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(FWD) NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE, Vol. 7, #37, August 31, 2001



NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE, Vol. 7, #37, August 31, 2001
by Bruce Craig <rbcraig@nccph.org
National Coordinating Committee for the Promotion of History (NCCPH)
*****************

EDITOR'S NOTE TO READERS:
The editor will be taking leave of the NCCPH offices for a short jaunt
north to East Point, Prince Edward Island, Canada for his annual retreat
(or rather escape) from Washington D.C.  Consequently, this will be the
last NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE posting until mid-September. NCC's telephone
(202) 544-2422 ext. 116 will be checked each day during the absence.
bc.

1.   Historical Groups Register Concern Over Legislation
2.   Report Issued on Digital Millennium Copyright Act
3.   Smithsonian Reaches Agreement with McDonalds
4.   Update: FRUS Volume on Greece
5.   News Bits and Bytes: Almanac Issued

1.  HISTORICAL GROUPS REGISTER CONCERN OVER LEGISLATION
The National Coordinating Committee for the Promotion of History, the
American Historical Association, the Organization of American Historians,
and several other historical organizations have sent requests to the Senate
Select Committee on Intelligence requesting the historical community be
allowed to testify and register concerns regarding the proposed "leak
statute" scheduled to come to hearing on September 5, 2001.  At this
writing no response has been received from the Senate Committee.  The NCC
has also joined with other organizations in signing a letter that expresses
"deep concern with the leaks criminalization provision."

The legislation, unofficially referred to as the "Official Secrets Act," is
expected to surface as a part of the Intelligence Authorizations Act, an
appropriations bill that funds various intelligence-related agencies and
activities (see NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE, Vol. 7, #36, August 24, 2001).  In
meetings this last week, opponents of the bill reached agreement regarding
a message that NEEDS TO BE IMMEDIATELY COMMUNICATED to Senators on the
committee.  That message is that Senator Shelby's language "should not be
included in the legislation and that there is a need for a lot more dialog
before any legislation is considered."  Individuals wishing to contact
their Senator should request that he/she "object to the consideration of
the Intelligence Authorization bill if it comes to the floor with this
provision included."

Expressions and letters of concern to members of Congress from the
historical and archival community (especially constituents of those listed
below) are needed now. Communications with the offices of those who sit on
the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence are particularly needed; they
include Senators Bob Graham (FL) who chairs the Committee and Richard C.
Shelby (AL), Carl Levin (MI) Jon Kyl (AZ), John D. Rockefeller (WV), James
Inhofe (OK), Dianne Feinstein (CA), Orrin Hatch (UT), Ron Wyden (OR), Pat
Roberts (KS), Richard Durbin (IL), Mike DeWine (OH), Evan Bayh (IN), Fred
Thompson (TN), John Edwards (NC), Richard Lugar (IN), and Barbara Mikulski
(MD). Offices for all of these individuals may be reached via the Capitol
switchboard at (202) 224-3121.

The offensive language in the Act would put in place a broad prohibition on
the disclosure of classified information and would sanction the criminal
prosecution of any government official who violates the law's provisions
through disclosure of unauthorized information to anyone. Historians and
representatives of the media would be especially vulnerable to prosecution
which could result in subjecting them to interrogation, possible jail
sentences, and stiff fines.  The bill specifically targets active or
retired government employees who willfully disclose "properly classified
information" knowing that "the person receiving it was not authorized to
have access to it."

2.  REPORT ISSUED ON DIGITAL MILLENNIUM COPYRIGHT ACT
The U.S. Copyright Office has issued a 166-page report stating that there
is no need to dramatically overhaul the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of
1998.  The law was designed to protect copyright holders in the digital
age.  The report was mandated by Congress as a follow-up to the law that
was designed to lay the ground rules for the digital future of intellectual
property.

Much of the report focuses on the complex issues relating to the payment of
music royalties and to the "first sale doctrine," which, in essence, holds
that a purchaser can pass a book or software program they bought to a
family member or friend without breaking the law. Book publishers, among
others, have stated that the first sale doctrine should not apply to
electronic media because lending a copy of such publications usually means
a duplicate is made.

Librarians have long contended that there are inherent problems in sharing
electronic information and wanted a clarification of the law by the
copyright office. They had hoped the study would provide more concrete
guidance about when it is legal to make and transmit digital copies of
works. The American Library Association, which had advocated a
clarification, was disappointed by the recommendations. According to a
spokesperson for the ALA, the copyright office "still doesn't grasp what
technology is doing to the issue of user rights."

In the report, the copyright office declined to address many specific
issues and merely stated that while there were theoretical concerns, there
was "no convincing evidence of present-day problems." According to a
spokesperson for the copyright office, "As we delved deeper into the
subject matter...formulating recommendations proved to be more difficult
and time-consuming than anticipated."  The report does call for
clarification of user rights in specific situations, however, it evades the
First Amendment problems that many in the Library community wanted to see
clarified in the Act.

3.  SMITHSONIAN REACHES AGREEMENT WITH McDONALDS
The National Air and Space Museum has signed a multi-million dollar
partnership agreement with McDonalds Corporation to create a McDonalds-run
restaurant food court in the museum. Recent Smithsonian studies had
documented visitor dissatisfaction with the current cafeteria-style Flight
Line restaurant that is operated by Guest Services Inc. Among other
findings, the study showed that only 6% of the school groups that visited
the museum patronized the cafeteria.

Museum officials hope that the partnership will provide low cost food, fast
service, and brand name recognition to museum visitors and, through a
profit sharing agreement, also generate $34 million in revenue for the
museum.  Under the terms of the agreement, McDonalds will guarantee the
Smithsonian $1.6 million a year over the ten-year lease agreement, plus the
corporation will also make a $5 million donation to the museum. In addition
to being what is expected to be the busiest McDonalds in the country (over
1,000 seats), the plan calls for the facility to offer food from two other
McDonalds owned fast food chains - Boston Market and Donato's Pizzeria.  In
order to prepare for the arrival of McDonalds, the museum will spend $3.2
million to upgrade the area of which 10% is public funds, the rest will
come from undisclosed private sources.

4.  UPDATE: FRUS VOLUME ON GREECE
The Department of State history office has produced, and the Government
Printing Office has printed over 1500 copies of the FRUS volume documenting
a history of U.S. dealings with Greece from 1964-1968. However, the volume
has been and continues to be embargoed as the Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA) does not want it released.

The volume contains once classified information relating to CIA covert
activities in the mid-1960s. The CIA had similar concerns about the FRUS
volume on Indonesia that was recently released (see NCC WASHINGTON UPDATE,
Vol. 7, #34, August 9, 2001). Only after George Washington University's
National Security Archives secured a copy from the Government Printing
Office (GPO) and posted it on the world-wide-web. Senator Joseph R. Biden
Jr. (D-DEL), who had written the CIA on behalf of an inquiring constituent,
was informed that it would be released in August, but the volume has yet to
see the light of day. At this writing, Senator Biden's Foreign Relations
Committee staff has contacted State requesting an explanation as to why the
volume has not been released as promised in the letter to the Senator.

Now we hear on good authority that one or more copies of the volume may
have made it out of either State or GPO offices and that it is probably
just a matter of time before it also is posted somewhere on the web.  The
State Department continues to make appeals to the CIA to authorize the
release of the volume. When contacted by the NCC, CIA spokesman Mark
Mansfield stated that "interagency discussions are still ongoing."

5.  BITS AND BYTES:
Item #1- The Chronicle of Higher Education (August 31, 2001) has issued its
annual "Almanac Issue" that contains a wide variety of information about
the nation's education system. For example, nationwide, 9% of the
population possess a graduate or professional degree. The average pay for
professors at public universities is $78,637 ($55,839 for Associate
professors; $46,476 for Assistant professors) while private universities
pay rates average $95,596 for professors ($62,324 for Associate professors;
$52,971 for Assistant professors). The average salary for history
professors at public institutions is $56,489 and $56,410 at private colleges.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  * * * * *
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