Source: http://www.techlawjournal.com/alert/2004/10/07.asp
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 11:07:07+00:00

Document:
TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 992, October 7, 2004.
October 7, 2004, 9:00 AM ET, Alert No. 992.
Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) (at right), the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, stated that "by extending expiring provisions, increasing parity between satellite television and cable operators, and promoting competition between satellite television and cable, this bill will significantly enhance consumer choice and service".
Bill Summary. S 2796 makes two changes to the Trademark Act of 1946, which is codified at 15 U.S.C. § 1051, et seq. First, it provides that the Trademark Act is amended "in section 3 (15 U.S.C. 1053) in the first sentence, by striking ``protection´´ and inserting ``protections, rights, and privileges´´". Second, it provides that the Trademark Act is amended "in section 4 (15 U.S.C. 1054) in the first sentence, by striking ``protection´´ and inserting ``protections, rights, and privileges´´''.
10/5. The House approved S 878, a bill to create numerous additional federal judgeships.
The House also approved an amendment [10 pages in PDF] offered by Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID) that would divide the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. The vote was 205-194. See, Roll Call No. 492. It was a nearly straight party line vote, with Republicans supporting the amendment, and Democrats opposing it.
This amendment would split the 9th Circuit into three circuits. The new 13th Circuit would be comprised of the states of Washington, Oregon and Alaska. The new 12th Circuit would be comprised of the states of Idaho, Nevada, Arizona, and Montana. Hawaii and California would comprise the remaining states of the 9th Circuit. See also, Rep. Simpson's release.
The House also approved an amendment [PDF] offered by Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) by voice vote.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hold a business meeting on Thursday, October 7. The agenda for the meeting includes S 2396, the "Federal Courts Improvement Act of 2004". Whether the Committee will actually consider the bill at this meeting is another question.
10/5. The Senate approved S 2896, an untitled bill to modify and extend certain privatization requirements of the Communications Satellite Act of 1962, as amended by the Open-Market Reorganization for the Betterment of International Telecommunications (ORBIT), which became law in 2000.
Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT) (at left) and Sen. John Breaux (D-LA) introduced S 2896 on October 5, 2004. The Senate approved it without a committee hearing, without debate, by unanimous consent, on the date of its introduction.
It amends 47 U.S.C. § 763(5)(A)(ii) to further extend the deadline for privatizing Inmarsat. This bill extends the ORBIT's statutory deadline for conducting Inmarsat's initial public offering (IPO) from June 30, 2004 to June 30, 2005.
(iii) the Commission determines, after notice and comment, that the successor entity is in compliance with such certification."
S 2896 is related to S 2315, which Sen. Burns introduced on April 8, 2004. S 2315 extended the deadline for INTELSAT's IPO from June 30, 2004 to December 31, 2005. See, story titled "Sen. Burns Introduces Bill to Allow Delay in INTELSAT IPO" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 874, April 12, 2004.
The Senate approved S 2315 on April 27, 2004 by unanimous consent. The House approved it on May 5, 2004 by unanimous consent. President Bush signed it on May 18, 2004. It is now Public Law No. 108-228.
The ORBIT Act, which Sen. Burns sponsored, is Public Law No. 106-180. Sen. Burns is the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Communications.
The House approved HR 4077, the "Piracy Deterrence and Education Act of 2004" on September 28, 2004 by voice vote. See, story titled "House Approves Copyright Bill" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 986, September 29, 2004. This is a large bill with many provisions. It provides for the creation of a voluntary program at the Department of Justice (DOJ) to provide notices to apparent infringers. It amends 17 U.S.C. § 411 to allow federal prosecutors to take action against early pirates without having to wait for the completion of the registration process. It criminalizes using camcorders to copy movies in movie theatres. It increases criminal penalties. It also includes the "Family Movie Act of 2004", which is also known as the ClearPlay bill; it provides an exemption from copyright infringement for skipping content.
There is also the matter of the CREATE Act, a bill pertaining to collaborative research. The House passed HR 2391, the "Cooperative Research and Technology Enhancement (CREATE) Act", on March 10, by a voice vote. The bill amends Section 103(c) of the Patent Act, which is codified at 35 U.S.C. § 103, to address the August 8, 1997 opinion of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in OddzOn Products, Inc. v. Just Toys, Inc., which ruled that derived prior art may serve as evidence of obviousness. See, story titled "House Passes CREATE Act" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 854, March 11, 2004. The Senate has already passed an identically worded bill, S 2192. The remaining issue is who gets to claim more credit for the bill. The House bill is on the Senate Judiciary Committee's agenda for its Thursday, October 7 meeting.
10/5. The U.S. Court of Appeals (1stCir) issued an order in U.S. v. Councilman that grants the government's petition for rehearing en banc. This is a criminal case regarding the applicability of the Wiretap Act to e-mail in storage.
On June 29, 2004 a three judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals (1stCir) issued its split opinion. It held that there was no violation of the Wiretap Act when stored e-mail was accessed, because, since it was in storage, there was no interception within the meaning of the statute.
The defendant, Councilman, was an officer of a company that ran an online rare and out of print book listing service. The company also provided e-mail service to some of its book dealer customers. The U.S. Attorney alleged that Councilman used a program to intercept, copy and store e-mail messages from Amazon.com to the book dealer customers, and that Councilman read these messages to gain commercial advantage.
See, story titled "1st Circuit Holds Wiretap Act Does Not Apply to E-Mail in Storage" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 930, July 1, 2004.
1. Whether the conduct at issue in this case could have been additionally, or alternatively, prosecuted under the Stored Communications Act?
2. Whether the rule of lenity precludes prosecution in this case?"
The Court of Appeals does not have before it an appeal from an conviction for violation of the Stored Communications Act. There are reasons why cases such as Councilman's are not prosecuted under the Stored Communications Act. For example, the Act exempts "the person or entity providing a wire or electronic communications service". See, 18 U.S.C. § 2701. Councilman was an employee of the e-mail service provider.
The order adds that "The court welcomes timely motions to file amicus briefs". The Court is likely to receive many amicus briefs.
The split opinion of the three judge panel was followed by considerable comment and criticism in technology and academic circles. It addition, it prompted Members of Congress to introduce legislation that would revise the statute that was interpreted by the Court.
On July 22, 2004, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and others introduced HR 4977, the "E-mail Privacy Protection Act of 2004". This bill amends the Wiretap Act and the Stored Communications Act, to provide that accessing stored e-mail communications, including by e-mail service providers, can constitute criminal violations. This bill responds to the recent Appeals Court decision in USA v. Councilman, and perhaps also, Google's announcement of its proposed Gmail service. See, story titled "Rep. Nadler Introduces Bill to Criminalize Accessing Stored E-Mail" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 950, August 2, 2004.
Also on July 22, Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA) and others introduced HR 4956, the "E-mail Privacy Act of 2004". Like Rep. Nadler's bill, HR 4977, this bill responds to the opinion in USA v. Councilman, and provides increased legal protection under the Criminal Code for stored e-mail communications. However, Rep. Inslee's bill would provide less onerous limitations upon the activities of e-mail service providers. See, story titled "Rep. Inslee Introduces E-mail Privacy Act" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 950, August 2, 2004.
Oral argument is scheduled for 3:00 PM on December 8, 2004, in the en banc courtroom of the John Joseph Moakley Courthouse in Boston, Massachusetts.
The House will meet. See, Republican Whip Notice.
The Senate will meet at 9:30 AM for morning business. It will then resume consideration of SRes 445, the Senate Intelligence Reform resolution.
7:00 AM. The House Rules Committee will meet to adopt a rule for consideration of HR 10, the "9/11 Recommendations Implementation Act".
TIME? The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold an executive business meeting. The agenda includes consideration of S 2560, the "Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act of 2004", HR 2391, the "Cooperative Research and Technology Enhancement (CREATE) Act of 2004", S 2396, the "Federal Courts Improvement Act of 2004", and S 2863, a bill to reauthorize the Department of Justice. The Committee is unlikely to consider all of these items. Press contact: Margarita Tapia (Hatch) at 202 224-5225 or David Carle (Leahy) at 202 224-4242. See, notice. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.
12:00 NOON - 2:00 PM. The Progress and Freedom Foundation (PFF) will host a luncheon titled "Innovation Agenda 2004". The featured speaker will be James Crowe, the CEO of Level 3 Communications. The other speakers will be Scott Cleland (The Precursor Group), Rebecca Arbogast (Legg Mason Equity Research), and Jessica Zufolo (Medley Global Advisors). See, notice and registration page. Location: Mandarin Oriental hotel, 1330 Maryland Ave., SW.
10/4. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other federal government agencies announced an initiative pertaining to violation of intellectual property rights titled "Strategy Targeting Organized Piracy (STOP)". See, USTR release.
9/30. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced that it "filed copyright infringement lawsuits against more than 700 illegal file sharers, including individuals at 26 different universities across the country". See, RIAA release.

References: § 1051
 § 763
 § 411
 § 103
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 § 2701
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