Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 154 / Friday, August 8, 2008 / Notices 46335 

Issued: August 5, 2008. 

William R. Bishop, 

Hearings and Meetings Coordinator. 

[FR Doc. E8–18328 Filed 8–7–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7020–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 

Antitrust Division 

Federal Register Notice 

Notice is hereby given pursuant to the 

Defense Production Act of 1950, 50 

U.S.C. App. § 2158 (‘‘DPA’’) that the 

Attorney General finds that the purpose 

of a Voluntary Tanker Agreement 

(‘‘VTA’’) proposed by the Maritime 

Administration (‘‘MarAd’’) may not 

reasonably be achieved through a 

voluntary agreement or plan of action 

having less anticompetitive effects or 

without any voluntary agreement of 

plan of action. The text of the proposed 

VTA was published in Volume 72 of the 

Federal Register at pages 41099–41103 

(July 26, 2007). 

Under the DPA, MarAd may enter 

into agreements with representatives of 

private industry for the purpose of 

improving the efficiency with which 

private firms contribute to the national 

defense when conditions exist that may 

pose a direct threat to the national 

defense or its preparedness. Such 

arrangements are generally known as 

‘‘voluntary agreements.’’ A defense to 

actions brought under the antitrust laws 

is available to each participant acting 

within the scope of a voluntary 

agreement that has come into force 

under the DPA. 

The DPA requires that each proposed 

voluntary agreement be reviewed by the 

Attorney General prior to becoming 

effective. If, after consulting with the 

Chairman of the Federal Trade 

Commission, the Attorney General finds 

that the purpose of the DPA ‘‘may not 

be reasonably achieved through a 

voluntary agreement having less 

anticompetitive effects or without any 

voluntary agreement or plan of action,’’

the agreement may become effective. 50 

U.S.C. App. § 2158(f)(1)(B). The 

Attorney General’s authority is 

delegated to the Assistant Attorney 

General for the Antitrust Division by 28 

CFR 0.40(e). 

The purpose of the proposed VTA is 

to support Department of Defense 

(‘‘DoD’’) contingency requirements to 

provide tanker capacity during times of 

crisis through procedures agreed in 

advance. The proposed VTA establishes 

the terms, conditions and procedures 

under which participants agree 

voluntarily to make tankers available to 

the DoD. MarAd has certified that the 

proposed VTA is necessary to carry out 

its purpose. 

MarAd requested that the Antitrust 

Division issue a finding that the 

proposed VTA satisfies the statutory 

criteria set forth in 50 U.S.C. App. § 21 

58(f)(1)(B). The Antitrust Division 

reviewed the proposed agreement, 

attended an open meeting of interested 

persons pursuant to the requirements of 

44 CFR 332.2, and consulted with the 

Chairman of the Federal Trade 

Commission as to the competitive effect 

of the proposed agreement. On July 23, 

2008, by letter to Sean T. Connaughton, 

Maritime Administrator for MarAd, 

Thomas O. Barnett, Assistant Attorney 

General for the Antitrust Division, 

issued a finding that the proposed 

agreement satisfies the statutory criteria. 

J. Robert Kramer II, 

Director of Operations, Antitrust Division. 

[FR Doc. E8–17996 Filed 8–7–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4410–11–M 

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 

Antitrust Division 

Notice Pursuant to the National 

Cooperative Research and Production 

Act of 1993—Biotechnology Research 

and Development Corporation 

(‘‘BRDC’’) 

Notice is hereby given that, on June 

30, 2008, pursuant to section 6(a) of the 

National Cooperative Research and 

Production Act of 1993, 15 U.S.C. 4301 

et seq. (the ‘‘Act’’), Biotechnology 

Research and Development Corporation 

(‘‘BRDC’’) has filed written notifications 

simultaneously with the Attorney 

General and the Federal Trade 

Commission disclosing changes in its 

membership. The notifications were 

filed for the purpose of extending the 

Act’s provisions limiting the recovery of 

antitrust plaintiffs to actual damages 

under specified circumstances. 

Specifically, Global Protein Products, 

Inc., Winslow, ME has been added as a 

party to this venture. 

No other changes have been made in 

either the membership or planned 

activity of the group research project. 

Membership in this group research 

project remains open, and BRDC intends 

to file additional written notification 

disclosing all changes in membership. 

On April 13, 1988, BRDC filed its 

original notification pursuant to section 

6(a) of the Act. The Department of 

Justice published a notice in the Federal 

Register pursuant to section 6(b) of the 

Act on May 12, 1988 (53 FR 16919). 

The last notification was filed with 

the Department on September 23, 2003. 

A notice was published in the Federal 

Register pursuant to section 6(b) of the 

Act on October 14, 2003 (68 FR 59197). 

Patricia Brink, 

Deputy Director of Operations, Antitrust 

Division. 

[FR Doc. E8–18184 Filed 8–7–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4410–11–M 

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 

Antitrust Division 

Notice Pursuant to the National 

Cooperative Research and Production 

Act of 1993—the Information 

Technology Industry Council, Inc./the 

International Committee for 

Information Technology Standards 

Notice is hereby given that, on June 

25, 2008, pursuant to Section 6(a) of the 

National Cooperative Research and 

Production Act of 1993, 15 U.S.C. 4301 

et seq. (‘‘the Act’’), The Information 

Technology Industry Council, Inc./The 

InterNational Committee for Information 

Technology Industry Council, Inc. (‘‘ITI/ 

INCITS’’) has filed written notifications 

simultaneously with the Attorney 

General and the Federal Trade 

Commission disclosing additions or 

changes to its standards development 

activities. The notifications were filed 

for the purpose of extending the Act’s 

provisions limiting the recovery of 

antitrust plaintiffs to actual damages 

under specified circumstances. 

Specifically, ITI/INCITS has approved 

100 new national standards in such 

areas as Biometrics, Fibre Channel, 

Office Processing, Identification Cards 

and OSI, initiated numerous other new 

standards development projects, and 

restructured several of its technical 

committees, task groups and 

management committees. More detail 

regarding these activities—including a 

catalog of current standards, 

descriptions of proposed standards 

under public review, and information 

concerning comment procedure and 

deadlines—may be found at http:// 

www.incits.org. 

On September 21, 2004, ITI/INCITS 

filed its original notification pursuant to 

Section 6(a) of the Act. The Department 

of Justice published a notice in the 

Federal Register pursuant to Section 


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