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- ACM WASHINGTON UPDATE
- U.S. Office of Public Policy of the Association for Computing
Machinery
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- January 21, 2000 Volume 4.1
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- CONTENTS
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- INTRODUCTION
-
- POLICY BRIEFS:
- Temporary Injunction Issued Against Providers Of
De-Encrypytion Formulas
- Database Legislation Pending
- Latest Round Of ICANN Meetings
- White House Announces Info Sec Initiatives
- New Crypto Regulations Still Limit Research
- Commerce Dep't Grants To Close Digital Divide
- National Academy Of Sciences IP Rights Conference
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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 reports 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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- POLICY BRIEFS
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- TEMPORARY INJUNCTION ISSUED AGAINST PROVIDERS OF DE-ENCRYPTION
FORMULAS
-
- A federal judge in New York yesterday granted preliminary
injunction
- against three defendants sued by the Motion Picture
Association of
- America for posting software that provides de-encryption
formulas for
- DVDs. U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of the Southern
District of
- New York ruled that the defendants, Shawn C. Reimerdes, Eric
Corley
- A.K.A. "Emmanuel Goldstein" and Roman Kazan, must immediately
remove the
- software from their Web sites. The lawsuit uses the Digital
Millennium
- Copyright Act (DMCA), which prohibits the distribution of
products that
- can circumvent a copy protection scheme. The defendants claim
that
- their intention was not to facilitate unauthorized copying but
rather to
- enable users to watch DVDs on computers with the Linux
operating system.
- Although the DMCA has several technical exceptions, it does
not include
- traditional "fair use" defenses.
-
- The seven largest U.S. movie studios have filed lawsuits in
federal
- courts in New York and Connecticut. A state court in
California is now
- hearing a case against a larger group of defendants, many of
whom
- provided links to sites containing decryption software. Last
month, the
- California judge refused to issue a temporary restraining
order against
- the defendants.
-
- A copy of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (Public Law No.
105-304)
- is available at:
- http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d105:HR02281:|TOM:/bss/d105query.html
-
- For more information, see the Web site of the Electronic
Frontier
- Foundation, which is providing legal counsel in these cases:
- http://www.eff.org
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- DATABASE LEGISLATION PENDING
-
- Congressional debate over database legislation is expected to
continue
- in the coming session. Two bills that were considered by
House
- committees in the previous session but have not yet reached
the floor
- are H.R. 354, "The Collections of Information Antipiracy Act,"
- introduced by Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC) on January 19, 1999,
and H.R.
- 1858, "The Consumer and Investors Access to Information Act,"
introduced
- by Rep. Tom Bliley (R-VA) on May 19, 1999. Both bills
prohibit the
- wholesale misappropriation of databases but differ in their
allowance of
- transformative uses of databases.
-
- H.R. 354 prohibits the use of information from one database to
create a
- new or innovative database but provides a vague exemption for
scientific
- and academic research. The legislation declares that "no
person shall
- be restricted from making available or extracting information
for
- nonprofit educational, scientific, or research purposes in a
manner that
- does not materially harm the primary market for the product or
service,"
- yet it is unclear what amount of harm would constitute
"material" harm.
- H.R. 1858 permits the reuse of information for the creation of
new
- databases but prohibits the duplication of databases to
establish new
- ones that are "substantially the same." Its provisions
thereby enable
- the advancement of research while banning parasitic copying.
-
- H.R. 1858, "The Consumer and Investor Access to Information
Act," is
- available at:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c106:H.R.1858.IH:
-
- H.R. 354, "The Collections of Information Antipiracy Act," is
available
- at: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c106:H.R.354.IH:
-
- The ACM's own webpage is available at:
- http://www.acm.org/usacm/copyright/database.htm
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- LATEST ROUND OF ICANN MEETINGS
-
- The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
(ICANN) will be
- holding its next set of meetings in Cairo, Egypt during the
week of
- March 7-10. The Domain Name Supporting Organization (Names
Council,
- constituency groups, working groups and advisory committees)
will meet
- March 7 and 8. The Public Forum will be held March 9, and the
ICANN
- Board meeting will take place March 10.
-
- Topics on the agenda for the Public Forum and Board of
Directors meeting
- include the creation of new top-level domain name registries,
- country-code top-level domain (ccTLD) delegation and
administration
- policies, and the ICANN budget for the 2000-2001 fiscal year.
Those who
- cannot attend the meetings can participate remotely through
realtime
- webcasting provided by the Berkman Center for Internet and
Society.
-
- Information about the meeting is available at:
- http://www.icann.org/cairo2000/cairo-details.htm
-
- The ACM webpage on ICANN is available at:
- http://www.acm.org/serving/IG.html
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- NEW CRYPTO REGULATIONS STILL LIMIT RESEARCH
-
- The Clinton administration's January 14 encryption regulations
- significantly relaxed export controls for industry but limits
and
- barriers on research still remain. The remaining restrictions
must still
- be removed to protect freedom of scientific expression.
-
- Under the new regulations, the encrpytion commodities and
software (ENC)
- exception would permit U.S. companies can export any
encryption product
- around the world to non-government end-users without applying
for a
- license. "Retail" encryption products that are widely
available in the
- market can now be exported to any end-user, including foreign
- governments (except state supporters of terrorism). Retail
encryption
- products are limited to 1024 bits. In most cases, however, the
- encryption product must be submitted to the Bureau of Export
- Administration There are also continued post-reporting
requirement.
- Furthermore, encryption products with key lengths that exceed
64 bits or
- that do not qualify as mass market treatment are subject to
reporting
- requirements.
-
- The Department of Commerce's announcemenmt on encryption
regulations are
- available here:
- http://204.193.246.62/public.nsf/docs/60D6B47456BB389F852568640078B6C0
-
- A copy of the Bureau of Export Administration's new
regulations are
- available in .pdf format here:
- http://www.bxa.doc.gov/Encryption/pdfs/Crypto.pdf
-
- The ACM website on encryption is available at:
- http://www.acm.org/usacm/crypto/
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- WHITE HOUSE ANNOUNCES INFO SEC INITIATIVES
-
- The White House annouced the funding of several new pilot
programs
- designed to expand the government's information security
capabilities.
- Highlights among the new programs include:
-
- $25 million has been earmarked for establishing a "ROTC-like"
program to
- pay for the education of bachelor and master degree-level
education in
- exchange for Federal service, as well as a program to
establish
- competencies and certify the government's existing IT
workforce.
-
- $10 million has been allocated to establish the Federal
Intrusion
- Detection Network (FIDNet). FIDNet is described as a "cyber
"burglar
- alarm" which alerts the federal government to cyber attacks,
provides
- recommended defenses, establishes information security
readiness levels,
- and ensures the rapid implementation of system "patches" for
known
- software defects" for critical civilian government agencies.
-
- Finally, the administration has allocated $621 million to
federal
- research and development in computer security for the next
year. This
- will increase current funding of computer security research
and
- development by 35%.
-
- The White House has also proposed a $50 million Institute for
- Information Infrastructure Protection, whose goal would be to
create
- private sector-public sector coalitions to fill in gaps in
computer
- security research and development left by the private sector
or the
- Department of Defense acting alone.
-
- The administration is currently recruiting for members of the
National
- Infrastructure Assurance Council from senior executives in key
sectors
- of the corporate and IT sector and senior academics. The
President
- signed an Executive Order creating this advisory Council, last
year.
-
- The White House's press release on these programs and
proposals is
- available at:
- http://www.pub.whitehouse.gov/uri-res/I2R?urn:pdi://oma.eop.gov.us/2000/1/7/7.te
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- COMMERCE DEP'T TO CLOSE DIGITAL DIVIDE
-
- The Commerce Department has announced $12.5 million in grants
to help
- close the digital divide between wealthy segments of the
American
- populace that are increasingly online and poorer segments that
are
- lagging. The Technology Opportunities Program (TOP)
distributes the
- grants. TOP is a highly-competitive, merit-based program that
provides
- start-up money for innovative, practical projects that use
advanced
- telecommunications and information technology. The program is
designed
- to upgrade IT skills and IT availability in low-income areas,
-
- Notice of the program is available at:
- http://frwebgate3.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate.cgi?WAISdocID=2075613682+3+0+0
- &WAISaction=retrieve
-
- The White House's annoucement of the program is available at:
- http://www.pub.whitehouse.gov/uri-res/I2R?urn:pdi://oma.eop.gov.us/1999/12/9/3.t
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- NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCE IP RIGHTS CONFERENCE
-
- The National Academies of Science has scheduled a conference
entitled
- "Intellectual Property Rights: How Far Should They Be
Extended?" for
- Wednesday, February 2 and February 3. The conference will
bring together
- Federal judges, executive branch officials, practitioners,
corporate
- executives, legal scholars, and economists to discuss the
effects on
- innovation and economic performance of extending intellectual
property
- rights.
-
- Confirmed speakers include Hon. Randall Rader of U.S. Court of
Appeals
- for the Federal Circuit, Hon. Todd Dickinson, the Commissioner
of
- Patents and Trademarks, Richard Levin, the President of Yale
University,
- and Mark Myers, Senior Vice President of Xerox.
-
- Topical meetings will include intellectual property rights in
software
- and business methods, patent standards, quality and scope,
intellectual
- property protection and knowledge transfers, intellectual
property right
- to tools and results of fundamental research, patent
administration and
- litigation
-
- A current agenda is available at
http://www.nationalacademies.org/ipr.
- Registration is complimentary by return email, fax to
202-334-1505, or
- completing the form on the above website. The contact provided
for the