HOUSE APPROVES MEASURE TO CREATE ANTITRUST REVIEW COMMISSION
Antitrust statutes would be subjected to review under conference report on Dept. of Justice (DoJ) authorization bill (HR-2115) that House passed Sept. 26 by 400-4 margin. Bill, which would incorporate Antitrust Modernization Commission Act of 2001 (HR-2325) by House Judiciary Committee Chmn. Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), would create blue ribbon commission designed to study effectiveness of antitrust laws on modern economy, committee spokesman said.
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Because much of antitrust law was developed in early part of 20th century, it’s now appropriate to examine how effective those laws are, spokesman said. While commission’s mission will be broad, its likely to closely look at 3 areas: (1) Role of intellectual property law in antitrust. (2) Antitrust in global economy. (3) Role of state attorneys general and potential overlap with federal jurisdiction.
Commission will have 12 members: 4 appointed by President, 2 each for majority and minority leaders of Senate, 2 each for House speaker and minority leader. President’s nominees will include 2 members of opposing party, which will be chosen by that party’s congressional leaders. President will choose chmn. of commission, while Congressional leaders from opposition party will choose the vice chmn., legislation said. Commission will have report ready for Congress and President 3 years after its first meeting, according to text of bill said. Report will include recommendations for legislative and administrative actions.
DoJ would be required to report annually to Congress on use of its DCS 1000 electronic surveillance system, formerly known as Carnivore, under another provision of conference report. DoJ would update respective chairmen and ranking minority members of House and Senate Judiciary committees on how frequently department uses e-mail interception system “or any subsequent version of such program.”
Sensenbrenner said mandatory reporting requirement “protects civil liberties.” Privacy groups have deplored DCS 1000, contending it would enable FBI to intercept more data than was lawfully permissible under “pen register” and trap & trace orders, which unlike full wiretap orders restrict interceptions to e-mail header and dialed-digit data rather than contents of such transmissions.
Congress wants DoJ to identify not only how often, but also how effectively, that surveillance technology is used. In addition to seeking details of program’s use during investigations -- such as which facilities or individuals are targeted -- Congress wants to assess how well evidence seized in those cases stand up in court. It will weigh quantity of interceptions against number of: (1) Subsequent arrests and trials. (2) Motions to suppress related evidence and number granted or denied. (3) Convictions stemming from use of DCS 1000.
Use of encryption by suspects during investigations also must be revealed to Congress. Conference report said DoJ’s annual disclosure must include: “Number of orders in which encryption was encountered and whether such encryption prevented law enforcement from obtaining the plain text of communications intercepted.”
House-approved report also would modify rules on H-1B visas for foreign technical workers in U.S. to allow under certain circumstances extensions beyond usual 6 year maximum. Rep. Smith (R-Tex.) said that would remove unnecessary petition requirements and correct inflexibility in law for applicants: “This recognizes that these individuals are already well valued by their companies [and] have significant ties to the U.S.”