HR 354 Antipiracy Bill

From: Albert Henderson <NobleStation[_at_]compuserve.com>
Date: Thu, 26 Aug 1999 10:27:04 -0400

FYI - following is a copy of my letter to Congress:

Hon. Howard Coble                    August 26, 1999

U.S. House of Representatives
Washington DC 20515

Dear Rep. Coble:

I wish to express my opinion of the "Collections of Information Antipiracy Act (HR 354) which was introduced earlier this year.

As the editor of Publishing Research Quarterly, it has been my observation that publishers are reluctant to convert compilations of facts from print to electronic distribution because of the ease of digital piracy. Authoritative, reliable, and timely compilations of facts are expensive to develop. They are cheap to copy. Information technology thus puts the initial publisher's development capital at considerable risk. The cheapness factor may extend to other areas of unauthorized copies, sending inferior productions to compete at low prices with originals that are well-made and guaranteed by brand names and service.

Some compilations, such as telephone books, may be byproducts of other activities. Some have large enough audiences to be supported by advertising and to justify the copier investing in converting printed versions (at considerable loss of timeliness). While the Feist ruling sustained such activities, it made little note of the user's interest in reliability. Who speaks for that user's interest? How good is a telephone book that is a year out of date?

Other compilations, perhaps the majority, offer narrow audiences useful information, whether of telephone numbers, pharmaceutical preparations, chess games, movie credits, industry statistics, state laws, etc. They are commercially viable as long as the compiler has some hold on market exclusivity. Exclusivity supports other concerns. For instance, members of associations do not wish to enable turning their directories into mailing lists.

In short, in order for publishers to justify applying the advantages of information technology to specialized compilations, they must have legal protections similar to copyright, even when the compilations collect facts that are in the public domain. If HR354 will accomplish this, then it would serve the interests of the people by promoting investment in information and information technology.

Sincerely,

Albert Henderson
Pres., Chess Combination Inc.
Editor, PUBLISHING RESEARCH QUARTERLY
<70244.1532[_at_]compuserve.com>

Editor, ELECTRONIC DATABASES AND PUBLISHING New Brunswick NJ: Transaction Publishers 1998 Received on Thu Aug 26 1999 - 14:32:18 GMT