EFFector Vol. 11, No. 2 Mar. 11, 1998 editor@eff.org
A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424
IN THIS ISSUE:
IMMEDIATE ACTION ALERT, MARCH 18 DEADLINE:
CONTACT KEY REPRESENTATIVES ON THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON COURTS AND
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY TO OPPOSE DATABASE BILL
1. INTRO
2. IMMEDIATE ACTION TO TAKE
3. SAMPLE PHONE "SCRIPT" & SAMPLE FAX
4. MORE ACTION TO TAKE
ADMINISTRIVIA
See http://www.eff.org for more information on EFF activities & alerts!
_________________________________________________________________
The Electronic Frontier Foundation March 17, 1998
IMMEDIATE ACTION ALERT, MARCH 18 DEADLINE:
CONTACT KEY REPRESENTATIVES ON THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON COURTS AND
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY TO OPPOSE DATABASE BILL
Please distribute widely to appropriate forums,
no later than April 1, 1998.
SUMMARY:
* Latest News:
House "Collections of Information Antipiracy" bill would
create a new property right in databases and make criminal
many uses of information without express permission from the
database supplier.
* What You Can Do Now:
Follow the directions below and call Rep. Howard Coble and
members of House Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual
Property. Ask them to oppose expansion of rights to database
holders without clear proof that additional protections are
needed and without explicit explanation of how fair use will
be protected. Explain that no new legislation is needed.
_________________________________________________________________
THE LATEST NEWS
On March 18, 1998, the House Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual
Property will mark up H.R. 2652, the "Collections of Information
Antipiracy Act." Introduced by Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC), H.R. 2652
expands the rights of database collectors and authorizes enormous
civil and criminal penalties (up to $250,000 and/or 5 years in prison
for a first offense; $500,000 and/or 10 years in prison for subsequent
convictions) against anyone who uses data collected in a database
without the express consent of the person who maintains that database.
The Act, backed by major database maintainers such as Microsoft and
West Publishing, is designed to create a new crime against those who
extract or commercially use a "substantial part" of a collection of
information gathered, organized or maintained by another person
"through a substantial investment of money or other resources" so as
to harm the data collector's "actual or potential" market for a
product or service that incorporates that collection of information.
The main problem with the bill is that key terms are either not
defined or are poorly defined, leaving huge loopholes that render
literally all data vulnerable under the Act. For example, even though
the bill is titled the "Collections of Information Antipiracy Act,"
the term "collection" is not defined. "Substantial part" is not
defined. And "information" is defined as "facts, data, works of
authorship, or any other intangible material capable of being
collected and organized in a systematic way," an extremely broad
definition that could include just about anything!
Unfortunately, while Congress has feeling a lot of pressure from the
database maintainers to pass this legislation, they have not been
hearing from those of us opposed to the bill. YOUR immediate action
is needed to stop it from passing out of the Subcommittee.
_________________________________________________________________
IMMEDIATE ACTION TO TAKE
Free speech supporters, *especially supporters from states represented
on the House Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property*, are
asked to IMMEDIATELY contact these key Representatives and ask them to
"kill" the database bill, H.R. 2652, at the House Subcommittee on
Courts and Intellectual Property markup meeting this Wednesday, March
18, 1998 at 2:00 p.m. (ET).
We ask you to take JUST TWO MINUTES or so per call to contact the
offices of Rep. Coble (Chair of the Subcommittee on Courts and
Intellectual Property) and the rest of the Subcommittee and express
your opposition to this legislation! Urge the Representatives to
refrain from giving protections to database producers who already see
hefty profits and need no additional sheltering of their wares.
Feel free to make use of the sample fax and phone "script" below.
HOUSE JUDICITARY COMMITTEE'S
SUBCOMMITTEE ON COURTS AND INTELLECTUAL PROPRETY
ST PTY REPRESENTATIVE PHONE FAX
DIST
---------------------------------------- (Use 202 area code)---
NC 6 R Coble, Howard (chair) 225-3065 225-8611
CA 26 D Berman, Howard 225-4695 225-5279
VA 9 D Boucher, Rick 225-3861 225-0442
FL 12 R Canady, Charles 225-1252 225-2279
UT 3 D Cannon, Chris 225-7751 225-5629
MI 14 D Conyers, John 225-5126 225-0072
MA 10 D Delahunt, William 225-3111 226-0771
MA 4 D Frank, Barney 225-5931 225-0182
CA 23 R Gallegly, Elton 225-5811 225-1100
VA 6 R Goodlatte, Robert 225-5431 225-9681
CA 6 D Lofgren, Zoe 225-3072 225-3336
FL 8 R McCollum, William 225-2176 225-0999
IN 7 R Pease, Edward 225-5805 765-423-2808
CA 27 R Rogan, James 225-4176 225-5828
WI 9 R Sensenbrenner, F.J. 225-5101 225-3190
_________________________________________________________________
SAMPLE PHONE "SCRIPT" & SAMPLE FAX
If you would like to both call, and send a fax, this extra action
would certainly help.
For best results, try to put this in your own (short!) words, and
be emotive without being hostile.
IF YOU ARE A CONSTITUENT (i.e., you live in the same district as
the Rep. you are contacting) make sure to say so. For example "I
am a constituent, and I'm calling/writing because...."
IF YOU REPRESENT A COMPANY OR ORGANIZATION, say so: "I'm Jane
Person from Personal Technologies Inc. of Austin. I'm calling on
behalf of Personal Technologies to ask the Representative to...."
Business interests carry a lot of weight with many legislators,
especially if they are in the legislator's home district.
Legislators also generally heed organizational voices over
individiual ones.
PHONE "SCRIPT"
You: [ring ring]
Legislative staffer: Hello, Representative Lastname's office.
You: I'm calling to urge Representative Lastname to REJECT the
Collections of Information Antipiracy Act, H.R. 2652. This bill
is missing key definitions and creates new property rights in
databases and the raw information contained in them. These new
rights threaten the free flow of information, freedom of speech
and press, and fair use rights. The database industry has not
proven any need for this legislation. The bill is not
responsive to WIPO treaty language, provides for excessive and
injust penalties, and does not provide clear guidance on how
fair use would be protected. There is no need for this
legislation, and I urge Representative Lastname to REJECT
H.R. 2652. Thank you.
Staffer: OK, thanks. [click]
It's that easy.
You can optionally ask to speak to the legislator's technology
& intellectual property staffer. You probably won't get to, but
the message may have more weight if you succeed. The staffer who
first answers the phone probably won't be the tech/i.p. staffer.
SAMPLE FAX
Relevant Congressional fax numbers are in the contact list above.
Please, if you have the time, write your own 1-3 paragraph letter
in your own words, rather than send a copy of this sample letter.
(However, sending a copy of the sample letter is far better than
taking no action!)
Dear Rep. Lastname:
I'm writing to urge you to reject additional intellectual
property protections for database maintainers as contained in
H.R. 2652, the "Collections of Information Antipiracy Act."
This bill, while being touted as as a piece of antipiracy
legislation, actually makes most uses of pure information
contained in a database illegal without prior permission from
the database maintainer. The Act does not create useful
exceptions for the fair use of information, and key definitions
of crucial terms, such as "collection" and "substantial part"
are missing. Furthermore the penalties called for - up to
$500,000 and 10 years in prison - are excessive and injust.
The database industry is booming and is quite lucrative for
companies collecting and disseminating information. At present,
the law requires database collectors to add some originality to
the information collected before the collectors receive a
legally recognized property right in the database. H.R. 2652
would change this, giving collectors property rights in raw
information that has traditionally been in the public domain.
This assault on the public's fair use rights and the free flow
of information will have dire consequences for free speech and
press, and scientific and legal research. Additionally, the
bill is simply not responsive in any way to the requirements of
recent WIPO treaties. WIPO rejected such a "database giveaway".
The database industry has not demonstrated a clear need for this
legislation, and the public interest is harmed by giving these
companies additional rights to control plain facts and
information.
H.R. 2652 represents an attempt by some information collection
owners to fortify their markets through manipulating the legal
system (instead of through fair competition and the addition of
value) by raising fears of electronic piracy of information
over the Internet and through new information technologies.
Congress should wait until specific and definable market
failures become apparent before acting to correct them in as
broad and vague a way as that attempted in H.R. 2652.
Sincerely,
My Name Here
My Address Here
(Address is especially important if you want your letter to be taken
as a letter from an actual constituent.)
For brief tips on writing letters to Congress, see:
http://www.vote-smart.org/contact/contact.html
The most important tip is to BE POLITE AND BRIEF. Swearing will NOT
help.
_________________________________________________________________
MORE ACTION TO TAKE
After calling/faxing members of the House Subcommittee on Courts and
Intellectual Property, please contact your own Representatives and
urge them to oppose H.R. 2652, the Collections of Information
Antipiracy Act. Do this even after the March 18 deadline for the main
action. If you have time, please also contact House leaders and ask
them to oppose any such legislation. (See contact list below)
You may also wish to follow up your calls and faxes with e-mail.
If you are unsure who your legislators are or how to contact them, see
the EFF Congress Contact Factsheet at:
http://www.eff.org/congress.html
For more information about the Collection of Information Antipiracy
Act and why it should be opposed, see the Digital Future Coaltion web
page at:
http://www.dfc.org/
HOUSE LEADERSHIP
ST PTY REPRESENTATIVE PHONE FAX
DIST
---------------------------------------- (Use 202 area code)---
GA 6 R Gingrich, Newt 225-4501 225-4656
TX 26 R Armey, Richard 225-7772 226-8100
MO 3 D Gephardt, Richard 225-2671 225-7452
TX 22 R DeLay, Tom 225-5951 225-5241
MI 10 D Bonior, David 225-2106 226-1169
OH 8 R Boehner, John 225-6205 225-0704
CA 47 R Cox, Christopher 225-5611 225-9177
CA 3 D Fazio, Vic 225-5716 225-5141
MD 5 D Hoyer, Steny 225-4131 225-4300
_________________________________________________________________
House leaders are, respectively: Speaker, Majority Leader, Minority
Leader, Maj. Whip, Min. Whip, Republican Conference Chair, Rep. Policy
Committee Chair, Democratic Caucus Chair, Dem. Steering Cmte. Chair
[end of alert]
_____________________________________________________________________
ADMINISTRIVIA
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