30120 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 91 / Wednesday, May 10, 2000 / Notices

STATUS: This meeting will be closed to

the Public.

ITEMS TO BE DISCUSSED: Compliance

matters pursuant to 2 U.S.C. § 437g.

Audits conducted pursuant to 2

U.S.C. § 437g, § 438(b), and Title 26,

U.S.C.

Matters concerning participation in

civil actions or proceedings or

arbitration.

Internal personnel rules and

procedures or matters affecting a

particular employee.

DATE AND TIME: Thursday, May 18, 2000

at 10:00 a.m.

PLACE: 999 E Street, NW, Washington,

DC (Ninth Floor).

STATUS: This Meeting will be open to

the Public.

ITEMS TO BE DISCUSSED: Correction and

Approval of Minutes.

Draft Advisory Opinion 2000–06—

Gerald M. Moan on behalf of the 2000

Convention Committee of the Reform

Party U.S.A.

Proposal to initiate a Notice of

Proposed Rulemaking on Political

Committee Definition (11 C.F.R. 100.5).

Administrative Matters.

PERSON TO CONTACT FOR INFORMATION:

Mr. Ron Harris, Press Officer,

Telephone: (202) 694–1220.

Mary W. Dove,

Acting Secretary of the Commission.

[FR Doc. 00–11881 Filed 5–8–00; 3:11 pm]

BILLING CODE 6715–01–M

FEDERAL MARITIME COMMISSION

Ocean Transportation Intermediary

License Applicant

Notice is hereby given that the

following applicants have filed with the

Federal Maritime Commission an

application for licenses as Non-Vessel

Operating Common Carrier and Ocean

Freight Forwarder—Ocean

Transportation Intermediary pursuant to

section 19 of the Shipping Act of 1984

as amended (46 U.S.C. app. 1718 and 46

CFR 515).

Persons knowing of any reason why

the following applicants should not

receive a license are requested to

contact the Office of Transportation

Intermediaries, Federal Maritime

Commission, Washington, DC 20573.

Non-Vessel-Operating Common Carrier

Ocean Transportation Intermediary

Applicants

Universal Consolidated Services, Inc.,

145–32 157th Street, Suite 228,

Jamaica, NY 11434; Officer: Nicholas

Kim, Vice President (Qualifying

Individual),

Peninsula Cargo, Inc., 11124 Narbel

Avenue, Downey, CA 90241; Officers:

Modesto M. Pascual, Vice President

(Qualifying Individual), Roman

Silvestre, President

Non-Vessel Operating Common Carrier

and Ocean Freight Forwarder

Transportation Intermediary

Applicants

Global Freight International, Inc. d/b/a,

Interfreight Corporation, P.O. Box

6432, 100 Everett Avenue, Chelsea,

MA 02150; Officers: Bernard A.

Wilcken, President (Qualifying

Individual), Ian C. Wilcken, Secretary

Dated: May 5, 2000.

Bryant L. VanBrakle,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 00–11714 Filed 5–9–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6730–01–P

FEDERAL MARITIME COMMISSION

Ocean Transportation Intermediary

License; Reissuance of License;

Notice is hereby given that the

following Ocean Transportation

Intermediary license has been reissued

by the Federal Maritime Commission

pursuant to section 19 of the Shipping

Act of 1984, as amended by OSRA 1998

(46 U.S.C. app. 1718) and the

regulations of the Commission

pertaining to the licensing of Ocean

Transportation Intermediaries, 46 CFR

515.

License

No. Name/address Date reissued

3706 .... Chesapeake Bay

Shipping and

Warehousing, Inc.,

3431 Benson Avenue, Suite E, Baltimore, MD 21227.

May 1,

1999.

Sandra L. Kusumoto,

Director, Bureau of Consumer Complaints

and Licensing.

[FR Doc. 00–11715 Filed 5–9–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6730–01–P

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

Sunshine Act Meeting

TIME AND DATE: 12:00 noon, Monday,

May 15, 2000.

PLACE: Marriner S. Eccles Federal

Reserve Board Building, 20th and C

Streets, NW., Washington, DC 20551.

STATUS: Closed.

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: 

1. Personnel actions (appointments,

promotions, assignments,

reassignments, and salary actions)

involving individual Federal Reserve

System employees.

2. Any matters carried forward from a

previously announced meeting.

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Lynn S. Fox, Assistant to the Board;

202–452–3204.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: You may

call 202–452–3206 beginning at

approximately 5 p.m. two business days

before the meeting for a recorded

announcement of bank and bank

holding company applications

scheduled for the meeting; or you may

contact the Board’s Web site at http://

www.federalreserve.gov for an

electronic announcement that not only

lists applications, but also indicates

procedural and other information about

the meeting.

Dated: May 5, 2000.

Robert deV. Frierson,

Associate Secretary of the Board.

[FR Doc. 00–11746 Filed 5–5–00; 4:54 pm]

BILLING CODE 6210–01–P

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

Public Workshop: Competition Policy

in the World of B2B Electronic

Marketplaces

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Notice Announcing Workshop.

SUMMARY: The Federal Trade

Commission (‘‘FTC’’ or ‘‘Commission’’)

will hold a public workshop on June 29,

2000, to examine issues of competition

policy that arise in connection with

business-to-business (‘‘B2B’’) electronic

marketplaces.

DATES: The workshop will be held on

June 29, 2000, and written presentations

may be submitted by that date.

ADDRESSES: The workshop will be held

in Room 432 of the Federal Trade

Commission Headquarters Building, 600

Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.,

Washington, D.C. Any interested person

may submit a written presentation that

will be considered part of the public

record of the workshop. Written

presentations should be submitted in

both hard copy and electronic form. Six

hard copies of each submission should

be addressed to Donald S. Clark, Office

of the Secretary, Federal Trade

Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue,

N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580.

Submissions should be captioned

‘‘Comments regarding B2B Electronic

Marketplaces.’’ Electronic submissions

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 91 / Wednesday, May 10, 2000 / Notices 30121

may be sent by electronic mail to

b2bmarketplaces@ftc.gov. Alternatively,

electronic submissions may be filed on

a 31⁄2 inch computer disk with a label

on the disk stating the name of the

submitter and the name and version of

the word processing program used to

create the document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To

obtain information about the workshop,

please contact Gail Levine, Assistant

Director for Policy Planning, Federal

Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania

Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580,

telephone (202) 326–3193, e-mail

glevine@ftc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Overview

B2B electronic marketplaces are

software systems that allow buyers and

sellers of similar goods to carry out

procurement activities using common,

industry-wide computer systems.

Recent weeks have brought numerous

announcements of plans to develop B2B

electronic marketplaces that link

competitors with suppliers willing to

meet their purchasing needs. One

possible model allows firms to place

purchase orders using a joint, industrywide computer system, with

competitors potentially able to aggregate

their orders.

B2B electronic marketplaces may

create significant efficiencies. For

example, the marketplaces could reduce

transaction costs; generate volumerelated scale economies by combining

orders from multiple purchasers;

improve inventory management; and

facilitate bidding by a broad spectrum of

potential suppliers. At the same time,

the arrangements may raise certain

antitrust issues. Forethought in

planning may enable B2B electronic

marketplaces to achieve their

efficiencies without impairing

competition.

The FTC plans to convene a workshop

on June 29, 2000, that will bring

together designers, owners, and

operators of B2B electronic

marketplaces, and the buyers and sellers

who use or wish to use them, in a

session designed to accumulate facts

about new B2B exchanges and their

likely effects on competition. The goal

is to enhance understanding of how B2B

electronic marketplaces function and

the means by which they may generate

efficiencies, and to identify any antitrust

issues that they raise. A transcript of the

discussions will be publicly available.

Interested parties are invited to attend

or to submit written presentations.

Specific Questions To Be Addressed

The workshop will seek input from

designers, owners, and operators of B2B

electronic marketplaces; buyers and

sellers who use or wish to use them; and

antitrust practitioners and others

familiar with the competition issues that

B2B electronic marketplaces may raise.

It will address the following questions,

among others:

What Are the Existing and Likely

Models for B2B Marketplaces? How Do

They Work? What Can They Do?

1. What are the business reasons

driving the creation of B2B electronic

marketplaces? What new efficiencies

can such marketplaces create?

2. What industries have established

B2B electronic marketplaces? How are

they faring? What characteristics affect

the suitability of any given industry for

establishing a B2B electronic

marketplace? Are B2B electronic

marketplaces being established outside

the United States?

3. How are prices determined in B2B

electronic marketplaces? Through

auctions? Other methods? Do methods

of determining price vary when

products are customized? How are

quantities and other competitive terms

determined?

4. Who owns such marketplaces—

designers, operators, buyers, sellers,

and/or others? What are possible

ownership structures? What

mechanisms are envisioned for their

financing? How is membership

determined and by whom?

5. How are B2B electronic

marketplace rules established? Who

establishes the rules? What types of

rules are generally necessary? What

factors affect which rules are necessary?

6. How and by whom are B2B

electronic marketplaces governed and

operated? What are alternative models?

7. How are the owners and operators

of B2B electronic marketplaces

compensated, and for what services are

they compensated? Who determines the

compensation?

8. What are likely scenarios for how

B2B electronic marketplaces will

compete with each other? Does it

depend on the industry involved? Do

buyers or sellers participate in more

than one B2B electronic marketplace in

a particular industry? Are there

situations in which network effects may

dictate that a single B2B electronic

marketplace dominate a particular

industry? Why are some B2B electronic

marketplaces consolidating now?

9. In a B2B electronic marketplace,

what can participants discover about

each other’s actions? Who can see

transaction or bid prices or quantities?

Who receives information about

available capacity?

10. Is there advertising in B2B

electronic marketplaces? If so, what type

of information is conveyed? Who

determines what advertising may be

placed?

11. Does the design or operation of

B2B marketplaces raise issues relating to

intellectual property rights?

Buyer Perspectives

1. What business reasons prompt

buyers to be interested in purchasing

through B2B electronic marketplaces?

For example, what savings do buyers

anticipate from the use of such

marketplaces? How were purchases

made before the availability of such

marketplaces? Are buyers based outside

the United States participating in such

marketplaces?

2. What are the sources of the

expected savings? Are savings expected

to come from reductions in transaction

costs? From volume-related scale

economies? From inventory reductions?

From the ability to do business more

readily with distant sellers? From the

ability to compare prices more easily?

From other sources?

3. What factors affect the desirability

of purchasing through a B2B electronic

marketplace and the extent of likely

electronic marketplace usage? Does it

matter whether the product at issue is

homogeneous or differentiated?

4. Does it make a difference to buyers

who owns or operates the B2B

electronic marketplace? If so, why? How

do buyers decide in which marketplaces

to participate? What factors affect

participation decisions?

5. Are there any factors other than

price and other competitive terms that

will affect buying decisions in B2B

electronic marketplaces? For example,

how important is a seller’s reputation in

such a setting?

6. What role do computer programs

play in comparing prices or other

competitive terms or in authorizing

purchases in B2B electronic

marketplaces?

7. What information, if any, can

buyers receive about each other’s

purchases? Does complexity of the

product affect the answer?

8. What rules do buyers typically

want to govern B2B electronic

marketplace solicitations? Are there

circumstances when buyers wish to

limit the number or identity of bidders

or otherwise structure auction

procedures?

9. Do B2B electronic marketplaces

require participants to purchase

minimum quantities or minimum

30122 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 91 / Wednesday, May 10, 2000 / Notices

percentages of their needs through the

exchange? Are there circumstances

when it is likely to make business sense

for a buyer to participate solely in one

B2B electronic marketplace? What

factors are relevant to whether a buyer

participates in multiple B2B electronic

marketplaces selling similar products?

10. What consequences can be

expected to follow from a decision to

join, or not to join, a B2B electronic

marketplace? Do B2B electronic

marketplaces have implications for

wholesalers or other middlemen? For

long-term contracting?

Seller Perspectives

1. What business reasons prompt

sellers to be interested in selling

through B2B electronic marketplaces?

For example, what savings do sellers

expect to gain through such

marketplaces? How were sales made

before the availability of such

marketplaces? Are sellers based outside

the United States participating in such

marketplaces?

2. What are the sources of the

expected savings? Are savings expected

to come from reductions in transactions

costs? From volume-related scale

economies? From inventory reductions?

From the ability to do business more

readily with distant buyers? From other

sources?

3. What factors affect the desirability

of transacting business through B2B

electronic marketplaces and the extent

of likely electronic marketplace usage?

Does it matter whether the product at

issue is homogeneous or differentiated?

4. Does it make a difference to sellers

who owns or operates the B2B

electronic marketplace? If so, why? How

do sellers decide in which marketplaces

to participate? What factors affect

participation decisions?

5. Are there any increased costs to

sellers of doing business in B2B

electronic marketplaces? Are any

distribution costs increased? What

effects will B2B electronic marketplaces

likely have on sellers’ profit margins?

6. Do sellers see competitors’ prices

posted on B2B electronic marketplaces?

If so, how do sellers respond? What role

do computer programs play?

7. What other information, if any, do

B2B electronic marketplaces make

available to sellers about competing

sellers? For example, can sellers receive

information about competitors’ available

capacity?

8. What rules do sellers typically want

to govern B2B electronic marketplace

solicitations? Are there circumstances

when sellers may wish to limit the

number or identity of possible

purchasers or otherwise structure

auction procedures?

9. Must a minimum level or

percentage of sales be made through a

B2B electronic marketplace in which a

seller participates? Do B2B electronic

marketplaces impose any other

requirements affecting participants’

outside sales?

10. What consequences can be

expected to follow from a decision to

join, or not to join, a B2B electronic

marketplace? Do B2B electronic

marketplaces have implications for

wholesalers or other middlemen? For

long-term contracting?

Public Policy Perspectives

1. What competition issues may be

raised by B2B electronic marketplaces?

What are likely procompetitive benefits,

and what are possible anticompetitive

concerns?

2. Under what circumstances are B2B

electronic marketplaces likely to

increase or diminish competition? What

has the experience been so far?

3. How do B2B electronic

marketplaces affect entry at the buyer or

seller level? How does entry occur in

the market for B2B electronic

marketplaces?

4. What issues are relevant to

structuring and implementing B2B

electronic marketplaces so as to both

realize efficiencies and avoid

competition problems? For example,

what mechanisms might be included to

prevent inappropriate sharing of

competitive, confidential information?

Are any of these mechanisms likely to

be impractical or undesirable from a

business perspective?

5. Does the development of

competition within and among B2B

electronic marketplaces depend in part

on any intellectual property rights

relating to the design or operation of

such marketplaces?

6. What implications, if any, do B2B

electronic marketplaces have for market

structure and market concentration?

The Commission welcomes

suggestions for other questions that also

should be addressed. Proposed

questions, identified as such, may be

sent by electronic mail to

b2bmarketplaces@ftc.gov.

By direction of the Commission.

Donald S. Clark,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 00–11604 Filed 5–9–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6750–01–P

HARRY S. TRUMAN SCHOLARSHIP

FOUNDATION

Notice of Intent To Extend an

Information Collection

AGENCY: Harry S. Truman Scholarship

Foundation.

ACTION: Notice and request for

comments.

SUMMARY: In compliance with the

requirements of section 3506(c)(2)(A) of

the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

for opportunity for public comment on

proposed data collection projects, the

Harry S. Truman Scholarship

Foundation [Foundation] will publish

periodic summaries of proposed

projects.

Comments are invited on (a) whether

the proposed collection of information

is necessary for the proper performance

of the functions of the agency, including

whether the information shall have

practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the

agency’s estimate of the burden of the

proposed collection of information; (c)

ways to enhance the quality, utility and

clarity of the information to be

collected; and (d) ways to minimize the

burden of the collection of information

on respondents, including through the

use of automated collection techniques

or the forms of information technology.

DATES: Written comments on this notice

must be received by July 10, 2000 to be

assured of consideration. Comments

received after that date will be

considered to the extent practicable.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Contact Louis H. Blair, Executive

Secretary, Harry S. Truman Scholarship

Foundation, 712 Jackson Place, NW,

Washington, DC 20006; telephone 202–

395–4831; or send e-mail to

lblair@truman.gov. You also may obtain

a copy of the data collection instrument

and instructions from Mr. Blair.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title of Collection: Truman Scholar

Payment Request Form.

OMB Approval Number: 3200–0005.

Expiration Date of Approval: May 31,

1997.

Type of Request: Intent to seek

approval to extend an information

collection for three years.

Proposed Project: The Foundation has

been providing scholarships since 1977

in compliance with PL 93–642. This

data collection instrument is used to

collect essential information to enable

the Truman Scholarship Foundation to

determine the amount of financial

support to which each Truman Scholar

is eligible and then to make the

payment. A total response rate of 100%

was provided by the 273 Truman