ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline
Volume 8, Number 73
July 22, 1999

In this issue:

Action Needed: Ask NCCUSL State Commissioners Via Fax To Oppose 
UCITA 

Action Needed:
The National Council of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws 
(NCCUSL) will vote on the proposed Uniform Computer Information 
Transactions Act (UCITA) at their annual meeting which begins 
tomorrow, July 23 in Denver, CO.  UCITA (formerly draft UCC 
Article 2B) will be voted up or down by NCCUSL before the meeting 
concludes on July 30.   

Library supports are urged to send a fax to their NCCUSL state 
commissioner(s) immediately.  (A sample letter is available at 
http://www.ala.org/washoff/sample.html and a list of state 
commissioner(s) is located at 
http://www.acm.org/usacm/copyright/nccusl_contacts.html) 

The fax should be addressed to your state commissioner(s) and 
clearly marked "NCCUSL MEETING" to ensure delivery to the right 
meeting room.  The fax number at the Hyatt Regency Tech Center in 
Denver, CO is 1-303-850-7164.  

The ALA Washington Office has sent multiple copies of the "Letter 
Opposing Proposed UCITA from Five Library Associations" (see 
http://www.ala.org/washoff/071299.html) to the NCCUSL meeting for 
distribution. 

Background:

UCITA is a proposed "uniform law" designed to establish 
regulations for computer information transactions that will apply 
from state to state once ratified by state legislatures.  (Note: 
UCITA used to be known as Article 2B, or UCC2B of the Uniform 
Commercial Code). If ratified, UCITA would have a sweeping impact 
on libraries since the law extends to nearly all "transactions of 
information," and represents a movement toward the licensing of 
information in all forms over the sale of copies as traditionally 
understood under copyright law (see also the July 16 ALAWON (v8, 
n69)).

UCITA also would establish that "click on" and "shrink wrap" 
licenses, which may include terms that inappropriately limit the 
use by the purchaser or user, are legally binding and non-
negotiable. Such terms could include limits on fair use, 
regardless of the circumstances under which fair use would 
normally be exercised. 

Additional background information and a sample letter are posted 
at http://www.ala.org/washoff/ucita.html

******
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ALA Washington Office, 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Suite 403, 
Washington, D.C. 20004-1701; phone: 202.628.8410 or 800.941.8478 
toll-free; fax: 202.628.8419; e-mail: alawash@alawash.org; Web 
site: http://www.ala.org/washoff.  Editor: Lynne E. Bradley; 
Managing Editor: Deirdre Herman; Contributors:  Sally Benson, Mary 
Costabile, Carol Henderson, Peter Kaplan, Carrie Russell, Saundra 
Shirley, Claudette Tennant and Rick Weingarten.