The Senate passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (H.R. 4040) Conference Report on July 31, 2008, one day after House passage of the bill.
Postponement of talks on an EU complaint that the U.S. Internet gambling ban violates World Trade Organization rules could signal that “things are getting more serious,” said Nao Matsukata, a policy adviser at Alston and Bird and a former Bush administration trade official. In December European online gambling operators formally complained to the European Commission that the U.S. Department of Justice violates international law by threatening and pressing criminal charges against foreign online gambling companies while letting U.S. operators flourish (WID Dec 21 p3). In May, the EC queried U.S. officials seeking information on the country’s practices, said the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative. The U.S. Trade Representative’s brief response was signed by a midlevel official, Matsukata said, apparently to keep the discussion at a lower level. Talks on the EC probe were set for July 28 but delayed at the last moment, probably until September, he told us. Many reasons could explain the delay, he said. Many USTR officials would have been attending that day’s WTO Doha trade negotiations, he said. The gambling dispute has a higher profile in the U.S., which may mean the USTR is taking it more seriously and needs time to prepare, he said. “We're not reading too much into the delay, but it’s likely to put back the timetable for conclusion of the EU’s investigation,” Remote Gambling Association CEO Clive Hawkswood told us. “As of today the two sides still seem a long way apart.” A WTO case filed by the EC will break new ground, said Matsukata. The case is aimed at Justice Department enforcement of the law, and no one wants a debate on the “very tricky area” of national sovereignty, he said. An impending change of U.S. administration is a “hindrance,” since there will be a gap in political oversight of the USTR and the Department of Justice, Hawkswood said. Longer term, he said, changes could be beneficial. Matsukata predicted movement on the issue before the election due to growing congressional interest, It’s unclear whether either major candidate would handle the situation differently from what has been done so far. But the matter isn’t likely to languish long after Congress returns, he said. A USTR spokeswoman said “there are no ‘discussions’ or ’talks'” between the EU and the U.S. “We conducted negotiations with the EU which resulted in a mutually acceptable outcome last December,” she said, but at the request of private parties, the EC is doing an internal examination of the matter. The USTR is providing facts to help the EC, she said.
A September trial is set for Silicon Image’s suit accusing Analogix of copying the register maps and configuration software for DTV chipsets. Silicon Image sued Analogix in U.S. District Court, San Jose, in January 2007, alleging that the chip developer’s ICs violate its copyrights by being designed to “mirror” its products and “mimic” their numbering schemes.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has issued a CSMS message providing the Automated Broker Interface (ABI) system requirements for the additional trade data elements associated with softwood lumber products as required by the Farm Bill of 2008.
On July 28, 2008, the American Trucking Associations (ATA)1, with the support of its Intermodal Motor Carriers Conference (IMCC)2, filed suit in the U.S. District Court in California challenging the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports' Clean Trucks "Concession Plans" as approved by the cities and their harbor commissions.
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has the support of Democratic colleagues for an order finding that Comcast violated the commission’s Internet freedom principles, FCC officials said. The order would take Comcast to task for blocking peer-to- peer file transfers and inadequately disclosing its network management practices (CD July 16 p2). Meanwhile, in filings with the commission, Comcast traded jibes with the network engineer who publicized the practices.
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has the support of Democratic colleagues for an order finding that Comcast violated the commission’s Internet freedom principles, FCC officials said. The order would take Comcast to task for blocking peer-to- peer file transfers and inadequately disclosing its network management practices(WID July 16 p1). Meanwhile, in filings with the commission, Comcast traded jibes with the network engineer who publicized the practices.
P2P company Lime Wire will enter the dustbin of history beside Grokster, the RIAA said in a heavily blacked-out 47- page motion for summary judgment in its long-running infringement suit. The RIAA cited Lime Wire marketing materials, claims on its Web site and internal messages -- including a former engineer’s claim that Lime Wire’s business was infringement-based -- as evidence of its intent to attract the users of Grokster after it lost a Supreme Court case (WID June 28/05 p1).
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative posted USTR Schwab's July 22nd remarks at the Doha Ministerial in Geneva. Schwab's remarks include a new proposal to limit U.S. agricultural subsidies to $15 billion per year. Senator Grassley, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee and senior member of the Agriculture Committee, commented on the USTR's $15 billion proposal, and the reaction from leading developing countries that it was not enough. (USTR remarks, dated 07/22/08, available at http://www.ustr.gov/assets/Document_Library/Press_Releases/2008/July/asset_upload_file409_15037.pdf; Grassley statement, dated 07/22/08, available at http://finance.senate.gov/press/Gpress/2008/prg072208a.pdf.)
The International Trade Commission has instituted a section 337 patent-based investigation of certain rubber antidegradants, antidegradant intermediates, and products containing the same pursuant to a complaint.