Letter from AAU and other organizations to all members of the House concerning H. R. 354, the Collections of Information Antipiracy Act November 1, 1999 The Honorable Neil Abercrombie 1502 Longworth House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 Dear Representative Abercrombie, On behalf of the undersigned higher education and scientific groups representing thousands of educational institutions and scientists throughout the United States, we are writing to express our opposition to H.R. 354, the Collections of Information Antipiracy Act. We oppose H.R. 354 because it provides overly broad protection for "collections of information" that threatens seriously to impair the conduct of the nation's research and education programs. Although H.R. 354 purports to be a "technology" bill, it in fact is anti-technology, weakening the very research and development activities that have fueled the vigorous growth in new technologies, digital networks, and electronic commerce and communication. We do not believe that H.R. 354 in its current form should be considered by the House. If the bill does come before the House for a vote, we ask you to vote against it. Among the problems posed by this bill are the following: Although the bill uses terms that suggest a narrow scope, such as "primary market" and "material harm," it defines those terms in ways that are essentially unlimited in scope. Thus, for example, "primary markets" are defined as any markets that generate any revenue, directly or indirectly, and "material harm," in that context, could be construed to mean any lost revenue. In short, the bill effectively grants an intellectual property right that jeopardizes appropriate access to and use of information. The bill contains an exemption for certain nonprofit educational, scientific, or research uses, but the exemption is limited in a manner that essentially subjects it to the original overly broad prohibition. Thus, the exemption provides no meaningful protection. Scientists, students, and educators routinely combine data from a multitude of sources to create new works or sources of information. The bill's imposition of strict liability for broadly prohibited downstream uses of data would place a shroud of uncertainty over today's customary and accepted practices. The commonly understood definition of a database is a collection of a large number of facts; indeed, it is the cost in time and money to compile such a database that database producers are seeking to protect. However, the definition of "collections of information" included in the bill would also encompass a comparatively small collection of facts, moving closer to protecting facts themselves, which the Constitution places in the public domain. We commend the Judiciary Committee for its efforts to develop balanced legislation that reflects the interests of both producers and users of databases. The Committee has made significant improvements over earlier versions of database legislation, but serious problems remain. The House should not consider this legislation until those problems are satisfactorily addressed. Our organizations fully support the development of appropriately targeted protection for databases. Many of our member institutions and scientists produce databases and have a clear interest in their protection. We are convinced that legislation can be crafted that provides effective protection for collections of information while preserving essential access to the elements of those databases. We look forward to working with Congress to achieve this result. Cordially, Nils Hasselmo President On behalf of: American Association for the Advancement of Science American Association of State Colleges and Universities American Council on Education Association of American Universities Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities Council on Governmental Relations Council of Graduate Schools EDUCAUSE National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators University Continuing Education Association