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ACM
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USACM Concerned
USACM Cautions
Policymakers Regarding Acts That Damage Computers
Supreme Court Issues
Decision in Dastar v. Twentieth Century Fox
Legislation Introduced to Address SPAM
Legislation Introduced to Study ICANN Functions
Internet Society Prepares to Elect New Board Members
Commerce Releases
Report on IT Education and Training
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INTRODUCTION
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POLICY BRIEFS
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USACM Concerned
On June 9, USACM sent a letter to Florida Governor Jeb Bush concerning a broad state measure that restricts
the use of certain computing technology in an effort to provide additional
legal protections for digital transmission of music, video and similar
content. The state measure, S.B. 1078, is based
on a model law drafted and supported by the entertainment industry. Many
observers have dubbed such legislation "super DMCA," a reference to
the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, because it builds on the existing law
against copyright infringement.
In the letter, USACM suggested that overly broad measures
targeting acts of copyright infringement might impact
much of the use of computers and the Internet, including legitimate efforts to
provide good computer security and to conduct research. USACM
encouraged policymakers to eschew laws that restrict technology instead of
penalizing infringing behavior. Despite concerns raised by USACM, the
Electronic Freedom Foundation, the Consumer Electronics Association, and
others, the measure was singed into
In addition to
To review the USACM letter to Florida Governor Bush and
other state leaders considering similar measures, see:
http://www.acm.org/usacm/Letters/Florida_DRM_Bill.htm
To review a compilation of information and related links to state super-DMCA developments, see Ed Felten's Freedom-to-Tinker web page at:
http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/superdmca.html
To review the
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USACM Cautions
Policymakers Regarding Acts That Damage Computers
On June 27, USACM sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee concerning comments at a hearing to review policy issues raised by the emergence of Peer-to-Peer (P2P) file-sharing networks. During the hearing, Senators discussed enacting an exemption for copyright owners from liability for damaging computers in an effort to thwart illegal file sharing. In the letter, USACM suggested that allowing copyright owners to intentionally damage computers in such a manner would legitimize a variety of questionable acts and produce unintended consequences harmful to the use and continued development of the Internet. USACM also pointed-out that P2P networking protocols are used for a variety of legitimate purposes that do not involve copyright infringement. Finally, USACM concluded that damaging computers could result in serious harm to innocent third parties and disrupt involving legitimate electronic commerce and non-commercial transactions.
In related news, the Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property’s Chair Lamar Smith (R-TX) and Ranking Member Howard Berman (D-CA) introduced H.R. 2517, the “Piracy Deterrence and Education Act of 2003.” The bill directs the FBI to create a program to deter online illicit traffic of copyrighted material.
To review the USACM letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee, see:
http://www.acm.org/usacm/Letters/Hatch_P2P.htm
To review H.R. 2517, see:
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=108_cong_bills&docid=f:h2517ih.txt.pdf
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Supreme Court Issues
Decision in Dastar v. Twentieth Century Fox
On June 2, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in the Dastar v. Twentieth Century Fox copyright case. The case involves Section 43(a) of the Lanham Act and copyright control over materials in the public domain. By ruling in favor of Dastar, the Court effectively limits the ability of copyright holders to use the Lanham Act as a super-copyright law to ensure perpetual control over the re-use of works that have entered the public domain.
Since the case involves many of the same constitutional issues that arise in the context of proposed database protection legislation, the Court's opinion has been welcomed by USACM and others in the library, higher education, and computing community concerned about legal efforts to create new property rights for facts contained in database. Earlier this year, USACM signed a brief submitted to the Court in support of Dastar that sought to explain the potential damaging impact of reversing the legal precedent of leaving facts in the public domain where they can be incorporated into new works.
To review the Supreme Court's Dastar decision, see:
http://www.acm.org/usacm/PDF/Legal/Dastar_v_Twentieth_Century.pdf
To review the Dastar brief signed by USACM and submitted to the Court, see:
http://www.acm.org/usacm/Briefs/DastarCorpBrief.htm
To review analysis of the Dastar case by the libraries' outside counsel, see:
The Dastar brief signed by USACM is posted on our web page at: http://www.acm.org/usacm/Briefs/DastarCorpBrief.htm
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Recently, the California State Senate passed a bill that
would restrict the disposal of any electronic device in the state containing
properties declared by statue to be hazardous. The legislation gives manufactures
two options: develop recycling plans for their electronic devices sold in the
State of
In other
In related federal news, the Environmental Protection Agency this month convened meetings to discuss standards for recycling consumer electronics and computer parts.
To view the CA Recycling Bill, see:
http://www.acm.org/usacm/Legislation/StateBills/CA_RecycleBill.htm
To view the CA Packaging Bill, see:
http://www.acm.org/usacm/Legislation/StateBills/CA_PackagingBill.htm
To review a list of computer recyclers, see:
http://www.computerhope.com/disposal.htm#5
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Legislation Introduced to Address SPAM
Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) was successful in receiving the support of Senate Judiciary Chair Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Ranking Member Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) to act respectively as lead sponsor and cosponsor of his SPAM legislation, S.1231. The “Criminal Spam Act of 2003” would create a national anti-SPAM registry, stop the unauthorized use of computers for the purpose of transmitting SPAM, limit the number of legally obtainable online domain name and e-mail accounts which reference inaccurate identifying information, and allow civil suits against Spammers. In addition, S. 1231 would require e-mail marketers to label commercial e-mail with "ADV," unsubscribe options, prohibit passive "harvesting" of online users e-mail addresses’, and prohibits dictionary attacks that generates e-mail addresses.
The bill is a compilation of a number of state efforts to curb the most onerous activities of bulk mail senders. Over thirty-five states have anti-SPAM laws, some dating back to 1998.
Two of the major challenges of the legislation involve international cross-boarder enforcement and protecting children from junk e-mail containing or providing access to pornographic material.
To review the S. 1231, see:
http://www.acm.org/usacm/Issues/SPAM.htm
To review the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, see:
http://judiciary.senate.gov/information.cfm
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Legislation Introduced
to Study ICANN Functions
Congressman Brian Baird (D-WA) and Congressman Jay Inslee (D-WA) introduced H.R. 2521, the “Fair, Transparent, and Competitive Internet Naming Act of 2003”. The bill requires the Comptroller General to conduct a study of the business practices, procedures, accountability, and administration of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
The bill would block ICANN’s announced plan to transfer the management of expired .COM user domains to VeriSign; initiate a Government Accounting Office study of ICANN, and designates ICANN as a federal advisory committee. The legislation would investigate the applicability of the Administrative Procedures Act, found under Chapter 5 of the United States Code, in establishing a federal government identity for ICANN.
To review the HR 2521, see:
http://www.acm.org/usacm/Legislation/HR2521.pdf
To review the related section of Chapter 5 of the United States Code, see:
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/casecode/uscodes/5/parts/i/chapters/5/toc.html
To review USACM’s March 2002 letter regarding the functions of ICANN, see:
http://www.acm.org/usacm/IG/ICANN_Letter.htm
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Recently, the Governor of Texas signed into law State Senate Bill 277, a bill introduced by Texas Senator Rodney Ellis. The new law exempts degreed engineers and those employed as “engineers” with private companies from professional state licensing requirements. The law empowers the Texas State Board of Engineers with the ability to bar independent contractors within the state, who are not exempt under this law, from using the term “engineer” in any description of their professional services or qualifications. The new law is in response to a Texas Statue that would have ended the existence of the State Board of Engineers.
To review the ACM Position on Software Engineering as a Licensed Engineering Profession, see:
http://www.acm.org/serving/se_policy/selep_main.html
To review the new
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Internet Society Prepares to Elect New Board Members
The Internet Society (ISOC) is conducting their nominations
process to select candidates for the election of new Board members. The Board will propose a slate of qualified candidates
based on the nominations received by
Founded in 1991, the ISOC is a not-for-profit open professional membership organization consisting of 150 organizations and 11,000 individual members from over 182 countries. It is a leader in addressing issues that confront the future of the Internet, and is the organizational home for many of the groups responsible for Internet standards, including the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the Internet Architecture Board (IAB).
To review the ISOC Board Membership Qualifications, see:
http://www.acm.org/usacm/Announcements/ISO_Board_Qaulifications.htm
To review the ISOC web site, see:
To review the IETF web site, see:
To review the IAB web site, see:
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Commerce Releases Major
Report on IT Education and Training
The Department of Commerce (DOC) made public a 225-page report that focuses on the nationwide employer demand for information technology (IT) workers and its relationship to education and training. The report takes a close look at the various paths IT professionals and technicians may take to receive IT education and training.
The Commerce Department’s Technology Administration worked to include broad participation in producing the report. The DOC sponsored eight-roundtable meeting held throughout the country, which drew the participation of 145 individuals and hosted a Web-based qualitative survey that garnered 300 respondents, two-thirds of which were IT workers.
To review the DOC IT Report, see:
To review survey responses, see:
www.technology.gov/ittraining.
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For earlier editions of the ACM Washington Update, see:
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