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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