Source: http://www.techlawjournal.com/alert/2010/01/25.asp
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 15:12:45+00:00

Document:
TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,038, January 25, 2010.
January 25, 2010, Alert No. 2,038.
1/21. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet amended and approved HR 3125 [LOC | WW], the "Radio Spectrum Inventory Act", by voice votes. In addition, the Subcommittee approved HR 3019 [LOC | WW], the "Spectrum Relocation Improvement Act Of 2009", by voice vote, without amendment.
These bills do not reallocate any spectrum for commercial wireless broadband service. Rather, HR 3125 requires the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to develop an inventory of spectrum bands and uses, and to make recommendations regarding which blocks should be reallocated.
Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA), the Chairman of the Subcommittee, wrote in his opening statement that "Daily new, attractive and useful applications are added to wireless services, and data rates continue to increase as consumers require faster access to mobile applications. As more and more Americans use data-intensive smartphones and as services like mobile video emerge, the demand for spectrum to support these applications and devices will grow dramatically. Additional spectrum for commercial wireless services will be needed and it will be needed soon."
The Subcommittee approved an amendment in the nature of a substitute [9 pages in PDF] to HR 3125, and then the bill as amended. This bill requires the NTIA and FCC to "create an inventory of each radio spectrum band of frequencies used in the United States Table of Frequency Allocations, from 225 megahertz to, at a minimum, 3.7 gigahertz, and to 10 gigahertz unless the NTIA and the Commission determine that the burden of expanding the inventory outweighs the benefits".
Rep. Boucher (at right) continued that years after the 2006 Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) auction, "the winners of the commercial licenses still do not have full use of the spectrum because it has not been fully cleared of government use".
This was the Auction 66, involving the reallocated 1710-1755 MHz and 2110-2155 MHz bands, which raised a total $13.9 Billion. T-Mobile and Sprint Nextel acquired spectrum in this auction. See, FCC's web site for this auction. See also, story titled "FCC Completes First Advanced Wireless Services Spectrum Auction" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,454, September 21, 2006.
Rep. Boucher said that HR 3019 "would hasten the process of clearing federal users from spectrum that the government has reallocated for commercial use. It would require the NTIA to publish the transition plan of each federal entity to be relocated after a spectrum auction. It would clarify the steps federal spectrum users must take to receive payment for their relocation costs from the Spectrum Relocation Fund including a requirement that the reallocation be completed within one year."
Steve Largent, head of the CTIA, stated in a release that "Despite the fact that the U.S. wireless industry is highly efficient, rapidly growing consumer demand for mobile broadband services means that we are facing a brewing spectrum crisis. These bills begin the process of helping free up additional spectrum for mobile broadband services."
He added that "We hope that the inventory and relocation improvement processes will precede and follow, respectively, a process to reallocate significant spectrum for advanced wireless services".
The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) stated in a release that "This legislation is crucial to reversing the looming spectrum crisis and ensuring innovation and technology can flourish. While these bills are an important first step, an inventory is not enough. Our nation needs more spectrum for wireless devices. These bills are an important first step to addressing this need."
1/25. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold an executive business meeting on Thursday, January 28, 2010. See, notice. The agenda includes consideration of S 1749 [LOC | WW], the "Cell Phones Contraband Act".
This is the first time that this bill has been listed for markup at one of these weekly meetings. However, the SJC rarely follows its agendas, and bills are sometimes listed for months before they are taken up.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) introduced this bill on October 5, 2009. It has bipartisan support. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) are cosponsors.
This is a short bill that would amend 18 U.S.C. § 1791 regarding "Providing or possessing contraband in prison".
This bill would criminalize both possession of cell phones in federal prisons by prisoners, and providing cell phones to prisoners.
However, this is not a cell phone jamming bill, such as S 251 [LOC | WW] and HR 560 [LOC | WW], both titled the "Safe Prisons Communications Act of 2009".
The Senate Commerce Committee (SCC) has jurisdiction over S 251. The SCC approved this bill on August 5, 2009. See, story titled "Senate Commerce Committee Approves Bill to Allow Cell Phone Jamming by State Prisons" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,976, August 5, 2009. The full Senate amended and passed it on October 5, 2009.
The House Commerce Committee (HCC) and House Judiciary Committee (HJC) both have jurisdiction over HR 560. Neither Committee has taken any action on that bill.
1/25. The Department of Justice's (DOJ) Antitrust Division and numerous states filed a complaint [PDF] in the U.S. District Court (DC) against Ticketmaster and Live Nation alleging violation of Section 7 of the Clayton Act, which is codified at 15 U.S.C. § 18, in connection with their proposed merger.
The plaintiffs allege in this complaint that "If not enjoined, the merger will eliminate competition between the companies in the line of commerce of the provision of primary ticketing services ... to major concert venues in the United States ..."
The parties simultaneously announced a settlement. The DOJ stated in a release that "Under the proposed settlement, Ticketmaster must license ticket software and divest ticketing assets to two different companies -- Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) and either Comcast-Spectacor or another buyer suitable to the department, respectively -- allowing both companies to compete head-to-head with Ticketmaster."
Christine Varney (at right), Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division, stated at a news conference that "Ticketmaster will license its ticketing software, divest substantial ticketing assets, and be subject to anticompetitive bundling, anti-retaliation, and data-firewall provisions for ten years."
She continued that "The relief here is both structural and behavioral. The settlement requires Ticketmaster to divest more ticketing than it will gain through its acquisition of Live Nation. Simultaneously, the licensing solves a second competitive issue by giving AEG, an integrated competitor, the ability and incentive to compete with the combination of Ticketmaster and Live Nation for concert promotion, venue management, and ticketing. Under the settlement, Ticketmaster will be required to license its ticketing software to AEG, its single largest customer."
In addition, said Varney, "Ticketmaster will divest Paciolan, an established ticketing business that sells tens of millions of tickets annually."
The complaint alleges that "For over two decades, Ticketmaster has been the dominant primary ticketing service provider in the United States to, among others, major concert venues. Primary ticketing, the initial distribution of tickets, has been highly profitable for Ticketmaster. Ticketmaster charges a variety of service fees, which are added to the face value of the ticket. Ticketmaster typically shares a percentage of the money from some of these fees with venues. In 2008, Ticketmaster's share among major concert venues exceeded eighty percent and its revenues from primary ticketing were much greater than that of its nearest competitor. Ticketmaster's contract renewal rate with venues typically exceeds eighty-five percent."
Live Nation, the complaint states, "is the country's largest concert promoter. It also controls over seventy-five concert venues in the United States, including many major amphitheatres. Live Nation had been Ticketmaster's largest primary ticketing client for a number of years. In 2007, however, Live Nation announced that it would not renew its contract with Ticketmaster. Instead, Live Nation would become Ticketmaster's direct competitor in primary ticketing when its Ticketmaster contract expired on December 31, 2008. After spending nearly two years evaluating, licensing, and developing a ticketing platform, in late December 2008, Live Nation launched it ticketing service for its won venues and potential third-party concert venue clients."
Thus, the just filed complaint alleges, "Live Nation presented a new and different source of competition in primary ticketing. As a concert promoter, Live Nation could offer venues access to concert tours as an inducement to use Live Nation's ticketing service. Ticketmaster had no concert promotion business. In contrast, as both a venue owner and a concert promoter, Live Nation had economic incentives to reduce service fees on tickets in order to fill more seats and earn the associated ancillary revenue from doing so."
Moreover, "Entrants face substantial hurdles in the form of Ticketmaster's economies of scale, long-term contracts, and brand recognition as well as the technological hurdles necessary to compete in primary ticketing. Live Nation had overcome many of these by virtue of its position in promotion and venue operation and the two years it had devoted to building a ticketing platform."
The plaintiffs then allege that the merger of Ticketmaster and Live Nation "would eliminate head-to-head competition between Ticketmaster and Live Nation in the provision of ticketing services."
The state plaintiffs are Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsyslvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin.
See also, Proposed Final Judgment [28 pages in PDF], Competitive Impact Statement [31 pages in PDF], and heavily redacted letter of agreement [21 pages in PDF] between Ticketmaster and Anschutz.
See also, story titled "UK Clears Ticketmaster Live Nation Merger in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,028, December 28, 2009.
This case is U.S., et al. v. Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc. and Live Nation, Inc., U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, D.C. No. 1:10-cv-00139, Judge Rosemary Collyer presiding.
1/20. President Obama nominated Lucy Koh to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. See, White House news office release and release. She is nominated for the position opened by Judge Ronald Whyte taking senior status.
Koh is currently a state trial court judge. She sits on Superior Court of California for the County of Santa Clara. Although, she has only been a Judge for two years. Before that, she worked for the law firm of McDermott Will & Emery, where she represented technology companies in patent, trade secret, and other matters.
And before that, she worked in the Department of Justice (DOJ) during the administration of former President Bill Clinton.
She is married to Obama insider Tino Cuellar.
Judge Whyte sits in San Jose, and has had one of the most technology intensive dockets of any District Court Judge. In the late 1990s he presided in Sun Microsystems, Inc. v. Microsoft Corporation, D.C. No. 97-20884. He has presided in numerous Rambus cases.
Coalition for ICANN Transparency, Inc. v. VeriSign, Inc., D.C. No. CV-05-04826. See, story titled "9th Circuit Allows CFIT v. VeriSign Antitrust Case to Proceed" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,951, June 9, 2009.
Google, Inc. and Kai-Fu Lee v. Microsoft Corporation, D.C. No. C-05-03095 RMW. See, stories titled "Microsoft Sues Former Employee Who Joined Google" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,178, July 20, 2005, "Court Holds Hearing on Microsoft's Motion for Preliminary Injunction Against Google" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,210, September 9, 2005, "Trial Court Issues Preliminary Injunction in Microsoft v. Kai-Fu Lee and Google" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,214, September 15, 2005, and "District Court Issues Stay in Google v. Microsoft" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,244, November 1, 2005.
Google, Inc., et al. v. Danile Egger, Software Rights Archive LLC, et al., 2008cv03172, a patent case.
Software Rights Archive LLC v. Google, Inc., et al., D.C. No. 09mc80004.
In Re Cygnus Telecommunications Technology Patent Litigation. See, story titled "Federal Circuit Affirms in Cygnus Telecommunications Patent Case" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,815, August 19, 2009.
Universal City Studios Productions v. Does, D.C. No. 2006cv02533, copyright.
Video Software Dealers Association v. Schwartzenegger, D.C. No. 2005cv04188.
Stephen Price v. Facebook, Inc., D.C. No. 2009cv03519.
1/24. Former Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner James Quello died. He was a Commissioner from 1974 through 1997. See, statement by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, statement by Commissioner Michael Copps, statement by Commissioner Robert McDowell, and statement by Commissioner Mignon Clyburn.
1/21. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) held an executive business meeting at which it approved by voice vote the nomination of Rogeriee Thompson to be a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) read a statement in support of her nomination.
1/21. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) held an executive business meeting at which it held over consideration of the nominations of James Wynn and Albert Diaz to be Judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. These nominations are now on the agenda for the SJC's meeting on Thursday, January 28, 2010.
1/20. President Obama again nominated Dawn Johnsen to be Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC). See, White House news office release. He first announced her selection on January 5, 2009. See, 2009 release. She remains a professor at the Indiana University School of Law -- Bloomington, where she teaches courses on constitutional law, courts, and "Sexuality, Reproduction and the Constitution". Before that, she worked in the DOJ during the administration of former President Clinton. And before that, she worked for the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (NARRAL).
1/20. President Obama nominated Christopher Schroeder to be Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Office of Legal Policy (OLP). See, White House news office release. The OLP is involved in, among other things, the selection and confirmation of judicial nominees. This nomination is on the agenda for the Senate Judiciary Committee's (SJC) executive business meeting on Thursday, January 28, 2010.
1/20. President Obama nominated Mary Smith to be Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Tax Division. See, White House news office release. This nomination is on the agenda for the Senate Judiciary Committee's (SJC) executive business meeting on Thursday, January 28, 2010.
1/20. President Obama nominated Edward Chen to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. See, White House news office release. This nomination is on the agenda for the Senate Judiciary Committee's (SJC) executive business meeting on Thursday, January 28, 2010.
1/20. President Obama nominated Louis Butler to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. See, White House news office release. This nomination is on the agenda for the Senate Judiciary Committee's (SJC) executive business meeting on Thursday, January 28, 2010.
1/20. President Obama nominated Jon DeGuilio to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana. He is general counsel of a bank. He was the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana during the Clinton administration. See, White House news office release and release.
1/20. President Obama nominated Jane Stinson to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. She is currently a U.S. Magistrate Judge. Before that, she was a state trial court judge. See, White House news office release and release.
1/20. President Obama nominated Tanya Pratt to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. She is currently a state trial court judge. If confirmed, she will replace Judge David Hamilton, who has already been confirmed for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit. See, White House news office release and release.
1/20. President Obama nominated Audrey Fleissig to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. See, White House news office release.
1/20. President Obama nominated David Hale to be the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky for the term of four years. See, White House news office release.
1/20. President Obama nominated Kerry Harvey to be the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky for the term of four years. See, White House news office release.
The House will not meet. See, Rep. Hoyer's schedule for week of January 25.
The Senate will meet at 2:00 PM. It will resume consideration of HJRes 45, the debt limit extension bill.
The House will meet at 12:30 PM for morning hour, and at 2:00 PM for legislative business. The House will consider several non-technology related items under suspension of the rules. Votes will be postponed until 6:30 PM. See, Rep. Hoyer's schedule for week of January 25.
The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. The House will consider non-technology related items. See, Rep. Hoyer's schedule for week of January 25.
The House and Senate will meet in joint session to hear a speech by President Obama.
8:00 AM - 4:30 PM. The Center for Democracy and Technology's (CDT) Congressional Internet Caucus Advisory Committee will host its annual conference titled "State of the Net Conference". The scheduled speakers include Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA), Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Sen. John Thune (R-SD), Brian Roberts (Ch/CEO of Comcast), Robert Katz (USDOJ Antitrust Division), and Edward Tsang Lu (Google). There will be panels titled "Online Copyright Piracy", "Antitrust in the Internet Era", "Cyber Security and Cyber War", "Legislating Online Privacy", "Internet Global Freedom", "Can the Internet Save the Planet with Smart Grid?", and "The Liability Exemption of ISPs: Can Section 230 Hold Up Under Pressure?". See, notice. Prices vary. Location: Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill, 400 New Jersey Ave., NW.
9:00 - 10:30 AM. The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will host a panel discussion titled "Explaining International Intelligent Transportation Systems Leadership". The speakers will be Robert Atkinson (ITIF), Stephen Ezell (ITIF) and Scot Belcher (ITS America). See, notice. This event is fee and open to the public. Location: ITIF, Suite 610, 1101 K St., NW.
9:30 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir) will hear oral argument en banc in Speechnow.org v. FEC, App. Ct. No. 08-5223.
12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a program titled "Irreparable Harm and Other Presumptions in Lanham Act Advertising Cases After eBay". The Supreme Court's May 15, 2006, opinion [12 pages in PDF] in eBay v. MercExchange, held that the traditional four factor framework that guides a court's decision whether to grant an injunction applies in patent cases; but, the Supreme Court did not address Lanham Act cases in that opinion. See, story titled "Supreme Court Rules on Availability of Injunctive Relief in Patent Cases" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,371, May 16, 2006. The speakers will be David Bernstein (Debevoise & Plimpton), Rebecca Tushnet (Georgetown University law school), and Richard Leighton (Keller & Heckman). The ABA will teleconference this event. It is free and open to the public. See, notice.
Deadline to submit comments to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) regarding its Draft Expressions of Interest/Pre-Registrations Model for new generic top-level domains. See, notice.
There will be no votes in the House. See, Rep. Hoyer's schedule for week of January 25.
Day one of a two day event titled "Republican Conference Issues Conference". See, 2010 House calendar.
9:00 AM - 12:00 PM. The Department of State's (DOS) Advisory Committee on International Communications and Information Policy (ACICIP) will meet. The topics on the agenda include "upcoming international telecommunications meetings and conferences ... bilateral and multilateral meetings that have taken place recently ... future generation communications technology issues, international market access, Internet governance, ICT development issues, international spectrum requirements and harmonization, cyber-security, and data protection and privacy". See, notice in the Federal Register, January 6, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 3, at Pages 881-882. The deadline to request permission to attend is 5:00 PM on January 26. Location: Room 1107, Truman Building, 2201 C St., NW.
10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) will hold an executive business meeting. The agenda includes consideration of S 1749 [LOC | WW], the "Cell Phones Contraband Act". The agenda also again includes consideration of the nominations of James Wynn and Albert Diaz to be Judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. The agenda also includes consideration of Edward Chen (to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California) and Louis Butler (USDC/WDWisc). The agenda also includes consideration of the nominations of Andre Birotte (to be the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California) and Ronald Machen (USA/DC). Finally, the agenda includes consideration of the nominations of Chris Schroeder (to be Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Office of Legal Policy), Dawn Johnsen (AAG/Office of Legal Counsel), and Mary Smith (AAG/Tax Division). The SJC rarely follows its published agendas. See, notice. The SJC will webcast this event. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.
10:00 AM - 12:00 NOON. The Department of Health and Human Services' (DHHS) Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology's (ONCHIT) Meaningful Use Workgroup will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, January 5, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 2, at Page 369. The DHHS will webcast this meeting. The webcast is open to the public. The physical location of the meeting is closed to the public. Written comments are due two days prior to the meeting.
12:00 NOON - 1:30 PM. The American Bar Association (ABA) will host a program titled "HITECH Act: Avoiding Penalties in a High Penalty World and the Evolution of Business Associates". Division B, Title IV, of HR 1 [LOC | WW], the huge spending bill enacted in February of 2009, is the "Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act" or "HITECH Act". The ABA will teleconference and webcast this event. Prices vary. It is open to the public. See, notice.
12:15 - 1:30 PM. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will host an event titled "New Year, New (FCC) Media". The speakers will be the FCC's Haley VanDyck, Bill Cline, and Gray Brooks. They will discuss the FCC's web site titled "reboot.fcc.gov". For more information, contact Jennifer Walker at jmayer at fh-law dot com. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) asserts that this is an FCBA event. Location: FCC, Conference Room 2-B516, 445 12th St., SW.
2:00 - 4:00 PM. The Department of Health and Human Services' (DHHS) Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology's (ONCHIT) Clinical Quality Workgroup will meet. See, notice in the Federal Register, January 5, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 2, at Pages 368-369. The DHHS will webcast this meeting. The webcast is open to the public. The physical location of the meeting is closed to the public. Written comments are due two days prior to the meeting.
Deadline to submit initial comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) [25 pages in PDF] regarding universal service and the High-Cost Universal Service Support. The FCC adopted and released this FNPRM on December 15, 2009. It is FCC 09-112 in CC Docket No. 96-45 and WC Docket No. 05-337. See, notice in the Federal Register, December 29, 2009, Vol. 74, No. 248, at Pages 68763-68774, and story titled "FCC Releases FNPRM Regarding High Universal Support" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 2,027, December 24, 2009.
Day two of a two day event titled "Republican Conference Issues Conference". See, 2010 House calendar.
9:00 AM - 2:00 PM. The Free State Foundation (FSF) will host an event titled "Second Annual Winter Telecom Policy Conference". FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell will give the keynote address. The other speakers will include Rob Atkinson (ITIF), Stuart Benjamin (FCC), Jeffrey Campbell (Cisco), Alan Davidson (Google), Steve Davis (Qwest), Steve Largent (CTIA), Kyle McSlarrow (NCTA), Tom Power (NTIA), Paul de Sa (FCC), Howard Shelanski (FTC), Deborah Tate (FSF), Tom Tauke (Verizon), and Joe Waz (Comcast), Christopher Yoo (University of Pennsylvania law school). Location: National Press Club,13th floor, 529 14th St., NW.
10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Worldtech Systems, Inc. v. Integrated Network Solutions, Inc., App. Ct. No. 2009-1454. Location: Courtroom 402, 717 Madison Place, NW.
10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Telcordia Technologies v. Cisco Systems, App. Ct. No. 2009-1175, an appeal from the U.S. District Court (DDel), D.C. No. 1:07-cv-00113-GMS. Location: Courtroom 203, 717 Madison Place, NW.
Extended deadline to submit applications to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) for membership on the Spectrum Management Advisory Committee. See, notice in the Federal Register, January 6, 2010, Vol. 75, No. 3, at Pages 843-844.

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