Source: http://www.techlawjournal.com/alert/2002/02/27.asp
Timestamp: 2019-04-23 09:54:42+00:00

Document:
TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 377, February 27, 2002.
February 27, 2002, 9:00 AM ET, Alert No. 377.
2/26. The House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime amended and approved HR 3482, the "Cyber Security Enhancement Act of 2001", by a unanimous voice vote.
Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), the sponsor of the bill, and Chairman of the Subcommittee, offered an amendment in the nature of a substitute. (This is a revised version of his amendment in the nature of a substitute released on February 14.) Rep. Sheila Lee (D-TX) offered an amendment to Rep. Smith's amendment in the nature of a substitute. It pertains to sentencing guidelines. It was adopted by a unanimous voice vote. Then, Rep. Smith's amendment, as amended, was adopted.
The bill contains provisions relating to sentencing guidelines for computer hacking crimes, authority of Internet service providers (ISPs) and others to voluntarily disclosure the content of communications to law enforcement and other government entities, appropriations for the National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC), the creation of an Office of Science and Technology at the Department of Justice (DOJ), and other topics. The bill further amends several sections of the criminal code that were just recently amended by the USA PATRIOT Act, which is also known as the anti terrorism bill.
Rep. Smith stated at the hearing that "America must protect our national security, critical infrastructure, and economy from cyber attacks. Penalties and law enforcement capabilities must be enhanced to prevent and deter such criminal behavior. Until we secure our cyber infrastructure, a few keystrokes and an Internet connection is all one needs to disable the economy or endanger lives. A mouse can be just as dangerous as a bullet or a bomb."
The bill is supported by the DOJ and industry groups, such as the Business Software Alliance (BSA) and Information Technology Association of America (ITAA). The Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) has taken the lead in raising concerns about the bill, particularly its Section 102.
The two Democrats present for the mark up, Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA) and Rep. Sheila Lee (D-TX), expressed their support for the bill, but also voiced concerns which they hope to have addressed before the bill is marked up by the full committee. Both addressed the "good faith" versus "reasonably believes" standard in Section 102 of the bill. That is the bill, as adopted, would permit an ISP (or others) to voluntarily disclose to government entities the contents of communications if it "in good faith, believes that an emergency involving danger of death or serious physical injury to any person requires disclosure of the information without delay". This expands the voluntary disclosure provision.
Rep. Scott also discussed, but did not offer, three different amendments. He stated that he would like to work with other members to address the matters contained in the amendments prior to the full committee mark up. Two of these draft amendments pertain to voluntary disclosure. A third would amend 18 U.S.C. § 2515 regarding the prohibition of the use as evidence of intercepted communications.
Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) did not offer as an amendment a bill which he is sponsoring, HR 3716, the Online Criminal Liability Standardization Act of 2002. It provides that "no interactive computer service provider, or corporate officer of such provider, shall be liable for an offense against the United States arising from such provider’s transmitting, storing, distributing, or otherwise making available, in the ordinary course of its business activities as an interactive computer service provider, material provided by another person." The bill further provides that "The liability limitation created by this section does not apply if the defendant intended that the service be used in the commission of the offense." However, afterwards he stated that he is still working towards having a version of his bill included when the full committee marks up HR 3482.
The Crime Subcommittee held a hearing on this bill on February 12. It met to mark up the bill on February 14, but lacked a quorum do to the beginning of the Presidents' Day recess. The full Judiciary Committee may mark up the bill within several weeks.
2/26. The following is a cursory summary of the HR 3482, as adopted by the House Crime Subcommittee on February 26. See, amendment in the nature of a substitute, as amended by the Lee amendment.
Section 101 of the bill would require the U.S. Sentencing Commission to amend the federal sentencing guidelines with respect to violations of 18 U.S.C. § 1030, which pertains to crimes involving intentionally accessing a computer without authorization, or in excess of authorized access. Rep. Lee offered an amendment to Rep. Smith's amendment in the nature of a substitute, which replaces the entirety of Section 101. It was adopted by a unanimous voice vote.
Section 102 of the bill, which is the most controversial item, would amend 18 U.S.C. § 2702(b), regarding voluntary disclosure of the contents of communications. Currently, the statute provides that "A person or entity may divulge the contents of a communication ... (6) to a law enforcement agency ... (C) if the provider reasonably believes that an emergency involving immediate danger of death or serious physical injury to any person requires disclosure of the information without delay." The bill would allow the disclosure "to a governmental entity, if the provider, in good faith, believes that an emergency involving danger of death or serious physical injury to any person requires disclosure of the information without delay."
Hence, the bill would lower the standard that ISPs and others must meet before they voluntarily release information -- from "reasonably believes" to "good faith". It also removes the immediacy requirement. It also expands the set of entities to which information can be released -- from "law enforcement agency" to "governmental entity".
Section 103 provides, in full, that "Section 2520(d)(3) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘or 2511(2)(i)’’ after ‘‘2511(3)’’." This amends the computer tresspasser provision of the recently enacted USA PATRIOT Act to allow providers to rely on the good faith defense.
Section 104 of the bill would authorize the appropriation of $125,000,000 for the FBI's National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC) for fiscal year 2003. This is up from $57,500,000 in the original version of the bill.
Section 105 of the bill would amend 18 U.S.C. § 2512, which pertains to the advertising of certain illegal devices. The statute prohibits the advertising of "any electronic, mechanical, or other device, knowing or having reason to know that the design of such device renders it primarily useful for the purpose of the surreptitious interception of wire, oral, or electronic communications." Section 105 of the bill would specifically include advertising on the Internet.
Section 106 of the bill would amend 18 U.S.C. § 1030(c), which pertains to punishment of crimes involving intentionally accessing a computer without authorization or in excess of authorized access. For example, the bill would increase the maximum penalty to life imprisonment for crimes where the "offender knowingly or recklessly causes or attempts to cause death".
Section 107 of the bill would ensure that providers of communications remain covered under 18 U.S.C. § 2703(e), a "no cause of action provision," which protects providers from law suits when they legally assist law enforcement with an investigation under the new emergency disclosure exception created in the USA PATRIOT Act.
Section 108 of the bill would amend 18 U.S.C. § 3125, regarding emergency use of pen registers and trap and trace (PRTT) devices. Currently, under 18 U.S.C. § 3125, law enforcement authorities may use PRTT devices for 48 hours in certain emergency situations, while court authority is being sought. Section 108 would expand the list of situations to include "an immediate threat to a national security interest" and "an ongoing attack on a protected computer that constitutes a crime punishable by a term of imprisonment greater than one year".
Section 109 of the bill would raise penalties for illegally intercepting cell phone conversations, and increase penalties for unlawful access to stored communications.
Sections 201 through 206 of the bill pertain to the creation of an Office of Science and Technology at the Department of Justice.
2/26. The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee's Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State, and the Judiciary held a hearing regarding the Department of Justice (DOJ) budget request for Fiscal Year 2003. Attorney General John Ashcroft testified.
Ashcroft said in his prepared statement that "For information technology critical to the FBI's efforts to combat the threat of terrorism, our total budget request for the FBI includes an increase of $109.4 million to support several new and ongoing projects. These resources will support projects such as the FBI's efforts to scan and digitally store 5 million documents related to terrorist groups and organizations, data management and warehousing, collaborative capabilities, information technology support for Legal Attaches, continuity of operations for FBI Headquarters and offsite facilities, state of the art video teleconferencing capabilities and increased staffing and funding to support FBI mainframe data center upgrades. Funding is also sought to perform necessary maintenance on enterprise wide legacy systems, applications and the Trilogy network."
Electronic Surveillance. He stated that the budget requests "$61.8 million in additional funding to enhance the FBI's surveillance capability to collect evidence and intelligence. These resources will enhance both physical and electronic surveillance capabilities and enable automated sharing of information collected as electronic surveillance intelligence and/or evidentiary material."
USAO IP Telephony. "Our budget requests an additional $11 million to complete the third and final phase of the overall telecommunications convergence initiative in United States Attorneys Offices throughout the Nation: implementing Internet Protocol telephony. This convergence will enable the U.S. Attorneys to encrypt all transmissions, share resources and use telecommunications bandwidth more effectively, and reduce overall operating and maintenance by establishing a common, standardized telecommunications infrastructure."
Internet Crimes Against Children. Ashcroft also stated that "Our budget also seeks an increase of $6.1 million to expand the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program by establishing a regional task force in at least 40 states and expanding capacity building activities through research, training and technical assistance."
2/26. The House Rules Committee adopted a rule for consideration of HR 1542, the Tauzin Dingell bill. The House is scheduled to debate and vote on the bill on Wednesday and Thursday, February 27-28. However, with a limited number of amendments, and time limits on the debate of each amendment, the final vote could come on the evening of February 27.
The Rules Committee determined that the House will not consider either the version of the bill reported by the House Commerce Committee, or that reported unfavorably by the House Judiciary Committee. Instead, the House will consider an amendment in the nature of a substitute [PDF] offered by Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-LA) and Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI). They are the Chairmen of the Commerce Committee and Judiciary Committee, respectively.
The Rules Committee also determined that only three amendments may be offered. Moreover, they must be offered in the order specified by the Rules Committee; and, they cannot be further amended.
The first amendment [PDF] is offered by Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) and Rep. Gene Green (D-TX). It would increase the maximum penalties that may be imposed on phone companies for violations of telecommunications law.
The second amendment [PDF] is offered by Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT) and Rep. John Conyers (D-MI). It provides numerous line by line changes. It provides that nothing in the Tauzin Dingell bill "shall restrict or affect in any way the application and enforcement of the Federal and State rules in effect on the date of enactment of such Act relating to the rates, charges, terms, and conditions for the purchasing or leasing of telecommunications services and network elements by competitive telecommunications carriers." It also provides that the bill "shall not restrict or affect in any way -- the authority of the Commission to adopt regulations to prohibit unsolicited commercial e-mail messages", or to adopt regulations regarding customer proprietary network information (CPNI), pormography, or access by persons with disabilities.
The third amendment [PDF] is offered by Rep. Steve Buyer (R-IN) and Rep. Adolphus Towns (D-NY). It is a substitute amendment to the Cannon Conyers amendment. Reps. Buyer and Towns describe it as follows: "Guarantees that CLECs have access to customers served by Bell company high speed networks under FCC -- regulated rates, terms, and conditions. Preserves rules governing CLECs access to Bell facilities, including a rule that permits CLECs to "line share" on Bell copper facilities exclusively for the purpose of providing high speed Internet service. Requires Bell companies to allow CLECs to connect their own high speed Internet facilities to Bell services and equipment."
The amendment in the nature of a substitute offered by Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-LA) and Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) would provide regulatory relief to the Baby Bell phone companies with respect to high speed data services.
It provides that "Except to the extent that high speed data service, Internet backbone service, and Internet access service are expressly referred to in this Act, neither the Commission, nor any State, shall have authority to regulate the rates, charges, terms, or conditions for, or entry into the provision of, any high speed data service, Internet backbone service, or Internet access service, or to regulate any network element to the extent it is used in the provision of any such service; nor shall the Commission impose or require the collection of any fees, taxes, charges, or tariffs upon such service."
It would also amend Section 251 to provide that "neither the Commission nor any State shall require an incumbent local exchange carrier to provide unbundled access to any network element for the provision of any high speed data service."
Section 9 of the amendment pertains to antitrust law. It provides that "Section 601(b) of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-104; 110 Stat. 143) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph: ``(4) CONTINUING OPERATION OF THE ANTITRUST LAWS.—Paragraph (1) shall be interpreted to mean that the antitrust laws are -- (A) not repealed by, (B) not precluded by, (C) not diminished by, and (D) not incompatible with, the Communications Act of 1934, this Act, or any law amended by either such Act.´´ "
2/26. If the Tauzin Dingell bill were to pass the House, it would still face strong opposition in the Senate. For example, Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-SC), the Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over the bill, gave a speech in the Senate on Monday, February 25, in which he called the bill "blasphemy".
Sen. Hollings stated that "the communications bill by Congressmen Tauzin and Dingell that the House will vote on this week is blasphemy. Hailed as a way to enhance competition, it eliminates it. Touted as a way to enhance broadband communications, it merely allows the Bell companies to extend their local monopoly into broadband."
2/22. The U.S. District Court (WDNY) ordered Palm to post a $50 Million bond with the court to "ensure that Xerox is able to collect at least some, if not all, of the damages it will suffer as a result of 3Com's infringement during the appeal period".
Xerox is the assignee of U.S. Patent No. 5,596,656, which is titled "Unistrokes for Computerized Interpretation of Handwriting." Xerox filed a complaint in federal Court in Rochester, New York, against 3Com Corporation, U.S. Robotics Corporation, U.S. Robotics Access Corporation, and Palm Computing, Inc. claiming that the Graffiti software in the PalmPilot line of hand held computers infringed its unistrokes patent. On December 20, 2001, the District Court ruled that Palm's Graffiti handwriting technology for hand held computers infringes a Xerox patent. Palm has appealed.
Eric Benhamou, Ch/CEO of Palm, stated in a release that "We intend to pursue our appeal vigorously and have excellent arguments to support our view ... For thousands of years, people have been creating writing symbols. Xerox doesn't own the alphabet." See also, Xerox release.
Xerox, which was founded in Rochester, New York, as the Haloid Corporation, has the home court advantage in the District Court in Rochester.
2/26. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) reported that the total number of cybersquatting cases received by the WIPO grew by "100% in the last quarter of the year. Moreover, it is anticipated that the internationalization of domain names will also create new opportunities for cybersquatters as it becomes possible to register domain names in non-ASCII characters such as Chinese."
The WIPO also reported that "In 2001, the total number of cases filed with WIPO under the Uniform Dispute Respolution Policy (UDRP), the dispute policy for the .com, .net and .org categories, reached 1,506 compared with 1,841 in 2000. This suggests that an expedited on-line dispute resolution service has been effective in dissuading Internet pirates from hijacking names." See, WIPO release.
2/26. The Senate Banking Committee held a hearing to examine accounting and investor protection issues, focusing on proposals for change relating to financial reporting by public companies, accounting standards, and oversight of the accounting profession. See, prepared statements of witnesses: Walter Schuetze (SEC Chief Accountant, 1992-95), Michael Sutton (SEC Chief Accountant, 1995-98), Lynn Turner (SEC Chief Accountant, 1998-2001), and Dennis Beresford (Chairman, Financial Accounting Standards Board, 1987-97).
Lynn Turner stated that "The SEC also needs to be provided with the resources to acquire technology that can aid in the electronic screening of filings for potential issues and unusual trends in financial performance. SEC Chairman has indicated he wishes to hire a highly qualified Chief Information Officer. This is long overdue and will require additional funds. But new and enhanced technologies can be a powerful, efficient and effective tool in identifying problems at an earlier date."
2/26. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Common Carrier Bureau (CCB) named three counsel to the Bureau Chief, Dorothy Attwood: Scott Bermann, Jessica Rosenworcel, and Christopher Libertelli. Bergmann will be a Legal Counsel for local competition, broadband deployment and numbering issues. He has been an attorney advisor in the Industry Analysis Division of the CCB since 1996. Rosenworcel will be a Legal Counsel for universal service and broadband issues. She has been an Attorney Advisor in the Policy Division of the CCB since 1999. Before that, she was an associate with the law firm of Drinker Biddle & Reath. Libertelli will be a Special Counsel to the Bureau Chief for Competition Policy; he will coordinate and advance competition policy proceedings. He has been a Legal Counsel to the Bureau Chief since last summer. He previously worked as an associate in the Washington DC office of the law firm of Dow Lohnes & Albertson. See, FCC release [PDF].
2/26. Rex Heinke joined the Los Angeles office of the law firm of Akin Gump as a litigation partner. He focuses on intellectual property, First Amendment, and entertainment and media law. He was the lead attorney for the Los Angeles Times and Washington Post in the case LA Times v. Free Republic, a case involving copyright infringement by a political discussion web site.
2/26. World Trade Organization (WTO) Director General Mike Moore gave a speech titled "Globalisation: the Impact of the Doha Development Agenda on the Free Market Process" to a U.S. Chamber of Commerce meeting in Florida.
2/26. The California Court of Appeal (1/1) issued its opinion [PDF] in HIH Marine Insurance Services v. Gateway Freight Services, a subrogation action involving air carrier liability. This case arises out of the loss of a shipment of hard disk drives from Malaysia to San Francisco via China Airlines. The Court of Appeal affirmed the Superior Court's dismissal of the action.
2/26. The Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition, and Business and Consumer Rights announced that it will hold a pair of hearings on communications related mergers. The first hearing, scheduled for March 6, is titled "Dominance in the Sky: Cable Competition and the Echostar Direct TV Merger". The second hearing, scheduled for April 10, is titled "Dominance on the Ground: Cable Competition and the ATT Comcast Merger". Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI) will preside. Sen. Mike DeWine (R-OH) is the ranking Republican on the Subcommittee.
The House will meet at 10:00 AM. The House will begin it debate of HR 1542, the Tauzin Dingell bill.
10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing to examine sovereign immunity and the protection of intellectual property. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) will preside. See, witness list. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.
10:00 AM. The House Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing on the WTO's extraterritorial income decision. Location: Room 1100, Longworth Building.
10:00 AM. The House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing to receive the testimony of Alan Greenspan, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. Location: Room 2128, Rayburn Building.
2:00 PM. The Senate Commerce Committee's Science, Technology, and Space Subcommittee will hold a hearing on S 414, the NTIA Digital Network Technology Program Act. This bill would authorize $250 Million per year for five years for a grant program for digital network technologies. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) will preside. Location: Room 253, Russell Building.
4:00 PM. Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA) will host a media roundtable on the Congressional delegation trip to Europe last week to promote the Internet, intellectual property rights, and electronic commerce. The delegation met with members of the Russian Duma, Czech Parliament, German Bundestag, and European Parliament. Location: Office of Rep. Goodlatte, Room 2240, Rayburn Building.
6:00 - 8:00 PM. The FCBA will host a Continuing Legal Education (CLE) seminar titled Unlicensed Operation Under FCC Rules. The price to attend is $60 for FCBA members, $50 for government and law student members, and $80 for non-members. Registrations and cancellations due by 12:00 NOON on Tuesday, February 26. To register, contact Wendy Parish at wendy @fcba.org. Location: Capital Hilton Hotel, 16th & K Streets, NW.
Extended deadline to submit reply comments to the Copyright Office in response to its March 9, 2001, Notice of Inquiry concerning the interpretation and application of the copyright laws to certain kinds of digital transmissions of prerecorded musical works in light of an agreement between the RIAA, the NMPA, and The Harry Fox Agency (HFA). See, 17 U.S.C. § 115. See, notice in Federal Register.
The House will meet at 10:00 AM. The House may continue its consideration of HR 1542, the Tauzin Dingell bill.
9:30 AM. The Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing titled Protecting Content in a Digital Age -- Promoting Broadband and the Digital Television Transition. Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-SC) will preside. The scheduled witnesses are Michael Eisner (Ch/CEO of Disney), Peter Chernin (P/COO of News Corp.), Leslie Vadasz (EVP of Intel), Andreas Bechtolsheim (Cisco), James Meyer (Thomson Multimedia), Robert Perry (Mitsubishi Digital Electronics). Location: Room 253, Russell Building.
10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hold a business meeting. Location: Room 226: Dirksen Building.
12:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's Transactional Practice Committee will host a brown bag lunch on mass media transactions. RSVP to Sue Fischer at 202 776-2000. Location: Dow Lohnes & Albertson, 1200 New Hampshire Ave., NW.
1:00 - 5:00 PM. The Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Wireless Telecommunications Bureau will hold a public forum addressing issues related to the acquisition and analysis of data on the state of competition in the commercial mobile radio services industry for the 7th Annual CMRS Competition Report. Location: FCC, 445 12th Street, SW, Room TW-C305.
4:00 PM. Adam Mossoff (Professor at Northwestern Univ. School of Law) will give a lecture titled "The Relevance of Natural Rights in Intellectual Property Today". For more information, contact Prof. Robert Brauneis at rbraun @main.nlc.gwu.edu or 202 994-6138. Location: George Washington Univ. Law School, 2000 H Street, NW.
Deadline to submit public comments to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding the use of disgorgement as a remedy for competition violations, including those involving the Hart Scott Rodino Premerger Notification Act, FTC Act, and Clayton Act. See, FTC release and Federal Register notice.
Deadline to file comments with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) regarding the appropriate regulatory requirements for incumbent local exchange carriers' (ILECs') provision of broadband telecommunications services. The FCC adopted this NPRM at its December 12 meeting. This is CC Docket No. 01-337. See, notice in the Federal Register.
Deadline to submit reply comments to the FCC regarding Verizon's Section 271 application to provide in region interLATA services in the state of Vermont. See, FCC notice [PDF]. This is CC Docket No. 02-7.
9:30 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir) will hear oral argument in ACS Anchorage Inc v. FCC, 01-1059. Judges Edwards, Randolph and Williams will preside. Location: 333 Constitution Ave., NW.
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. The National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer System Security And Privacy Advisory Board (CSSPAB) will meet to discuss computer security legislation, privacy issues, critical infrastructure protection, the USPS's electronic postmark products, and other matters. The CSSPAB advises the Secretary of Commerce and the Director of NIST on security and privacy issues pertaining to federal computer systems. This is the first day of a three day meeting. See, notice in Federal Register. Location: General Services Administration, 7th and D Streets, SW, Room 5700.
10:00 AM. The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee's Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State, and the Judiciary will hold a hearing regarding the Department of Justice (DOJ) budget request for FY 2003. Location: Room 138, Dirksen Building.
10:00 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir) will hear oral argument in Marketel International v. Priceline.com, No. 01-1279, an appeal from the U.S. District Court (NDCal). Marketel filed a complaint against Priceline alleging misappropriation of trade secrets, misappropriation of business model, conversion, false advertising, and entitlement to a correction of inventorship of Priceline's U.S. Patent No. 5,794,207. Marketel appeals the District Court's dismissal of some of its claims. Location: Courtroom 203, LaFayette Square, 717 Madison Place, NW.
10:30 AM - 4:30 PM. The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) will hold a meeting to discuss the science and technology of combating terrorism, federal spending on science and technology research and development, demand issues related to deployment of broadband infrastructure, and other topics. See, notice in Federal Register. Location: Board Room, American Institute of Architects, 1735 New York Ave., NW.
6:00 - 8:15 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) will host a CLE seminar titled "U.S. Spectrum Policy: Convergence or Co-Existence?" This is Part I of a two part series. Part II will be on April 16. See, schedule.

References: § 2515
 § 1030
 § 2702
 § 2512
 § 1030
 § 2703
 § 3125
 § 3125
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 § 115
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