[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 81 (Tuesday, June 12, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1076]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 INTRODUCTION OF H.R. 2100, THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY DISTANCE LEARNING 
                            ENHANCEMENT ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. RICK BOUCHER

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 12, 2001

  Mr. BOUCHER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have joined with my 
colleague from California, Mr. Issa, in introducing the aptly named and 
numbered bill, H.R. 2100, the Twenty-First Century Distance Learning 
Enhancement Act. As my colleagues may know, the Senate has approved its 
own version of a distance education bill. We look forward to working 
with our colleagues in the House to move our bill quickly and to 
reconcile the two versions for the benefit of educators and students of 
all ages throughout the country.
  In 1976, when closed-circuit television was the ``state of the art'' 
distance learning technology, Congress amended the Copyright Act to 
help promote this new way of distributing knowledge by exempting 
qualifying television transmissions received in traditional classroom 
like settings. Over the next two decades, as technology evolved, it 
became evident that teachers could offer their students a richer 
educational experience, but only if the law kept pace with technology. 
It had become increasingly evident to me that expanded distance 
learning opportunities would be particularly important to our 
constituents in rural areas. With the advent of computers and the 
Internet, we finally have a way to connect them with the best learning 
the world had to offer--but we need to clear away some hurdles so that 
this new technology may be used in ways not imagined in 1976.
  In 1997, I joined with several members of the House in putting 
forward a proposal to update the law. It became clear that further 
study was necessary to ensure that Congress struck the appropriate 
balance between the interests of copyright owners and information 
consumers. As part of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, 
Congress directed the Register of Copyrights to conduct a study and to 
make recommendations to enhance distance learning opportunities through 
the use of the most modern technologies. In releasing her study two 
years later, the Register of Copyrights supported changes to current 
law that would enhance distance learning opportunities. As she said in 
testimony before the Courts and Intellectual Property Subcommittee in 
releasing her findings, ``Updating [current law] to allow the same 
activities to
  In general terms, our bill would amend sections 110(2) and 112(b) of 
the Copyright Act to ensure that educators can use personal computers 
and new technology in the same way that they now use televisions to 
foster distance learning. It would broaden the range of works that may 
be performed, displayed, or distributed to include the various kinds of 
works that might be included in a multimedia lesson. And it would 
broaden the educational settings subject to the exemption to include 
non-classroom settings (including the home) in which pupils could 
receive distance-learning lessons.
  Our bill differs from the Senate bill in three respects. First, we 
have explicitly included nonprofit libraries within the scope of the 
entities that may engage in distance learning activities without fear 
of being found to have violated the law.
  Second, our bill does not contain the Senate-passed provision 
requiring the Patent and Trademark Office to provide a report on 
certain technical measures that might be used to protect works 
delivered over the Internet. We trust that sufficient work is being 
done by the private sector to develop new technology, and don't see how 
a report about what is available or might be available really advances 
the goal of developing new technology.
  Finally, we did not adopt a last-minute addition to the Senate bill, 
made after the measure had been reported by the Senate Judiciary 
Committee, that relates to the requirement imposed on qualifying 
organizations to adopt technological measures to prevent unauthorized 
use or further dissemination of works used for distance learning 
purposes. As reported by the Senate Judiciary Committee, the bill would 
have required qualifying institutions to apply technological measures 
that, ``in the ordinary course of their operations,'' prevent the 
proscribed activities. As amended on the Senate floor, however, the 
bill deleted this qualifying phrase and instead was rewritten to 
require these institutions to apply measures that ``reasonably'' 
prevent such activities. Before deciding which may be the better 
formulation, we believe it will be important for the House to 
understand the distinctions intended and the implications that one 
choice or the other may have for interpreting other laws, in particular 
Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
  We look forward to working with our colleagues to enhance distance 
learning opportunities by moving expeditiously with consideration of 
the bill.

                          ____________________