HIGH-TECH BILLS IN CONGRESS
(1998)

Congress considered a flurry of technology-related and intellectual property legislation in 1998. Following is an introduction to each of these bills, some of which were recently signed into law, and all of which pertain to consumers and businesses in the world of high technology.

The President signed the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1997 into law on October 27, 1998. The Act, also known as S. 505, extends the duration of copyright protection in most works created on or after January 1, 1978 by an additional 20 years, making the copyright term the life of the author plus 70 years. The Act also extends the copyright term for anonymous works, pseudonymous works, and works made for hire on or after January 1, 1978, by an additional 20 years. The copyright term in such works now lasts until either 95 years from the date of first publication or 120 years from the date of creation, whichever expires first.

The President also signed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act into law on October 28. The Act implements the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) treaties signed in Geneva in 1986. Also known as H.R. 2281, the Act expands copyright protection for works that exist on-line, including software, music, movies, and literary works. It also exempts Internet Service Providers, or ISPs, from copyright liability if the ISP did not initiate the infringing transmission. To be liable for copyright infringement, an ISP must both know of the infringement and profit from it. The Act permits temporary reproduction of computer programs made by activating computers in the course of maintenance or repair. H.R. 2281 also provides design protection for boat hulls.

The Consumer Anti-Slamming Amendments Act would prohibit "slamming," the unauthorized changing of a customer's telephone service provider. The bill, S. 1618, would also attempt to reduce "spamming," the unsolicited transmission of e-mail messages. The bill would require a person who transmits such an e-mail message to include his or her name, physical and e-mail addresses, telephone number, and a statement that the transmission of such e-mail may be stopped by the recipient at no cost by replying to the sender with the word "remove" in the message's subject line. S. 1618 passed the Senate, and the House referred the bill to the House Committee on Commerce on October 21.

H.R. 2652, the Collections of Information Antipiracy Act, would make individuals who misappropriate a substantial part of a database liable to the database provider. The bill would exempt database uses for education and news gathering. The protection created for databases under this legislation would exist independently from copyright protection. H.R. 2652 passed the House and was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 20.

S. 2000 would amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to require fiduciaries of employee benefit plans to consider the Year 2000 (Y2K) computer problem, the inability of certain software programs to recognize dates after 1999, in making investment decisions. The bill would establish a President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion to provide policy direction and allocate resources in order to ensure that the federal government's computer systems operate smoothly through the year 2000. After being introduced, the Senate referred the bill to the Committee on Governmental Affairs on April 29.

H.R. 3968 attempts to deal with the Y2K problem on a larger scale. Also known as the National Year 2000 Readiness Act, the bill would create a Year 2000 Conversion Council to assess how the Y2K computer problem affects all critical national infrastructures and key sectors of the economy. In addition, the Council would provide a national strategy to ensure that the most critical services provided by the government and key sectors of the economy will be prepared for the Year 2000 date change. The House referred H.R. 3968 to the Subcommittee on Technology on June 2.

S. 2067 would remove controls on the export of encryption software to countries that already possess encryption software of comparable sophistication. The export of particular encryption software, however, would remain prohibited under the bill if the Secretary of State determines that substantial evidence exists that such encryption products will be used for military or terrorist purposes. The bill would also impose 5 and 10 year prison sentences on individuals who knowingly and willfully use encryption software in the commission of crimes. S. 2067 would establish a National Electronic Technologies (NET) center to teach law enforcement agents how to crack some forms of encryption. Finally, the bill would require a showing of probable cause before cellular telephone companies could disclose the location of a customer to law enforcement officials. The Senate referred S. 2067 to the Subcommittee on Technology, Terrorism, and Government on October 13.

Finally, the Government Paperwork Elimination Act attempts to enhance electronic commerce. Also known as S. 2107, the bill would require each federal agency to make its forms available on-line. The Act would provide that digital signatures have the same force and effect as written signatures. A digital signature is a method of signing an e-mail that identifies a particular person as the source of that e-mail. The bill also proposes a study of the various ways in which the government can use digital signatures. The bill's sponsor hopes that the government's reliance on paperwork will decrease as its reliance on electronic forms and electronic signatures increases. S. 2107 passed the Senate on October 15 and was referred to the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight on October 21.

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