Source: http://www.techlawjournal.com/alert/2007/02/14.asp
Timestamp: 2017-11-25 00:11:14
Document Index: 553782358

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1983', '§ 2721', '§ 1983', '§ 2721', '§ 2724', '§ 2']

TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,537, February 14, 2007.
February 14, 2007, Alert No. 1,537.
ICT Purchases. This FRB report states that "Real investment in high-technology equipment rose 9 percent in 2006, about the same average annual pace as in the preceding two years. Further decreases in the prices of high-technology equipment continued to reduce the user cost of this type of equipment. Real business spending for computing equipment increased 14½ percent, and software spending posted an 8 percent gain, both roughly comparable to their average rates of increase in the previous two years."
It also states that "By destination, exports to China and other emerging Asian economies grew very rapidly, as did those to South America. Exports to Mexico and western Europe rose at a more modest pace. Real exports of services were up a solid 6¾ percent for the year, double the pace of 2005."
He continued that "If new technologies tend to increase the productivity of highly skilled workers relatively more than that of less-skilled workers -- a phenomenon that economists have dubbed ``skill-biased technical change´´ -- then market forces will tend to cause the real wages of skilled workers to increase relatively faster. Considerable evidence supports the view that worker skills and advanced technology are complementary."
11th Circuit Rules on Privacy, DPPA and § 1983 Suits Against DMV Officials
The plaintiffs allege that the practice violates the federal Driver Privacy Protection Act (DPPA), which is codified at 18 U.S.C. § 2721-2725, as well as 42 U.S.C. § 1983, which imposes liability on anyone who, under color of state law, deprives any person of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the federal constitution or statutes. The plaintiffs assert violation of their their constitutional right to privacy, and their rights under the DPPA.
18 U.S.C. § 2721 provides, in part, that "A State department of motor vehicles, and any officer, employee, or contractor thereof, shall not knowingly disclose or otherwise make available to any person or entity ... personal information ... about any individual obtained by the department in connection with a motor vehicle record", subject to certain enumerated exceptions.
The, 18 U.S.C. § 2724 provides, in part, that "A person who knowingly obtains, discloses or uses personal information, from a motor vehicle record, for a purpose not permitted under this chapter shall be liable to the individual to whom the information pertains, who may bring a civil action in a United States district court."
2/14. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a notice in the Federal Register that announces and describes its proposal to amend 37 C.F.R. § 2.64 to require a request for reconsideration of an examining attorney's final refusal or requirement to be filed through the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) within three months of the mailing date of the final action. See, Federal Register, February 14, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 30, at Pages 6984-6986. The deadline to submit comments to the USPTO is April 16, 2007.
2/9. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner Kathleen Casey gave a speech in which she addressed Section 404 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act. She said that "We need to fix 404. No other issue in recent times has come to symbolize regulation gone awry", and that "While the spirit and letter of the law never contemplated the costly and burdensome result that this provision has generated, the law's implementation undoubtedly facilitated such a result." She continued that the SEC and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) "are now faced with attempting to undo the regulatory framework and consequent market behavior that has driven this costly compliance regime." Casey spoke at a Practising Law Institute event in Washington DC. SEC Commissioner Annette Nazareth discussed the SEC's Section 404 management guidance in her speech at the same event.
2/7. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a report [92 pages in PDF] titled "Consumer Fraud and Identity Theft Complaint Data: January - December 2006". See also, FTC release summarizing this report. These annual FTC reports provide data on the number of consumer complaints in numerous categories. For example, the just released report provides data on identity fraud, internet related fraud, internet services, internet auctions, and telecommunications. The 2006 report also contains a large amount of state and local level data. However, while this report provides useful data regarding the numbers of different types of consumer complaints in 2006, these annual provides taken together are of limited value in identifying trends. There is no single data collection project. Rather, the FTC aggregates data from several FTC programs, as well as from other government agency and private sector data collection programs. Moreover, the missions and data collection procedures of some of these programs has changed over the years. Consequently, a category of consumer complaint that appears in one annual report may not be in the next annual report. Also, a review of the FTC's reports shows that even for a given category and year, the data may change from one report to the next. There is also the matter that some consumers may report the same fraud incident to multiple data collectors. As a result, these FTC's annual report have limited value in assessing trends in fraud against consumers, the effects of FTC anti-fraud activities, and the effects of federal legislation.
The Senate will meet at 10:00 AM for morning business. It will then consider nominations.
POSTPONED. 10:00 AM. The House Commerce Committee's (HCC) Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet will hold a hearing on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The witnesses will be the five FCC Commissioners. Press contact: Jodi Seth (Dingell) at 202-225-5735 or Larry Neal (Barton) at 202-225-3641. Location: Room 2123, Rayburn Building.