+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

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

+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

June 25, 1998
Volume 2.4

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
CONTENTS
=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

INTRODUCTION

USACM ACTIVITIES


        USACM Proposes Priorities for Science Policy Making
        ACM Applauds President's Commitment To Technical Literacy
        Policy 98 Reports
        Intellectual Property Legislation
                Database Legislation
                WIPO Treaty Implementation


POLICY BRIEFS

        SkipJack Algorithm Declassified
        Department of Commerce Holds Meeting on Privacy
        Democrats Urge Gingrich To Bring "SAFE" Legislation to House Floor
        Policy Articles in Communications of the ACM

________________________________________________________
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
INTRODUCTION
=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

The Association for Computing Machinery is an international professional
society whose 75,000 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, see:
http://www.acm.org/membership/join.html

_________________________________________________________
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
USACM ACTIVITIES
=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

USACM PROPOSES PRIORITIES FOR SCIENCE POLICY MAKING

On May 11, ACM proposed a series of guidelines for  the development of
science policy in the United States. "Principles for Science Policy" were
presented at the ACM's Policy 98 conference in Washington, DC during
Congress's Hi-Tech week.  At the conference Congressman Vern Ehlers
reported on the future of Science Policy and responded to the ACM proposed
principles.  Representative Ehlers is Vice Chair of the House Science
Committee and head of a Congressional review of science policy. He asked
the ACM and other scientific societies to participate in the study.

The ACM's Principles identify seven critical areas for science policy. The
are intended to assist policy makers in developing sound policies to govern
the technologies the scientists research and develop. This is part of a
renewed effort by the computing community to engage in the policy debates
in Washington  In "Principles for US Science Policy", the ACM called on
Congress to maintain its commitment to K-12 science education, to academic
computer science and engineering, and to basic and applied science
research.  The ACM urged  international collaborations on science and
science policy making, a balanced approach to intellectual property
protection, and an increased focus on the ethical, legal, and social issues
related to science.  The ACM also called on policy makers to continue to
involve scientists in science policy making.

Dr. Simons said, "We thank Congressman Ehlers for the opportunity to
participate in this project and hope to continue the dialog between
computer scientists and policy makers on issues related to computer science
and technology."

For more information, see:
http://www.acm.org/usacm/science/usacm-policy-principles.html

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

ACM APPLAUDS PRESIDENT'S COMMITMENT TO TECHNICAL LITERACY

In response to President Clinton's commencement address at MIT this month,
ACM President-Elect Barbara Simons wrote a letter to the President
commending his pledge for nationwide technical literacy. Encouraging
Clinton to continue is campaign for the e-rate initiative, Simons wrote,
"by encouraging our children to be passionate about technology and
learning, you will keep America a technology leader for years to come."

Simons also thanked Clinton for his dedication to funding science and
technology research in the higher institutions of learning. In his
commencement speech, Clinton challenged the Silicon Valley community to use
their "power to empower others." In her letter, Simons responded to that
challenge by offering the  influence, enthusiasm, and technical skills of
ACM's many leaders, researchers, and professionals.

The FCC has since voted to reduce by nearly half the $2.25 billion e-rate
tax to wire schools and libraries to the Internet.

To read Clinton's MIT commencement address:

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/tt/1998/jun10/clinton.html

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

POLICY 98 REPORTS

For conference reports, please see
http://www.acm.org/policy98/reports/monday.html

For other information on the conference see http://www.acm.org/policy98

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LEGISLATION

Database Legislation

Legislation to create new property rights in data has been approved by the
House and may be before the Senate this legislative session.  On June 12,
USACM sent a letter to Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and the other members of
the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has jurisdiction over the bill.  The
letter urged the committee to hold a hearing on HR 2652, "the Collections
of Information Antipiracy Act," before voting on it.

The letter stated, "While we are aware of the concerns of database creators
regarding the protection of their collections, we are equally concerned
that H.R. 2652 may tip the balance away from legitimate database users."

USACM has expressed concern before about the effects of the proposed
legislation on science.  In a letter to the House Judiciary Committee on
March 5, 1998, USACM wrote, "The fair use provisions in H.R. 2652 fall far
short of the exemptions necessary to permit researchers to verify others'
results, educators to demonstrate models in classrooms, scientists to make
use of government databases, and other traditionally protected uses. Such
"full and open" use of data is indispensable to effective and accurate
research. The fair use provisions allow only extractions which do "not harm
the actual or potential market for the product."

For more information see:
http://www.acm.org/usacm/copyright/usacm-letter-hr2652.html
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c105:H.R.2652.IH:


WIPO Treaty Implementation

The Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Telecommunications has approved
legislation to update copyright law for the digital age.  A full Committee
vote on the legislation was scheduled for June 24 but it has been postponed
until mid-July.  The legislation had previously been approved by the Senate
and the House Judiciary Committee without amendments.

One of the more controversial provisions is a complete ban on any attempt
to circumvent a technological protection measure that protects copyrighted
material. At the Commerce Subcommittee vote, Rep. Markey (D-MA) introduced
an amendment that allows for circumvention to protect personal privacy.
The Subcommittee approved that amendment.  Also, an exception was made to
allow cryptographers to circumvent so they may continue to research and
develop encryption tools.  USACM had urged the Subcommittee to adopt such
an amendment.

Language that would preserve the right of fair use in the digital age
remains controversial.  Rep. Bliley (R-VA), Chair of the Commerce committee
has urge  all parties to find a solution that both protects the rights of
authors to protect their work and the rights of users to fair uses of the
work.

For more information see the USACM letter at:
http://www.acm.org/usacm/copyright/usacm-letter-hr2281.html

or copies of the Bill at

H.R. 2281: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c105:H.R.2281:
H.R. 3048: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c105:H.R.3048:

__________________________________________________________
=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
POLICY BRIEFS
=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

SKIPJACK ALGORITHM DECLASSIFIED

On June 23, the National Security Agency publicly released the Skipjack
encryption algorithm.  Skipjack is used in both the Clipper Chip and the
Fortezza Card.  The release comes two years after NSA described the
Skipjack algorithm as highly classified and stated that  its release would
pose a serious danger to national security.

For more information, please see http://csrc.nist.gov/

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE HOLDS MEETING ON PRIVACY

On June 23 - 24, the U.S. Department of Commerce held a public meeting on
Internet Privacy in Washington, D.C. In an effort to assess how the
industry has responded to President Clinton's call last year to protect
consumers on the Internet, the Commerce Department invited members from
industry and the privacy community to give their views on past progress and
future recommendations. Academia, industry representatives, privacy
advocates, public interest groups, and Washington policymakers were invited
to demonstrate and to debate the efficacy of self-regulation.  Over the two
days various methods were examined for privacy protection, such as
certification programs, technological aids, and public education.  USACM
chair Barbara Simons spoke on a panel that discussed the Commerce Staff
Paper on the Elements of Effective Self Regulation for Protection of
Privacy.

What was clear from the conference is that a patchwork of "evolving"
self-regulatory programs, with little or no means for enforcement fell
short of the Department of Commerce's hopes for an industry based solution.
Consumer groups and privacy advocates pointed out that the market fails to
provide incentives for online industries to adapt effective privacy
policies, and that proposing guidelines alone does not provide the
safeguards that legislation would provides. Commerce Secretary William M.
Daley expressed his disappointment at the poor showing of effective
self-regulation: "Articulating principles isn't adequate.  There has to a
way to enforce this [self-regulation] that the consumer can trust, or this
won't work -- there has to be some meaningful consequences to companies
that don't comply with privacy rules."  Consumer and privacy groups believe
it is clear that industries cannot be trusted to regulate themselves, and
the time has come for the government to step in and protect privacy online.

For information on the Commerce Department Privacy Meeting please see:
http://www.news.com/Radio/Features/0,155,241,00.html

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

DEMOCRATS URGE GINGRICH TO BRING "SAFE" LEGISLATION TO HOUSE FLOOR

On June 23, 43 minority members of the House of Representatives sent a
letter to Speaker Newt Gingrich urging him to schedule H.R. 695, the
Security and Freedom Through Encryption Act, for action on the House Floor
before the July recess.

Known as the SAFE Act, H.R. 695 affirms the rights of individuals to use
and sell encryption in the United States and relaxes export controls on
encryption. Because there have been no recent legislative activity or
deadlines since the first session and all discussions concerning the bill
have stalled. Signatories of the letter are concerned that the time and
effort spent on the bill will be wasted if it is not acted upon in this
Congress.

While concerned about the international competitiveness and economic impact
of encryption policy, the major concern of the members is that national
security would be threatened if the encryption industry moved overseas
because current U.S. encryption policy is unreasonable.  According to the
letter, "the world's foremost cryptographers and security experts will no
longer be ours. This expertise may no longer be available to help us
address the challenges presented by strong encryption and advances in
technology."

Also, on June 11, Representative Lofgren (D-CA) who is the lead democratic
co-sponsor of SAFE sent a letter to Attorney General Janet Reno in response
to a comment made by Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Robert S.
Litt at the 1998 EPIC Cryptography Conference that took place three days
earlier. In response to a question concerning the National Research
Council's report last year on cryptography policy, Cryptography's Role In
Security the Information Society ("CRISIS"), Litt revealed that he hadn't
read the report. Litt felt that because he had arrived only after the
report was written, he was not obligated to read it. However, as Lofgren
wrote to Reno, "this report is considered a basic report for virtually
everyone involved in the national debate on encryption policy...It is very
discouraging to learn that perhaps the leading advocate and spokesman for
the justice Department's policy on encryption has never  looked at this
seminal study of this critical matter."

For the Democrats letter, please see: http://www.crypto.org/congletter.html
For Lofgren's letter, please see: http://www.crypto.org/Lofgren_Letter.html

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

POLICY ARTICLES IN COMMUNICATIONS OF THE ACM

The May issue of Communications of the ACM is dedicated to Digital
Watermarking.  There are also a number of policy articles on security and
the Infrastructure including:

Inside Risks: Laptops in Congress? Peter Neumann

The June issue of Communications of the ACM is dedicated to The Java
Factor.  There are also a number of policy articles on security and the
Infrastructure including:

International Perspectives: Protecting an Invaluable and Ever-Widening
Infrastructure.  by S.J. Lukasik, L.T. Greenberg, and S.E. Goodman

Viewpoint: Internet Malcontents of the World--Unite! by Wayne Madsen

Inside Risks: Infrastructure Risk Reduction. by Harold W. Lawson

For CACM on-line see: http://www.acm.org/cacm/0698/0698toc.html


=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=

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).
________________________________________________________________________