Digital legislation will have a profound impact on the Internet

From: Laurel Jamtgaard <laurelj[_at_]arl.org>
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1998 10:47:08 -0400 (EDT)

FYI. An update and alert about current legislation...

Laurel Jamtgaard
<laurelj[_at_]arl.org>

• Forwarded message ---------- From: Skip Lockwood [mailto:dfc[_at_]ari.net] Sent: Wednesday, August 26, 1998 5:28 PM Subject: Digital legislation will have a profound impact on the Internet -- Act Now!

       Please act now!  Contact your U.S. Senators.   
     Your letters and calls can make the difference!

         Digital Millennium legislation will have 
           dramatic impacts on the Internet

  Nearly every netizen will feel the "bite" of Congressional  
        legislation aimed at the digital environment

  Over the last year, the U.S. Congress has been debating legislation that will have a profound impact on the Internet. This broad legislation covers everything from works transmitted over the Internet such as books, movies, and audio recordings, to computer software, computer hardware, and consumer electronics such as digital VCR's. Anyone who teaches, researches, develops software, browses or records using the internet will be affected by this far reaching legislation.

  The House of Representatives and the Senate have passed bills referred to as "Digital Millennium Copyright Act." While they have the same name, the two pieces of legislation aim to accomplish very different things. The House bill (H.R. 2281) recognizes the importance of personal privacy and the "fair use" of copyrighted works and safeguards consumer products such as digital VCR's and personal computers. It also permits encryption research.

  Unfortunately, H.R. 2281 also contains harmful and unnecessary last-minute additions that do everything from overriding three consumer-oriented Supreme Court decisions to creating new legal rights for the owners of databases and other collections of information. In contrast, the Senate version of the legislation (S. 2037) does not protect fair use or encryption research and includes incomplete protections for personal privacy.

  Before H.R. 2281 and S. 2037 can become law, the two pieces of legislation must be reconciled. The process of reconciliation involves a small number of Senators and Representatives meeting to discuss and debate the legislation. The conference process allows Senators and Representatives to make significant changes in a bill. However, if the wrong changes are made the fundamental consumer protections established in H.R. 2281 could be stripped away in favor of the less consumer friendly provisions of S. 2037, while the harmful late "additions" to H.R. 2281, including those that override the recent Supreme Court decisions, could be left in the bill.

 The Digital Future Coalition is 42 non-profit and for-profit entities that are committed to fighting for balanced intellectual property law (copyright) in the digital era. We are asking you to write, fax, or e-mail your Senators to let them know that you want to protect the fundamental consumer protections of H.R. 2281. Your can contact your Senators by calling the U.S. Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121 and asking for your Senators or you my go to the DFC web site and use our digital contact system to write an e-mail or letter. Our address is htp://www.dfc.org/

      DECISIONS ON THE FATE OF THE INTERNET COULD BE 
           MADE AS EARLY AS AUGUST 31, 1998.

    For more information on these pieces of legislation, 
           visit the DFC web site at www.dfc.org.

__________________________________________

Membership of the Digital Future Coalition

Alliance for Public Technology
American Association of Law Libraries
American Association of Legal Publishers American Association of School Administrators American Committee for Interoperable Systems American Council of Learned Societies
American Historical Association
American Library Association
Art Libraries Society of North America
Association for Computers and the Humanities Association of American Geographers
Association of Research Libraries
Chief Officers of State Library Agencies College Art Association
Committee of Concerned Intellectual Property Educators Computer & Communications Industry Association Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility Conference on College Composition and Communications Consortium on School Networking
Consortium of Social Science Associations Consumer Federation of America
Consumer Project on Technology
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Electronic Privacy Information Center
Home Recording Rights Coalition
International Society for Telecommunications in Education Medical Library Association
Modern Language Association
Music Library Association
National Association of Independent Schools National Council of Teachers of English
National Education Association
National Humanities Alliance
National Initiative for a Networked Cultural Heritage National School Boards Association
National Writers Union
Society for Cinema Studies
Society of American Archivists
Special Libraries Association
United States Catholic Conference
United States Distance Learning Association Visual Resources Association

Skip Lockwood
Coordinator
Digital Future Coalition
Box 7679
Washington, D.C. 20004-7679
202-628-6048
202-628-9227 (fax)
http://www.dfc.org/
dfc[_at_]dfc.org Received on Thu Aug 27 1998 - 14:47:19 GMT