ACM WASHINGTON UPDATE
Association for Computing Machinery Office of Public Policy

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June 29, 2001 Volume 5.3

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POLICY BRIEFS:

ACM Members Educate Congress Regarding Voting Technology
White House Nominates Key Science and Technology Advisors
ACM Member Active in Internet Governance Discussions
European Council Formulating Information Technology Strategy
UCITA Legislation Losing Ground with State Legislatures
Changes in the U.S. Senate Could Bolster On-Line Privacy Legislation

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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
professionals 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 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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ACM MEMBERS EDUCATE CONGRESS REGARDING VOTING TECHNOLOGY

As a result of the controversial 2000 presidential election, the U.S.
Congress has undertaken  a review of policy issues associated with
the implementation of certain election reforms. In  particular, several
pieces of legislation have been introduced seeking technological solutions
to improve the accuracy and usability of voting systems. The concepts of
fully automated and Internet-based voting systems are also part of the review.

In recent weeks, three ACM members appeared as witnesses before relevant
Congressional committees considering election reform issues. On May 22, Douglas
W. Jones (University of Iowa) and Rebecca Mercuri (Bryn Mawr College and
Notable Software, Inc.) testified before the House Committee on Science at a
hearing entitled "Improving Voting Technologies." The witnesses warned lawmakers
of the potential dangers inherent in fully automatic and Internet-based voting systems
and advocated a renewed focus on robust standards, testing, and audit trails for balloting
and vote tabulation systems. On May 24, ACM Fellow Ronald L. Rivest (Massachusetts
Institute of Technology) testified before the Committee on House Administration
regarding security in voting technology. Rivest acknowledged that at least a decade of
additional computing research was necessary before Internet-based voting could be
contemplated and recommended continued security research to enhance system
security and improve voter confidence. Similarly, the USACM sent letters to the relevant
Congressional committees making certain policy recommendations regarding election
technologies and standards. Congress is expected to consider election reform legislation
later this summer.

To review the testimony or USACM's policy recommendations to Congress regarding
elections technologies and standards, see the Recent Activities and News section at the
USACM web site: http://www.acm.org/usacm

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WHITE HOUSE NOMINATES KEY SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ADVISORS

President Bush has announced his intention to nominate the Director of the
Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York, John H. Marburger III, to serve
as his top science advisor. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Marburger will serve
as the Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Marburger, a self-described "Democrat", is a graduate of Princeton University
and received a Ph.D. in applied physics from Stanford. During his career, he served
as President and Professor of Physics and Electrical Engineering at the State University
of New York at Stony Brook, and Dean of the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
at the University of Southern California.

In another key science and technology appointment, the Pentagon announced the
appointment of Anthony J. Tether as the Director of the Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency. Tether earned his Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute, and his Master of Science and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from
Stanford University.  Finally, the White House announced the selection of 12 White House
Fellows for  2001-2002. Two appointments are notable for technology: Katherine White,
intellectual property law professor at Wayne State University (B.S. in Electrical Engineering
and Computer Science); and Steven Poizner, President of SnapTrack, a Qualcomm
subsidiary (B.S. in Electrical Engineering).

To read the White House press release regarding Marburger, see the web site:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/06/20010625-2.html

To read the Pentagon press release regarding Tether, see the web site:
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/june2001/b06182001_bt273-01.html

To read the White House press release regarding the new fellows, see the web site:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/06/20010619-6.html

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ACM MEMBER ACTIVE IN INTERNET GOVERNANCE DISCUSSIONS

ACM member Kathryn Kleiman, Director of ACM's Internet Governance Project,
recently participated in the Washington Consultation of the World Intellectual Property
Organization (WIPO) and the quarterly meeting of the Internet Corporation for
Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in Stockholm, Sweden. ACM's Internet
Governance Project (ACM-IGP) was started in 1999 by then ACM President
Barbara Simons to give the ACM a voice in the formation of ICANN's Noncommercial
Constituency. Kleiman, a telecommunications and trademark attorney, helped the
Noncommercial Constituency voice its concerns about the need to protect noncommercial,
technical and scientific use of domain names in 1999 when ICANN first adopted the
Uniform Dispute Resolution Procedure (UDRP). She was part of the small committee that
revised proposals by WIPO to include protections for noncommercial and fair use.

WIPO, in its "Second Domain Name Process," now seeks to expand the UDRP and
other ICANN powers to limit the use in domain names of generic drug names, acronyms,
names of International Governmental Organizations, country codes and geographic
names and regions. At the WIPO Consultation in Washington, Kleiman reminded WIPO
that the domain name system exists for the benefit of all and that protections in the domain
name system must not infringe on the rights of the noncommercial, scientific and technical
communities. Kleiman then attended to the quarterly ICANN meeting in Stockholm and
shared her concerns with ICANN's Noncommercial Constituency in a formal presentation
at its meeting in early June.

The full text of the WIPO Interim Report in its "Second Domain Name Process," and all
comments submitted to WIPO, can be found at the web site: http://ecommerce.wipo.int/domains/

To review information about ICANN and the Stockholm meeting, see the web site:
http://www.icann.org

To review the ACM's Internet governance activities, see the Web site:
http://www.acm.org/serving/IG.html

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EUROPEAN COUNCIL FORMULATING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY STRATEGY

The European Council recently held its first Annual Spring Meeting on economic and social
questions in Stockholm. While the meeting covered a broad range of social policy issues, there
was agreement among participants that the Council should work with the European Commission
to advance an "e-Europe" strategy that includes a number of information technology initiatives.
According to the Council, the strategy is to build upon existing computer laws in member countries t
o develop an integrated legislative and regulatory framework that promotes the widespread growth
and deployment of advanced information technologies throughout the European region.

The strategy tasks European countries to conduct joint research in support of multilingual content
for wireless services and to advance the roll-out of next generation Internet (IPv6). In the area of t
op-level domain names, the strategy urges that all necessary steps be taken to ensure that the .eu
top-level domain is available to users as soon as possible. Finally, in the area of information security,
the strategy calls on member countries to share information about computer security incidents and to
devise a framework to coordinate security of electronic networks.

To review a summary of the European Council's Information Technology Strategy, see items
35 to 37 at the web site:
http://ue.eu.int/Newsroom/LoadDoc.cfm?MAX=1&DOC=!!!&BID=76&DID=65786&GRP=3314&LANG=1

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UCITA LEGISLATION LOSING GROUND WITH STATE LEGISLATURES

Since the state-level enactment of the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (UCITA)
in Maryland and Virginia last year, progress has stalled as the legislation has been stopped in all other
states where it has been introduced. The controversial software licensing legislation has been
criticized by several groups - including USACM - because it seeks to legalize shrink-wrap l
icenses that prohibit reverse engineering and the publication of benchmarking articles that compare
the quality of commercially available software products. Publishers and large software producers
are the primary supporters of UCITA.

While the legislation has been introduced this year in Arizona, Illinois, Texas, Maine, New Hampshire,
Oregon and New Jersey, most state legislatures have completed their legislative activities for the year.
In Texas, the state legislature is not required to reconvene until 2003. Proponents of UCITA have
pledged to continue their state lobbying efforts as legislatures reconvene.

For UCITA-related news, see the web site: http://www.ucitanews.com/ To read the USACM letter
to state legislators opposing UCITA, see the web site: http://www.acm.org/usacm/copyright/ucita.states.htm

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CHANGES IN THE U.S. SENATE COULD BOLSTER ON-LINE CONSUMER PRIVACY LEGISLATION

In May, Senator James M. Jeffords of Vermont switched his party affiliation granting control of the
U.S. Senate to the Democratic party for the first time since 1994. As a result of the shift, all Senate
Committees will have new leaders and most will have revised legislative agendas. Regarding policy
issues associated with online privacy, the four key committees of jurisdiction (Judiciary, Commerce,
Banking and Government Affairs) will be led by Senators who have sponsored legislation allowing
consumers more control over the disclosure and sharing of personally identifiable information used f
or marketing purposes or sold to third parties.

While most firms and industry trade groups have opposed legislative proposals to enhance on-line
consumer privacy, the new dynamics of the Senate and increased focus on privacy policy could
spur legislative action. The new Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee - Senator Ernest
(Fritz) Hollings - plans to hold several hearings on privacy policy beginning in July, including a review
of the "opt-in" legislation he introduced last year to prohibit companies from sharing customers'
personal information without their specific consent to do so. Because of the new dynamics of the
Senate, opponents of "opt-in" may be compelled to compromise by advocating more modest privacy
proposals requiring on-line retailers to offer consumers notice about what personally identifiable
information has been collected and limited options as to how it may be used.

To review the schedule for upcoming Senate Commerce Committee hearings, see the web site:
http://www.senate.gov/~commerce/schedule.htm

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Washington Update is a publication of the Public Policy Office of the Association for Computing
http://www.acm.org/usacm
1100 Seventeenth Street, NW, Suite 507, Washington, DC 20036 - 4632
Tel:(202) 659-9711 - Fax:(202) 667-1066