ALAWON v5n06 (March 6, 1996) URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/alawon/alawon-v5n06 ------------------- ALWN506.DOS follows -------------------- ****Begin File*************Begin File**************Begin File**** ***************************************************************** ISSN 1069-7799 ALAWON ALA Washington Office Newsline An electronic publication of the American Library Association Washington Office Volume 5, Number 6 March 6, 1996 In this issue: (164 lines) - HOUSE JUDICIARY SUBCOMMITTEE CONDUCTS HEARINGS ON NII COPYRIGHT LEGISLATION - ALA WEB SITE POSTS LEGISLATIVE UPDATES - NTIA ANNOUNCES THIRD ANNUAL ROUND OF TIIAP GRANTS ***************************************************************** HOUSE JUDICIARY SUBCOMMITTEE CONDUCTS HEARINGS ON NII COPYRIGHT LEGISLATION ALA & FOUR LIBRARY GROUPS SUBMIT WRITTEN TESTIMONY The House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property held two half-days of hearings recently on H.R. 2441, the NII Copyright Protection Act of 1995, legislation intended to implement the recommendations of the Commerce Department's "White Paper" on copyright and the information infrastructure. Jeanne Simon, Chair of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) testified before the panel. The American Library Association, along with more than 40 other groups, was invited to submit written testimony prior to February 15 for the Subcommittee's consideration. ALA did so jointly with the American Association of Law Libraries, Association of Research Libraries, Medical Library Association and the Special Libraries Association. An Executive Summary and the full text of the document of the library groups' testimony prepared by ALA staff will be mounted on the ALA Web site shortly. It may also be accessed through the Digital Future Coalition's home page; please see the description and directions below. Although the House plans no further hearings on H.R. 2441 and may move to mark up the legislation in the next few weeks, the Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to hold at least one day of hearings on S. 1284,an identical bill, late this month. ALA, with other members of the Digital Future Coalition, particularly educational organizations, will push for appropriate representation before the Committee. The primary purpose will be to stress that any enhancement of copyright protection afforded by this Congress must also preserve and enhance the public's access to information under the Fair Use Doctrine, codified at Section 107 of the current Copyright Act. Reaffirmation of the First Sale Doctrine's applicability in cyberspace also is likely to be emphasized, as is the need to assure that libraries and educational institutions should not be held legally liable for copyright infringement by users of their computer networks. Detailed information about this legislation, as well as its potential impact on the library and educational communities may be found on-line through the Digital Future Coalition home page at http://guess.worldweb.net/dfc. The text of the pending bills, DFC material, selected testimony and much more is available, together with links to ALA's web site and the home pages of many other of the Coalition's more than two dozen members. An Executive Summary of the joint library statement will be at the ALA Web site. (See instructions below.) The title is: STATEMENT OF THE NATION'S LIBRARIES ON H.R. 2441 "NII COPYRIGHT PROTECTION ACT OF 1995" SUBCOMMITTEE ON COURTS AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 8, 1996 ***************************************************************** ALA'S WEB PAGE POSTS LEGISLATIVE UPDATES As part of ALA's continuing efforts to keep its members and staff well informed, the ALA Web site will now be posting the latest fact sheets from the Washington Office and from the Office for Information Technology Policy. Currently, you will find the latest updates on telecommunications legislation, lobbying regulations, copyright and intellectual property issues, a fact sheet about selected readings on Internet content regulation, and much more. To find out the latest legislative trends affecting libraries and the ALA's stance on these issues, direct your web browser or gopher to: gopher://gopher.ala.org:70/11/alagophwashoff (Washington Office), or gopher://ala1.ala.org:70/11/alagophwashoff/alagophwashoffoitp (Office for Information Technology Policy). Another way to access this information is to locate the ALA homepage (http://www.ala.org/) and choose "Offices" and then either "Washington Office" or "Office for Information Technology Policy," where you can access the gopher menus. Stay tuned and stay up to date! ***************************************************************** NTIA ANNOUNCES THIRD ANNUAL ROUND OF TIIAP GRANTS The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) opened the 1996 round of Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program (TIIAP) grants on Thursday, February 29. The deadline for submitting applications is April 4, 1996. The complete notice of solicitation of grant applications is printed in the _Federal Register_ of February 29, 1996, page 7950. TIIAP provides eligible organizations with matching funds to promote the widespread use of advanced telecommunications and information technologies in the public and non-profit sectors. Many libraries fall into the categories of eligible organizations listed for TIIAP: state and local governments, all colleges and universities, and all non-profit entities. The 1995 cycle of grants included eight projects concentrating on library services. Libraries were also involved as partners on grants filling other community needs. TIIAP is currently funded at a level of $21.5 million under a Continuing Resolution which will expire on March 15, 1996. NTIA will notify the public through the _Federal Register_ about the actual funding level that will be available for the 1996 grant round, pursuant to further Congressional appropriations action. ALA will continue to monitor and report on TIIAP funding levels as more information is available. To find out more about TIIAP contact Stephen Downs, Acting Director of the Telecommunications and Information Infrastructure Assistance Program by phone: (202)482-2048, fax: (202)501-5136, or e-mail: tiiap@ntia.doc.gov. TIIAP information is also available on NTIA's Web site at http://www.ntia.doc.gov or through an automated fax-back system at (202)501-2303. ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** ALAWON (ISSN 1069-7799) is an irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office, 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20004. Internet: alawash@alawash.org; Phone: 202-628-8410; Fax: 202-628-8419. Contributing to this issue: Adam M Eisgrau, Sally Benson, and Claudette W. Tennant; Editor: Lynne E. Bradley (leb@alawash.org). ALAWON is available free of charge and is available only in electronic form. To subscribe, send the message "subscribe ala- wo [your name]" to listserv@uicvm (Bitnet) or listserv@uicvm.uic.edu (Internet). Back issues and other documents are available from the listserv the list server. To find out what's available, send the message "send ala-wo filelist" to the listserv. The ALA-WO filelist contains the list of files with the exact filename and filetype. To get a particular file, issue the command "send filename filetype" to the listserv. Do not include the quotes in your commands. All materials in the newsletter subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. For other reprinting or redistribution, address requests to the ALA Washington Office (alawash@alawash.org). ****End File****************End File*****************End File**** *****************************************************************