The Honorable Patrick J. Leahy
Chairman
Senate Committee on the Judiciary
SD-224
Dear Chairman Leahy:
As the Co-Chairs of the U.S. Public Policy Committee of the
Association for Computing Machinery (USACM), we would like to take this
opportunity to comment on the March 14, 2002, full committee hearing entitled, "Competition,
Innovation, and Public Policy in the Digital Age: Is the Marketplace Working to
Protect Digital Creative Works?"
We continue to be concerned that attempts to protect content
by requiring manufacturers to include copyright-protection technologies in
products will have far-reaching and damaging effects. Those effects may
serve to interfere with our freedom to innovate, weaken our educational
systems, and impede our technological dominance. We also agree with the
Intel Corporation and others that interjecting government as regulators or gatekeepers
of new technologies will politicize the standard-setting process, retard
innovation, and reduce the usefulness of IT products for consumers. IT
products designed for the
In addition to working with the entertainment and IT
industries, we urge Congress to work with consumers and researchers to preserve
the legitimate use of copyright protected content. Entertainment is only
one, relatively minor use (compared to all uses) of networks and computing technology.
Robust, ubiquitous IT products and devices are used everyday for conducting a
variety of lawful research and education purposes. Mandating technology
for managing digital rights unfairly limits the legitimate expectations of
consumers and researchers. Of further concern, any such restrictions on
technology will result in significant reductions in computer security research
and protection at a time when our nation attempts to enhance the safety of our
infrastructure and prevent acts of terrorism. Rather than constraining or
outlawing technology, there needs to be more efforts made in enforcement of
current laws, in education of consumers, and in deriving new models for
e-commerce. Legislating constraints on technology to aid the
entertainment industry has the potential to cause widespread and severe damage
to society at large.
USACM includes computing researchers and information
technology professionals from academia, industry, and government. We are
pleased to offer our technical expertise to assist policy-makers and would
welcome the opportunity to testify as your committee considers legislation
intended to protect digital content. Please contact Jeff Grove, Director
of the ACM Public Policy Office at (202) 659-9711, if we can provide additional
information.
Sincerely,
Barbara Simons, Ph.D.
Eugene H. Spafford, Ph.D.
Co-Chairs
Association for Computing Machinery
Cc: Members of the Senate Committee on Judiciary