ACM WASHINGTON UPDATE
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July 2002, Volume 6.7
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USACM Signs Amicus Brief Supporting Reverse Engineering
House and Senate Act on Homeland Security Legislation
USACM Leaders Speak at CRA Snowbird
House Adds Life Term for Certain Cyber Offenses
House Approves Bill to Bolster Undergraduate Programs
Legislation Directs NIST to work with Private Sector on Software Standards
European Commission Report Recommends Open Source Software
Senate Approves NET Guard Bill
Anti Peer-to-Peer File Sharing Legislation Proposed
House and Senate Adjourns for Summer Recess
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INTRODUCTION
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USACM Signs Amicus Brief Supporting Reverse Engineering
USACM recently signed an amicus brief to the California Supreme Court For a look at the brief, see: Bunner Brief
For more information, see: Background
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House and Senate Act on Homeland Security Legislation
The House last week approved a plan that would create a new cabinet level For a look at the Select Committee on Homeland Security's bill to For a look at the draft Senate bill to create a Homeland Security For a look at the Bush Administration’s proposal submitted to Congress =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
USACM Leaders Speak at CRA Snowbird
USACM Public Policy Committee Co-Chairs Barbara Simons and Gene Spafford Spafford addressed a plenary session organized by Peter Freeman, NSF Assistant For more on the CRA Snowbird Conference, see: Snowbird
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House Adds Life Term for Certain Cyber Offenses
By a vote of 385 to 3, the House recently passed H.R. 3482, the Cyber Security The legislation also directs and provides funding for the Attorney General to establish For a look at the legislation, see: H.R. 3482
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House Approves Bill to Bolster Undergraduate Programs
The House of Representatives recently approved a bill to address the decline in the The legislation now moves to the Senate for consideration.
For a look at H.R. 3130, see: H.R. 3130
For a look at a summary of the bill, see: Summary
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Legislation Directs NIST to work with Private Sector on Software Standards
By a vote of 397 to 22 the House approved H.R. 2733, the Enterprise Integration Act of For a look at H.R. 2733, see: H.R. 2733
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European Commission Report Recommends Open Source Software
A European Commission report recommends that European governments share software under For a look at the report, see: Report
For a look at the website for the “Interchange of Data Between Administrators,” see: ISPO
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Senate Approves NET Guard Bill
The Senate unanimously approved S. 2037, the Science and Technology Emergency In addition to building a virtual reserve of tech experts, the measure would mandate the The bill would authorize grants totaling $35 million for pilot projects that would attempt For a look at S. 2037, see: Bill
For a look at Hoffman's testimony, see: Hoffman Testimony
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Anti Peer-to-Peer File Sharing Legislation Proposed
Congressmen Howard Berman (D-CA), Howard Coble (R-NC), Lamar Smith The legislation was referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary's For a look at Berman’s statement on H.R. 5211, see: Statement
For a look at the bill, see: H.R. 5211
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House and Senate Adjourns for Summer Recess
Spending time away from Washington during the hot summer months has been in practice For the House 2002 Calendar, see: House Calendar
For the Senate 2002 Calendar, see: Senate Calendar
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Should you have questions, comments, suggestions or recommendations regarding
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in the DVD-Copy Control Association (DVDCCA) v. Bunner case. The
brief
seeks the Court's reaffirmation of the longstanding principle of trade
secret law that reverse engineering of mass-marketed products is a lawful
way to acquire a trade secret. In addition, the brief argues that the Court
should repudiate the notion that an anti-reverse engineering clause in a mass-
market license can override the right to reverse engineer. In its interest
statement attached to the brief, USACM argued that reverse engineering is
critical for systems interoperability and facilitates the research and testing
of information processing systems, and the development of programs that
impede the spread of viruses and other kinds of malicious software. Finally,
the USACM interest statement concludes that restrictions on reverse engi-
neering would have serious stifling consequences for software engineers,
the computing community, and the overall security of the information infras-
tructure and electronic commerce.
Department of Homeland Security and result in the largest reorganization of
the federal government in fifty years. By a vote of 295 to 132, the House
passed H.R. 5005, the Homeland Security Act, and approved the transfer
of a number of existing agencies including the Coast Guard, functions of the
Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Federal Emergency Management
Agency, and the Secret Service to the new Department. The House passed
plan differs from the Bush Administration proposal as it establishes a new
Undersecretary of Science and Technology position within the agency to
guide research and development -- including cyber security research--
activities, blocks the proposed transfer of NIST's Computer Security
Division (but moves some standards promulgation to the new agency), and
specifies the defense of the "cyber security infrastructure" as a responsibility
of the agency. The Senate will take up its own version of the bill (S. 2452)
after the August Congressional recess.
create a Homeland Security Department, see: House Bill
Department, see: Senate Bill
to create a Homeland Security Department, see: Adminstration Bill
addressed sessions concerning policy and the computing community at the Computing
Research Association’s bi-annual "Snowbird" conference in Snowbird,Utah, July 14-16,
2002. Simons served on a panel discussion of "Law, Policy, and Research" along with
Andrew Hume from USENIX and fellow USACM Committee Member Jon Peha. The
workshop covered the impact of copyright issues on computing research and researchers.
Their discussion also reviewed what is at stake for departments whose faculty are involved
in research that may collide with current law. The discussion concluded with a look
at what role the computing community might play in promoting balanced public policy.
Director of CISE, on Homeland Security related research issues. Spafford's remarks
concerned the nature of cyber security vulnerabilities and some high-priority needs
for research. He stressed three key points in his presentation: 1) the problems we
face are not new, nor are they unique to the U.S.; 2) the bulk of current federal
funding is being applied to improving methods of patching old problems instead of
improving technology; and 3) the current focus on terrorism loses sight of other
ongoing threats that may pose bigger dangers.
Enhancement Act of 2002. The bill directs the United States Sentencing Commission
to review and, if appropriate, amend Federal sentencing guidelines and otherwise
address crimes involving fraud in connection with computers. In addition, the bill
increases penalties to life in prison for violations where the offender knowingly
causes or attempts to cause death or serious bodily injury. The legislation expands
the legal protection for a communication provider who assists law enforcement with
an investigation under the emergency disclosure exception included in the USA
PATRIOT Act.
and maintain a National Infrastructure Protection Center to serve as a national focal
point for threat assessment, warning, investigation, and response to attacks on the
Nation's critical infrastructure, both physical and cyber.
nation's technical workforce and to improve undergraduate math and science education.
The bill, H.R. 3130, authorizes $390 million over five years to establish or enhance
programs at the National Science Foundation with a goal of increasing the number of U.S.
students majoring in science, math, engineering and technology. The Tech Talent Act also
creates a grant program to enable colleges and universities to expand innovative under-
graduate programs; create grants to enable faculty to improve their teaching skills; and
grants to help colleges purchase new research equipment for undergraduates.
2002, authorizing the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to work with
the private sector to standardize software to achieve software interoperability throughout
the manufacturing supply chain. The measure intends to encourage the integration of software
by companies, especially small ones, along the manufacturing supply chain to reduce waste
and improve efficiency. The bill is in response to an international effort to achieve standardiza-
tion in this area. Lawmakers did not want to see U.S. companies forced to conform to inter-
national standards because of Congressional inaction. The bill provides authorizations of $2
million in fiscal 2002, $10 million in fiscal 2003, $15 million in fiscal 2004, and $20 million
in fiscal 2005 to carry out the provisions of the Act.
open source licensing agreements. The study, "Pooling Open Source Software," supports the
creation of a clearinghouse as a collection point for software intended for reuse by registered users.
In addition, the project would extend beyond the collection of software to the sharing of "knowledge
and competences" on proper network administration. Adopting this approach, the report concludes,
would reduce the e-government costs associated with IT -- costs projected to rise 28 percent
this year.
Mobilization Act, a bill to mobilize technology and science experts to respond
quickly to the threats posed by terrorist attacks and other emergencies. The legis-
lation creates a national emergency technology guard, a technology reliability advisory
board, and a center for evaluating antiterrorism and disaster response technology. The
bill places these new functions within the purview of the National Institute of Standards
and Technology.
creation of a Center for Civilian Homeland Security Technology Evaluation to serve as
a clearinghouse for evaluating new technologies aimed at enhancing emergency-response
capabilities. In a statement approved by USACM and the ACM Committee on Security
and Privacy (ACSP), ACM Fellow Lance Hoffman offered comments on the legislation
earlier this year during the Senate consideration of S. 2037.
to solve interoperability problems in local emergency response, including fire, law enforcement,
medical practitioners and communications infrastructure. At the request of the House Committee
on Science a NET Guard provision was included in H.R. 5005, the Homeland Security Act.
(R-TX), and Robert Wexler (D-FL), recently introduced H.R. 5211, the Peer
to Peer Piracy Prevention Act. The bill would permit copyright owners to access
peer-to-peer networks that they suspected of infringing on their intellectual
property and take remedial steps to end access to the material. Supporters believe
the "self help" measure is a way to address the illegal online sharing of copyright
protected material over the Internet. The Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA) who previously waged a public legal battle against the file swapping service
provider Napster has endorsed the legislation.
Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property, which is
lead by Chairman Coble and Ranking Member Berman.
since the early history of the Congress. The House and Senate will return to Washington
after Labor Day in preparation for the last legislative push prior to the November 5th
Congressional elections, which will determine the control of the House and the Senate for
the next two years. Legislative priorities once the Congress reconvenes will likely include
appropriations legislation and Homeland Security.
public policy issues or USACM activities, please contact the ACM Public
Policy
Office located in Washington, DC, by e-mailing usacm_dc@acm.org or calling
(202)478-6312. The ACM Public Policy Office would also be pleased to assist
ACM members in contacting or meeting with their elected officials in
Washington, DC.