ACM in lawsuit challenge

[Ann Okerson <ann.okerson@yale.edu>]

Forwarded by Jennifer De Beer in South Africa.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Humanist Discussion Group
Sent: 31 August 2001 09:31
To: Humanist Discussion Group
Subject: 15.206 ACM in lawsuit challenge

               Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 15, No. 206.
       Centre for Computing in the Humanities, King's College London
               <http://www.princeton.edu/~mccarty/humanist/>
              <http://www.kcl.ac.uk/humanities/cch/humanist/>

         Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2001 08:28:19 +0100
         From: NINCH-ANNOUNCE <david@ninch.org>
         Subject: ACM files declaration in lawsuit challenging DMCA

NINCH ANNOUNCEMENT
News on Networking Cultural Heritage Resources
from across the Community
August 30, 2001

               ACM FILES DECLARATION IN LAWSUIT CHALLENGING THE DMCA
                            http://www.acm.org/felten/

        ACM SUGGESTS CHANGES TO THE FREE TRADE AREA OF THE AMERICAS TREATY
                               http://www.acm/usacm


The Association for Computing Machinery has submitted an important
declaration in the Felten v. RIAA lawsuit to help the court understand the
practical effect of the issues at stake. The case challenges the legality
of the anti-circumvention portions of the DMCA, arguing "that its broad
prohibitions on disseminating information and technology restrict speech
protected by the First Amendment."

David Green
===========

From: Jeff Grove <jeff_grove@ACM.ORG>
To: WASHINGTON-UPDATE@ACM.ORG

FROM:

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ACM WASHINGTON UPDATE
Association for Computing Machinery Office of Public Policy
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August 30, 2001 Volume 5.5
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POLICY BRIEFS
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ACM FILES DECLARATION IN LAWSUIT CHALLENGING THE DMCA

On August 13, 2001, ACM submitted a declaration in federal court regarding
the legal challenge to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) in the
Felten v. RIAA lawsuit.  The lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. District
Court for the District of New Jersey by a number of computing researchers.  
Led by Princeton University computer scientist Edward Felten, the
plaintiffs are asking the court to rule portions of the DMCA
unconstitutional, arguing that its broad prohibitions on disseminating
information and technology restrict speech protected by the First
Amendment. ACM's declaration seeks to help the court understand the
practical effect of the issues at stake in this case.  "It is imperative
for the court to understand that the application of any law that may limit
the freedom to publish research on computer technology will impose a cost
on the academic community, the process of scientific discourse, and
society in general," stated Dr. John R. White, ACM's Executive Director.
"We believe the threat of litigation under the DMCA will have a profound
chilling effect on analysis, research, and publication."

ACM is a leading publisher of scientific information and sponsors over 80
professional computing conferences each year.  In addition to harming the
progress of research, the risk of legal liability under the DMCA also
threatens ACM's publication and sponsorship of professional computing
conferences that might include scientific papers assessing the strengths
and weaknesses of computer and data security measures.  Noting that ACM
has earned a respected reputation for choosing strong scientific papers
for its conferences and publications without regard to political or
commercial pressure, White concluded, "ACM could adopt a policy of
steering clear of scientific papers that could subject us to liability
under the DMCA, but that could only be done at a risk of sacrificing our
mission and damaging our reputation as a scientific society." To review a
copy of ACM's declaration, see http://www.acm.org/felten/

To review a copy of Computing Research Association's declaration, see:
http://lazowska.cs.washington.edu/felten/

USACM has engaged in a number of DMCA related activities which may be found
at: http://www.acm.org/usacm/IP/#copyright

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ACM SUGGESTS CHANGES TO THE FREE TRADE AREA OF THE AMERICAS TREATY

The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) is a treaty process to
establish trade agreements between 34 countries in the Western hemisphere
(including the U.S.).  As part of the process, participants are
negotiating treaty language that would require nation-signatories to pass
copyright legislation in each of their national forums that mandates
strict anti-circumvention measures similar to (or even expanding)
restrictions imposed in the U.S. by the Digital Millenium Copyright Act
(DMCA).  Prior to a recent meeting of the FTAA Negotiating Group on
Intellectual Property Rights, ACM sent a letter to U.S. Trade
Representative Robert Zoellick urging that any similar provisions be
removed from the final FTAA treaty language.  ACM expressed concern that
the broad restrictions on research contained in the proposed treaty
language could unjustly harm the freedom of computer scientists to engage
in research fundamental to the progress of innovation. USACM expressed
similar concerns.

To review the ACM letter, please see the USACM web site at:
http://www.acm/usacm

To review the proposed FTAA treaty language, please see the web site:
http://www.ftaa-alca.org/ftaadraft/eng/draft_e.doc
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The Association for Computing Machinery is an international professional
society whose 80,000 members (60,000 in the U.S.) represent a critical
mass of computer professionals in education, industry, and government. The
USACM provides a means for promoting dialogue on technology policy issues
with United States policy makers and the general public. The WASHINGTON
UPDATE reports on activities which may be of interest to those in the
computing and information policy communities and will highlight USACM's
involvement in many of these issues.

To subscribe to the ACM WASHINGTON UPDATE send an e-mail to
listserv@acm.org with "subscribe WASHINGTON-UPDATE" (no quotes) in the body
of the message. Back issues are available at:
http://www.acm.org/usacm

For information about joining the Association for Computing Machinery, see:
http://www.acm.org/membership/join.html

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