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ACM WASHINGTON UPDATE
U.S. Office of Public Policy of the
Association for Computing Machinery

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November 13, 1998
Volume 2.10

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CONTENTS
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INTRODUCTION

USACM ACTIVITIES:

ACM Names New Executive Director and CEO
USACM 1998 Annual Report Released
POLICY BRIEFS
President Approves Next Generation Internet Research Act
Free Speech Challenge to US Cryptography Export Laws Delayed
Clinton Approves Bill to Eliminate MEP Sunset Provision
Senators and Science Organizations Urge Clinton to Double R&D Budget
Scientist Elected to House of Representatives
Copyright Decision May Effect Future of US Database Legislation
ICANN to Hold Public Meeting
Communications of the ACM

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INTRODUCTION
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The Association for Computing Machinery is an international
professional society whose 80,000 members (60,000 in the U.S.)
represent a critical mass of computer scientists in education,
industry, and government. The USACM provides a means for promoting
dialogue on technology policy issues with United States policy makers
and the general public. The WASHINGTON UPDATE will report on
activities in Washington which may be of interest to those in the
computing and information policy communities and will highlight
USACM's involvement in many of these issues.

To subscribe to the ACM WASHINGTON UPDATE send an e-mail to
listserv@acm.org with "subscribe WASHINGTON-UPDATE" (no quotes) in
the body of the message. Back issues are available at:
http://www.acm.org/usacm

For information about joining the Association for Computing
Machinery, see: http://www.acm.org/membership/join.html

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USACM ACTIVITIES 
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ACM NAMES NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND CEO

On October 23, ACM announced that John White, currently Manager of
the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center's Computer Science Laboratory,
had been appointed as its new Executive Director and Chief Executive
Officer.

Dr. White succeeds Joseph DeBlasi, who is retiring at the end of
the year. He will report to Dr. Barbara Simons, the President of the
ACM under the direction of the Executive Committee of the ACM
Council. White has been at Xerox PARC for the past sixteen years,
where he has led a number of research groups, including the PARC
group that developed and delivered DocuPrint, Xerox's series of
high-end, high-speed networked printing products. As head of the
Computer Science Lab, he has managed research teams exploring future
offerings in networked electronic document systems, services, and
commerce. Dr. White has been a long-time advocate of the ACM, serving
as its President in 1990-92, and taking part in many ACM volunteer
activities over the past two decades.

Dr. White said, "I am excited about the opportunity to help lead
the ACM and broaden its influence and deepen its impact. ACM has
along and rich history of responding to the needs of the computing
field -- from embracing emerging technologies and creating the
professional communities necessary to guide their evolution, to
shaping the discipline of computing science, and helping to raise
awareness regarding issues important to the public."

During his two-year term as ACM President, Dr. White helped
bolster the ACM's role as an international organization and
instituted the ACM's first proactive engagement into privacy issues,
the under-representation of women and minorities in computing, and
the protection of intellectual property, particularly software. He
also began a major networking project (ACM Network Services) to bring
together electronically ACM's worldwide community of 80,000
members.

Dr. White received a PhD in Computer Science, an MS in computer
science, and a BA in mathematics, all from the University of
California, Santa Barbara. He has fifteen refereed publications and
patents to his credit. He is a Fellow of the ACM, and has received
the ACM Outstanding Contribution award, as well as the Xerox PARC
Excellence in Science and Technology Award. Dr. White has served on
the boards of Computing Research Association and the Computing
Sciences Accreditation Board.

For more information please contact: Chris Morgan 617-262-2044
morgan@acm.org or Tina Angelone 212-626-0532 angelone@acm.org

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USACM 1998 ANNUAL REPORT RELEASED

This has been a busy year for US computer policy. USACM has
prepared an annual report of its activities which has been placed
online at: http://www.acm.org/usacm/about/annual-report-98.html

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POLICY BRIEFS 
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PRESIDENT APPROVES NEXT GENERATION INTERNET RESEARCH ACT

On October 28, President Clinton signed into law H.R. 3332, the
"Next Generation Internet Research Act of 1998." The Act builds on
the High-Performance Computing Act of 1991, by authorizing a new
research program in advanced communication technologies that,
according to the President, "will be critical for assuring American
prosperity, national and economic security, and international
competitiveness in the 21st century.

Specifically, H.R. 3332 authorizes the National Science
Foundation, Department of Energy, National Institutes of Health,
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and National Institute
of Standards and Technology to work with America's business and
academic communities in a new research program. The role of the
Department of Defense in this research has already been authorized in
Public Law 105-261, which the President signed on October 17, 1998.
The bill also authorizes an advanced "testbed" network that will link
key Federal and university research centers. These testbeds will
permit American research teams to develop new Internet techniques and
demonstrate how those techniques can advance a wide range of critical
research initiatives.

The President stated, "Federal investment in computer networking
technology and related fields spurred technological developments that
have created new businesses and jobs; given powerful new tools to the
research community; made it easier for citizens to participate in
their government; allowed small businesses, remote communities, and
people with disabilities to participate in the world economy; and
improved the Nation's quality of life. The work launched by this bill
will lead to even greater achievements. This forward-looking
legislation will help ensure that the Nation continues to support a
balanced program of research in high-speed computers, communication
systems, and the software necessary to put technology to practical
use at work and at home."

For the text of the legislation please see: 
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d105:HR03332:@@@L|/bss/d105query.html|

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FREE SPEECH CHALLENGE TO US CRYPTOGRAPHY EXPORT LAWS DELAYED

The 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has indicated that it will
delay proceedings in Junger v. Daley, for at least 45 days, possibly
anticipating that the 9th Circuit will soon announce a ruling in the
Bernstein case, which raises similar issues. Both cases challenged
the current US encryption export restrictions on the ground that they
abridge the right to free speech on the Internet. On July 7, Judge
James Gwin of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of
Ohio ruled that law professor Peter Junger could not contest the
export controls on free speech principles. In his decision, Judge
Gwin stated that "... exporting source code is conduct that can
occasionally have communicative elements. Nevertheless, merely
because conduct is occasionally expressive does not necessarily
extend First Amendment protection to it." Professor Junger appealed
that decision to the 6th Circuit.

Additional information on encryption policy is available at:
http://www.crypto.org


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CLINTON APPROVES BILL TO ELIMINATE MEP SUNSET PROVISION

On October 30, President Clinton signed into law H.R. 1274, the
"Technology Administration Act of 1998." The Act is designed to
"strengthen the technology programs of the Department of Commerce to
meet the challenges of the 21st century."

The Act will eliminate the Commerce Department's National
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 6-year sunset provision
for Federal co-funding of NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership
centers. It also authorizes NIST to establish a program to help
elementary and secondary school teachers to convey to their students
important lessons in measurements, manufacturing, technology
transfer, and other areas in which NIST works.

In a statement from the White House, the President said, "This Act
furthers my Administration's commitment to ensure that technology
remains the engine of economic growth. We have more work to do. My
Administration will work with the 106th Congress on legislation to
reauthorize the Commerce Department's Technology Administration and
other NIST programs."

For the text of the legislation please see: 
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d105:HR01274:@@@L|/bss/d105query.html|

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SENATORS AND SCIENCE ORGANIZATIONS URGE CLINTON TO DOUBLE R&D
BUDGET

In separate letters, eight Republican and Democratic senators, and
33 scientific and technical organizations, asked President Clinton to
submit a FY 2000 budget request with significant increases for
R&D . Senators Bill Frist, Jay Rockefeller, Pete Domenici, Jeff
Bingaman, Alfonse D'Amato, John Breaux, Conrad Burns, and Joseph
Lieberman sent Clinton a letter earlier this fall stating, "your FY
2000 budget request represents a golden opportunity to capitalize on
the growing movement toward increased R&D  investments and
establish a bipartisan national consensus on doubling non-defense
federal R&D  over the next twelve years. We urge that you take
the lead on this important issue and include significant
across-the-board increases in R&D  investment in your budget
request. We know that there are always difficult tradeoffs to be made
among competing priorities but we hope that your Administration can
provide leadership on this vital issue with realistic budgetary
support." This letter was sent before the Senate passed S. 2217
authorizing the doubling of the non-defense R&D  budget.

This week, 33 scientific and technical organizations sent a letter
requesting similar support. The letter stated, "We recognize and
applaud your efforts to boost federal investments in research and
development in your Fiscal Year 1999 budget proposal. We urge you to
take advantage of the bipartisan support for research and development
shown in the Fiscal Year 1999 appropriations bills, as well as by S.
2217, which passed the Senate on October 8, 1998, and accord R&D 
a continuing high priority within your administration."

The text of S. 2217 is not currently available online but see
http://thomas.loc.gov/home/thomas2.html
for this bill or any other federal legislation.

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SCIENTIST ELECTED TO HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Another scientist has been elected to Congress. Rush Holt, former
Assistant Director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (8/1989
- 10/1997) defeated an incumbent, Mike Pappas (R-NJ). Holt also
served as the Acting Chief of the State Department's Nuclear and
Scientific Division, Office of Strategic Forces Analysis
(12/1987-8/1989.) He received a Ph.D. in physics from New York
University. His web site notes, "He has had a career applying science
to the public good."

Congressman Holt's web page can be found at: http://www.rushholt.com/

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COPYRIGHT DECISIONS MAY EFFECT FUTURE OF US DATABASE
LEGISLATION

Two cases decided on November 3 may affect the future of proposed
legislation to create copyright protection for databases. The U.S.
Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, in both decisions, limited the
ability of legal publisher West Publishing to copyright legal
decisions under current US copyright law. In the first case, the
court ruled that West does not obtain copyrights to the text of
judicial decisions when it makes minor grammatical and formatting
changes to them. In the second case, the court ruled that copyright
law does not protect page numbers in West's law books.

The court ruled in Matthew Bender v. West Publishing that minor
editorial changes made by West are not sufficiently original to
warrant additional legal protection. The Court wrote, "All of West's
alterations to judicial opinions involve the addition and arrangement
of facts, or the rearrangement of data already included in the
opinions, and therefore any creativity in these elements of West's
case reports lies in West's selection and arrangement of this
information. In light of accepted legal conventions and other
external constraining factors, West's choices on selection and
arrangement can reasonably be viewed as obvious, typical, and lacking
even minimal creativity."

In the second case, the court ruled that CD-ROM publishers could
include in the text of decisions the page numbers used by West in it
printed volumes. This is important since West holds a de facto
monopoly over printed legal decisions and competing publishers need
to refer to West page numbers to ensure that courts and attorneys can
locate cited cases.

These cases will likely spur West Publishing and other owners of
large databases to seek changes in US and international law to give
them greater protection. USACM and other scientific societies have
opposed such changes because of their potential effects on the
exchange of scientific data.

Additional information on the two cases is available at: 
http://www.hyperlaw.com/hlvwest.htm

USACM's position on this issue can be found at: 
http://www.acm.org/usacm/copyright/presidents-letter-998.html

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ICANN TO HOLD PUBLIC MEETING

The Board of Directors of the Internet Corporation for Assigned
Names and Numbers (ICANN) is holding a special open public meeting in
Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA on Saturday, November 14, 1998,
commencing at 9 am and concluding at 4 PM. The purpose of the meeting
is to let the new ICANN Board hear the views and concrete suggestions
of the Internet community on matters of current importance to the
work of ICANN. The Board members wish to understand the issues and to
engage in open dialogue on ways to achieve the goals of the
government's White Paper.

The agenda for the meeting and information on the location of the
meeting is available at http://www.iana.org/

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COMMUNICATIONS OF THE ACM

The October issue of Communications of the ACM contains some
interesting articles on public policy. They include:

"Toward a Unified View of Electronic Commerce" by Frederick J.
Riggins and Hyeun-Suk (Sue) Rhee

Viewpoint: "Maintaining High Living Standards Through Innovation,
Strong Patents" by Richard C. Hsu

Technical Opinion "Engineering in Software" by Richard
Gisselquist

Inside Risks: "Risks of E-Education" by Peter G. Neumann

For more information see: http://www.acm.org/cacm/

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Washington Update is a biweekly publication of the U.S. Public
Policy Office of the Association for Computing http://www.acm.org/usacm
666 Pennsylvania Ave., SE, Suite 302B, Washington, DC 20003.
202/544-4859 (tel), 202/547-5482 (fax).
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