Pippa-- Thanks for highlighting the UCITA threat. I will alert the state
PIRGs. I know that Jamie Love and CPT have long monitored and opposed
UCITA. More recently, Gail Hillebrand of Consumers Union has prepared some
excellent materials on UCITA and has worked with Jean Ann Fox in Virginia
on a point-by-point rebuttal to the industry's self-serving anti-consumer
bill that the Virginia Citizens Consumer Council released as a report to
the legislature. As noted in the story, a number of state AGs have also
opposed the proposal.
Ed
At 05:19 PM 02/04/2000 -0500, Pippa Lawson wrote:
> By Martin Stone, Newsbytes
> LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A.,
> 04 Feb 2000, 7:57 AM CST
>
>
> (Embedded image moved to file: pic07685.gif)A
> number of software high-rollers, including
> Microsoft Corp. [NASDAQ:MSFT], along with some
> industry associations, are reportedly promoting
> the passage of country-wide state legislation
> that would reduce consumer rights for users of
> purchased or leased software and database
> information.
>
>
> According to a report in today's Los Angeles
> Times, the drive comes as software companies are
> eyed as cash cows by local communities, which
> envision job creation and other economic
> advantages.
>
>
> The proposed tech legislation has also been
> endorsed by Intuit Inc. {NASDAQ:INTU], Novell
> Inc. [NASDAQ:NOVL] and the Lotus Development
> division of IBM [NYSE:IBM], among others, the
> report said.
>
>
> The suggested legislation springs from Uniform
> Computer Information Transactions Act (UCITA),
> which calls for, among other stipulations, the
> right to remotely disable programs should
> lessees fall behind on their payments, the
> report said.
>
>
> Further, the proposed bills include a provision
> allowing e-mail to serve as formal legal notice
> of a change in terms of the contract or a
> warning that service will be terminated, without
> evidence that the e-mail ever reached an
> individual, the report stated.
>
>
> UCITA opponents also fear that bans against the
> future sale or donation of the property would
> mean computers could not be passed along to
> schools or other organizations without being
> stripped of software, the report said.
>
>
> One of the bills is expected to be soon
> introduced in California, and other UCITA bills
> are already before state legislatures in
> Maryland, Virginia and Illinois, the Times said,
> adding that many players in the software
> industry are aggressively lobbying for passage,
> touting the proposals as overdue modernization
> of contract law to keep pace with electronic
> commerce. The report suggested that lobbyists
> expect the bills to pass in several states
> within a few months.
>
>
> The bill's concept is aimed at protecting
> software, much of which can be easily copied,
> according to industry sources cited by the
> Times, which also reported that law professors,
> consumer groups, more than 20 state attorneys
> general and some corporate software buyers are
> beginning to organize an opposition to the UCITA
> campaign.
>
>
> Both sides believe that if a few states pass the
> measure, other states will feel compelled to
> follow in order to compete for high-technology
> company headquarters, the report stated.
>
>
> But, some industry powers take issue with UCITA,
> including Sun Microsystems [NASDAQ:SUNW], which
> argues that any change of such complexity would
> cost countless hours and dollars to organize and
> could overhaul a legal system that has been
> working fine, according to the Times.
>
>
> The state debate mirrors similar database
> protection issues taking place in Congress,
> which is contending with UCITA in database and
> digital signatures legislation.
>
>
> Reported by Newsbytes.com,
> http://www.newsbytes.com .
>
>
>
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