On Mon, 4 May 1998, Kathy E. Gill wrote:
> THIS IS IMPORTANT ... almost as important as the OT law was -- well, more
> so in that it affects more people ... please read on .... contact me if
> you're interested in a grassroots lobbying effort.
>
>
> >[More detail on the bizarre draft now under consideration of Article 2B of
> >the Uniform Commercial Code, which (once adopted by the states) sets the
> >default rules for sales of software in the US. Forwarded by permission.
> >I have taken the liberty of reformatting the message and editing out most
> >of the MIME markup.]
Important is putting it lightly. This is something, that if it slips
through, will have horrible effects for consumers.
If you haven't expressed opinions to the ALI and others, certainly do so.
This is a classic case of the people who will benefit from the law using
ideal channels to "backdoor" it into practice.
UCC modifications are "recommended" by "specialist" organizations (the
ALI and one or two others I forget off-hand). Once they're hashed out,
it's very common practice for the states to adopt them (sometimes with
changes, usually in a very generic format) as an easy way to ensure
similarity in trade and commerce laws between states.
In this case, the software companies, which are lobbying hard for this
provision, realize that no one follows the development of such laws that
occur behind the scenes, and even fewer people tend to monitor what
happens in their state legislatures. Their hopes is that this will slide
right through the states and get adopted in numerous jurisidictions very
quietly. Once it's there and in practice, it's a bear to get rid of,
and, with time, since everyone is doing it, it slowly works its way into
a 'standard' that federal law later replicates.
So, if you're a "one issue a year" person, this is a good one to seize
on ;) That original post has some good resources to act on, and has a
great summary of the issues. Get educated, educate others and whip off
an email . . . everyone has a lot at stake on this one.
Brett
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