[This message was cross-posted to lawlib and AALL member listserv. Please
excuse the duplication.]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 3, 1999
CONTACT:
Mary Alice Baish
Associate Washington Affairs Representative
E.B. Williams Law Library
Georgetown University Law Center
111 G Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20001-1417
Voice: 202.662.9200
Fax: 202.662.9202
E-mail: baish@law.georgetown.edu
Internet: www.ll.georgetown.edu/aallwash
Dear AALL Members,
There are currently two database protection bills before the 106th
Congress, both in the House. AALL supports the approach taken in H.R. 1858,
the Consumer and Investor Access to Information Act of 1999 that is the
Commerce Committee's bill. We strongly oppose H.R. 354, the Collections of
Information Antipiracy Act of 1999, that has been reported favorably by the
House Judiciary Committee.
On Thursday, July 29th, the House Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on
Telecommunications, Trade and Consumer Protection chaired by Rep. Billy
Tauzin (R-3rd-LA) agreed to the Manager's Amendment to H.R. 1858. We were
very pleased that Rep. Tauzin included as part of the Manager's Amendment an
exclusion for primary legal materials drafted by the Washington Affairs
Office:
Protection under this chapter 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, no-fee, publicly accessible
electronic form at the time that the extraction occurred.
The full Committee mark-up will likely be this Thursday, August 5th. It is
critically important that members of AALL contact their Representatives by
fax as soon as possible and urge their support for the language in our
amendment.
Sample letters are included in the Action Alert. Please fax, along with
your letter, a copy of the AALL Issue Brief mentioned below.
AALL Action Alert is at: http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/aallwash/aa080299.html
AALL Issue Brief on Equal and Equitable Public Access to the Rule of Law is
at:
http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/aallwash/ib069901.html
July 27, 1999 Letter to Rep. Tauzin and his Subcommittee:
http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/aallwash/lt072799.html
This is an extremely urgent and important issue, and we need your support.
Letters from our Chapters would also be very much appreciated. Thank you
very much, Mary Alice
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