Date: Wed, 1 Mar 1995 10:41:40 -0500 (EST) From: James McDonough Subject: Re: EPIN Summary ********************************************************** SUMMARY OF ELECTRONIC PUBLIC INFORMATION NEWSLETTER VOL. 5, NO. 3; February 10, 1995 ********************************************************** INDEX: 1. CONTROVERSIAL COPYRIGHT AMENDMENT IS WITHDRAWN 2. REPUBLICANS FAVOR AN ONLINE CONGRESSIONAL RECORD 3. GAO CRITICAL OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT BY AGENCIES **************************************************************** For more information on the complete ELECTRONIC PUBLIC INFORMATION NEWSLETTER or to receive a FREE sample of the complete printed copy send an email message to EPIN Publishing at epin@access.digex.net. Include your snail mail address. ***************************************************************** 1. CONTROVERSIAL COPYRIGHT AMENDMENT IS WITHDRAWN: In a surprise reversal, House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight last week (2/10) unanimously voted to withdraw a controversial amendment dealing with the copyright of government information. Committee Chairman William Clinger, Jr. and his fellow Committee members acted after public interest groups, led by Taxpayer Assets Project, a publishers group and Tax Analyst led a vigorous fight all week long to kill the amendment. The amendment (Sec. 3518 (f)) first appeared in the Chairman' mark of the reauthorization of the Paper Reduction Act (H.R. 830) late last week and became the subject of an Internet alert on Tuesday (2/7), when the Subcommittee on National Economic Growth, Natural Resources, and Regulatory Affairs held public hearings on H.R. 830. At that time, Sally Katzen, Director of the OMB Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, stated her opposition to the amendment. The Subcommittee unanimously approved the bill with the controversial amendment on Wednesday and a full Committee mark-up was then scheduled two days later. It appeared the Committee was on a fast track and the amendment was to be approved by an overwhelming majority. 2. REPUBLICANS FAVOR AN ONLINE CONGRESSIONAL RECORD: A joint meeting of the House and Senate Legislative Appropriations Subcommittees held two weeks ago (2/2) considered the possibility of substituting the delivery of the printed version of the Congressional Record (CR) for the online version to save on printing costs. A delayed CR could be farmed out to the private sector for printing, allegedly at a lower cost than what the Government Printing Office (GPO) can offer. It is the second time in five years that such a scheme is being considered by the Congress. In 1990, Cong. Pat Roberts presented a plan to delay the print version of the CR in favor of online delivery. "Is it is essential for the congress to have a hard copy of the Congressional Record before 10 a.m. each day?" asked Subcommittee Chairman Ron Packard. He was seconded by Sen. Robert Bennett, R-UT, who suggested the Government Printing Office (GPO) simply delay delivery of the CR until noon or later and see how many congressmen complain. Consideration of an electronic CR was part of a larger discussion by the Subcommittees on how to reduce the legislative budget, and included suggestions to eliminate the GPO. 3. GAO CRITICAL OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT BY AGENCIES: The federal government has spent a quarter of a trillion dollars on information technology since 1980 that has produced little return in operational improvements or reductions in costs, according to General Accounting Office testimony before the House National Economic Growth, Natural Resources, and Regulatory Affairs Subcommittee this week (2/7). "Agencies also lack essential information to manage programs, control costs, and measure results," said (2/7) GAO Assistant Comptroller General Gene L. Dodaro in testimony on the reauthorization of the Paper Work Reduction Act (PRA). In his testimony (Paperwork Reduction Act: Reauthorization Can Strengthen Government's Management of Information and Technology GAO/T-AIMD/GGD-0\95-80), Dodaro noted that huge, complex computer modernizations in the federal government are at risk because of 1) a failure to adequately select, plan, prioritize, and control system and software projects, and 2) the failure to use technology to simply, direct, and re- engineer functional processes in ways that reduce costs, increase productivity, and improve service. *************************************************************** ARCHIVE: EPIN Summaries are being archived on the Electronic Frontier Foundation system. To access past summaries, use the following addresses: ftp.eff.org, /pub/Publications/E-journals/EPIN gopher.eff.org. 1/Publications/E-journals/EPIN gopher (HTML), gopher.eff.org, /hh/Publications/E-journals/EPIN http: //www.eff.org/pub/Publications/E-journals/EPIN ***************************************************************** James McDonough, Editor Electronic Public Information Newsletter epin@access.digex.net; Tel:/Fax: (301) 365-3621