Maryland Governor Parris N. Glendening signed into law April 25 the Uniform Computer Information Transaction Act (UCITA), a controversial statute that standardizes software licensing agreements between manufacturers and consumers, following Virginia’s passage of the same legislation in March. According to the April 26 Washington Post, the Maryland law, slated to take effect July 1, will be the first of its kind in the United States to be implemented; the corresponding Virginia act has been delayed until mid-2001 pending review by a state-appointed commission.
UCITA opponents claim the legislation would allow software makers to write licensing agreements that override the fair-use exemptions of copyright law. Miriam Nisbet, legislative counsel for the ALA Washington Office, told American Libraries that both ALA and the Maryland Library Association had urged an amendment to UCITA that would take into consideration the special needs of libraries and other educational institutions, “but we did not prevail.” She added that both groups would be closely monitoring the law’s implementation in Maryland.
Similar legislation has been introduced in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Oklahoma, New Jersey, Hawaii, and Illinois. An April 20 hearing on the bill by the D.C. Council was postponed, according to Nisbet.
Posted May 1, 2000.