Porn companies and performers can further develop their case that federal record-keeping regulations known as Section 2257 rules are unconstitutionally broad, under a 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling Monday. The rules, intended to combat child pornography, require primary and secondary producers, such as porn studios and porn websites, to verify the ages of performers and keep such records for law enforcement review. The question of whether the rules are “narrowly tailored,” so that they don’t impact the production of porn whose performers are clearly not underage, will go back to the trial court, which initially ruled for the government against plaintiffs’ First, Fourth and Fifth amendment claims.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection posted an updated version of its spreadsheet of ACE ESAR A2.2 (Initial Entry Types) programming issues.
A recently released U.S. Customs and Border Protection February 23 Implementation Guide for Messaging Interface between International Trade Data System Trade Partners and the CBP Document Image System (DIS) for importers and brokers provides extensive technical details on the messaging processes. The document, numbered ITDS-DIS-IG-1.2.6, says For Official Use Only. CBP recently began the first phase of DIS testing for Importers and Brokers using ACE.
The Court of International Trade announced that, effective May 1, 2012, it has approved certain increases in fees for services provided by the CIT. Specifically, CIT increased fees for, among other things, original admission of an attorney to practice (now $76), records retrieval (now $53), filing/indexing in cases where a case filing fee has not been paid (now $46), etc. CIT said the changes flow from an increase in the district court miscellaneous fee schedule promulgated under Title 28 U.S.C. § 1914.
Large incumbent LECs cheered a petition by USTelecom for forbearance from enforcement of several “outdated” legacy telecommunications regulations, in comments filed Monday, but others wanted to ensure that ILECs still comply with some reporting rules that they say help competitors and the commission make informed decisions. Several state commissions opposed the petition. While New York regulators don’t oppose the bulk of the petition, they said they're concerned about the potential impact on Lifeline services.
Broker Power is providing readers with some of the top stories for April 2-6, 2012 in case they were missed last week.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) posted the following notices from February 22-24, 2012 (may have to click twice on source documents for proper viewing):
Sirius XM shares are up nearly 7 percent over the past two trading sessions due to renewed expectation that Liberty Media Corporation (LMCA) will buy out the company, Canaccord Genuity said in a research note. “We do not think this is the case because LMCA can monetize its stake without increasing it.” Wall Street’s renewed takeout belief is likely due to LMCA’s recent FCC filing “indicating that it believes it now has de facto control of Siri” due to the expiration of its standstill agreement and its 40 percent stake, Canaccord said. Miller Tabak analyst David Joyce downgraded Sirius to neutral from buy, “as SIRI shares are now only 6 percent away from our $2.55 target.” After Siri’s FCC filing calling for a dismissal of LMCA’s claims, “we now view the likelihood of the commencement of voluntary share buybacks by SIRI as low,” he said in a research note. While Siri management will likely benefit from buybacks, “at this point such a move would play into LMCA’s strategy.”
The Court of International Trade remanded to the International Trade Administration the final results of the 2004 changed circumstances review of the antidumping duty order on extruded rubber thread from Malaysia (A-557-805), which determined to revoke the AD order due to the bankruptcy of the sole U.S. manufacturer of the domestic like product. While the ITA revoked the order effective October 1, 2003, plaintiff Heveafil SDN. BHD. argues for an effective date of October 1, 1995.
The U.S. Supreme Court refused to allow the filing of a petition for certiorari under seal, in the case of John Mezzalingua Associates v. International Trade Commission, in its order list released April 2. In the case, No. 10-1536 (Fed. Cir. Oct. 4, 2011), the U.S. Appeals Court, Federal Circuit, affirmed the ITC's decision that Mezzalingua failed to satisfy the domestic industry requirement of section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, 19 U.S.C. § 1337. The firm, doing business as PPC, manufactures cable connectors used to connect coaxial cables to electronic devices. It filed suit in the ITC, alleging violations of section 337 and asserting infringement of four PPC patents by Arris International. An ALJ ruled that PPC had satisfied the domestic industry requirement but the ITC reversed the ALJ ruling. The Supreme Court dismissed the bid for the right to file under seal, but said Mezzalingua could file a renewed motion providing more information supporting the request.