ACM WASHINGTON UPDATE
USACM Supports Legal Challenge to Extending Duration of Copyrights
House Legislation Calls for Driver's License Chip
Growing Support Among Lawmakers for ‘Dot-Kids' Proposal
Senate Panel Supports More Funding to Fight Cybercrime
Senate Panel Advances Anti-Spam Legislation
Congress Recommends ACM SIGCHI to Florida Election Officials
New Executive Director to Lead Computing Research Association
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May 2002,
Volume 6.5
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INTRODUCTION
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USACM Supports Legal Challenge to Extending Duration of Copyrights
USACM has signed an Amici Curiae brief in support of the petitioners in the While supporters of the law argue it is necessary to harmonize U.S. copyright In addition to USACM, a variety of other computing industry and consumer To review the brief signed by USACM, see the web site: Eldred Brief
For more information and news about the legal challenge, see the plaintiffs’
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House Legislation Calls for Driver's License Chip
Reps. James Moran (D-VA) and Tom Davis (R-VA) recently introduced To read the full text of HR 4633, see: Bill
To review a press release on the bill Congressman Moran, To review a press release by Congressman Tom Davis, For more information on vulnerability in relying on biometric fingerprints, =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
Growing Support Among Lawmakers for ‘Dot-Kids' Proposal
Momentum is growing on Capitol Hill for the creation of a kids-only Internet The House and Senate bills would create a child-oriented addressing space For more information on HR 3833, see: House Bill
For more information on S 2537, see: Senate Bill
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Senate Panel Supports More Funding to Fight Cybercrime
The Senate Commerce Committee voted to increase authorized funding levels A controversial amendment offered by Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and John The USACM assisted with providing expert testimony before both House and For Dr. Eugene Spafford’s testimony before the House Science Committee, For Dr. Lance Hoffman’s testimony before the Senate Commerce Committee's Sub- For the Senate bill S 2182, see Senate Bill
For the House bill HR 3394, see: House Bill
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Senate Panel Votes To Can Spam
The Senate Commerce Committee passed S. 630, the “Controlling the Assault The committee also approved an amendment to S. 630 by Senator Barbara The Senate Commerce Committee also approved S 2201, the Online Personal To review the Spam legislation, S630, see: Bill
To review Chairman Hollings Privacy Legislation, S 2201, see: Privacy Bill
To review a Section-by-Section analysis of S 2201, To review the testimony of EPIC Executive Director Marc Rotenberg and other To review a New York Times Editorial in support of S 2201, =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
Congress Recommends ACM SIGCHI to Florida Election Officials
Seeking to avoid further elections procedures and processes that produce voter To review the letter from Members of Congress that recommends a role for To review USACM recommendations on voting systems and standards, see =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
New Executive Director to Lead Computing Research Association
The Computing Research Association (CRA) has announced the appointment To review the CRA announcement, see: CRA Announcement
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Should you have questions, comments, suggestions or recommendations regarding
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U.S. Supreme Court's consideration of the Eldred v. Ashcroft challenge to
the Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA), a U.S. law enacted in 1998. CTEA
extends the duration of copyright for material owned by individuals to 70 years
after the creator’s death, and to 95 years for material owned by corporations.
law with Europe’s, the brief signed by USACM argues that the CTEA extends
the term of copyright protection in a manner that harms the public domain. Of
particular concern to USACM, the brief seeks to educate the Court regarding
the incremental evolution of computer software development and the potential
damaging affects of CTEA on continued innovation of software and digital
computing.
organizations have signed the brief, including Computer Professionals for
Social Responsibility, the Computer and Communications Industry Association,
the Consumer Electronics Association, the Apache Software Foundation, and the
Center for Public Domain. Several other librarians, academicians and consumer
groups filed separate briefs in support of the challenge. The Supreme Court will
hear oral arguments on the case at some point during the term that begins in
October. Stanford Law Professors Kathleen Sullivan and Lawrence Lessig, and
Harvard Law Professor Jonathan Zittrain are among the prominent attorneys
representing the plaintiffs.
web site:Eldred Web Page
HR 4633, the “Drivers License Modernization Act of 2002,” a bill to
establish universal standards for State drivers licenses and identification
cards. HR 4633 requires all licenses and identification cards to include
an embedded computer chip containing personal information and biometric
identifiers, which must be accessible to federal, state, and local law
enforcement. Encryption and other security measures protect the encoded
information, while the legislation prescribes penalties for alteration or
destruction of the chip. The National Institute of Standards and Technology
(NIST), American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators,and the
General Services Administration are tasked to develop universal standards
and guidelines for driver licenses and identification cards.
see: Moran Press Release
see Davis Press Release
see the BBC article: BBC Article
domain in the form of strong support for HR 3833, the "Dot-Kids Implement-
ation and Efficiency Act of 2002". House lawmakers passed HR 3833 by a
vote of 406 to 2 prior to departing for the Memorial Day district work period.
Senators Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and John Ensign (R-NV) recently introduced
S 2537, as the Senate version of HR 3833.
within America's sovereign "dot-us" Internet domain. Content and chat rooms
voluntarily registered in the new space would be required to meet specific guide-
lines determined to be appropriate for children 12 years old and younger.
for anti-cyber crime programs from $875 million to $977 million over five years
by approving S 2182, the "Cyber Security Research and Development Act".
The legislation is the Senate version of the previously passed House bill HR 3394
directs the National Science Foundation (NSF) to establish new cyber security
research centers, undergraduate program grants, and community college grants
and fellowships. The legislation also allows NIST to create new program grants
for partnerships between academia and industry, post-docs, and a program to
encourage senior researchers in other fields to work on computer security.
Edwards (D-NC) added during the markup of S 2182 creates a cyber security
office at National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) called the Office
for Information Security Programs. NIST would be tasked to develop minimum-
security standards for federal agencies to implement and draft security guidelines.
Industry is working with the Committee to address their concerns regarding the role
of NIST in developing government minimum-security standards.
Senate Committees during their deliberation of these bills.
see Spafford Testimony
committee on Science, Technology and Space, see Hoffman Testimony
of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2001”, or the “CAN
SPAM Act of 2001”. As sponsored by Senators Conrad Burns (R-MT),
Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Ted Stevens, (R-AK), the legislation requires that
unsolicited e-mails, also known as "spam," contain valid return addresses
that recipients can use to opt out of receiving more unwanted e-mail. Violators
of the law would face fines and jail terms for providing fake e-mail or physical
addresses. The legislation also allows State Attorneys General to sue on behalf
of residents. Certain exemptions for companies that have a "preexisting relation-
ship" are provided.
Boxer (D-CA) that makes it illegal to send spam to an e-mail address
harvested from another Web site.
Privacy Act of 2002. As proposed by Committee Chair Hollings (D-SC), the
legislation requires companies to seek consumers' permission before collecting
or sharing sensitive information such as medical records, financial data or
religious affiliation. The legislation also preempts state privacy laws and allows
consumers to sue companies that mishandle their personal data.
see: Section-by-Section on S. 2201
witnesses regarding S.2201 and online privacy, see: Testimony
see: Times Editorial
confusion and error, four Members of the U.S. Congress recently wrote a letter
to the Supervisor of Elections for Palm Beach County, Florida, offering certain
voting recommendations. In the letter, the Congressmen express concern that
more attention has not been given to the computer-human interaction factors in
developing new technical standards for voting machines. Recognizing that ACM
(through USACM) has provided technical assistance to Congress regarding the
development of voting technology and standards, the Congressmen suggest that
election officials work with ACM’s Special Interest Group on Computer-Human
Interaction (SIGCHI) to improve Florida’s Voting System Standards.
ACM SIGCHI,see: the web site: Letter
the web site: Voting Standards
of Andrew Bernat as its new Executive Director, beginning August 1, 2002.
Bernat succeeds Bill Aspray, who earlier announced his plans to take an
academic position at Indiana University. Bernat was a founding member of
the Computer Science Department at the University of Texas El Paso (UTEP).
He has co-chaired the Coalition to Diversify Computing, an organization
sponsored by ACM, CRA, and the IEEE Computer Society to increase the
participation of underrepresented minorities in the computing profession. On
leave from UTEP, Bernat is currently a program officer in the Division of
Undergraduate Education at the National Science Foundation where he is
responsible for the computer science undergraduate education programs and
the Scholarship for Service Program in information assurance and security.
Bernat received a B.S. in physics from Harvey Mudd College in 1970 and
a doctorate in astronomy from the University of Texas at Austin in 1976.
public policy issues or USACM activities, please contact the ACM Public
Policy
Office located in Washington, DC, by e-mailing usacm_dc@acm.org or calling
(202)659-9711. The ACM Public Policy Office would also be pleased to assist
ACM members in contacting or meeting with their elected officials in
Washington, DC.