In terms of the significance to our economy can you in any way quantify what this issue really means in terms of the United States economy and our balance or trade or imbalance of trade, if you will. Mr. PINCUS. Well, it's clear-and we actually released a report last April that we're going to update this year-that the information technology sector as a sector is one of the key drivers of our economic growth. It's one of our most vibrant export industries and anything we can do to keep that industry strong-and I should say on the technology side the cost reductions are one of the key factors that have limited inflation. So anything we can do to keep that sector of our economy strong and growing is something that's going to help keep our economy on the tremendous course that it's been on. Mr. DELAHUNT. The need to address this issue, you would suggest, is important in keeping that economy in a vigorous forward motion? Mr. PINCUS. Well, I guess I'd say it's not called The Information Age for nothing. [Laughter.] Mr. DELAHUNT. That's a great answer, Mr. Pincus. Mr. PINCUS. Our economy is an information based economy right now and anything we can do to create, to keep new sources of information feeding into the economy and being exploited creatively by the people who do that has got to help us. Mr. DELAHUNT. One final question. You indicated that the Government really is probably the most significant creator of databases in the world. Does the Government as a matter of course utilize databases that have been developed and created in the private sector? Mr. PINCUS. The Government creates databases and certainly Government scientists and others do use private databases, yes. Mr. DELAHUNT. Therefore, if we don't maintain a high level in terms of our databases the Government itself would be at a disadvantage in terms of all aspects of our national policy. Am I overstating or is that a fair observation? Mr. PINCUS. I think it's clearly important. The other observation I think is that a lot of Government data-the Government doesn't disseminate a lot of its data to the public, intermediaries do and it's obviously important that that data get out. We couldn't affordyou all wouldn't want to appropriate the money that it would take to get that data out, although the Internet makes that somewhat easier. But getting value added, getting intermediaries to add the value and to disseminate the information is important. Mr. DELAHUNT. Asking the question it occurred to me that the data that we're constantly requesting from governmental agencies-I'm talking about this institution, Congress-is enormous. And here we are as members of the House of Representatives making, significant policy decisions in all aspects of our national life, predicated on the information that we received both from the public sector and the private sector as far as our database is concerned. Mr. PINCUS. I think that's right. Mr. DELAHUNT. Thank you. Mr. COBLE. Thank you, folks. Today has the trappings of a very beneficial hearing and the questions put to you all and your re sponses have gotten us off on the right foot, I think. We will be in touch subsequently, I'm sure. Thank you both for being here. If the second panel will come forward I will introduce them as you make your way to the table. Our first witness is Mr. James Neal, who is the Dean of the University Libraries at Johns Hopkins University. Previously he was dean at the University Libraries at Indiana University and held administrative positions in the libraries at Penn State, Notre Dame and the City University of New York. For the past 4 years he has chaired the Information Policies Committee and the Copyright Working Group of the Association of Research Libraries. He had been selected by ACRL's 1997 Academic Research Librarian of the Year. Our second witness is Mr. Terrence McDermott, who is Executive VP at The National Association of Realtors. The National Association of Realtors is the Nation's largest professional association, representing nearly 700,000 members in all aspects of the real estate industry. Mr. McDermott has more than 25 years experience in media and publishing. He attended the Loyola University in Chicago and received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in organizational development from the National College of Education in Evanston, Illinois. He also served on the visiting faculty of the Radcliffe College Publishing Program and the Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. Our third witness is Marilyn Winokur, Executive Vice President, Micromedex, Inc. Micromedex is well known for its creation of new, pioneering products and is a leading publisher of computerized information systems for health care and environmental health and safety. She has been with the company since its formation in 1974. Ms. Winokur received her Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Pennsylvania and her MBA from the University of Den ver. Our next witness is Professor Joshua Lederberg, who is a research geneticist and a Sackler Foundation scholar and President Emeritus at the Rockefeller University in New York. He is testifying today on behalf of the National Research Council. In 1958, Dr. Lederberg received the Nobel Prize in physiology and medicine. Dr. Lederberg is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a charter member of the Institute of Medicine. He was educated at the Columbia and Yale Universities, where he pioneered in the field of bacterial genetics with the discovery of genetic recombination in bacteria. He has been awarded numerous honorary Doctor of Science and MD degrees and the LLB from the University of Pennsylvania. Our next witness is Mr. Lynn Henderson, who is President and CEO of the Doane Agricultural Services Company in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1919 by D. Howard Doane, the 80 year old company is a leading provider of marketing and management information for agricultural producers and agribusinesses. Doane publishes educational books and provides market consultation and customized communication for several agribusiness clients. Mr. Henderson, as a matter of interest, was reared on a grain livestock farm in Iowa. And he's an alumnus of Iowa State University at Ames. Our next witness on this panel is Mr. Mike Kirk, Executive Director of the American Intellectual Property Law Association. It's good to see you again, Mr. Kirk. Mr. Kirk served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Deputy Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks from May 1994 through March 1995. In 1993 Mr. Kirk also served as the Acting Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Acting Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks. Mr. Kirk earned his Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering at the Citadel in 1959, his juris doctor in 1965 from Georgetown University Law Center and his Master of Public Administration in 1969 from the Indiana University. I say to Mr. Pease, we have several from your State today, Mr. Pease. Mr. PEASE. We're well served accordingly. Mr. COBLE. Our next witness is Mr. Charles Phelps, who moved to the University of Rochester in 1984 as Director of Public Policy Analysis Program, a graduate program offered by the Department of Political Science in conjunction with the Department of Economics. In 1989 he left that position to become chair of the Department of Community and Preventive Medicine in the School of Medicine and Dentistry. He served in that role until 1994 when he was selected for his current position as provost of the University of Rochester. As provost Mr. Phelps oversees the entire academic activity of the university, including all teaching and research in each of the university's six schools. Mr. Phelps trained in business economics at the University of Chicago with a PhD in 1973 emphasizing the economics of health care following his BA degree from Pomona College in Claremont, California in 1965 and an MBA in Hospital Administration from the University of Chicago in 1968. Folks, I apologize for these detailed introductions but I think it's important that you all, as well as we, know the background of these witnesses. Our final witness is Mr. Dan Duncan, who serves as vice President for Government Affairs at the Software & Information Industry Association, a group formed in January 1999 through a merger of the former Software Publisher's Association and the Information Industry Association. SIAA represents some 1,400 companies involved in the production and distribution of software and information products, especially those targeted to the digital marketplace. Mr. Duncan has responsibility for the overall management of SILA's Government affairs program, including implementation of strategies to achieve the Association's policy goals. Mr. Duncan has a strong academic background in international affairs, including a study project in Germany as a Junior Fulbright Scholar, a Masters Degree in German from Harvard University and post-graduate study in international law and economics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in both Bologna, Italy and Washington, D.C.. We have written statements from each of the witnesses on this panel and ask unanimous consent that they be submitted in their entirety at the end of the record. Ladies and gentlemen, it's good to have you all with us. If you will, be ever alert of the red light as it illuminates into your faces. We will start, Mr. Neal, with you. STATEMENT OF JAMES G. NEAL, DEAN, UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY Mr. NEAL. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm James Neal, Dean of the University Libraries at Johns Hopkins University. I'm testifying today on behalf of five of the Nation's major library associations. Collectively we represent 80,000 librarians in research, academic, law, medical, public, State based and special libraries throughout North America. We serve millions and millions of users across this country every day. I very much value this opportunity to appear before the subcommittee again to share our views on H.R. 354. As indicated, the full statement will be included in the record. Mr. Chairman, proponents of this legislation will argue that the concerns of the library and education communities have been addressed by this new bill, and we certainly appreciate that H.R. 354 includes new provisions which seek to address some of the objections that were raised in the debate last year on H.R. 2652. These new provisions notwithstanding with others in the public and private sectors, we have significant continuing concerns about H.R. 354. I would like to also introduce in the record a position statement that has been endorsed now by over 125 organizations, institutions and companies, and the number is expanding rapidly. Mr. COBLE. Without objection it will be done. [The information referred to follows:] POSITION STATEMENT The corporations, educational institutions, non-profit organizations and trade associations listed below are users as well as creators in the compilation and valueadded transformation of databases. The Information Age and digital technology provide researchers and consumers across the globe with a unique opportunity to continue to create, maintain, and use new and innovative databases that are essential to science, education, business, and the overall economy. Because databases are items of commerce in their own right, and are critical tools for facilitating electronic commerce, research and education endeavors, we support Federal legislation carefully tailored to provide database publishers with sufficient protection against incentive-eliminating piracy. Conversely, we oppose legislation which would grant the compiler of any information an unprecedented right to control transformative, value-added, downstream uses of the resulting collection or of any useful fraction of that collection. The basic information policy of this country-a policy that has existed since the writing of the Constitution-has served us extremely well. The policy is that the building blocks of all information-facts, as distinct from the copyrightable manner in which they are expressed-cannot be owned. The particular legislative approach that has been considered by the House Judiciary Committee in the past three Congresses would mark a fundamental change in our nation's information policy. The problems raised by this change to commerce and competition were recognized by the Department of Justice, the Department of Commerce, and the Federal Trade Commission last year in separate letters to Congress identifying their concerns with H.R. 2652 considered by the 105th Congress. H.R. 354, the Collections of Information Antipiracy Act, is modeled on last year's bill and does not resolve these concerns. We support Federal legislation that will not harm legitimate research activities and small businesses, but will • prevent unfair competition in the form of parasitic copying; • preserve the fair use of information; • promote the progress of science, education and research; • protect value-added publishers and their customers; and • provide safeguards against monopolistic pricing. We look forward to working closely with all Members of Congress to craft wellreasoned, targeted and balanced legislation that will punish database pirates without jeopardizing the thriving commerce in information long at the core of America's economic, scientific and intellectual life. Amazon.com, Inc. Amdahl Corporation American Association for the Advancement of Science American Association of Law Libraries American Association of Legal Publishers American Association of State Colleges and Universities American Committee for Interoperable Systems American Council on Education American Film Heritage Association American Library Association American Meteorological Society Art Libraries Society of North America Association of American Physicians and Surgeons Association of American Universities Association of Research Libraries Association of Systematics Collections Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. Citizens' Council on Healthcare College Art Association Columbia University Commercial Internet eXchange Association Computer & Communications Industry Association Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility Conference on College Composition and Communication |