ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries C&RL News ■ June 2003 / 409 W a s h i n g t o n H o t l i n e Lynne E. Bradley N e w D R M a c t in tr o d u c e d S e n a to r Sam B ro w n b a c k (R -K ansas) h a s in tro ­ duced the C onsum ers, Schools a n d Libraries Digital Rights M a n agem ent A wareness A c t o f 2003- T he act includes provisions that address som e library c on­ c e rn s a b o u t t h e im p lic a tio n s o f D igital R ights M anagem ent (DRM) technologies, w hich limit the w ays that digital information can b e accessed a n d used. S om e k e y fe atu res o f th e bill a re su m m a ­ rized below . P r o h ib itio n o n F C C Technology) M a n d a t e s • Prohibits the Federal C om m unications Com ­ m ission (FCC) from m an d a tin g th at m anufactur­ ers o f c o n su m er electronics a n d c o m puting p ro d ­ ucts, as w ell as teleco m m u n icatio n s service p ro ­ viders, build their p roducts to o p e rate o r re sp o n d to specific DRM technologies. • Permits th e FCC to establish a f u n c t i o n a l re­ quirem ent preventing unauthorized Internet retrans­ m ission o f digital television signals to th e public, b ut o n ly if su c h a re q u ire m e n t p re serv e s re a so n ­ able a n d custom ary consum er, e d u cational insti­ tution, a n d library access a n d u se practices. Consum er a n d educational c o m m u n ity awareness • Provides private sector w ith o n e y e ar to create voluntary notice a n d labeling standards for Lynne E. Bradley is Office o f Government Relations director o f ALA’s W ashington Office, e-mail: leb@alawash.org ( “L e a rn in g t o m a k e … ” cont. f r o m p a g e 3 7 7 ) O b e rlin C o lle g e L ibrarian Je ss ic a G rim a n d a ssociate p ro fe s so r W en d y K ozol in c o rp o ra te d in fo rm a tio n literacy in a G e n d e r a n d W o m e n ’s S tu d y c o u r s e t o t e a c h s t u d e n t s in te r d i s c ip l i ­ n a ry r e s e a r c h , in tr o d u c e th e m to a v a rie ty o f re s o u rc e s , a n d fo s te r c ritical th in k in g skills. At O h io W e s le y a n U niversity, lib ra ria n J o y H e a n d a s s is ta n t p r o f e s s o r N a n c y K n o p e m ­ b e d d e d in fo rm a tio n lite ra c y in P h y s ic a l E d u ­ c a tio n c o u rse s . H e m e t w ith e a c h c la ss f o u r to eight tim es a se m e s te r a n d w a s closely involved in d e v e lo p in g a ssig n m e n ts. K n o p s u g g e sts ty ­ ing info rm a tio n literacy sta n d a rd s w ith a cc red i­ t a tio n r e q u i r e m e n t s t o e n c o u r a g e f a c u lty to “b u y -in to c o lla b o ra tin g w ith lib ra ria n s .” digital m edia products that incorporate DRM tech­ nology. Standards m ust inform consum ers, educa­ tional institutions, a n d libraries about the ways in w hich the DRM technology will im pact their use o f digital m edia products. • FTC notice a n d labeling, in th e a b se n ce o f successful private sector efforts, will inform c o n ­ sum ers a b o u t th e w ays in w h ic h DRM technolo­ gies e m b e d d e d in the digital m edia products ham ­ p e r consum er, educational institution, a n d library u se o f digital m edia products. C o n s u m e r p r i v a c y • R equires m anufacturers to file a “J o h n D o e ” case against ISP subscribers they suspect are using th e ir digital m e d ia p ro d u c ts in a n u n a u th o riz e d m anner. ISPs c an n o t b e com pelled to release su b ­ scriber p e rso n al inform ation w ith o u t a valid su b ­ p o e n a o r court order issued in a p e n d in g civil law ­ suit. S e c o n d a r y m a r k e ts f o r u s e d d ig ita l m e d i a p r o d u c t s • Prevents manufacturers of digital m edia p rod­ ucts from u sing DRM technologies to restrict c o n ­ su m e r resale o f digital m e d ia p ro d u c ts th ey law ­ fully o w n o r e lect to d o n a te to e d u ca tio n a l insti­ tutions a n d libraries. Please write o r call y o u r senators a n d ask them to c o sp o n so r Senator B ro w n b ack ’s bill. T he capi­ tol s w itc h b o a rd n u m b e r is (202) 224-3121. ■ All p a n e l i s t s a g r e e d t h a t fa c u lty -lib ra ria n c o lla b o ra tio n is “a b s o lu te ly th e m o s t e ffective w a y to in te g ra te in fo rm a tio n lite ra c y in to th e c u r ric u lu m .” F a c u lty o b s e r v e d a d ra m a tic in ­ c r e a s e in t h e q u a li t y o f s t u d e n t w r i t in g a n d r e s e a r c h skills. O v e r t h e p a s t t h r e e y e a rs , 76 c u r r i c u lu m d e v e l o p m e n t g r a n ts h a v e b e e n a w a r d e d in w h ic h 102 fa cu lty w o r k e d w ith 25 lib ra rian s to d e s ig n o r re v ise 116 c o u rse s in 32 d is c ip lin e s . H o w e v e r, w ith a lim ite d n u m b e r o f lib ra ria n s a v a ila b le , lib ra rie s fa c e th e c h a l­ l e n g e o f “c o n ti n u i n g to p r o v i d e th is s e r v ic e fo r e v e ry fa c u lty m e m b e r n o w t h a t m o m e n ­ tu m is b u i l d i n g f o r c o l l a b o r a t i o n s . ”— S m i t i G a n d h i , V a l e n c i a C o m m u n i t y C o lle g e , sgandhi@valenciacc.edu ■ mailto:leb@alawash.org mailto:sgandhi@valenciacc.edu 410 / C&RL News ■ June 2003