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Re: Boston Globe Article--response in favor of database legislation
Hello, Well, having seen the Boston Globe article by Simson Garfinkel against the database legislation, I thought it was important to present the other side. My business op-ed in favor of database legislation ran in yesterday's ( June 2) Boston Globe, on page 4 of the Business Section. The link is: http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe/globehtml/153/Putting_and_end_to_database_ piracy.htm and I've copied the article below, in case the link soon expires. I believe that not only will publishers benefit from having an incentive to continue producing their databases, but users will also benefit from the continued production of high-quality, reliable databases. And for those of you who are going to the SLA conference in Indianapoli s, and want to throw a tomato [virtual, please] at me directly, you can do so--I'm talking about "SuperHighway Robbery: Protecting and Using Intellectual Property on the Internet" at 10:30 on Monday morning. David Mirchin VP & General Counsel SilverPlatter Information, Inc. tel: 781-769-2599, ext. 235 _____________ PUBLIC FORUM Putting an end to database piracy By David Mirchin, 06/02/98 Warren Publishing, a family owned business in Washington, has been publishing ''the bible'' of the cable television industry since 1948. Warren's 25 employees compile, verify, and update extensive information on each of the nation's 9,000 cable TV systems. A few years ago, a competitor-to-be walked into a public library, copied Warren's Television & Cable Factbook, and published it under its own name. Warren sued to prevent this wholesale copying - and lost. The court concluded that this information was not protected by copyright law. Pirating of the Factbook could, under the law, continue. To protect its book, Warren resorted to mailing it with a license agreement that limits its use to those who purchase the book. The problems of Warren - and other database publishers - can be traced to a 1991 decision by the US Supreme Court. It ruled that a telephone directory was not protected by copyright law, overturning a long history of cases that had prevented the copying of directories and databases. Since the ruling, increasing numbers of publishers have had their directories ripped off. The issue has reached a crisis point because of the Internet, where it is free and easy to distribute databases worldwide. One can copy an entire electronic database and post it on the Internet with a undermining a company's entire line of information products. The issue is important because these directories are key informational tools for businesses, researchers, and consumers. For example: Where should you apply to college? Look in Peterson's Guide, which profiles 3,500 universities in North America. Is your small company looking for financing? Turn to Pratt's Guide to Venture Capital. If your child swallows a household chemical and is rushed to an emergency room, what might the doctor consult? Poisindex, which provides instructions for treatment of more than a million different substances. If a competitor can copy these directories and sell them with impunity, original publishers will have no incentive to update them. The real losers are the users of information who will have fewer high-quality databases. The European Union recognized the problem caused by this gap in intellectual property law and, in March 1996, passed a law called the Database Directive to protect databases made by European companies. The directive only protects databases made by US firms if US law offers similar legal protections. Since US law does not, the result is that some US database producers are considering shifting their operations to Europe. A bill in the US Congress would rectify this situation. The House of Representatives on May 19 passed legislation that would, for the first time, protect database makers. The Collections of Information Antipiracy Act (HR 2652) provides incentives for continued production of high-quality, private-sector databases. The bill now goes to the Senate and deserves support from both the producers and users of these databases. The legislation provides that any person who invests a lot of money to produce a database can bring a claim against someone who takes all, or a substantial part, of the database or who harms the actual or potential market for the product. And the Antipiracy Act would protect companies from theft of information, whether in electronic or print form, whether distributed over the Internet or by traditional channels. These databases will not win the Nobel Prize for literature. They are, however, of growing importance in the information age when quick access to reliable information is critical. David Mirchin is vice president and general counsel of SilverPlatter Information Inc., an Internet publisher in Norwood. He can be reached at davidm@silverplatter. com. This story ran on page C04 of the Boston Globe on 06/02/98. Copyright 1998 Globe Newspaper Company.
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