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

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October 30, 1998
Volume 2.9

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CONTENTS
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INTRODUCTION

USACM ACTIVITIES:
        ACM Participates in National Y2K Action Week

POLICY BRIEFS
        Gore Speaks on "Declaration of Interdependence"
        Jon Postal, Director of IANA, Passes Away
        ICANN Elects Board and Appoints Mike Roberts as Interim President
        FCC Approves FBI Proposal for Telephone Locator
        House Approves Science Policy Study
        Worlds Fastest Computer Unveiled
        Court Challenge to Internet Censorship Bill Filed
        Senate Passes Federal Research Investment Act
        Elliot Maxwell Named Special Advisor to the Secretary of
                Commerce for the Digital Economy


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INTRODUCTION
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The Association for Computing Machinery is an international professional
society whose 80,000 members (70,000 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 PARTICIPATES IN NATIONAL Y2K ACTION WEEK

On October 19, President Clinton launched National Y2K Action Week by
signing into law S. 2392, the "Year 2000 (Y2K) Information and Readiness
Disclosure Act."  The President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion organized
the Action Week.  ACM President Barbara Simons is a member of the
President's Council and ACM participated in the planning of the Week's
events.  The purpose of the week was to urge small- and medium-sized
businesses to take the necessary steps to ensure that the technologies they
and their business partners depend upon are ready for the year 2000.

The Small Business Administration, the Department of Commerce, and several
other Federal Agencies hosted Y2K educational events at their field offices
across the Nation.   They also urged State, local, tribal governments, and
community organizations to address this critical problem.  More than 160
national organizations representing industries, professions, government,
and the nonprofit sector joined the Council in promoting Y2K action during
the week.

The purpose of S. 2392 is to encourage organizations to share information
about their experiences in dealing with the Y2K problem or the status of
their Y2K by limiting liability for the information exchanged.

More information can be found by calling 1-800-U-ASK-SBA or at
http://www.y2k.gov or http://www.sba.gov/y2k

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POLICY BRIEFS
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GORE SPEAKS ON "DECLARATION OF INTERDEPENDENCE"

In a speech on October 12 before the United Nations' chief
telecommunications organization, Vice President Gore challenged delegates
representing over 180 nations "to use our newest technologies to preserve
our oldest values." The Vice President proposed five new challenges, which
he characterized as a "Declaration of Interdependence."

First, he challenged the world community to improve access to technology so
everyone on the planet is within walking distance of basic
telecommunication services by the year 2005.  Second, he challenged them to
bridge language barriers by developing technologies with real-time digital
translation so anyone on the planet can talk to anyone else.  Third, he
challenged them to create a global knowledge network of people working to
improve the delivery of education, health care, agricultural resources, and
sustainable development, and to ensure public safety.  The Vice President
specifically challenged the education community to link together
practitioners, academic experts, and not-for-profit organizations working
on our most pressing social and economic needs. Fourth, he challenged them
to ensure that communications technology protects the free-flow of ideas
and supports democracy and free speech. Finally, he challenged the world
community to create networks that allow every micro-entrepreneur in the
world to advertise, market, and sell products directly to the world market.

Additionally, the Vice President called on the world community to address
the Year 2000 computer problem, "which, if not addressed, could pose
serious problems for commerce and communications all over the world."  He
said, "we must ensure that the international system is ready for the year
2000 -- because one weak link in the system will hurt us all.  Together, we
must solve this problem."

For more information see: URL:
http://www.pub.whitehouse.gov/uri-res/I2R?urn:pdi://oma.eop.gov.us/1998/10/16/1.text.1


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JON POSTAL, DIRECTOR OF IANA, PASSES ON

Jon Postel, the director of the Internet Assigned Numbers Author, died on
October 16. Dr. Postel was heavily involved with the beginnings of the
Internet (then ARPANET) and played an integral part in the creation of
almost all the major Internet protocols.  Often referred to by such terms
as "a God" and "the gold standard" by people who have worked with him, he
had recently been immersed in the controversial attempts to move control of
the Internet out of the hands of the government.

Postal received his B.S. in Engineering in 1966, his M.S. in 1968, and his
Ph.D. in 1974, all from UCLA.  He worked for Mitre, Keydata, and with Doug
Engelbart's group at SRI, and joined the USC Information Sciences Institute
in 1976. He was the first individual member of the Internet Society.  He
continued to serve as a trustee of the Internet Society until his death. He
was the custodian of the .US domain, and a founder of the Los Nettos
Internet service.

There is a memorial service scheduled for November 5 at 11 a.m. at the USC
Brovard Auditorium

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ICANN ELECTS BOARD AND APPOINTS MIKE ROBERTS AS INTERIM PRESIDENT

On Oct. 26, The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
("ICANN") today announced that it had elected its Initial Board and chosen
Michael M. Roberts as its Interim President and Chief Executive Officer.
In addition, the Board chose Esther Dyson as its Interim Chairman, and
appointed an Executive Committee consisting of Dyson, Gregory L, Crew of
Australia, Hans Kraaijenbrink of The Netherlands and Roberts.  The other
Initial Board members include Geraldine Capdeboscq (France), George H.
Conrades (United States), Gregory L. Crew (Australia), Frank Fitzsimmons
(United States), Hans Kraaijenbrink (The Netherlands), Jun Murai (Japan),
Eugenio Triana (Spain), and Linda S. Wilson (United States).

ICANN is a private, non-profit corporation, managed by an international
board, formed to coordinate and administer policies and technical protocols
relating to the domain name and address system that permits Internet
communications to be routed to the correct person or entity. Its proposed
duties include those now performed under U.S. Government contract by the
Internet Assigned Numbers Authority. At its first meeting, which took place
in New York, the Board also adopted basic organizational resolutions.  The
Board did not adopt bylaws, deferring that until it had finished its
consideration of the issues raised in the Commerce letter and by various
groups and individuals.

Roberts has extensive experience with both networking and with non-profit
institutions, including service as the Vice President for Networking of
EDUCOM, an association of more than 600 member colleges and universities.
In 1991, he was detailed from EDUCOM to serve as a FoundingTrustee and the
first Executive Director of the Internet Society. In 1996-97, he was an
organizer and first project director of the Internet2 project, a university
effort to design, integrate and deploy advanced networking infrastructure
and applications to support research, teaching and learning.

The Board of Directors of ICANN invites any interested party to a special
open public meeting in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA on Saturday, November
14, 1998, commencing at 9 am and concluding at 4 PM.

For more information see: http://www.iana.org

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FCC APPROVES FBI PROPOSSAL FOR TELEPHONE LOCATOR

In a statement released on October 22, the Federal Communications
Commission expressed its tentative approval of FBI-proposed technical
requirements that would enable law enforcement to determine the location of
individuals using cellular telephones.  The Commission also tentatively
approved other capabilities requested by the Bureau, rejected several, and
deferred decisions on other issues, including surveillance of Internet
"packet" communications. The initial decision came in a proceeding under
the controversial Communications Assistance to Law Enforcement Act (CALEA).
 However this FCC action is not final.

Additional information on CALEA is available at:
http://www.epic.org/privacy/wiretap/

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HOUSE APPROVES SCIENCE POLICY STUDY

Before adjourning this month, the House of Representatives endorsed House
Resolution 578, the "National Science Policy Study."  Since the report's
release, there has been much criticism that while it touched on many
important ideas, it did not go into specifics.  The report's author, Rep.
Vern Ehlers (R-MI) said in his House floor comments,  the report "does not
explore any particular issue in great depth.  It is instead a broad-brush
view of the entire science and engineering enterprise." He continued,  "The
work of addressing specific science policy issues will have to come
later....  It is my hope that we will do so in the next Congress."

Science Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) said, "the clear
message of this report is that, while not exactly broke, America's science
policy is nonetheless in need of some pretty significant maintenance."  He
continued, "In my view what makes this report different from other science
policy reports published by various groups over the years, some of them
very good, is the Committee on Science's intention to act on its
recommendations in future oversight hearings [and] in legislation.  Indeed
this report should not be seen as the end, but rather the beginning of a
long process that will involve Congress, the Executive Branch, the States,
universities and industry all working together."

Criticizing the report, Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) speaking for
herself and three colleagues, said the report "lacks significant input on
issues of major concern."  Their greatest concern was "the role of under
represented populations in the fields of science and technology...."

For the full report see:
http://www.house.gov/science/science_policy_report.htm

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WORLD'S FASTEST COMPUTER UNVEILED

On October 28, President Gore, joined by Energy Secretary Bill Richardson,
unveiled the world's fastest computer, which will break the "speed barrier
for computing" by performing 3.9 trillion calculations per second -- 15,000
times faster than the average desktop personal computer.  Gore stated,
"Over the last 50 years, innovation has accounted for half of our economic
growth -- fueling our new economy and building a stronger, healthier, and
more productive future for our children.   That is why I am pleased to
announce the world's fastest computer, which will lead to advances in, and
greater understanding of, medicine, manufacturing, aviation safety, and
global climate change."

The Energy Department's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in
California and IBM developed the new machine, the "Blue Pacific," which has
over 2.6 trillion bytes of memory -- 80,000 times more than the average
desktop personal computer -- and could store all of the books in the
Library of Congress.  A person with a hand calculator would need 63,000
years to perform as many calculations as this computer can perform in a
second.

"We've broken the "speed barrier" and we're going to keep accelerating,"
Energy Secretary Bill Richardson said.  "The Department of Energy needs
these high speed computers to help ensure the safety, security, and
reliability of our nuclear stockpile without nuclear testing."

For more information see: URL:
http://www.pub.whitehouse.gov/uri-res/I2R?urn:pdi://oma.eop.gov.us/1998/10/29/5.text.1

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COURT CHALLENGE TO INTERNET CENSORSHIP BILL FILED

A court challenge to the new federal Internet censorship bill signed by
President Clinton as part of the omnibus budget package was filed in
Philadelphia on October 22.  It asserts that the "Child Online Protection
Act" will violate both the free speech and privacy rights of Internet
users.  The Electronic Privacy Information Center, the American Civil
Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation are litigating the
case. The list of plaintiffs includes the Internet Content Coalition, a
member group including Time Inc., Warner Bros., C/NET and The New York
Times Online; OBGYN.Net, a women's health website; Philadelphia Gay News;
and Salon Magazine.

The "Child Online Protection Act"(COPA) makes it a federal crime to
"knowingly" communicate "for commercial purposes" material considered
"harmful to minors."  Penalties include fines of up to $50,000 for each day
of violation, and up to six months in prison if convicted of a crime.  The
government also has the option of bringing a civil suit against individuals
under a lower standard of proof, with the same financial penalty of up to
$50,000 per violation.  Compliance with the Act would require websites to
obtain identification and age verification from visitors, a feature of the
law that threatens online privacy and anonymity.

In a seven-page analysis of the bill sent to Congress on October 5, the
Justice Department said that the bill had "serious constitutional problems"
and would likely draw resources away from more important law enforcement
efforts such as tracking down hard-core child pornographers and child
predators.  The Justice Department also noted that the new law is
ineffective because minors would still be able to access news groups or
Internet relay chat channels, as well as any website generated from outside
of the United States.

The text of the complaint is available at:
http://www.epic.org/free_speech/copa/complaint.html

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SENATE PASSES FEDERAL RESEARCH INVESTMENT ACT

The Senate passed S. 2217, the Federal Research Investment Act, which
proposes of a doubling of the authorization for the civilian federal
research budget by 2010.  The House did not approve a similar Bill so S.
2217 will not become law this session.

Senator Pete Domenici (R-New Mexico) said, "Our science and technology base
is vital to the nation's future."  He continued, "Advanced technologies are
responsible for driving half of our economic growth since World War II, and
that growth has developed our economy into the envy of the world. We need
to continually refresh our stock of new products and processes that enable
good jobs for our citizens in the face of increasing global challenges to
all our principal industries."

Domenici, who is Senate Budget Committee chairman, was an original
cosponsor of an earlier bill to double federal research spending over ten
years.   He explained that the 12-year schedule in S. 2217 "proposes a more
realistic time scale for achieving this expanded support.  This doubling
must be accomplished within a balanced budget that avoids deficits, thus a
longer period is a better choice. That balanced budget is essential, it
enables the economic health that is fundamental to our ability to really
use advanced technologies." Domenici also said, "Many aspects of the
Federal Research Investment Act support and compliment key points in the
new study released by Representative Vern Ehlers just recently. His study,
Unlocking our Future,' will serve as an important focal point for
continuing discussions on the critical goal of strengthening our nation's
science and technology base. I've certainly appreciated interactions with
Representative Ehlers as he developed his study and as S. 2217 was developed.

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ELLIOT MAXWELL NAMED SPECIAL ADVISOR TO THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE
FOR THE DIGITAL ECONOMY

Elliot Maxwell, who has served as Deputy Chief of the FCC's Office of Plans
and Policy since February 1996, has been named the Special Advisor to the
Secretary of Commerce for the Digital Economy.  In that position he will be
coordinating Commerce Department activities regarding electronic commerce
including privacy, reform of the Uniform Commercial Code to accommodate
electronic contracts, privacy, consumer protection, formation of technical
standards, and protection of intellectual property.

From 1993 to 1996 Maxwell worked at Commerce as Director of International
Technology Policy.  In that position he led efforts to ensure that U.S.
international policies serve to promote the development and diffusion of
U.S.  technology and to increase the access of U.S. private sector firms to
foreign technology and foreign government technology programs.  Before
assuming that position at Commerce, he spent nearly ten years working for
Pacific Telesis Group in San Francisco, supervising a multidisciplinary
staff charged with integrating business, technical and public policy
planning. Prior to his time at PacTel, he served at the FCC as Special
Assistant to the Chairman; from 1980 to 1981 he was Deputy Chief of the
Office of Science and Technology (now called the Office of Engineering and
Technology).

For more information see http://www.doc.gov/opa

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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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