor arrangement with the United States offers "adequate protection" for personal data transferred from the EU to the U.S. See, EU release. 7/13. The FCC denied U S West's motion for partial stay to CALLS order. (FCC No. 00-249). 7/13. The RIAA and other plaintiffs who have sued Napster for copyright infringement filed a brief in support of their motion for a preliminary in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. The brief stated: "Napster's opposition uses euphemisms like 'sharing' to avoid the real issue: Napster is a business that already claims a value in the billions, based overwhelmingly on the 'piracy' of millions of plaintiffs' copyrighted works. The truth is, the making and distributing of unauthorized copies of copyrighted works by Napster users in not 'sharing,' any more than stealing apples from neighbor's tree is 'gardening.'" 7/13. Convolve Inc. and MIT filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Compaq and Seagate in the U.S. District Court (SDNY) regarding computer disk drive technology. See, Convolve release. 7/13. The SEC filed a complaint in U.S. District Court (N.D. Ill.) for civil injunctive relief against System Software Associates, Inc. (SSA), its former CEO and Chairman, Roger Covey, and its former CFO, Joseph Skadra. The complaint alleges fraudulent accounting practices that resulted in massive investor losses. See, SEC release. 7/13. WorldCom and Sprint announced the termination of their merger plans following rejection by government regulators. Bernie Ebbers released a statement: "We very much regret that our merger with Sprint was not allowed to proceed. The benefits of this merger were clear and compelling. Opposition to this merger just adds to the list of Kennard-Klein policies that ultimately will reduce innovation and choice, and raise the cost of communications services, for residential customers, particularly those in rural America." Joel Klein, head of the DOJ's Antitrust Division, released a rebuttal: "We welcome this decision to abandon the transaction. The merger would have led to higher prices, lower service quality, and less innovation for millions of American consumers and businesses. America's consumers and businesses will continue to reap the benefits of competition in the long distance, internet backbone and data network services businesses.". 7/13. The House Commerce Committee postponed mark up HR 2944, the Electricity Competition and Reliability Act of 1999, the electric utility markets restructuring bill. See, Commerce Committee's Electricity Competition web page. Rep. Tom Bliley (R-VA) commented on the prospects for approval by the Committee: "the objective will be clear, but the outcome very much in doubt." He also compared his efforts to pass this bill to those of Gen. George Pickett at Gettysburg. 7/13. FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau announced several staff changes. Bill Lane was named Chief Technologist. Margaret Wiener was named Deputy Chief. Gary Michaels was named Chief of the Legal Branch. Leora Hochstein was named Deputy Chief of the Legal Branch. Kathy Garland will be named Chief of the Operations Branch. 7/12. House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX) released a statement in which called on Attorney General Janet Reno and FBI Director Louis Freeh to stop using the Carnivore e-mail surveillance system until 4th Amendment concerns are addressed. He stated that "the FBI wants to run a system that could sort through every single e-mail message that passes through a commercial Internet service provider. I ask, why should we trust this Administration with our most personal correspondence? At a time when there is a lot of talk about concerns for Internet privacy, the Clinton-Gore Administration continues to push Big Brother proposals that promote government cybersnooping." 7/12. The FTC brought and settled a complaint against operators of a group of online pharmacies that promoted themselves by touting medical and pharmaceutical facilities they did not have and by making privacy and confidentiality assurances they did not keep. See, Complaint, Stipulated Final Order as to one defendant, Stipulated Final Order as to other defendants, and FTC release. 7/12. The Senate Judiciary Committee's Technology Subcommittee held another hearing on identity theft, and proposed legislative remedies, including S 2338 IS, the Identity Theft Prevention Act, and S 2699 IS, the Social Security Number Protection Act. Sen. Feinstein (D-CA) also focused on how the Internet facilitates identity theft. See also, Tech Law Journal story. 7/11. Rep. David Dreier (R-CA) released a statement regarding the status of pending H1B visa legislation. He said that "much hard work went into developing a consensus behind the original bill, and I am committed to following the same process for any legislative riders added at this late stage. One thing I made extremely clear was that I believed that the unrelated immigration provisions put on the table at the 11th hour appeared to have much merit, but that I was deeply concerned that it could take some time to craft a final version, time we might not have." 7/11. Timeline Inc. filed a complaint in U.S. District Court in Seattle WA against Oracle alleging patent infringement. Timeline also recently sued Microsoft and Sagent Technologies. See, Timeline release. 7/11. WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers gave a speech to the Wireless Communications Association International in which addressed FCC regulation. See also, reaction from USTA CEO Roy Neel. 7/11. Roy Neel, President and CEO of the USTA will take a leave of absence starting on Sept. 1. Gary Lytle, former Ameritech lobbyist, will be the interim president. See, release. 7/11. The DOJ and FTC signed an antitrust cooperation agreement with Mexico. See, DOJ release. 7/11. The House passed HR 4391, the Mobile Telecommunications Sourcing Act, a bill to establish a nexus requirement for the taxation of wireless telecommunications services. The bill provides that "Notwithstanding the law of any State or political subdivision of any State, mobile telecommunications services provided in a taxing jurisdiction to a customer, the charges for which are billed by or for the customer's home service provider, shall be deemed to be provided by the customer's home service provider." 7/11. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), a cosponsor of HR 4361, stated on the House floor that "I hope we can take a lesson from the way in which this complex taxation issue has been handled and perhaps apply it to the Internet tax issue which, so far, has not been handled in this way but has been overly politicized with a result that none of the critical issues in that area have been resolved and may not be resolved for some time to come." 7/11. The ACLU wrote a letter to the Rep. Charles Canady (R-FL) and Rep. Mel Watt (D-NC), the Chairman and Ranking Member, respectively, of the House Judiciary Committee's Constitution Subcommittee regarding the new FBI email surveillance system called "Carnivore." The letter states that "legislation should make clear that a trap and trace order served on an ISP does not authorize access to the contents of any communication including the subject line of a communication -- and that the ISP bears the burden of protecting the privacy of communications to which FBI access has not been granted." 7/11. The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on copyright law and digital music on the Internet. See, prepared statements of witnesses: Lars Ulrich (Metallica), Roger McGuinn (The Byrds), Hank Barry (Napster), Michael Robertson (MP3.com), Fred Ehrlich (Sony Music), Gene Hoffman (Emusic.com), Gene Kan (Gnutella programmer), Jim Griffin (consultant). See also, Tech Law Journal story. 7/11. Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), sponsor of HR 3125, the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act of 1999, and Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-LA), Chairman of the House Telecom Subcommittee, reached an agreement on language for the bill. It is now clear to go to the full House. See, Tech Law Journal story. 7/11. Outgoing Sec. of Commerce Wm. Daley gave his farewell address to Department employees. He said: "What a trip it has been, to watch from scratch the Internet take off and forever change the way business is done, and to know that we had a hand in seeing its growth; to know that we have worked to bridge the digital divide in this country; and to know that Commerce is truly becoming a digital department, that serves the taxpayers better." 7/11. Bill Clinton designated Lawrence Baskir as Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. He has been a judge on the United States Court of Federal Claims since 1998. See, release. 7/10. Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) gave a speech in the Senate on the status of H1B legislation. 7/10. AT&T filed a complaint with the FCC alleging that Bell Atlantic/Verizon has illegally steered New York customers who call for local phone service to its own long distance service. See, AT&T release. 7/10. The Education and Library Networks Coalition (EdLiNC) released a report praising e-rate subsidies to schools and libraries. FCC Commissioner Susan Ness released a statement praising the report and the e-rate: "The E-Rate has been a great success by almost any measure." 7/10. Larry Strickling, who has been Chief of the FCC's Common Carrier Bureau since Nov. 1998, announced his resignation, effective July 31. He will be replaced by Dorothy Attwood, who is currently Senior Legal Advisor to FCC Chairman Wm. Kennard. Prior to joining the FCC, Attwood worked at the Philadelphia law firm Cozen & O'Conner. Anna Gomez, who is currently Deputy Chief of the International Bureau, will take Attwood's place. Prior to joining the FCC, Gomez worked at the Washington law firm of Arnold and Porter. See, FCC release. 7/10. Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL) introduced HR 4814, a bill to prohibit the sale, share or transfer of information acquired on the Internet with a pledge that it would not be released. He also praised the FTC's decision to sue ToySmart. See, release. 7/10. The FTC filed a complaint in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts against Toysmart seeking an injunction preventing it from selling personal customer data. Toysmart is an Internet retailer of children's toys that is now in bankruptcy. The complaint alleges that the sale of personal data would be a violation of the company's privacy policy, and hence, a violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act. See, FTC release and Tech Law Journal story. 7/10. The SIIA appointed Mark Bohannon General Counsel and VP of Government Affairs. Bohannon previously served for seven years at the Commerce Dept. He will direct the SIIA's domestic and international public policy initiatives. See, release. 7/9. The CDT and Common Cause submitted comments to ICANN regarding proposed revisions to its bylaws relating to At-Large Directors. See also, July 7 comments. 7/8. Bill Clinton gave a brief address that was web cast. He stated that "we must do more to ensure that the benefits of the information revolution flow to every American. That means working to close the digital divide, to put computers in every classroom, to train our teachers to make the most of them. We must also pay attention to the issues of computer security and the privacy of our records on computers, so that the newest technology doesn't undermine our oldest values." [emphasis added.] 7/7. The General Accounting Office released a report [PDF] to Congress that concluded that the Commerce Department had the legal authority to let ICANN manage domain names. 7/7. The CDT and Common Cause submitted comments to the ICANN Election Committee regarding the upcoming at-large membership election. 7/7. The USTA (trade association for local exchange carriers) announced the promotion of Michael Rubin to VP of Government Relations. See, release. 7/7. FCC Commissioner Michael Powell picked Susan Eid to be Legal Advisor on his staff. 7/7. The Clinton administration reorganized the White House web site. See, release. 7/6. The SEC filed an amended complaint in U.S. District Court, C.D.Cal., against two defendants in the NEI Webworld Internet stock manipulation case, detailing new and expanded civil fraud charges for manipulating the prices of other thinly-traded stocks by spreading false information on Internet message boards. In the related criminal proceedings the defendants pled guilty to charges based on the same conduct alleged in the SEC's original complaint. See, SEC release. 7/6. A complaint was filed in U.S. District Court (S.D.N.Y.) against Netscape and AOL alleging theft of private information in violation of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. See, Tech Law Journal story. 7/5. The Senate Finance Committee submitted its report on HR 3916, a bill to repeal the excise tax on telephone services. (See, Rep. No. 106-328). 7/5. Intel and Via Technologies reached a settlement of litigation pending in the U.K., Singapore, and before the U.S. International Trade Commission related to a cross license between the two companies. Via will pay Intel a lump sum along with ongoing royalty fees. A suit in U.S. District Court in San Francisco will continue. See, Intel release. 7/4. U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Sadako Ogata gave a speech in Amsterdam in which she urged the information technology industry to work for the betterment of refugees. She hailed a cooperative effort between the UNHCR, Microsoft and other companies to develop a portable system for registering Kosovo refugees in Albania and Macedonia. She spoke at the "Microsoft Tech-Ed 2000 Europe." See, UN release and MSFT release. 7/3. FCC Chairman Wm. Kennard gave a speech in Norfolk VA in which he said that the FCC will extend ADA regulation to the Internet. "At the FCC, we are working with you to build the first curb cuts on the Information Highway," he stated. "The emerging Internet industry must act responsibly. That means making the Internet accessible for people with disabilities." 7/3. Joseph Farrell was appointed Deputy Assistant Attorney General for economic analysis of the Antitrust Division of the DOJ. He is a professor of economics at UC Berkeley. He replaced Timothy Bresnahan, who returned to the Stanford University Economics Dept. See, release. Go to News Briefs from June 16-30, 2000.
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