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[FYI] U.S.: Senate Passes High-Tech Bills
- To: debate@fitug.de
- Subject: [FYI] U.S.: Senate Passes High-Tech Bills
- From: "Axel H Horns" <horns@t-online.de>
- Date: Sun, 21 Nov 1999 19:21:07 +0200
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-11/20/028l-112099-
idx.html
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Senate Passes High-Tech Bills
Satellite TV, Patent Laws, 'Cybersquatting' Are Addressed
By John Schwartz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, November 20, 1999; Page E01
A passel of high-technology bills that flew through the Senate at
Internet speed yesterday will give satellite-television viewers
access to local channels, revamp the U.S. patent system and shut down
"cybersquatters."
[...]
Another piece of legislation rolled into the spending bill is
intended to limit "cybersquatting," the practice of poaching popular
trademark names for Web sites (and names that sound like those
trademarked names) in order to sell them to the rightful owners. Sen.
Spencer Abraham (R-Mich.) has called cybersquatting "online
extortion," and said his bill will protect consumers.
That bill, too, has its detractors. Shari Steele of the Electronic
Frontier Foundation, a high-tech civil liberties group, said that
since an international organization, the Internet Corporation for
Assigned Names and Numbers, was formed with the help of the U.S.
Commerce Department to resolve such disputes globally, "I don't think
the Senate should be acting on this at all."
Steele said that the bill gives "way too much power to trademark
owners to the detriment of people who have legal rights to have these
domains--and there are real free speech implications of that."
The Senate passed a second Abraham-sponsored bill on electronic
commerce intended to give electronic contracts and documents the same
legal standing as documents signed using pen and ink. Since a
different version of that bill has passed the House, the two laws
will have to be reconciled in conference committee next year.
The Senate passed another bill to ban Internet gambling. Sponsored by
Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), the bill makes exceptions for state-run
lotteries and fantasy sports leagues. The matter will also have to be
taken up when Congress returns after the holidays.
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