ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


C&RL News ■ D e ce m b e r 1 9 9 9  /  953

W a s h i n g t o n  H o t l i n e Lynn E. Bradley

S tra n g e  b ed fello w s: In tern et dem oc­
racy. UCITA, and the FY2000 b u d g e t
As w e go to press, th e FY2000 federal b u d ­
get, including library an d  e d u c atio n  p ro ­
grams, is still u nresolved. O u tsid e o f Capi­
tol Hill, o th e r library issues are m oving 
forw ard. In early N ovem ber, ALA an d  its 
p artn ers receiv ed  an initial grant from  the 
Markle F o u n d atio n  as part o f a $1 million 
initiative to  p ro m o te d em ocracy an d  in ­
volve th e g en eral public in In tern et gov­
ernance. (Look for m ore details from  the 
Office for Inform ation T echnology Policy 
a t ALA M id w in t e r  o r  c o n t a c t  R ick  
W eingarten at rw w @ alaw ash.org.)

A nother h o t issue is th e U niform  Com ­
puter Inform ation Transaction Act (UCITA), 
a draft m odel law  th at g o v ern s contracts 
for “transactions an d  inform ation.” This law 
is ex p e cted  to b e in tro d u ced  in every state 
legislature soon.

In g en eral, UCITA w as d e v e lo p e d  to 
regulate b u sin ess-to -b u sin ess transactions 
in tangible g oods. H ow ever, contract law 
in creasin g ly  im p acts th e  ev ery d ay  c o n ­
sum er as w ell as th e b u sin ess (an d  library) 
user.

P roducers o f intangible g o o d s (su ch  as 
co m p u ter softw are, o n lin e d atabases, an d  
o th e r inform ation p ro d u cts in digital form) 
seek  to use “licen ses” o r licensing ag re e­
m ents w h en  they sell th eir p ro d u cts. Li­
censes are contracts gov ern in g  th e “u s e ” 
o f a p ro d u ct w hile sales o f g o o d s te n d  to 
deal w ith o w n ersh ip  o f th e p ro d u ct.

For exam ple, a small b u sin ess ow ner, a 
librarian, an d  a co n su m er u sing th e sam e 
softw are may be su b ject to th e sam e li­
cense restrictions, ev en  th o u g h  th e w ays 
they are using th e softw are may b e very 
different.

Since its creatio n  a n d  delivery to the 
states, UCITA has b e e n  criticized o r o p ­
p o se d  by librarians an d  library users, n u ­
m erous law  professors, th e A m erican In ­
tellectual Property A ssociation, the Federal 
Trade Com m ission, th e atto rn ey s g en eral 
o f 26 states, softw are developers, an d  trade

associations for th e en tertain m en t in d u s­
try, am ong others.

Publishers an d  softw are p ro d u ce rs are 
the prim ary su p p o rters o f UCITA. It is co n ­
troversial for m any reasons, including: (1) 
UCITA w o u ld  rep la ce th e p u b lic law  o f 
co p y rig h t w ith th e  private law  o f contract, 
(2) UCITA w o u ld  u n d erc u t traditional fair 
u se  o f p ro d u cts, a n d  (3) UCITA w o u ld  
u n d erm in e libraries in p rese rv a tio n  an d  
len d in g  o f inform ation p roducts.

In July, NCCUSL p assed  UCITA an d  sent 
th e act to th e state legislatures for c o n sid ­
eration. In August, O klahom a h eld  th e first 
state public hearin g s o n  UCITA. Virginia 
also has h eld hearings. O th er states, in­
cluding Indiana, are in th e p ro cess o f in­
tro d u cin g  th e act. A lthough UCITA is ex ­
p ec te d  to b e in tro d u c ed  in all 50 states in 
th e n ex t 18 to 24 m o n th s, it is unlikely it 
will be ratified by every state.

As this is a setb ack  for libraries, co n ­
sum ers, an d  state ed u c atio n al institutions, 
it is critical th a t library su p p o rters contact 
th eir state legislators to o p p o s e  UCITA.

All state library associations, as w ell as 
ch ap ters o f school library an d  academ ic 
library associations, are strongly e n c o u r­
ag ed  to get involved w ith this issue in their 
respective states.

ALA has sta rted  a co o rd in a ted  effort to 
su p p o rt state associations an d  o th e rs c o n ­
ce rn ed  ab o u t UCITA. Please co n tact y o u r 
state library asso ciatio n  o r th e ALA Wash­
in g to n  O ffice Legislative C ounsel, Miriam 
Nisbet, at m m n@ alaw ash.org o r p h o n e h er 
at (800) 941-8478 for m ore o n  h o w  to get 
involved.

I n f o r m a t i o n  is  a l s o  a v a i l a b l e  a t 
w w w .ala .o rg /w ash o ff/u cita.h tm l an d  from 
th e Digital F uture Coalition, o f w h ich  ALA 
is a m em ber, at w w w .d fc.o rg . ■

Lynne E. B ra dle y is d e p u ty  e xe cu tive  d ire c to r o f  ALA’S 
W ashington Office: e-mail: leb@alawash.org

mailto:rww@alawash.org
mailto:mmn@alawash.org
http://www.ala.org/washoff/ucita.html
http://www.dfc.org
mailto:leb@alawash.org