ALAWON v7, n139 - SUMMARY OF 105TH CONGRESS, 2ND SESSION
Tony Barry
tonyb@netinfo.com.au
Tue, 10 Nov 1998 17:56:11 +1100
Apologies for the length but this is an excellent summary of what is
happening with a number of internet related legislative matters in the US.
Tony
>Date: Mon, 09 Nov 1998 16:58:09 -0500
>From: "ALAWASH E-MAIL (ALAWASH E-MAIL)" <ALAWASH@alawash.org>
>To: ALA Washington Office Newsline <ala-wo@ala1.ala.org>
>Subject: ALAWON v7, n139 - SUMMARY OF 105TH CONGRESS, 2ND SESSION
>
>________________________________________________________________
>ALAWON Volume 7, Number 139
>ISSN 1069-7799 November 9, 1998
>
> American Library Association Washington Office Newsline
>
>In this issue: (223 lines)
>
>SUMMARY OF END OF SESSION DEVELOPMENTS 105TH CONGRESS, SECOND
>SESSION
>_________________________________________________________________
>SUMMARY OF END OF SESSION DEVELOPMENTS 105TH CONGRESS, SECOND
>SESSION
>
>The items below listed as being part of the omnibus package were
>included in a massive (thousands of pages) omnibus measure
>containing eight appropriations bills, various emergency
>aid, and several substantial and many smaller authorizing bills
>attached to H.R. 4328, the FY99 transportation appropriations
>conference report (H. Rept. 105-825). The House approved the
>omnibus package on October 20, the Senate on October 21. The
>President signed the bill on October 21 (now P.L. 105-277). The
>Congress has now adjourned except for pro forma sessions by the
>House so that the Judiciary Committee can continue its work on an
>impeachment inquiry. This information is also available online at
>http://www.ala.org/washoff/105sum.html.
>
>[1] WIPO COPYRIGHT TREATIES IMPLEMENTATION ACT - PASSED
>Congress gave final approval to the H.R. 2281, Digital Millennium
>Copyright Act. The House-Senate conference report (H. Rept.
>105-796) was passed by voice vote in the Senate on October 7 and
>in the House on October 12. This final version includes
>improvements to several sections of the bill of interest to
>librarians and users of information. On October 28, the
>President signed the measure (now P.L. 105-304) which updates the
>Copyright Act for the digital environment and conforms U.S. law
>to the requirements of the new World Intellectual Property
>Organization (WIPO) treaties negotiated in Geneva in December
>1996.
>
>[2] DATABASE PROTECTION BILL - DROPPED
>Conferees agreed to drop the Collections of Information
>Anti-Piracy Act from H.R. 2281, the WIPO treaties bill. This is a
>major improvement; the database protection measure would have
>had drastic negative effects on education and research and would
>have protected facts for the first time. Key legislators have
>promised that the issue will be an early agenda item in the new
>Congress next year.
>
>[3] COPYRIGHT TERM EXTENSION ACT - PASSED
>Both Senate and House passed on October 7 a 20-year extension of
>the current life-plus-50-year copyright term (S. 505), and the
>President signed the bill (now P.L. 105-298) on October 27. The
>measure retains a limited exception for libraries, archives and
>non-profit educational institutions crafted in intense
>negotiations last year.
>
>[4] READING EXCELLENCE ACT - PASSED
>The Senate on October 6 passed by voice vote a version of the
>Reading Excellence Act (H.R. 2614) that represents House-Senate
>agreement on this congressional revision of the Administration's
>children's literacy initiative, America Reads. This version was
>also included in the omnibus package, providing final House and
>Senate passage. In addition, $260 million in appropriations for
>FY99 was included in the omnibus bill.
>
>[5] FILTERING AND BLOCKING SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS - DROPPED
>The omnibus package contains no requirements to have libraries or
>schools install and use filtering and blocking software as a
>condition of receiving federal funds or the e-rate. House-Senate
>negotiators on the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill had
>agreed to drop the Istook amendment, and appropriators had also
>agreed to drop the McCain amendment from a commerce funding bill.
>However, as top congressional leaders negotiated a variety of
>issues, the Istook amendment was again was under serious
>consideration for attachment to the omnibus bill. After much work
>by library advocates and others, the amendment was dropped.
>
>[6] CHILD ONLINE PROTECTION ACT - PASSED
>A revised version of Rep. Michael Oxley's (R-OH) bill (H.R. 3783)
>to prohibit the commercial distribution on the web to minors of
>material that is "harmful to minors" was included in the omnibus
>package. The American Civil Liberties Union, with other
>plaintiffs, has filed suit to challenge this measure. Earlier on
>October 7 a revised version of Sen. Dan Coats (R-IN) similar bill
>(S. 1492) was approved as an amendment to the Internet Tax
>Freedom Act (S. 442), with only Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) voting
>against the measure. On the same date the House approved the
>Oxley bill by voice vote.
>
>[7] INTERNET TAX FREEDOM ACT - PASSED
>The Internet Tax Freedom Act, included in the omnibus package,
>provides a three-year moratorium on state or local taxation of
>the Internet. A "harmful to minors" provision denies this
>moratorium to those commercial providers who "knowingly and with
>knowledge of the character of the material" make "harmful to
>minors" material available to minors.
>
>[8] CHILDREN'S ONLINE PRIVACY PROTECTION ACT - PASSED
>An amended version of the Children's Online Privacy Protection
>Act, S. 2326, was added to the omnibus package. Revisions in the
>bill respond to concerns expressed by ALA and others that
>the bill would interfere with children's access to information on
>the Internet. The bill imposes parental consent or notice before
>children (12 and under) could give any personally identifiable
>information to commercial web sites targeted to children;
>however, nonprofit organizations are excluded from the scope of
>the bill. Senate and House passed the measure separately October
>7.
>
>[9] HIGHER EDUCATION ACT - PASSED
>On October 7 President Clinton signed H.R. 6, P.L. 105-244,
>reauthorizing the Higher Education Act for five years. The new
>Act lowers interest rates for student loans while increasing
>grants to needy students, establishes a new teacher training
>program, continues the college work study program, and updates
>international education programs related to libraries.
>
>[10] SELECTED LIBRARY AND EDUCATION PROGRAM FUNDING (IN
>THOUSANDS) - PASSED
>
>PROGRAM FY98 FY99 PRES. BUDGET FINAL FY99
>
>LSTA $ 146.3 $ 146.3 $ 166.2*
>Reading** 0 50.0 260.0
>ESEA VI 350.0 0 375.0
>Ed. Tech.*** 584.0 721.0 698.1
>21C L.Ctrs. 40.0 200.0 200.0
>Work Study 830.0 900.0 870.0
>Teachers**** 0 1,100.0 1,194.0
>NCLIS 1.0 1.0 1.0
>* LSTA total includes level funding for state grants; Congress
>put the increase in the National Leadership Grants, which receive
>a total of $25m from LSTA, of which $15.4m is for specific
>earmarked projects.
>** Reading Excellence Act (America Reads children's literacy
>initiative)
>*** Total of various programs
>**** Class size reduction teacher recruitment and training
>
>[11] GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS REFORM ACT - DROPPED
>S.2288, the Wendell H. Ford Government Publications Reform Act of
>1998, died with congressional adjournment. On September 28 the
>Senate Committee on Rules and Administration approved a revised
>version of the bill by voice vote. The Inter-Association
>Working Group -- representing AALL, ALA and representatives of
>several of its divisions and round tables, ARL, COSLA, MLA, SLA,
>and ULC -- worked with congressional staff on this bill to reform
>Title 44 U.S.C., strengthen the Federal Depository Library
>Program, and improve public access.
>
>[12] NEXT GENERATION INTERNET RESEARCH ACT - PASSED
>H.R. 3332, the Next Generation Internet Research Act of 1998, was
>signed by the President on October 28 (now P.L. 105-305). The
>law amends the High Performance Computing Act to authorize for
>two years research and development of advanced communication
>technology that will provide a basis for the Internet of the
>future. Specific authorizations are listed below.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------
>AGENCY (AMOUNT IN MILLIONS) FY99 FY00
>----------------------------------------------------------------
>Department of Energy $22 $25
>National Science Foundation $25 $25
>National Institutes of Health $ 5 $ 7.5
>National Aeronautics and Space Administration $10 $10
>National Institute of Standards and Technology $ 5 $ 7.5
>----------------------------------------------------------------
>TOTAL $67 $75
>
>(The other principal agency funding NGI research is the Defense
>Advanced Research Projects Agency. Since Defense research is not
>in the jurisdiction of the House and Senate committees sponsoring
>this bill, DARPA's $40 million participation is not included.)
>
>[13] E-RATE DISCOUNTS FOR LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS - UPDATE
>No further slowdowns or requirements were imposed by Congress.
>The Schools and Libraries Corporation is expected to launch the
>funding commitment process quite soon. For applications
>received and accepted during the 75-day window, the FCC's 5th
>Order places first priority on discounts for telecommunications
>services and Internet access for all approved applications.
>Second priority is neediest applicants for internal connections.
>SLC's goal is to provide applicants with one unified letter per
>Form 471 application, providing decisions on all of the services
>requested in that application. Funding commitment dates and other
>information will be on the SLC Web site (http://www.slcfund.org).
>The FCC set December 1, 1998 as the new opening date to file
>applications for the 1999/2000 e-rate funding period.
>
>[14] LIBRARY POSTAL RATE - UPDATE
>On June 30 the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors announced
>new postal rates effective January 10, 1999. A typical 3-pound
>library rate package will increase from the current rate of
>$1.96 to $2.03. This is a 3.6 percent increase, compared with the
>26.5 percent increase originally requested by the U.S. Postal
>Service. USPS published new rates in the Federal Register, (v63,
>n135, July 15, 1998, pp. 38083-86, Library Rate on p. 38086); see
>also http://www.usps.gov/clr/.
>_________________________________________________________________
>
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>Lynne E. Bradley, Editor <leb@alawash.org>
>Deirdre Herman, Managing Editor <alawash@alawash.org>
>
>Contributors: Carol C. Henderson
>All materials subject to copyright by the American Library
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>_________________________________________________________________
>
_________________________________________________________
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