Promoting Electrotechnology Careers and Public Policy

2 November 2000

The Honorable Joe T. May
Co-Chair, Advisory Committee #5 on UCITA
Joint Commission on Science and Technology
910 Capitol Street, 2nd Floor
Richmond, VA 23219

Dear Delegate May:

At the Advisory Committee’s Sept. 17 hearing, I presented an amendment on behalf of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers – United States of America (IEEE-USA) to the Virginia Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act that was designed to discourage use of UCITA-based license agreements to restrict the use of computer information with competing products. Some concerns were raised that the proposed protection, when applied to all computer information, was over broad and so with your permission, the amendment was withdrawn without prejudice. We have reviewed and revised our proposal (see attached) so that it is focused on preventing anti-competitive licensing practices specifically concerning computer programs and now ask that this amendment be considered by the Advisory Committee.

I will not be able to appear at the Nov. 9^th hearing in Richmond, but have asked Tamara Maddox, a professional colleague, fellow IEEE member, and Virginia attorney, to present IEEE-USA’s revised amendment along with her own proposals for your consideration.

Please contact Chris Brantley, IEEE-USA’s Director of Government Relations, at 202-785-0017 if you have any questions or need further information regarding our proposal.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

J. Mark Pullen, D.Sc.
Vice President, Technology Policy Activities
IEEE-USA

The Institute of Electrical and Elecronics Engineers – United States of America
1828 L Street, N.W., Suite 1202, Washington, DC 20036-5104
Phone: 202-785-0017 * Fax: 202-785-0835 * E-mail: ieeeusa@ieee.org

Proposed By:

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers – United States of America

1828 L Street, N.W., Suite 1202
Washington, DC 20036-5104
Phone: 202-785-0017
Fax: 202-785-0835
Email: ieeeusa@ieee.org
WWW: http://www.ieeeusa.org

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. is a non-profit, technical professional association with more than 350,000 individual members in 150 countries. Through its members, the IEEE is a leading technical authority and produces 30 percent of the world’s annual published literature in electrical engineering, computers and control technology. IEEE-USA is the U.S. arm of IEEE created to support the careers and public-policy interests of the nearly 240,000 electrical, electronics, computer and software engineers who are U.S. members of the IEEE, including the 8,900 IEEE members who live and work in Virginia.

Proposed: Amend § 59.1-502.9. Mass-market license, by adding proposed new subparagraph (d)(2):

(d) In a mass-market transaction, a term which has the effect of forbidding or restricting any of the following rights or abilities of licensees of computer information is unenforceable to the extent these rights or abilities are not prohibited by other law:

(1) Public Commentary (see text of IEEE-USA proposal approved by the Advisory Committee on Sept. 17).

(2) Use With Competing Products. Use of a computer program in conjunction with any other computer information, products, services, or goods of the licensee's choosing, regardless of whether the other products compete with a product provided by the licensor.

Rationale (d)(3): Use With Competing Products

Without this amendment, dominant computer software licensors would be able to use UCITA to eliminate any possibility for competition by precluding the use of new, innovative, computer programs from other sources in conjunction with their dominant products. This amendment has been narrowed to encompass only license terms regarding "computer programs" as defined by UCITA in order to address concerns raised by Advisory Committee members on Sept. 17 that computer information licensors be able to use license provisions to protect intellectual property rights in data collections.

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Last Update:  13 Nov. 2000
Staff Contact:  Chris Brantley, c.brantley@ieee.org

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