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IMMEDIATE
Member Opinion Strongly Supports Position New York, February 24, 2004 -- ACM has approved a policy statement that opposes new restrictions on access and use of data collections, concluding that current US laws provide adequate protection for this information. In a unanimous vote that reflected the opinion poll results of ACM members, the ACM Council said pending US legislation could create broad new legal restrictions on collections of data that negatively impact the availability and use of facts and ideas. They agreed that collection, dissemination and use of data has been fundamental to the advancement of knowledge, technology and culture. They cautioned that new restrictions would impose an unwarranted cost on the process of scientific discourse. ACM Council's action came after the issue was presented to the ACM membership. Members were invited to register their opinion of ACM's position. Nearly 5,000 members participated in the opinion poll, and more than ninety percent supported ACM's statement opposing expanded restrictions for scientific data. "Dramatically altering the rules governing use and control of data to restrict access to facts traditionally considered in the public domain fails to recognize legitimate needs of professional, scientific and everyday users of the information," said Barbara Simons, co-chair of USACM, the US public policy committee of ACM. USACM brought this issue to the ACM Council because they perceived negative effects on research and the public interest that could result if proposed changes to US law are enacted. Simons added that ACM is a publisher and maintains an online digital library. "While we have a vested interest in the protection of our copyrighted information, we also shoulder a responsibility, as part of our mission, to promote public policies that advance the open interchange of information in ways that benefit society," she said. Simons noted that computing research often involves the reuse of large volumes of data, some of it from government sources. She said additional legal restrictions could enable a federal research grantee or a commercial publisher to exercise proprietary control over a collection of data that contains federally funded research and similar government information. As a result, important scientific information could be blocked from entering the public domain, even if it is not available from any other source. A diverse coalition of database producers and users, including the National Academies of Science, Amazon, Google, and the US Chamber of Commerce, opposes current legislation to expand restrictions on collections of data. The group predicts that it could lead to the growing monopolization of the marketplace for information, threatening the freedom individuals have to search, gather and exchange information off and on the Internet. For example, they warn that searching for information online, which occurs millions of times every day for free, could become a fee-for-service activity under the proposed restrictions on collections of data. The coalition against new restrictions on data collections also includes the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Libraries Association, NetCoalition, Yahoo, Bloomberg LP, and Charles Schwab & Co. The primary proponents of new restrictions are large information conglomerates and others with specialized interests in data ownership. They are proposing changes to US law that would create new ownership rights for a wide variety of data and information collected and contained in online databases, which they fear will be used contrary to their interests. About ACM ACM (www.acm.org) is a major force in advancing the skills of information technology professionals and students. ACM serves its global membership by delivering cutting edge technical information and transferring ideas from theory to practice. ACM hosts the computing industry's leading Digital Library and Portal to Computing Literature. With its journals and magazines, special interest groups, conferences, workshops, electronic forums, Career Resource Centre and Professional Development Centre, ACM is a primary resource to the information technology field. The USACM (www.acm.org/usacm) facilitates communication between computer professionals and policy-makers on issues of concern to the computing community. |
