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News Briefs from Aug. 1-15, 2000

8/15. The SEC filed a civil complaint against Merger Communications, Inc. and its two owners, Jukka Tolonen and David Drake of Houston TX. The complaint alleges that Merger distributed press releases and other communications via the Internet touting numerous OTC and NASDAQ stocks without properly disclosing that the companies compensated them, in violation of Section 17(b) of the Securities Act of 1933. See, SEC release.
8/15. A three judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit issued its opinion in USTA v. FBI, overturning parts of the FCC order on wiretap standards under the 1994 CALEA.
8/15. The DOJ filed a brief [PDF] with the U.S. Supreme Court in which it argued that the Microsoft antitrust case appeal should be heard by the Supreme Court. The SIIA filed an amicus brief [PDF] in support. See, SIIA release.
8/15. The Authors' Guild, and several of its members, filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of free lance writers in U.S. District Court in New York against Bell & Howell, Reed Elsevier and its Dialog Corp. unit, Dow Jones, and Reuters Business Interactive, alleging copyright infringement for republishing works on the Internet for fees, without permission of the authors.
8/14. The SEC and the Oklahoma Department of Securities (ODS) announced that they filed enforcement lawsuits in federal and state courts to halt a "pump and dump" stock manipulation scheme involving the securities of Broadband Wireless International Corp. On Aug. 11 U.S. District Court Judge Tim Leonard entered orders freezing the assets of all defendants and appointing a federal court receiver. See, SEC release and ODS release.
8/14. The U.S. District Court Judge Hupp (C.D. Cal.) denied plaintiffs' request for a preliminary injunction in Ticketmaster Corp., et al. v. Tickets.com, Inc. The plaintiffs allege that deep linking into the Ticketmaster.com web site by the Tickets.com web site constitutes copyright infringement, and that the spidering of its web site constitutes trespass.
8/14. The FCC window for filing applications to provide two-way MMDS and ITFS operations opened. MMDS is a fixed wireless technology capable of providing various services, including one-way programming (i.e., cable TV type service), and two-way broadband Internet access. It transmits line of sight signals at 2.6 GHz between single transmission points and multiple receiving points (i.e., antennas on subscribers' homes). In 1997, the FCC decided to allow MMDS & ITFS providers to offer two-way service. See, FCC Order. On Aug. 14, WorldCom filed an application to provide broadband Internet access by MMDS in over 60 markets. See, WorldCom release.
8/11. The U.S. Commerce Department's International Trade Administration (ITA) and the Chilean government announced a set of programs to increase cooperation between U.S. and Chilean public and private sectors to promote e-commerce. See, release. The ITA also announced similar programs with the Argentinean government. See, release.
8/11. The GAO released a report on weaknesses in information security at the EPA, which concluded: "Our review found serious and pervasive problems that essentially rendered EPA’s agencywide information security program ineffective. Our tests of computer-based controls concluded that the computer operating systems and the agencywide computer network that support most of EPA’s mission-related and financial operations were riddled with security weaknesses."
8/11. Value America filed a petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The Charlottesville, Virginia, based Internet retailer also took down its web site.
8/11. The U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced standard formats for the processing of health care claims. The new standards, which have not yet been published, establish standard data content and formats for submitting electronic claims and other administrative health transactions. See, HHS release. See also, Bill Clinton's statement.
8/11. The FCC released the 60th annual publication of Statistics of Communications Common Carriers [263 pages in PDF]. The report contains data on telecommunications costs, revenues, prices, and usage. See, FCC release.
8/10. PCTEL Inc. filed a complaint against Smart Link Ltd. in U.S. District Court in Delaware alleging patent infringement.
8/10. Adobe filed suit in U.S. District Court in Delaware against Macromedia for patent infringement. The invention at issue (U.S. Patent No. 5,546,528) is Adobe's tabbed palette patent, which is Adobe's method of displaying and working with multiple sets of information in the same area of the computer screen. Macromedia asserts that the patent is invalid and unenforceable and that Macromedia does not violate the patent. See, Adobe release, and Macromedia release.
8/10. The FCC clarified collocation rules that were implemented last year by adopting time frames for the implementation of collocation provisioning. See, FCC release and CompTel reaction.
8/8. AT&T announced the beginning of a two month trial period for its Publius Web publishing system. This system operates by encrypting a document and copying it to multiple randomly selected servers. Each document is assigned a unique URL that contains pieces or "shares" of the encryption key. The Publius software finds enough shares of the encryption key necessary to decode the contents. Even if some of the shares are lost, the document can still be decoded. The Publius system as is designed to thwart Internet censorship and enhance people's privacy when viewing or posting content on the Internet. See, AT&T release.
8/8. Scour, which was sued for facilitating the illegal copying of copyrighted content over the Internet by the RIAA, MPAA and NMPA on July 20, announced the hiring of several attorneys. Fred Bartlit will lead the defense, and be assisted by Arthur Miller and Peter Toren. Bartlit is a partner in the Chicago law firm of Bartlit Beck who is best known for his litigation against the tobacco industry. Miller is a Harvard law school professor who specializes in civil procedure and intellectual property. Toren is a partner in the New York City law firm of Brown & Wood, and a former head of the DOJ's CCIPS. See, Scour release.
8/8. U.S. District Court Judge James Michael issued an Order and Memorandum Opinion [76 KB in HTML] holding unconstitutional Virginia Code Ann. § 18.2-391, which prohibits displaying on the Internet materials used for a commercial purpose that are harmful to juveniles. (PSINET v. Chapman, W.D. Va., Case No. 3:99CV00111). See, Tech Law Journal story.
8/8. Verizon (formerly Bell Atlantic and GTE) and NorthPoint announced that they have agreed to merge their digital subscriber line (DSL) businesses. See, NorthPoint release.
8/8. The Association of American Publishers (AAP) and Microsoft announced plans to fight e-book piracy. Microsoft will contribute technology resources and money. The announcement coincided with the launch of Microsoft Reader for the Windows operating system. See, MSFT release and AAP release.
8/7. The DOJ and FDA obtained indictments against four people and one pharmaceutical supply firm in connection with illegally offering prescription drugs over the Internet to consumers. The indictments allege conspiracy, mail fraud, violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA), obstruction of justice and conspiracy to commit money laundering. See, DOJ release.
8/7. Compuware Corp. and Serena Software announced settlement of a copyright infringement lawsuit pending in U.S. District Court in Detroit. They did not disclose the terms of the settlement. See, Serena release.
8/4. Noran Camp, Legal Counsel to SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt, announced that he is leaving the SEC to join the San Francisco office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. He will be replace by Douglas Davison, who is currently in the SEC's Division of Enforcement. See, SEC release.
8/3. The European Commission sent a statement of objections to Microsoft for allegedly abusing its dominant position in the market for personal computer operating systems software by leveraging this power into the market for server software. The Commission's action follows a complaint by Sun Microsystems that Microsoft breached European Union antitrust rules by engaging in discriminatory licensing and by refusing to supply essential information on its Windows operating systems. See, EC release.
8/3. The FCC adopted its annual report on the state of the commercial mobile radio services (CMRS). The report found that in 1999, the mobile telephony sector generated over $40 Billion in revenues, increased subscribership from 69.2 million to 86.0 million, and attained a penetration rate of 32%. The report found that the number of analog subscribers declined, and the number of digital subscribers increased (from 30% to 51%). The report also addressed the migration of mobile telephone networks to third generation (3G) technologies, with high speed Internet service offerings. See, release.
8/3. The FCC approved a report, as required by §706 of the Communications Act, regarding whether "advanced telecommunications capability is being deployed to all Americans on a reasonable and timely basis". The report concluded that broadband Internet service is being deployed in a reasonable and timely fashion overall. But, it also concluded that several groups are "particularly vulnerable of not having access to advanced services if deployment is left to market forces alone". These groups include people in rural areas, inner cities, and tribal areas, as well low income people and minorities. Furchtgott-Roth wrote a dissent, in which he stated: "We must not lose sight of the fact that the market today is in a very early stage of development. As a threshold matter, the data do not demonstrate that, in the near term, large percentages of residential and small business customers will actually demand advanced services." See, FCC release and Kennard statement. The full text of the report has yet to be released.
8/3. The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), a group that represents companies that provide communications materials, products, and systems, and the ATIS, jointly published three documents which provide standards for allowing electronic surveillance of communications by law enforcement agencies under CALEA. See, TIA release. See also, FCC's CALEA proceeding; FCC 99-230, CC Docket No. 97-213, Third Report and Order.
8/3. The White House press office announced that the administration will relax export controls on high speed computers. It stated that "the Administration has determined that widespread commercial availability of computers with performance capabilities up to 28,000 MTOPS makes that a realistic and enforceable control level for the next six months." See, release. See also, BXA web site.
8/2. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued its opinion reversing a summary judgment rendered by the U.S. District Court in Michigan that McAffee's VirusScan software does not infringe a Hilgraeve patent. See, Tech Law Journal story.
8/2. The U.S. District Court, Judge James Robertson presiding, held a hearing on EPIC's motion for a TRO in its FOIA suit against the DOJ and FBI for copies of records pertaining to Carnivore. Judge Robertson stated "I do not consider the Freedom of Information Act to be a vehicle for getting access to government documents through litigation in real time." He set no deadline for compliance with the Act. He did, however, order the DOJ to report to him within 10 days on when it would be able to begin producing records.
8/2. EPIC filed a motion for a TRO in its FOIA suit against the DOJ and FBI for copies of records pertaining to Carnivore. See, memorandum in support in HTML and PDF. See also, original Complaint, filed July 31.
8/2. Apple filed a complaint in California Superior Court for Santa Clara County against an unknown person seeking monetary damages for, and an injunction against, posting of Apple trade secrets on the Internet. See, Apple release.
8/1. The USPTO announced its schedule for a series of free, one-day, educational workshops across the country detailing implementation of the American Inventors Protection Act of 1999 (aka, AIPA or patent reform bill) and introducing the agency’s electronic commerce initiatives.
8/1. ICANN announced that 18 people have been selected by its Nominating Committee to be on the ballot for this year's At Large elections. The list, organized by region, is as follows: North America: Lyman Chapin, Donald Langenberg, Lawrence Lessig, and Harris Miller; Africa: Alan Levin, Nii Quaynor; Asia/Pacific: Johannes Chiang, Lulin Gao, Masanobu Katoh, and Sureswaran Ramadass; Europe: Maria Livanos Cattaui, Alf Hansen, Olivier Muron, Oliver Popov, and Winfried Schüller; Latin America: Raul Echeberria, Ivan Moura Campos, and Patricio Poblete. See also, ITAA release.
8/1. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued its opinion upholding the FCC's approval of Bell Atlantic's § 271 application to provide long distance service in New York in AT&T v. FCC. Verizon (Bell Atlantic) SVP Michael Glover said in a release that "Today's federal court decision once again rejects AT&T's ceaseless efforts to seek government protection for its long distance market ..." See also, Wm. Kennard's reaction and USTA chief Roy Neel's reaction. See, Tech Law Journal story.
8/1. The FCC again delayed its scheduled 700 MHz spectrum auction. The auction of licenses in the 747-762 and 777-792 MHz band, which had been scheduled to begin on Sept. 6, 2000, was postponed until March 6, 2001. See, FCC release and statement by FCC Chairman Wm. Kennard. Commissioners Furchtgott-Roth and Tristani wrote a dissent in which they stated "This action is in stark disregard of this agency's statutory obligation to "ensure[] that all proceeds of such bidding are deposited . . . not later than September 30, 2000." " AT&T Gen. Counsel Gregory Landis praised the postponement in a release; CTIA CEO Tom Wheeler also commended the delay in a release; Verizon joined in the praise.
8/1. Microsoft announced that it has launched the first wave of a new global campaign against auction site offerings of counterfeit software. Microsoft is using an Internet monitoring tool that can search suspect web sites 24/7 to identify illegal online offerings and those behind them. See, release and Q&A.
8/1. Michael Conley has been named to be the SEC's first Richard W. Jennings Attorney Fellow, and will serve in the appellate litigation group of the Office of the General Counsel beginning in October. Conley is now is the managing partner of the Washington office of the law firm of Pillsbury Madison & Sutro.
8/1. The SEC issued a statement on its plans to modernize its EDGAR filing system.  Beginning Nov. 27, the EDGAR system will no longer accept electronic filings using the DOS-based "legacy" EDGARLink software or 9 track tapes. Filers may continue to submit their official filings in either ASCII or HTML format. As of that date, filers using EDGARLink software will have to use EDGARLink Version 7.0 (or higher) to submit filings to EDGAR via the Internet, direct transmission or on magnetic tape cartridge.
8/1. Bill Clinton announced his intent to appoint Craig Mundie and William Ruhl as members of the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee. Mundie is SVP of Consumer Strategy at Microsoft. Ruhl is SVP of D&E Communications.
8/1. Mary Beth Richards was named Deputy Chief of the FCC's Common Carrier Bureau.
8/1. Verizon (Bell Atlantic/GTE) named Lydia Pulley its VP and General Counsel for its operations in Virginia.

 Go to News Briefs from July 16-31, 2000.

 


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