An American Bar Association working group that was created last fall to review the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (UCITA) issued a report January 30 to the ABA Board of Governors characterizing the legislation as “extremely difficult to understand” and therefore unlikely to provide the clarity called for in such a comprehensive and complex act. The group recommended “that UCITA should be redrafted to make it easier to understand and use,” citing 16 areas where the law needed either major changes or minor improvements.
The report briefly mentioned specific concerns brought up by library groups in hearings last November and suggested “that UCITA is not the appropriate place for the interpretation of federal copyright law.”
Carol Ashworth, UCITA grassroots coordinator for ALA’s Washington Office, told American Libraries that many of the ABA group’s recommendations correspond to those made by opponents of UCITA. She said a rewrite of the law is certainly one possible result, but it is still unclear how the ABA governors will proceed or when a full vote by the ABA House of Delegates would occur.
State legislatures have begun their sessions and so far none have UCITA on their agendas. Ashworth said it is likely that introductions were being withheld until the ABA report recommendations are better known.
Posted February 11, 2002.