The EFF has created a web site to help Americans send a message to their representative in Congress opposing the database bill. Excerpt: This bill "would surely chill innovation and research. Many legitimate activities - both commercial and not - rely on the availability of factual information. For instance, websites that perform price-comparisons for shoppers must use data from many different retailers, but that activity would likely violate DCIMA. Scientists require access to dozens, sometimes hundreds, of complete data sets to further their research, but DCIMA would allow anyone who has merely maintained one of those databases to initiate litigation. The Act has some vague language about limiting the liability of scientists and other groups, but it would take court battles to clarify it."
Posted by
Peter Suber at 1/28/2004 08:41:00 AM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
