AALL
is one of more than thirty organizations that signed a letter endorsing
S.Res. 54. A copy of the resolution
and the letter may be found at: http://www.fas.org/sgp/congress/2003/sr54.html
The
AALL Washington Affairs Office is working with the sponsors’ staff to
develop amending language that “public access” be “permanent.”
More information should be available soon from the AALL Washington
Affairs Office. In the meantime, members are encouraged to call
their Senators to urge them to cosponsor S.Res. 54 and
to make these publications permanently available to the public through
the Internet.
(contact: Spencer Simons)
The
Digital Media Consumers’ Rights Act of 2003 (the DMCRA or “Boucher Bill”)
H.R. 107 was introduced on January 7 by Rep. Boucher of Virginia,
a strong supporter of fair use and consumer rights. The bill would empower
the Federal Trade Commission to ensure adequate labeling on non-standard
“copy protected compacts discs,” which are causing confusion and increased
burdens on consumers. The bill also would amend Section 1201 of the Digital
Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to “restore the historic balance in U.S.
copyright law” that fair use provisions formerly ensured. An AALL Washington
Affairs Office action alert asks members of the Association to write to
their Member of Congress to urge that the Member co-sponsor the Boucher
bill. The bill deserves our active support.
(contact: Keith Ann Stiverson)
Update:
USA
Patriot Act Litigation
On August 21, 2002, the American Booksellers Foundation for
Free Expression, the ACLU and the Electronic Privacy Information Center
joined in a FOIA request to learn how many subpoenas have been issued
to libraries, bookstores and newspapers under the Act.
The Justice Department granted expedited status to the request,
but had not responded as of October
24, 2002. Suit was filed. On November 26, U.S. District
Judge Ellen Huvelle ordered
the Justice Department to complete its processing of the FOIA request
by January 15. On that date, the
Department of Justice released over 200 pages of material in response
to the FOIA request; however, according to ACLU staff attorney Jameel
Jaffer, “…none of those pages addresses our concerns about the new surveillance
powers. Much of the material is so heavily redacted
that it is meaningless.” “ACLU
Presses for Full Disclosure on Government’s New Snoop Powers,” American
Civil Liberties Union, http://www.aclu.org/news/NewsPrint.cfm?ID=1638&c+206,
accessed January 17, 2003.) Many documents were withheld altogether because
of national security concerns and the FBI withheld others because it could
not access its own computer files. According
to a Gannett News Service article of January 27, 2003, the ACLU is considering
whether to press on with the lawsuit (Roth, Susan, “Civil libertarians
fear Patriot Act, but some say changes needed,” Gannett News Service;
McLean; Jan. 27, 2003).
The Proposed Domestic
Security Enhancement Act of 2003
Early in February, a draft dated January
9, 2003 of a proposed Domestic Security Enhancement Act of
2003 was leaked to the Center for Public Integrity, which immediately
posted the draft on its website, www.publicintegrity.org
. This Act is designed to expand
the powers for government surveillance given to the Department of Justice
under the USA PATRIOT Act. The
DOJ’s new proposal contains some very troubling provisions, including:
Permission for the
government to strip U.S.
citizenship from any United States
person who joins, serves in or provides material
support to a terrorist organization. Sec. 501.
Permission for Attorney
General or the Secretary of Defense to collect and use DNA samples from
terrorists or suspected terrorists. A “suspected terrorist” may be a person whom
the Attorney General or the Secretary of Defense has reason to believe
is a member of a terrorist organization. Sec. 302-304.
Providing a penalty
for violation, inter alia, of the “gag order” contained in Sec. 215 of
the PATRIOT Act with respect to the execution of FISA orders requiring
the production of business records, documents or other tangible things.
Violation of the non-disclosure provisions is a misdemeanor punishable
by up to a year of imprisonment, unless the unlawful disclosure was committed
with the intent to obstruct the terrorism or espionage investigation,
in which case the offense would be punishable by up to 5 years in prison.
Sec. 129.
We are fortunate that
this proposed Act has come to light now, providing the opportunity for
full public discussion and dialogue prior to its introduction and consideration
in Congress. (contact: Margaret Schilt)
STATE LAW
UCITA
The Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (UCITA) was dealt another
blow at the recent ABA meeting
in Seattle. The National Conference
of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) had asked the ABA House
of Delegates to pass a resolution indicating their approval of UCITA, but
NCCUSL then withdrew the resolution before it could be considered. The Business
Law, Intellectual Property Law, Litigation, and Tort Trial & Insurance
Practice sections all had voted to defer the resolution indefinitely or
to reject it. Then members of the ABA House of Delegates indicated that
the resolution was not likely to be passed.
Thanks to the CALL Board for their letters to the Illinois
members of the ABA House of Delegates – those letters made a difference.
The CALL Public Affairs Committee will continue to monitor developments
on UCITA, although we have found no indication that the proposed uniform
law is likely to be considered again in Illinois.
(contact: Keith Ann Stiverson)
ILLINOIS Online
Availability of the Illinois
Administrative Code Status Report The Illinois Administrative
Code was originally required to be made fully available online by the
end of the 92nd General Assembly.
It was the responsibility of the Illinois Legislature’s Joint Commission
on Administrative Rules (JCAR) to place the full Code online.
JCAR indicated that they have a partial list of the Code available
at www.legis.state.il.us, but it has not
yet appeared. The Administrator
of the Index Department noted that the JCAR version does not and will
not show emergency rulings despite recommendations from the Index Department
to include emergency rulings.
The
Index Department has decided that they will build an official web-based
version of the full Code (with emergency rulings). They have developed the database for this project,
and plan to launch the Code title by title onto the Internet. The Administrator of the Index Department anticipates
that Title 1 will be available within the next 2-3 weeks. All other titles will be added one-by-one as
quickly as possible after this time.
Thus,
when JCAR and the Index Departments Codes are complete, there will be
two versions of the Administrative Code available to the public on the
Internet. The Administrator of
the Index Department stated that their version would be the one held up
in a court of law as the official version. This could, of course, create some confusion
for our users and the users of the general public. The CALL Public Affairs Committee will continue
to monitor this perplexing situation. (contact:
Joanne C. Kiley)
AALL
Permanent Public Access Project
The 50-state survey on permanent public access (PPA) will be published
soon. The Illinois portion
of the survey indicates that our state is in the forefront of trying to
solve PPA issues, although problems remain (most notably the publication
of important legal materials, such as the Illinois Administrative Code).
The Public Affairs Committee will send an announcement about the publication
when it is available. Our former colleague Richard Matthews is largely
responsible for the success of the entire project, and deserves our thanks. (contact: Keith Ann
Stiverson)
Amendment
to State Records Act
Public Act 92-0866 of the Illinois General Assembly, which was passed
during the special session held in November, amended the State Records
Act to add a statement of policy about the importance of preserving public
records. The definition of “record” also was amended, and now includes
‘digitized electronic material’ and ‘databases’ as well as more traditional
public records. The new law strengthens authority for the preservation
of government publications in all formats. (contact:
Keith Ann Stiverson)
County
Law
Library Filing Fee – House Bill 475
Those who have been following this issue will recall that bills
to increase the county law library fees for civil cases have been introduced
in the previous two sessions of the Illinois Legislature, but died in
committee each time. These fees
are the primary source of funding for county law libraries.
The effort has been renewed this year, with the introduction of
House Bill 475 by Rep. Mark H. Beaubien, Jr. (R – 52nd Dist.). The bill would amend the Counties Code (55 ILCS
5/5-39001), to provide that a county board may authorize the clerk of
the circuit court to charge litigants in civil cases a fee, not to exceed
$19. This maximum would be increased by $1 per year
from 2004 through 2008. The bill
has been referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary I-Civil Law
Committee, with a hearing scheduled for February 20. (Contact: Spencer
Simons)
Public
Access to Government Information (PAGI) Award Nomination
The State of Illinois
was nominated by CALL to receive the AALL PAGI Award. The nomination was
made largely as a result of the State’s leadership in joining with the
State Library of Ohio and UIUC to get a grant from the federal Institute
of Museum & Library Services (IMLS). The grant was made to develop
software that helps to identify online file changes more efficiently,
thereby improving the ability to properly archive government files and
Web sites. It is expected that the software will be adopted by other states.
The new software will debut later this spring. (contact:
Keith Ann Stiverson)
