GRC UPDATE #96-3 (Posted 5/1/96)
To keep AALL members informed of the activities of the AALL
Government Relations Committee and the AALL Washington Office, this
update and other postings will be distributed periodically. Some
letters and documents mentioned in the update may be available in the
Government Relations and other files at AALLNET. To access AALLNET,
telnet to "lawlib.wuacc.edu" and login as "aallnet." AALLNET is
accessible via the World Wide Web; the URL is
http://lawlib.wuacc.edu/aallnet/aallnet/html.
LETTERS TO AND OUTCOME:
TO MICHAEL DIMARIO, Public Printer: A letter, drafted primarily by
AALL Assistant Washington Affairs Representative Mary Alice Baish and
signed by AALL, ALA, ARL & SLA, outlines the associations' views and
concerns about the REPORT TO THE CONGRESS: STUDY TO IDENTIFY
MEASURES NECESSARY FOR A SUCCESSFUL TRANSITION TO A MORE ELECTRONIC
FEDERAL DEPOSITORY LIBRARY PROGRAM. In the April 26, 1996 letter the
associations express concerns about (1) the time frame for the
transition, (2) the importance and continued viability of print
resources, (3) the need for centralization and coordination to meet
the goals of the FDLP, (4) the value of redundancy in access, in
formats and in preservation, and (5) the role of diversity of other
public, private and not-for-profit sources for information. The
letter also stresses that the study's goal of ensuring broader public
access through electronic means will not be achieved unless several
concerns are addressed. Those concerns include (1) the need for more
data gathering about costs to and capabilities of the government,
libraries and the public to produce, access and use predominately
electronic information, (2) the importance of equitable, no-fee local
access to government information through depository libraries, (3)
the long-term permanent access and preservation needs, (4) the
dangers associated with permitting agencies to place copyright-like
restrictions on electronic information, (5) the inclusion in the
program of materials not currently in the FDLP and that are created
by self-supporting agencies who are by law required to recover their
costs, and (6) the difficulty that the smaller selective depositories
may experience in having to provide access to the full universe of
electronic information. The role and responsibilities of all
depositories need to be re-examined. The letter urges that
flexibility must be built into the program that allows libraries to
provide access to electronic information in a manner that they can
accommodate. OUTCOME: The letter was mailed last Friday; thus, no
response has been received yet.
OTHER ISSUES:
TELECOMMUNICATIONS: The Telecommunications Reform Act of 1996 was
signed by President Clinton in February. The act includes the
controversial "Communications Decency Amendment," often referred to
as the CDA, which criminalizes the distribution of pornographic
materials through the Internet. The CDA imposes criminal liability
on anyone who "knowingly transmits" using an interactive computer
service or "displays" to anyone under 18 years of age any materials
that are "indecent" or "patently offensive by contemporary
standards." However, the CDA does not define those terms. At its
March, 1996 meeting the AALL Executive Board voted to join the
Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition (CIEC), one of the
thirty-three named plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging the CDA in
federal court. The American Library Association and the Center for
Democracy and Technology (CDT) are the lead plaintiffs in the
lawsuit. The goal of the litigation is to establish the nature of
the Internet as a unique communications medium deserving First
Amendment protection. The AALL Executive Board voted to join CIEC as
a non-contributing member because of the Association's concerns about
potential library liability and the potential chilling effect of the
CDA on Internet content. A good source for updated information about
the lawsuit is at http://www.cdt.org/ciec/.
Judith F. Krug, Executive Director of the ALA Office of
Intellectual Freedom, will speak at two AALL Annual Meeting programs
in Indianapolis, including the Legislative and Regulatory Update
sponsored by the GRC.
NIIAC REPORTS: The National Information Infrastructure Advisory
Council finished its work in February after working nearly two years.
It has released three reports (A Nation of Opportunity: Realizing
the Promise of the Information Superhighway; KickStart Initiative;
and Connecting K-12 Schools to the Information Superhighway). The
documents are available at http://www.ntia.doc.gov.
THOMSON PUBLISHING COMPANY/WEST PUBLISHING COMPANY: This issue has
been addressed primarily by the AALL Executive Board. Postings
about the issue have appeared on "law-lib" and relevant AALL
statements and letters can be found at AALLNET. A statement from
President Patrick Kehoe about the position taken by the Board can be
found at http://lawlib.wuacc.edu/aallnet/kehoe-1.html. A copy of
President Kehoe's April, 1996 newsletter column in which he discusses
the issue can be found at
http://lawlib.wuacc.edu/aallnet/col-4-96.html. Finally, a copy of
Washington Affairs Representative Bob Oakley's letter to the
Assistant Attorney General of the United States can be found at
http://lawlib.wuacc.edu/aallnet/westsale.html.
REMINDER. The AALL Government Relations Policy (revised July, 1995)
can be found in the AALL Directory and Handbook 1995-1996 at page
363.
(NOTE: If you would like additional information, contact Timothy L.
Coggins, GRC Member, at tcoggins@law.ua.edu or 205-348-5927, or May
Alice Baish, Assistant Washington Affairs Representative, at
baish@law.georgetown.edu or 202-662-9200.)
Executive Board has dealt
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