From: USACM Washington Office <usacm_dc@acm.org>
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 1997 12:07:40 -0800 (PST)
To: press <usacm_dc@acm.org>
Subject: USACM Calls on Pres Clinton to Veto HR 2265
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PRESS RELEASE

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1997

COMPUTER SCIENTISTS URGE PRESIDENT CLINTON TO VETO LEGISLATION
RESTRICTING FLOW OF SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION

Computer scientists fear that legislation rushed through in the closing
days of Congress may inadvertently criminalize many scientific publications
that are freely available on the Internet today. They are calling on the
President to veto the measure.

The Association for Computing's U.S. Public Policy Committee (USACM) said
that the legislation could lead to criminal prosecutions against
scientists, educators and others who do nothing more than share their own
articles on the Internet with students and colleagues.  According to USACM
Chair Dr. Barbara Simons, "This legislation was hurried through Congress,
was poorly drafted, and is likely to have many unintended consequences."

The "No Electronic Theft Act" would criminalize the copying of materials
which are currently protected under the well established U.S. doctrine of
Fair-Use. According to the Act, any person who infringes a copyright
willfully, by the electronic reproduction or distribution of one or more
copies which have a total retail value of more than $1000 dollars, will be
subject to a criminal prosecution.

The scientists say that an essential element of research is that papers
be reviewed by others.  Scientists submit papers describing their research
to scientific journals which facilitate the peer-review process.  The
journals then print the reviewed papers and thus own their copyrights.
Since the Internet's development, researchers have used it to make their
research widely available to others in their field.  According to the
letter, "Under the No Electronic Theft Act, an author who posts their
research on the Internet, and whose documents are frequently read on-line,
could be subject to criminal prosecution."

USACM argues that the No Electronic Theft Act will have a chilling effect
upon the free speech of scientists and professionals in universities and
research labs.  Universities may forbid scientists from publishing their
research on- line, or reading and reviewing other scientist's research
on-line, to avoid the potential of massive copyright litigation.

According to Dr. Simons "This legislation is clearly contrary
to the White House's stated goal of avoiding Internet regulation. We
believe it is inconsistent with the Administration's policy to promote
dramatically expansive laws for the Internet where other less burdensome
means may be available to address copyright concerns."

The Association for Computing (ACM) is the largest and oldest professional
association of computer scientists in the United States.  ACM's U.S. Public
Policy Committee (USACM) facilitates communications between computer
scientists and policy makers on issues of concern to the computing community.

For more information, Please contact:


Barbara Simons, Chair, USACM: 408/256-3661, simons@VNET.IBM.COM
David Farber, USACM:  215/898-9508, farber@cis.upenn.edu
Lauren Gelman, Associate Director, USACM, 202/544-4859, gelman@acm.org

http://www.acm.org/usacm/copyright/

_____________________
November 25, 1997

President William J. Clinton
1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Clinton:

	The Association for Computing's U.S. Public Policy Committee
believes that the  "No Electronic Theft Act" (H.R. 2265), which is now
before you, does not adequately reflect the nature of the new digital
environment and will have a  negative impact on the rich scientific
communications that have developed on the Internet in many fields,
including computer science.  For this reason, we are asking you to veto the
legislation. We agree that copyright holders have a legitimate need to
protect their intellectual property.  However,  we are concerned that the
bill was rushed through both Houses of Congress without careful
consideration of its unintended consequences.

	We are concerned the Bill may:

*	Restrict scientists and other professionals from making their
research available on the Internet for use by colleagues and students.
Most scientists do not own the copyright on their own materials.  Instead,
that copyright ownership is retained by the scientific journal which
peer-reviews and publishes the research.  Under the No Electronic Theft
Act, an author who posts their research on the Internet, and whose
documents are frequently read on-line, could be subject to criminal
prosecution.  If the bill becomes law, scientists may have to choose
between having their work peer-reviewed or making it widely available.

*	Criminalize the transfer of information that is currently protected
under the U.S. 'fair use' doctrine.  Copyright law is derived from the U.S.
Constitution and is intended to advance "science and the useful arts."  The
fair-use doctrine protects reading and nonprofit copying and thus allows
scientists and educators to openly exchange information.  H.R. 2265 does
not explicitly protect the "fair use" privilege which makes this open
exchange of scientific information possible.

*	Chill free speech in universities and research labs. The
terminology used in the Bill, including "willfully" and "for profit," are
not defined; it is unclear what the parameters of a criminally prosecutable
copyright infringement are.  As a result, it is likely that many
institutions will mandate that all copyrighted documents be removed from
the net to avoid having to defend copyright infringement prosecutions.

	We hope that you will veto this measure and ask your staff to work
with Congress during the next session to develop more sensible legislation.


Sincerely,

Dr. Barbara Simons Chair,
U.S. Public Policy Committee
Association For Computing


The Association for Computing (ACM) is the largest and oldest professional
association of computer scientists in the United States.  ACM's U.S. Public
Policy Committee (USACM) facilitates communication between computer
scientists and policy makers on issues of concern to the computing
community.

cc:	Vice President Albert Gore, Jr.
	Ira Magaziner, Senior Adviser to President
	Brian Kahin, Office of Science Technology and Public Policy.
	Henry J. Hyde, Chair, House Judiciary Committee
	John Conyers, Jr., Ranking Member, House Judiciary Committee
	Howard Coble, Chair, Courts and Intellectual Property Subcommittee,
House Judiciary 	Committee
	Orrin G. Hatch, Chair, Senate Judiciary Committee
	Patrick J. Leahy, Ranking Member, Senate Judiciary Committee
	John Ashcroft, Chair, Constitution, Federalism and Property Rights
Subcommittee, Senate 	Judiciary Committee
	Mike DeWine, Chair, Antitrust, Business Rights and Competition
Subcommittee, Senate 	Judiciary Comittee
	Representative Virgil H. Goode
	Representative Barney Frank, House Judiciary Committee
	Representative Christopher Cannon, House Judiciary Committee
	Representative William Delahunt, House Judiciary Committee
	Representative Elton Gallegly, House Judiciary Committee
	Representative Bob Clement