================================================================= ALAWON Volume 7, Number 49 ISSN 1069-7799 May 15, 1998 American Library Association Washington Office Newsline In this issue: (148 lines) FCC SEEKS COMMENT ON TELECOMMUNICATIONS DISCOUNT PROGRAM; MAY 22 FILING DEADLINE ON REVISION OF 1998 COLLECTION AMOUNTS HOUSE DELAYS VOTE ON DATABASE LEGISLATION; SENATE PASSES DIGITAL MILLENNIUM COPYRIGHT ACT _________________________________________________________________ FCC SEEKS COMMENT ON TELECOMMUNICATIONS DISCOUNT PROGRAM; MAY 22 FILING DEADLINE ON REVISION OF 1998 COLLECTION AMOUNTS On May 13, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Common Carrier Bureau issued a Public Notice seeking comment on a proposed revision of the 1998 collection amounts for the schools and libraries and rural health care universal service support mechanisms. The FCC predicted in its May 8 report that, based upon preliminary information from the Schools and Libraries Corporation (SLC), schools and libraries will request approximately $2.02 billion in funding during 1998 and that $1.67 billion will be available from access charge savings to fund those discounts. (See ALAWON Vol. 7, #45 May 11, 1998.) The May 13 Public Notice seeks comment "on the maximum amounts that may be collected and spent during the initial year of implementation in order to ensure that collection rates do not exceed access charge reductions and to prevent rate churn for subscribers" and on directing that no "more than $1.67 billion for the schools and libraries support mechanism during the 1998 funding year." ACTION NEEDED: ALA encourages all library advocates to support full funding of the E-rate program. Informal comments or copies of formal comments can be filed electronically via the Internet at http://www.fcc.gov/e-file/ecfs.html. ALA and the Education and Libraries Network Coalition (EDLINC) are currently working on comments in response to the Public Notice. Major points expected to be made include: * The E-rate should be fully funded in ways that are consistent with the 1996 Telecommunications Act. The E-rate is part of a larger package of benefits that are part of the Act. * Telecommunications companies are already benefitting from the Act; telecommunications consumers, including libraries, schools, and the communities they serve, should also begin to see the benefits of the Act. Libraries and schools serve consumers by providing children and adults with access to advanced information technologies. This nation's nearly 16,000 public library facilities are visited by 3/4 of children and 2/3 of adults. The nearly 100,000 public and private schools serve over 50 million children. * Over 30,000 applications were received within the initial 75-day window and more applications have come in since then. These applications come from all parts of the country and from rural as well as urban areas. Communities across the country have already invested substantial time and resources to provide the complementary computing and training resources for the e-rate and in applying for the discount program. * Inside wiring support is especially important for low-income libraries and schools who would not otherwise be able to afford such telecommunications infrastructure. These inside wiring costs are one-time costs compared to other eligible E-rate services and will likely decrease over time. The full report and the Public Notice requesting comments is available from the following site: www.fcc.gov/ccb/universal_service/ _________________________________________________________________ HOUSE DELAYS VOTE ON DATABASE LEGISLATION ; SENATE PASSES DIGITAL MILLENNIUM COPYRIGHT ACT In a flurry of bicameral activity on the intellectual property front, Congress turned this week to two separate pieces of legislation with potentially profound implication for libraries, their users and the public interest in the digital age. "DATABASE" LEGISLATION First, for the second time in as many weeks, the House of Representatives was scheduled to consider H.R. 2652, the "Collection of Information Antipiracy Act," under procedures usually reserved for non-controversial bills requiring passage by a two-thirds majority. Under heavy pressure from industry organizations and librarians, the bill was "pulled" from the House schedule once again. The ALA Washington Office team -- which also devoted significant effort to convincing House Members that H.R. 2652 would provide unprecedented protection to broad categories of non-copyrightable material without affording reasonable public access to it -- wishes to express its sincere thanks to all those who made the critical difference by responding to the office's emergency alert. WIPO TREATY IMPLEMENTATION LEGISLATION The "Digital Millennium Copyright Act" (S. 2037) -- legislation to update the U.S. Copyright Act for the digital environment -- was approved by the Senate this week by a vote of 99-0. Although improved by provisions assuring that digital technology may be used to preserve copyrighted material and underscoring the importance of updating the law in the next Congress to facilitate digitally-delivered distance education, the bill as adopted by the Senate regrettably fails to adequately enable the fair use of electronic information. Debate on the House version of this bill (H.R. 2281), approved by that chamber's Judiciary Committee last month, will resume in the House Commerce Committee with Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA) leading the effort to improve the legislation for libraries and educational institutions, particularly by protecting Fair Use. Rep. Boucher is the co-author -- with Rep. Tom Campbell (R-CA) -- of H.R. 3048, balanced copyright legislation strongly supported by ALA, other national library and educational organizations and the Digital Future Coalition. ACTION: Library supporters are asked to contact their Member of the House of Representatives and ask them to: 1. OPPOSE H.R. 2652, the "Collection of Information Antipiracy Act;" and 2. OPPOSE H.R. 2281 and COSPONSOR H.R. 3048. For more information about the digital copyright debate, please consult the ALA's Washington Office website at http://www.ala.org/washoff/ip.html, the Digital Future Coalition's website at www.dfc.org, or contact Adam Eisgrau at 800-941-8478. _________________________________________________________________ ALAWON is a free, irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office. To subscribe, send the message: subscribe ala-wo [your_firstname] [your_lastname] to listproc @ala.org. To unsubscribe, send the message: unsubscribe ala-wo to listproc@ala.org. ALAWON archives at http://www.ala.org/ washoff/alawon. Visit our Web site at http://www.alawash.org. ALA Washington Office 202.628.8410 (V) 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, #403 202.628.8419 (F) Washington, DC 20004-1701 800.941.8478 (V) Lynne E. Bradley, Editor Deirdre Herman, Managing Editor Contributors: Carol C. Henderson All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. =================================================================