ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline Volume 8, Number 78 July 30, 1999 In this issue: [1] Database Protection Bill Advances; Action Needed as Commerce Committee Schedules Markup [2] Deadline for Even Start Family Literacy Grants Extended to October 15 [3] Page Number Correction to the July 28 ALAWON [1] Database Protection Bill Advances; Action Needed as Commerce Committee Schedules Markup The House Commerce Committee intends to mark up H.R. 1858, the Consumer and Investor Access to Information Act of 1999, prior to the August 5 congressional recess. There is considerable lobbying by realtors and other groups against this bill and in favor of H.R. 354, the Collections of Information Antipiracy Act, approved by the House Judiciary Committee on May 25. H.R. 354 would hamper legitimate uses of factual information and databases. ACTION NEEDED: Letters and calls from constituents in support of H.R. 1858 to members of the House Commerce Committee are needed. A list of members is included below. Ask for support of the Consumer and Investor Access to Information Act of 1999 when H.R. 1858 is considered by the full Committee. REASONS TO SUPPORT: H.R. 1858, the Consumer and Investor Access to Information Act of 1999, is a narrowly tailored bill which strikes a balance between the interests of selected database producers while ensuring that legitimate and appropriate access to factual information continues. ALA supports H.R. 1858 because provisions in the bill protect value-added, downstream uses of information while addressing the concerns of some database producers that in the digital environment there could be increased piracy of their products. Provisions in H.R. 1858 would: preserve the fair use of information and keep factual information in the public domain; prevent unfair competition in the form of parasitic copying; promote the progress of science, education, and research; protect value-added publishers and their products; and provide safeguards against monopolistic pricing. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS: On July 29 the House Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Telecommunications, Trade and Consumer Protection, chaired by Rep. W. J. Tauzin (R-LA), approved by voice vote an amended version of Title I of H.R. 1858. This version of Title I, Commerce in Duplicated Databases Prohibited, incorporated the chairman's amendment that clarified several definitions in the bill and included a new subsection excluding primary legal materials from protection: "Protection under section 102 shall not extend to primary legal materials, including court opinions, statutes, codes, regulations, or administrative agency decisions, from any Federal, State, or local jurisdiction, unless such materials were permanently available on an interactive computer network without restriction, in an official publicly accessible electronic form without charge, at the time the extraction occurred." This language originated with the American Association of Law Libraries and is supported by ALA and other library associations. Title II, Securities Market Information, of H.R. 1858 was approved by the House Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Finance and Hazardous Materials on July 21. HOUSE COMMERCE COMMITTEE ST/DIST/PTY MEMBER PHONE FAX (use 202 area code) AZ-4 R John Shadegg 225-3361 225-3462 CA-14 D Anna G. Eshoo 225-8104 225-8890 CA-22 D Lois Capps 225-3601 225-5632 CA-27 R James E. Rogan 225-4176 225-5828 CA-29 D Henry A. Waxman 225-3976 225-4099 CA-47 R Christopher Cox 225-5611 225-9177 CA-49 R Brian P. Bilbray 225-2040 225-2948 CO-1 D Diana DeGette 225-4431 225-5657 FL-6 R Clifford B. Stearns 225-5744 225-3973 FL-9 R Michael Bilirakis 225-5755 225-4085 FL-20 D Peter Deutsch 225-7931 225-8456 GA-9 R Nathan Deal 225-5211 225-8272 GA-10 R Charles W. Norwood 225-4101 225-0279 IL-1 D Bobby L. Rush 225-4372 226-0333 IL-20 R John M. Shimkus 225-5271 225-5880 IA-4 R Greg Ganske 225-4426 225-3193 KY-1 R Edward Whitfield 225-3115 225-3547 LA-3 R W. J. Tauzin 225-4031 225-0563 MD-2 R Robert L. Ehrlich 225-3061 225-3094 MD-4 D Albert R. Wynn 225-8699 225-8714 MA-7 D Edward J. Markey 225-2836 226-0340 MI-1 D Bart Stupak 225-4735 225-4744 MI-6 R Frederick S. Upton 225-3761 225-4986 MI-16 D John D. Dingell, Rnk. 225-4071 MN-6 D William P. Luther 225-2271 225-3368 MS-3 R Charles W. Pickering 225-5031 225-5797 MO-5 D Karen McCarthy 225-4535 225-4403 MO-7 R Roy Blunt 225-6536 225-5604 NJ-6 D Frank Pallone 225-4671 225-9665 NM-1 R Heather Wilson 225-6316 225-4975 NY-2 R Rick A. Lazio 225-3335 225-4669 NY-10 D Edolphus Towns 225-5936 225-1018 NY-13 R Vito J. Fossella 225-3371 226-1272 NY-17 D Eliot L. Engel 225-2464 225-5513 NC-5 R Richard M. Burr 225-2071 225-2995 OH-4 R Michael G. Oxley 225-2676 OH-5 R Paul E. Gillmor 225-6405 225-1985 OH-6 D Ted Strickland 225-5705 225-5907 OH-13 D Sherrod Brown 225-3401 225-2266 OH-14 D Thomas C. Sawyer 225-5231 225-5278 OK-1 R Steve Largent 225-2211 225-9187 OK-2 R Tom A. Coburn 225-2701 225-3038 PA-4 D Ron Klink 225-2565 226-2274 PA-8 R James C. Greenwood 225-4276 225-9511 TN-6 D Bart Gordon 225-4231 225-6887 TN-7 R Edward G. Bryant 225-2811 225-2989 TX-4 D Ralph M. Hall 225-6673 225-3332 TX-6 R Joe Barton 225-2002 225-3052 TX-29 D Gene Green 225-1688 225-9903 VA-7 R Tom Bliley, Chair 225-2815 225-0011 VA-9 D Rick Boucher 225-3861 225-0442 WI-5 D Thomas M. Barrett 225-3571 225-2185 WY-1 R Barbara Cubin 225-2311 225-3057 [2] Deadline for Even Start Family Literacy Grants Extended to October 15 In the June 25 Federal Register (v64, n122), the Secretary of Education announced the deadline extension of October 15, 1999 for states to apply for a FY99 new award under the Even Start Statewide Family Literacy Initiative grant (see also the March 15 ALAWON at http://www.ala.org/washoff/alawon/alwn8025.html ). For further details contact Patricia McKee, Compensatory Education Programs, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20202-6132; phone: 202-260-0826 or e-mail: patricia_mckee@ed.gov . The full Federal Register announcement is available at http://ocfo.ed.gov/gophroot/4fedreg/1grantann/062599b.txt [3] Page Number Correction to the July 28 ALAWON Thanks to the alert reader who noticed that in ALAWON v8, n77, the page references to Sen. Reed's bill, the Elementary and Secondary School Library Media Resources, Training, and Advanced Technology Assistance Act of 1999 (S. 1262) and the attached letter of support from then ALA President Ann Symons should have read Congressional Record, 6/22/99, pp. S7457-9, accessible at http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/retrcrpg.html ****** ALAWON (ISSN 1069-7799) is a free, irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office. All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. 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