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IP: Database Bill Raises Constitutional Flags
From: Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>
Date: Sat, 13 Feb 1999 18:54:42 -0500
Newsgroups: comp.society.privacy Subject: Database Bill Raises Constitutional Flags Date: 13 Feb 1999 16:57:38 GMT http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,32085,00.html Database bill raises constitutional flags By Courtney Macavinta Staff Writer, CNET News.com February 8, 1999, 4 a.m. PT Congress will tackle one of the most important issues of the Information Age this session--whether database owners should get historic new protections for the public facts they compile and resell. <snip>... Some foes worry the new law could even apply to the Internet white pages directory for ".com," ".net," and ".org" sites--meaning domain name registrar Network Solutions could essentially copyright the entire Net. However, the act does attempt to prevent this scenario by exempting from the protections "information gathered, organized, or maintained to address, route, forward, transmit, or store digital online communications or provide or receive access to connections for digital online communications." Still, if Netizens don't pay attention to this critical debate, they could face an electronic toll gate each time they try to access information assembled and indexed by a third party, opponents of the bill contend. "We're pretty scared. The way we believe it will affect end users is that commercial database access fees, which already are high, will go higher," said Dan Burk, an associate law professor at Seton Hall University, who focuses on cyberspace issues. "Any collection of information that has value, that someone has put effort into creating, could be covered by this." U.S. courts have consistently held that database compilation isn't protected by copyright, according to Burk. In Feist Publications Inc. vs. Rural Tel. Service Company, the Supreme Court held that a phone company's white pages directory could not be copyrighted, and therefore other entities could duplicate and repackage the names, addresses, and telephone numbers found in public phone books. But Coble's bill would create a brand-new form of intellectual property protections for collections of information that have never existed in the United States before, Burk said, and could help database creators get past the Feist ruling. <snip>... ---end forwarded text
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- IP: Database Bill Raises Constitutional Flags Dave Farber (Feb 13)