[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 145 (Tuesday, October 13, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2134]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    DIGITAL MILLENNIUM COPYRIGHT ACT

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                               speech of

                            HON. TOM BLILEY

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

 Monday, October 12, 1998***SHD***Clarification of Provisions of H.R. 
                   2281 Relating to Stock Market Data

  Mr. BLILEY. Madam Speaker, I rise to correct a clerical error that 
resulted in the omission of an important portion of my statement of 
August 4, 1998 in support of H.R. 2281.
  In my statement, I had included clarification of certain portions of 
the legislation that provide for the protection of electronic 
databases, specifically with respect to entities that collect and 
disseminate information about our stock markets.
  I supported this legislation because my good friend, Chairman Hyde of 
the Judiciary Committee, agreed to my request to include provisions 
that ensure that the protections provided in the Act in no way 
undermine or affect the provisions of the Federal securities laws 
relating to the collection and dissemination of information about the 
stock market.
  Section 11A of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, and the rules 
promulgated thereunder, charge the Securities and Exchange Commission 
with the duty to assure the prompt, accurate, reliable and fair 
collection, processing, distribution, and publication of information 
about stock quotes and transactions. The ability and extent to which 
self-regulatory organizations such as stock exchanges may collect fees 
for the dissemination of this information is subject to the approval of 
the Commission. Pursuant to this authority, the Commission has, in the 
past, approved of fees charged for stock market quotations by self-
regulatory organizations such as stock exchanges, which have used these 
fees to fund the collection and distribution of market data pursuant to 
the requirements of the Exchange Act, among other activities.
  Similarly, pursuant to the authority granted it under Section 11A of 
the Exchange Act, the Commission may, in the future, reexamine the fee 
structure associated with the dissemination of market data to better 
serve the public interest, protect investors, and promote efficiency, 
competition, and capital formation. The legislation explicitly 
preserves the ability of the Commission to take such action, with 
respect to both real-time and delayed data. In this regard, I wish to 
emphasize that this legislation does not create a property right in 
either real-time or delayed market data for self regulatory 
organizations, and preserves the full and complete authority of the 
Commission over the ways in which stock market data is collected and 
disseminated.
  This is critical because some experts have described stock quotation 
information as being ``as necessary as oxygen'' to investors, 
especially as investors turn more and more frequently to their 
computers to invest on-line.
  As the Internet and electronic communication make it increasingly 
easier for investors to seek out information about the marketplace and 
participate in our stock markets, we must ensure that these 
technological advances provide maximum access to information for 
investors, consistent with the competitive and efficient functioning of 
our marketplace.
  In this regard, I intend to continue the Committee's vigorous 
oversight of this important area to ensure that the Commission is using 
its authority under the Exchange Act to ensure that fees that are 
charged for market data neither hamper the development of the most 
efficient means for investors, especially retail investors, to obtain 
this information nor undermine the ability of the stock markets to 
fulfill their obligation to provide it.

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