ALAWON v4n80 (September 8, 1995)
URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/alawon/alawon-v4n80

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                                                             ISBN 1069-7799
                                  ALAWON
                      ALA Washington Office Newsline
                     An electronic publication of the
              American Library Association Washington Office

                            Volume 4, Number 80
                             September 8, 1995

   In this issue: (nnn lines)
     SENATE SUBCOMMITTEE ZEROS OUT NTIA-TIIAP GRANTS
          ACTION NEEDED:  FIGHT CUTS AT SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
     "WHITE PAPER" ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND THE NATIONAL INFORMATION
 INFRASTRUCTURE RELEASED ON SEPTEMBER 5
          WHITE PAPER TEXT AVAILABLE FROM PTO
     NEH LIBRARY PROGRAMS HAVE NEW DEADLINE
     ALA MOVES WASHINGTON OFFICE AND OITP -- TEMPORARILY OFFLINE DURING
 ELECTRONIC MIGRATION

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             SENATE SUBCOMMITTEE ZEROS OUT NTIA-TIIAP GRANTS
     ACTION NEEDED:  FIGHT CUTS AT SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

NTIA and its TIIAP grant program would be zeroed out under a bill approved
on September 7 by the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce,
Justice, State, and the Judiciary.  The bill is H.R. 2076, the Departments
of Commerce, Justice, State, and the Judiciary, and related agencies
appropriations bill for FY 1996.  Among the agencies most drastically
affected by the subcommittee action was the National Telecommunications and
Information Administration (NTIA.)  The Subcommittee completely zeroed out
FY96 funding for many of NTIA's programs such as the Telecommunications and
Information Infrastructure Assistance Program (TIIAP.)   Further, the $36
million in grants about to be awarded to 1995 TIIAP applicants would also
be rescinded.  The subcommittee action was a straight party line vote with
all Republicans voting for eliminating funds for the program, and all
Democrats voting against the cuts.

The TIIAP grants, also called Information Infrastructure Grants, are
intended to promote widespread access to advanced information technologies.
The program supports projects that provide visible examples of how an
information infrastructure can impact local access to services such as
education and health care.  A budget request of $99.912 million for
Information Infrastructure Grants was made by the administration for FY96.
The House has already passed H.R. 2076 including $40 million for the
grants.  Libraries are eligible and have received funds from this program
as well as been involved in community partnerships which have received
these grants.

ACTION NEEDED:  The full Senate Appropriations Committee is scheduled to
consider the bill on Monday, September 11.  Each Appropriations Committee
member, including those Senators on the Subcommittee, should hear about the
value of NTIA and TIIAP and the effects that killing the program will have
on a national as well as local level.  All current applicants for TIIAP
grants are strongly urged to contact their Senators immediately.  Zeroing
out a modest information infrastructure program when thousands of
applicants have already, in good faith, devoted time and resources to
developing applications, securing community partners and matching funds,
and when the peer review process has already taken place, and awards are
about to be announced, is not a productive or cost effective action.

MEMBERS OF THE SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

Senate switchboard number: 202-224-3121
Senate Appropriations Committee number: 202-224-3471

Republicans:                       Democrats:

Chair: Mark Hatfield (OR)*         Ranking Member: Robert C. Byrd (WV)
Ted Stevens (AK)*                  Daniel Inouye (HI)*
Thad Cochran (MS)                  Ernest Hollings (SC)*
Arlen Specter (PA)                 J. Bennett Johnston (LA)
Pete Domenici (NM)*                Patrick Leahy (VT)
Phil Gramm (TX)*                   Dale Bumpers (AR)*
Christopher Bond (MO)              Frank Lautenberg (NJ)*
Slade Gorton (WA)                  Tom Harken (IA)
Mitch McConnell (KY)*              Barbara Mikulski (MD)
Connie Mack (FL)                   Harry Reid (NV)
Conrad Burns (MT)                  Robert Kerrey (NE)*
Richard Shelby (AL)                Herbert Kohl (WI)
Jim Jeffords (VT)                  Patty Murray (WA)
Judd Gregg (NH)*
Robert Bennett (UT)

The asterisks * indicate members of the subcommittee.

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   "WHITE PAPER" ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND THE NATIONAL INFORMATION
                 INFRASTRUCTURE RELEASED ON SEPTEMBER 5

On September 5, Commerce Secretary Ron Brown and Commissioner of Patents
and Trademarks Bruce Lehman unveiled the much-anticipated report of the
Working Group on Intellectual Property formed to assess the protection of
intellectual property in a digital age and to recommend changes to the
Copyright Act where necessary.  Titled "Intellectual Property and the
National Information Infrastructure," the 238 page "White Paper" builds on a
draft "Green Paper" circulated for comments last July.

As reported in previous ALAWONs, ALA submitted formal comments on the Green
Paper to the Working Group to strongly criticize several of its draft
suggestions, including elimination of the "First Sale Doctrine" for
electronic works, and the requirement that the purpose for transmission of
a work be assessed in order to determine whether it was "distributed" or
"performed" for purposes of the Copyright Act.  ALA also urged the Working
Group to make clear that libraries and others may freely use digital
techniques for the preservation of copyrighted materials.

KEY LIBRARY RECOMMENDATIONS ACCEPTED:
ALA is pleased that neither of those problematic proposals appears to have
been incorporated in the White Paper, and that the requested clarification
on digital preservation was included.  However, the Report and the remarks
made on its introduction underscored the need to carefully scrutinize the
full document and highlight grounds for concern.

Key Points:
(1)  Both the White Paper and the agencies responsible for it appear almost
totally focussed on the information infrastructure's commercial potential.
ALA has argued, and will continue to do so, that the information
infrastructure can and should be used to expand markets, but that such
expansion must be accompanied by the expansion of equitable public access
to information for students, scholars, small business men and women, and
people who can't afford their own computers.  ALA rejects the notion,
apparently embraced by the White Paper, that the protection of copyright
owners is the basis of copyright law.  Rather, libraries contend, the law
is based on a presumption in favor of the wide dissemination of ideas at
the core of the First Amendment and the intellectual property clause of the
Constitution.

(2) The White Paper, and the remarks upon its introduction, appear to be
based on the premise that only the legal protection of copyrighted works --
and the consequent restriction of their use -- will spur creativity.  ALA
has long rejected that argument, noting the critical role that writers' and
others' access to material has played in the production of new copyrighted
works.  Recent popular examples include new productions of _Little Women_,
_The Scarlet Letter_, and _Pocohantas_.

(3)  Commissioner Lehman noted in his remarks that great advances have been
and will continue to be made in the ability to license the use of
copyrighted material on-line and he urged publishers to work with schools
and libraries to establish suitable licensing arrangements.  ALA will
continue to work with policy makers to assure that, regardless of the
"useability" and prevalence of licensing technology, established exceptions
from copyright restrictions for libraries and the codified concept of fair
use are not undermined by such innovation.

(4) Finally, the White Paper is conspicuously silent on the need to clarify
that libraries and schools may use digital technology to expand distance
learning opportunities (especially for rural Americans) by expanding
current inter-library loan options and creating more accessible "digital
libraries" and "electronic reserve rooms" for far-flung students.

THE "BOTTOM LINE"
The "bottom line" for libraries is that the "bottom line" for business
cannot be the main animating principle of building the information
infrastructure.  Equitable public access to information, now guaranteed by
current copyright law, can and should expand with the size of the market
for copyrighted works on the "information superhighway".

Assuring meaningful public access to information is necessary, fair and
what the Framers of the Constitution had in mind.  It's what ALA will fight
for.


                   WHITE PAPER TEXT AVAILABLE FROM PTO

A print copy of the White Paper is available from the Patent and Trademark
Office.  To obtain yours, please mail a request to: "Intellectual Property
and the NII," c/o Terri Southwick, Office of Legislative and Congressional
Affairs, Patent and Trademark Office, Box 4, Washington, DC 20231.  The
text is also available electronically: on the net at www.uspto.gov, or by
using gopher or telnet to reach iipf.doc.gov.  For further information,
please call the PTO's Public Affairs Office at 703-305-8341.

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                 NEH LIBRARY PROGRAMS HAVE NEW DEADLINE

The National Endowment for the Humanities Office of Library Programs has
announced that there will be only one deadline this year for library
programs--January 12,  1996. The office lists their email address as
alibrariesprogram@neh.fed.us@.  For further information contact Patty
Frinzi at (202) 606-8271.

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                ALA MOVES WASHINGTON OFFICE AND OITP --
       ALAWASH.ORG TEMPORARILY OFFLINE DURING ELECTRONIC MIGRATION

The ALA Washington Office and the Office of Information Technology Policy
have now completed their move to new offices at 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., NW,
Suite 403, Washington, D.C. 20004.  The new phone number is : 202-628-8410;
FAX number is 202-628-8419.

The WO and OITP will retain their e-mail addresses although there will be a
period when the ALAWASH.ORG addresses will be offline during the electronic
upgrade to a new e-mail service.  We appreciate your patience during this
transition.  With our new capabilities ALA will be able to improve services
to members and ALAWON subscribers.  We look forward to posting the next
issue of ALAWON on the new system on or about September 15.

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ALAWON (ISBN 1069-7799) is an irregular publication of the American Library
Association Washington Office, 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Suite 403,
N.W., Washington, DC 20004.  Internet: alawash@alawash.org;
Phone: 202-628-8410; Fax: 202-628-8419.  Contributing to this issue: Mary
R. Costabile, Adam Eisgrau, and Claudette Tennant.  Editor: Lynne E.
Bradley (leb@alawash.org).

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