National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Urged to Hold
Hearings on new global Top Level Domains (gTLDs). ACM Past-President
and USACM Co-chair Barbara Simons has co-signed a
letter urging the NTIA of the U.S. Department of Commerce to hold public hearings
regarding the new gTLDs and registries chosen by
ICANN. The letter outlines concerns relating to the free speech implications of ICANN's decisions,
the artificial scarcity imposed by approval of so few new gTLDs, and the lack of transparency
throughout the decision process, among others. Other signers of the letter are Barry Steinhardt
and Laura W. Murphy of the ACLU, Hans Klein of
Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, Andrew Shen of
Electronic Privacy Information Center
and A. Michael Froomkin of University
of Miami (Florida) School of Law. More information on ICANN can be found
on our Internet Governance page.
Court Activity
USACM joined a diverse collection of library, higher-education, and computing groups
in submitting an amicus brief with the Supreme Court in
Dastar v. Twentieth Century Fox. The brief explains to the court the potential damaging impact of
reversing the legal precedent of leaving facts in the public domain where they can be incorporated into
new works.
February 25, 2003
The USACM joined a diverse coalition of interested parties in submitting an Amici Curiae brief
in Bowers v. Baystate Technology. September 17, 2002
USACM files brief in support of researcher's rights to reverse engineer in
DVDCCA v. Bunner.
July 11, 2002
USACM signed an Amici Curiae brief in support of Eldred's challenge to the Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA). May 22, 2002
ACM and USACM Accomplishments for 2001. December 31, 2001
A U.S. District court has dismissed a lawsuit filed by ACM Member Ed Felten and a team of computing researchers that challenged the Constitutionality of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). ACM had filed a
declaration in support
of Felten and the other plaintiffs seeking to help the court understand the legislation's chilling effect
on analysis, research, and publications. Felten's attorneys did not appeal the decision. August 13, 2001
Amicus Briefs Filed in DeCSS Case.
In August, a U.S. Federal district court ruled in the first case
brought under the new Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The
ruling held that publication of the source code to the DeCSS program
to view DVDs on personal computers was a violation of the law. The
case is now under appeal, and various groups are presenting their
views to the court.
One amicus curiae brief
was filed on behalf of a distinguished group of scientists, including
USACM co-chairs Barbara Simons and Eugene Spafford, arguing that First
Amendment considerations should also be applied to the publication of
computer code. January 2001
The ACM Law Committee has also submitted a
brief.
Congressional Testimony
ACM Fellow Lance Hoffman's testimony before the Senate Commerce Committee's Subcommitteeon Science, Technology and Space on legisltaive efforts to enhance information security. April 24, 2002
ACM Fellow Dr. Ben Shneiderman testimony to
the House Committee on Government Reform's Subcommittee on Government Efficiency, Financial
Managment and Intergovernmental Relations on issues associated with a national identification system. For more on the hearing November 16, 2001.
USACM Co-chair Eugene Spafford's testimony to
the House Committee on Science regarding the role of university research in enhancing
the security of our Nation's information infrastructure. October 2001
ACM Members Testify at House Science Committee Hearings on Electronic
Voting.
ACM members Douglas W. Jones, of the University of Iowa, and Rebecca Mercuri
of Bryn Mawr College and Notable Software, Inc, testified before the
House Science Committee Hearing on Improving Voting Technology. The hearing
was held on May 22, 2001. Here is the text of the
Jones testimony
and the
Mercuri testimony. On May 24, 2001, ACM member Ron Rivest of MIT testified
before the Committee on House Administration regarding Security in
Voting Technologies. His testimony is available
here. May 22, 2001
Reports
Kathryn Kleiman, Director of ACM's Internet Governance Project (ACM-IGP) reports on the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) four-day meeting in Shanghai. October 28-31, 2002
USACM activities report covering the period July 1, 2001, to June 30, 2002, to the ACM Executive Committee.
ACM and USACM Accomplishments for 2001. December 31, 2001
Memoranda
Memo including critical analysis of NCCUSC changes to UCITA. August 2, 2002
USACM submits memos to the Congressional Internet Caucus and the House and Senate
Judiciary Committees on, October 2, 2001:
The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State
Laws (NCCUSL) recently
approved a package of
Amendments to UCITA. NCCUSL is funded by the state governments to draft model legislation
and is very influential with most of those governments. July 26, 2002
Legislation
The Fiscal Year 2003 Appropriations signed into law (Public law 108-7) by the President alots
$1.5 billion to help the States meet new standards under the Help America Vote Act 2002
, including over $1.4 billion in direct assistance to the States for the
improvement of administration, the buy-out of antiquated equipment, and new
safeguards for voting rights. Also provides funding for programs to ensure
disabled voter access and encourage youth to participate in the electoral
process. Establishes a new Election Assistance Commission to oversee reform.
The enacting legislation's
Conference Report provides additional details on the election reform law. February 20, 2003
The USACM and CRA issues a joint press
release thanking Congressional science and technology leaders on the passage of H.R. 3394,
Cyber
Security Research and Development Act. November 12, 2002
Senator Hollings introduces the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act.
A bill that attempts to protect content
by requiring manufacturers to include copyright-protection technologies in products. For a summary
of the legislation, see:
Summary.
March 21, 2002
American Library Association (ALA) to Challenge
Children's Internet Protection Act. The executive board of the ALA has
voted to mount a legal challenge to the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA), which
was passed as a rider the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations
Act in December, 2000. The law requires that all computers providing Internet
access in schools and libraries run content filtering software. The ALA's
statement can be found here. January 2001
News Articles and Press Releases
An article
by Jeff Grove on USACM's work to restore balance to US Copyright law. November 15, 2002
The USACM and CRA issues a joint press
release thanking Congressional
science and technology leaders on the passage of H.R. 3394, Cyber
Security Research and Development Act. November 12, 2002
Security Focus article about
Congressional Appropriations for Cyber Security. December 12, 2001
The ACM announces a new
Advisory Committee on Security and Privacy (ACSP). The ACSP assembles an expert
panel to provide guidance on security and privacy to be Co-Chaired by Dr. Peter Neumann
and Dr. Gene Spafford. December 7, 2001
USACM Issues Press Release Regarding the Effect of the Digital
Millenium Copyright Act on Academic Freedom and Speech. Recently,
under threat of legal action by the music recording industry,
a team of computer science researchers cancelled the presentation of an
academic paper about watermarking technology. USACM issued a
press release raising concerns that the DMCA's overly broad restrictions can be used to inhibit scientific
research and communication. More information on the DMCA can be found
on our Intellectual Property page. May 3, 2001
All ACM Press Releases
Other News & Activity
USACM joins eighty organizations across the United States in endorsing a
letter written by EPIC, which
urges the reestablishment of accuracy requirements for the FBI's
National Crime Information Center (NCIC), the nation's largest criminal
justice database. April 7, 2003
