IP: BILL TO LIMIT DATABASE PIRACY INTRODUCED

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

Sounds like a future rip off in the making to me djf

A bill introduced to Congress by Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC) would make it 
illegal for someone to extract all or parts of a collection of information 
if the action would "cause harm to the actual or potential market" for the 
owner of the database. The legislation is intended to protect the ownership 
rights of companies that have developed databases, against "pirates" who can 
quickly and easily copy massive collections of information that they can 
then compile, catalogue and resell. The Clinton administration and a 
diverse coalition of academics, Internet companies, banking and medical 
groups oppose the measure, saying it goes too far, and could ultimately 
result in "electronic toll gates" for information that is now widely 
available free on the Internet. The Coalition Against Database Piracy, 
which backs the bill, says it "is about eliminating the inequity in a legal 
regime that allows an unscrupulous competitor to copy with impunity the 
contents of someone else's compilation and then destroy the first compiler's 
market by selling a competing less expensive product." (New York Times 19 
Mar 99)