Day of Action to Demand ECPA Reform

Posted on December 5, 2013 by Jazzy Wright — No Comments ↓

ECPAToday, the American Library Association is joining a nationwide day of action calling for reform of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), the law that says the government can access your email and documents in the cloud without a warrant.

ECPA is one of the Internet’s most outdated laws – it was enacted in 1986, before most people had access to a home computer or email. While the public has been rightfully outraged over reports that the NSA accesses communications without a warrant, ECPA says that hundreds of other government agencies—like the IRS, FBI, and DEA, as well as state and local law enforcement agencies—can access many of our stored emails, private social media messages, and documents in the cloud without getting a warrant from a judge. The law flies directly in the face of our Fourth Amendment values.

Bills to reform ECPA have gained huge support in recent months from both parties in Congress. However, legislation is now being blocked by a power grab from the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is pushing for a special carve-out for regulatory agencies to get your documents from online providers without a warrant. The SEC carve-out would neuter ECPA reform.

That’s why we’re calling on the White House to break its silence and stand up for ECPA reform. We need President Obama to tell the SEC to back down in its demands for troubling new powers and make clear that the time for ECPA reform is now.

Today we ask you join us by signing this petition to the White House. It’s time for the President to join hundreds of tech companies, startups, advocates, and Members of Congress by supporting this commonsense, long overdue reform to ensure our privacy rights online.

Participating organizations:

Access
ACLU
Americans for Tax Reform
American Library Association
Center for Democracy & Technology
Demand Progress
Disconnect
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Engine Advocacy
Fight for the Future
Free Press
Google
Internet Infrastructure Coalition
Liberty Coalition
Open Technology Institute
R Street
SpiderOak
TechFreedom
Twitter

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Posted in Cybersecurity, Government Information, OGR

ALA seeks nominations for 2014 James Madison awards

Posted on December 3, 2013 by jmcgilvray — No Comments ↓

James Madison Award

The American Library Association’s (ALA) Washington Office is calling for nominations for two awards to honor individuals or groups who have championed, protected and promoted public access to government information and the public’s right to know.

The James Madison Award, named in honor of President James Madison, was established in 1986 to celebrate an individual or group who has brought awareness to these issues at the national level. Madison is widely regarded as the Father of the Constitution and as the foremost advocate for openness in government.

The Eileen Cooke Award honors an extraordinary leader who has built local grassroots awareness of the importance of access to information. Cooke, former director of the ALA Washington Office, was a tireless advocate for the public’s right to know and a mentor to many librarians and trustees.

Both awards are presented during Freedom of Information (FOI) Day, an annual event on or near March 16, Madison’s birthday.

Nominations should be submitted to the ALA Washington Office no later than January 17, 2014. Submissions should include a statement (maximum one page) about the nominee’s contribution to public access to government information, why it merits the award and one seconding letter. Please include a brief biography and contact information for the nominee.

Send e-mail nominations to Jessica McGilvray, Assistant Director for the ALA Office of Government Relations, at jmcgilvray@alawash.org. Submissions can also be mailed to:

James Madison Award / Eileen Cooke Award
American Library Association
Washington Office
1615 New Hampshire Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20009-2520

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Posted in Government Information, Intellectual Freedom, Washington Office News

Free Webinar: Providing Financial Education to Library Patrons

Posted on November 21, 2013 by Jazzy Wright — No Comments ↓

On December 4th, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Institute for Museum and Library Services will offer a free webinar on financial literacy.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Institute of Museum and Library Services are developing financial education tools and sharing best practices with the public library field. The partnership between the two agencies was created to provide tools and materials to help libraries provide free, unbiased financial information and referrals in their communities, build local partnerships and promote libraries as community resources.

Join both groups on Wednesday, December 4, 2013, from 3:00-4:00 p.m. Eastern Time to discuss how the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is working to raise the profile of libraries in every community.

Webinar Details
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
3:00-4:00p.m.
Join the webinar (No need to RSVP)

  • Conference number: PW5861477
  • Audience passcode: LIBRARY
  • If you are participating only by phone, please dial the following number: 888-324-8527. Participant passcode: LIBRARY

The webinar will feature representatives from the CFPB, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), American Library Association and two of our local public library partners.

As part of the partnership, both agencies gathered information about libraries and financial education. Their surveys focused on attitudes about financial education, and how librarians can facilitate more financial education programs. During the webinar, both agencies will detail survey results and discuss strategies to start a nationwide conversation about ways to better inform and serve American consumers.

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Posted in OGR, Webinars

Keep the Freedom Act momentum going

Posted on November 21, 2013 by Jazzy Wright — No Comments ↓

Library supporters: Tell Congress to support the USA Freedom Act. Ask your U.S. representative and senators to cosponsor this important legislation.

In a joint letter (pdf) to Congress, the American Library Association joined national civil liberties groups, trade associations and companies in supporting the USA Freedom Act, a bill that would bring more transparency and oversight to government surveillance programs. Other letter USA Freedom Act supporters include the American Civil Liberties Union, tumblr, Human Rights Watch and the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression.

The letter states:

We the undersigned civil society groups, trade associations, companies and investors are supporters of the free and open Internet. We are writing to urge that intelligence surveillance practices be reformed by limiting the scope of surveillance and by substantially enhancing the privacy protections, oversight, and accountability mechanisms that govern that surveillance.

Recent disclosures regarding intelligence surveillance activity raise important concerns about the privacy and security of communications. This surveillance has already eroded trust that is essential to the free flow of information and to the exercise of human rights and civil liberties both in the United States and around the world.

To rebuild trust, we urge that the U.S. government act expeditiously to:

  • allow companies to be much more transparent about the number and type of surveillance
  • demands they receive;
  • be much more transparent itself about the surveillance demands it makes, the surveillance
  • activities in which it engages, and the legal bases for both;
  • focus intelligence collection on terrorists, spies and other agents of foreign powers, rather than on
  • everyone else; and
  •  ensure that its surveillance practices honor both Constitutional and human rights.

Toward this end, we welcome introduction in the House and Senate of the USA FREEDOM Act–legislation which promotes these goals. We oppose legislation that codifies sweeping bulk collection activities. We look forward to working with you on the USA FREEDOM Act and other legislation designed to protect the privacy of Internet users while permitting appropriately targeted intelligence surveillance necessary to protect against terrorism.

Ask your U.S. representative and senators to cosponsor this important legislation.

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Posted in Legislation, Library Advocacy, OGR

Copyright review continues in House of Representatives

Posted on November 20, 2013 by TWegner — No Comments ↓

The House Judiciary copyright review effort continued yesterday as the subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet held another hearing. Yesterday’s offering was titled, “The Rise of Innovative Business Models: Content Delivery Methods in the Digital Age.” You can view the full witness list on the subcommittee website. The scope of the hearing was generally limited to the role copyright plays in emerging business models of streaming providers and streamed content. Familiar questions regarding the threat of piracy and the appropriate level of statutory damages in copyright law were raised frequently.

Of most interest to libraries was the testimony of David Sohn, general counsel for the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT). In both his written and oral testimony he urged Congress not to undermine the principle of fair use as they consider copyright reform. He writes:

Fair Use, codified in section 107 of the Copyright Act, is a flexible provision that helps the law accommodate a wide range of beneficial activity and free expression… It enables technology-based tools that help users discover and locate copyrighted works, from search engines themselves to the mass-digitization projects recently upheld in the HathiTrust and Google Books decisions.

ALA recently celebrated the decision in the Google Book Search Case. Like Sohn, ALA believes that Congress should not take any action to undermine the fair use exception when considering copyright reform. Fair use allows for situation-based analysis for determining whether the use of a work is fair, providing the flexibility necessary to learn and create in the digital age.

A recent Judiciary Committee press release indicated there will be more hearings to come as Congress moves into the New Year. Unlike the previous round of hearings that have focused on high level copyright issues, the next round will begin to address specific components of copyright law. Specifically, there will be hearings on fair use (section 107), notice and takedown provisions (section 512), and likely the first sale doctrine (section 109). We’ll have coverage of all those hearings here at the District Dispatch.

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Posted in Copyright, Legislation, OGR

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