Dear Colleagues,
This message is one installment of ALA's online "UCITA Tutorial." The Public Policy Committee is monitoring the issue and will continue to pass on relevant information to the membership.
This message was also posted to CHAPTER-L.
Roger Lawson
Chair, ARLIS/NA Public Policy Committee
>>> [log in to unmask] 03/07/01 02:33PM >>>
The Online UCITA Tutorial
Message 11: Grassroots Efforts
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An Educational Service of the American Library Association
Office for Information Technology Policy
Prepared by
Rick Weingarten and Carrie Russell, OITP
http://www.ala.org/oitp/staff.html
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Guest Writer of the Week: Carol Ashworth, UCITA Grassroots
Coordinator, American Library Association Washington Office
Building a Nationwide Grassroots Effort to Oppose UCITA
Today's message will focus on ALA's Washington Office (WO)
efforts to help our members fight UCITA at the state level.
UCITA presents the Washington Office with a unique
challenge. Ordinarily, our focus is federal legislation and
policy making. We are unable to lobby in all of the 50
states and territories where UCITA may be introduced, so we
have to depend on librarians on the scene in each state to
build coalitions and strategies to fight UCITA. To deal
with UCITA's complexity, everyone involved must be well-
trained in areas normally unfamiliar (and probably
uninteresting) to the average library advocate. Each state
library community will organize its own lobbying efforts.
Carol Ashworth (that's me), the UCITA Grassroots Coordinator at WO, has
been hired specifically to focus on UCITA and can provide
information, contacts, and assistance with legislative
strategy and coalition building.
Fortunately, ALA is not alone in opposing UCITA. The
Washington Office is very active in a major coalition of
businesses and non-profits, The Americans for Fair
Electronic Commerce Transactions (AFFECT), organized to
defeat UCITA in every state. AFFECT is composed of over 60
companies and organizations representing a broad spectrum of
interests. Our membership in AFFECT serves as a model for
coalition building at the state level.
The breadth of AFFECT membership signifies that many
different interest groups are opposed to UCITA. This fact
sends a powerful message to legislators who may assume, or
may have been told, that UCITA is an essential legal tool
for the business community. Libraries ally with insurance
companies, financial firms, technology groups and industrial
firms in AFFECT. Libraries speak for the public good,
offering a voice and perspective that is appreciated by our
partners in the coalition. We share fundamental concerns
about the scope and implications of UCITA and have our own
spheres of influence in state legislatures.
Our coalition partners have government affairs
representatives who normally have their ear to the ground in
different places than librarians. AFFECT members have given
us crucial, early information about legislative activity in
Texas and Ohio that we might not have had access to
otherwise. In turn, our librarians have gotten information
that we have passed on to the coalition that has been
equally important. Our coalition partners have connections
and influence that have provided access to key legislators
who might not have taken our calls.
Finally, the contributions of AFFECT members fund a national
public relations firm. We are currently developing a
coordinated public awareness campaign so that we can provide
a consistent message to the media. AFFECT has designed a
website <www.affect.ucita.com> that will soon have a
grassroots capability that can be mobilized as needed by any
of our state associations. Library supporters in your state
could turn to the AFFECT website and identify their
legislators, send them a prepared letter or find key points
to include in their own letter.
Current information about the status of UCITA in each state
is easily obtained at <ala.org/washoff/ucita> as well as
<www.affect.ucita.com>.
Organization, communication and education are the key
components of our grassroots efforts. We have developed the
"Don't Get Shrink-wrapped!" workshop that we have given
around the country. We also set up "fight ucita," an
electronic discussion list hat keeps UCITA activists up to
date. In addition, this tutorial is sent to nearly 3,000
people and the UCITA Teleconference in December 2000 was
down-linked to 226 sites in 42 states.
This grassroots effort is a work in progress. We are
constantly trying to respond to your needs by developing new
materials that will make you more confident in your efforts
to train others, develop an advocacy strategy and negotiate
with legislators.
We welcome your questions and feedback as we continue this
critical legislative effort.
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Disclaimer
This Online UCITA Tutorial is a service of the American
Library Association. It is not legal advice. The
information presented here is meant to be for educational
purposes and does not represent the complex, technical
aspects of the Uniform Computer Information Transactions
Act, contract law, or the copyright law. You should consult
a lawyer if you are seeking advice for your particular
needs.
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