ACM WASHINGTON UPDATE
Association for Computing Machinery Office of Public Policy

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August 30, 2001 Volume 5.5

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POLICY BRIEFS:

ACM Files Declaration in Lawsuit Challenging the DMCA
ACM Suggests Changes to the Free Trade Area of the Americas Treaty
Bush Administration Announces Key Technology Appointments
At Large Study Committee Advises ICANN on Structure
Bush Administration Launches E-Government Initiative
NSF Needs New Leader for Computer & Information Science and Engineering
Congressional Effort to Revive the Office of Technology Assessment
USACM Member Oliver Smoot to Receive Leo B. Moore Medal

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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 FILES DECLARATION IN LAWSUIT CHALLENGING THE DMCA

On August 13, 2001, ACM submitted a declaration in federal court regarding the legal
challenge to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) in the Felten v. RIAA lawsuit.
The lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey by a
number of computing researchers.   Led by Princeton University computer scientist Edward
Felten, the plaintiffs are asking the court to rule portions of the DMCA unconstitutional,
arguing that its broad prohibitions on disseminating information and technology restrict
speech protected by the First Amendment.

ACM's declaration seeks to help the court understand the practical effect of the issues at
stake in this case.  "It is imperative for the court to understand that the application of
any law that may limit the freedom to publish research on computer technology will impose a
cost on the academic community, the process of scientific discourse, and society in
general," stated Dr. John R. White, ACM's Executive Director. "We believe the threat of
litigation under the DMCA will have a profound chilling effect on analysis, research, and
publication."

ACM is a leading publisher of scientific information and sponsors over 80 professional
computing conferences each year.  In addition to harming the progress of research, the
risk of legal liability under the DMCA also threatens ACM's publication and sponsorship
of professional computing conferences that might include scientific papers assessing the
strengths and weaknesses of computer and data security measures.  Noting that ACM
has earned a respected reputation for choosing strong scientific papers for its conferences
and publications without regard to political or commercial pressure, White concluded, "ACM
could adopt a policy of steering clear of scientific papers that could subject us to liability
under the DMCA, but that could only be done at a risk of sacrificing our mission and
damaging our reputation as a scientific society."

To review a copy of ACM's declaration, see http://www.acm.org/felten/

To review a copy of Computing Research Association's declaration, see:
http://lazowska.cs.washington.edu/felten/

USACM has engaged in a number of DMCA related activities which may be found at:
http://www.acm.org/usacm/IP/#copyright
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ACM SUGGESTS CHANGES TO THE FREE TRADE AREA OF THE AMERICAS TREATY

The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) is a treaty process to establish trade
agreements between 34 countries in the Western hemisphere (including the U.S.).  As
part of the process, participants are negotiating treaty language that would require
nation-signatories to pass copyright legislation in each of their national forums that
mandates strict anti-circumvention measures similar to (or even expanding) restrictions
imposed in the U.S. by the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA).   Prior to a recent
meeting of the FTAA Negotiating Group on Intellectual Property Rights, ACM sent a letter
to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick urging that any similar provisions be removed
from the final FTAA treaty language.  ACM expressed concern that the broad restrictions
on research contained in the proposed treaty language could unjustly harm the freedom of
computer scientists to engage in research fundamental to the progress of innovation.
USACM expressed similar concerns.

To review the ACM letter, please see the USACM web site at: http://www.acm/usacm

To review the proposed FTAA treaty language, please see the web site:
http://www.ftaa-alca.org/ftaadraft/eng/draft_e.doc

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BUSH ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES TECHNOLOGY APPOINTMENTS

President Bush has announced his intention to nominate Arden Bement, Jr. to be Director
of the National Institute of Standards and Technology at the Department of Commerce.
Professor Bement has served at Purdue University since 1993, first as a Professor of
Engineering and Director of the Midwest Superconductivity Consortium and then as a
Professor of Nuclear Engineering and head of Purdue's School of Nuclear Engineering. From
1980 to 1993, he was with TRW, Inc. as Vice President for Technical Resources from 1980 to
1988, and then as Vice President for Science and Technology from 1988 to 1993. A former
member of the U.S. Army and Army Reserves, Professor Bement is a graduate of the Colorado
School of Mines, received a Master's degree from the University of Idaho and a Ph.D. from the
University of Michigan.

In other technology appointment news, Nuala O'Connor, the vice president for data protection
and chief privacy officer at DoubleClick, has been tapped as the Department of Commerce's
deputy director of the Office of Policy and Strategic Planning.  In her new position,O'Connor
will advise Commerce Secretary Donald Evans on technology policy issues.  While at
DoubleCick, O'Connor focused on enhancing internal privacy policies and procedures, as well
as working with clients, government entities, and industry groups on the development of a
comprehensive approach to Internet privacy for advertising companies and their partners.
O'Connor is a graduate of Princeton University, Harvard University, and Georgetown University
Law Center.

To review other information about Professor Bement, please see his faculty web site at:
http://www.ecn.purdue.edu/NE/FSS/Faculty/bement/

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AT LARGE STUDY COMMITTEE ADVISES ICANN ON STRUCTURE

On August 13, 2001, the At Large Study Committee (ALSC) met in California to discuss
structure and participation issues associated with the Internet Corporation for Assigned
Names and Numbers (ICANN).  The ALSC is chaired by Carl Bildt, a former Swedish prime
minister and accomplished international diplomat.  Participants in the discussions included
USACM Co-Chair and former candidate for the ICANN board, Dr. Barbara Simons.  Several
issues were discussed at the forum, including proposals to: increase the number of ICANN
elected board members; define the rights and responsibilities of At Large Members; enhance
the participation of individual Internet users in ICANN; and, place new requirements or fees
on ICANN members who can vote for board members.

On August 27, the ALSC issued a draft report making a number of At Large Membership
recommendations to the ICANN Board.  The draft report recommends reducing the number
of at large board members from nine to six, increasing the number of regions in which elections
are held from five to six, creating regional councils consisting of the five candidates with the
next highest number of votes, allowing only holders of domain names to vote, and charging a
membership fee to vote.

To review the ALSC report, see the website:
http://www.atlargestudy.org/draft_final.shtml#_toc523471355

To review the testimony of Dr. Barbara Simons, see the web site:
http://www.barbara.simons.org/ALSC.doc

For more discussion of the ALSC report and other ICANN activities, see the web site:
http://www.icannwatch.org

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BUSH ADMINISTRATION LAUNCHES E-GOVERNMENT INITIATIVE

On August 23, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced
a new electronic government initiative as part of an effort to improve the management
and performance of the federal government.  The components of the initiative include:
expanding the www.firstgov.gov web site; integrating a Federal Public Key Infrastructure
(PKI) to promote digital signatures for internal and external transactions involving interface
with the federal government; requiring the use of a single e-government procurement portal
at the www.FedBidOpps.gov web site; allowing applicants for federal grants to apply for
and manage grant funds online through a common platform; and requiring agencies to use
the web to deliver information to the public.

To review the OMB report containing the e-gov initiative, see the web site:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2002/mgmt.pdf

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NSF NEEDS NEW LEADER FOR COMPUTER & INFORMATION SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING

Dr. Ruzena Bajcsy will be completing her assignment as the National Science Foundation's
(NSF) Assistant Director for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE)
on August 31, 2001.   Dr. Bajcsy served the NSF in this position with distinction since
December 1998. In March, she was a featured speaker at the ACM1 Conference in San Jose,
California. Dr. Bajcsy intends to return to the University of Pennsylvania.

The Assistant Director, CISE, manages a NSF Directorate comprised of five divisions:
Computer-Communications Research, Information and Intelligent Systems, Advanced
Networking Infrastructure and Research, Advanced Computational Infrastructure and
Research,  and Experimental and Integrative Activities.  To date, the NSF has not selected
a replacement for Dr. Bajcsy.  Dr. John Hennessy, President, Stanford University, has served
as the Chair of a search committee that has identified a number of qualified candidates to NSF.

To review more information about the NSF CISE Directorate see the web site:
http://www.cise.nsf.gov/

To review the NSF CISE vacancy announcement, see the web site:
http://www.cise.nsf.gov/oad/search/index.html

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CONGRESSIONAL EFFORT TO REVIVE THE OFFICE OF TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT

The Congressional Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) closed on September 29, 1995.
During its 23-year history, OTA provided Congressional members and committees with
objective and authoritative analysis of complex scientific and technical issues.  Legislation
has been introduced by Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) to re-establish the OTA by providing $20 million
annually for its operations in each of the next five years.  The bill, H.R. 2148, has over 30
cosponsors.  In addition, Congress is currently considering providing $1 million to the General A
ccounting Office for a technology assessment pilot project as part of the fiscal year 2002 legislative
branch appropriations bill.

To access the text of H.R. 2148, see the web site:
http://thomas.loc.gov/home/c107query.html#billno

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USACM MEMBER OLIVER SMOOT TO RECEIVE LEO B. MOORE MEDAL

The Standards Engineering Society has selected USACM Member Oliver Smoot to
receive the Leo B. Moore Medal, an award that recognizes individual "highest achievement,
extraordinary contribution and distinguished service in the field of standardization."  Smoot
currently serves as chairman of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Board of
Directors and vice president for external voluntary standards relations of the Information
Technology Industry Council.  A graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's
Economics program, Smoot holds a Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center
and is an active member of the American Bar Association (ABA). He is the current chairman
of the ABA Technical Standardization Law Committee and a member of USACM's Executive
Committee.

To review the ANSI press announcement, see the web site:
http://www.ansi.org/public/news/2001aug/moore_medal.html

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