Subject: Comments on ABA proposal for public domain citation Date: Fri, 14 Mar 1997 14:53:16 -0600 From: "James Y. Bryce" To: citation@teo.uscourts.gov CC: jep@jephill.com, love@tap.org To: The United States Judicial Conference BACKGROUND: The American Bar Association has proposed that citation to legal authority be through a system designed for computer storage, search, and retrieval. The ABA has also proposed that such system be clearly divorced from any means of citation that may be alleged to be the intellectual property of any commercial entity. STANDING: As a member of the Texas bar for twenty-seven years, as a member of the United States Supreme Court bar for twenty-four years, and as a recognized authority on computer communication systems, I strongly support the position of the ABA. Years ago while I was in law school I found it ludicrous that our courts would allow a single commercial entity to effectively own public information. In recent times I have even found clerks of court asserting that opinions would not be released to the public over the Internet until several days after they were provided to commercial entities. OPINION: In my opinion this view of ownership in public information is not only unethical and wrong, it is illegal. I also consider the assertion by a commercial entity that a volume and page number system is protected by intellectual property law flies in the face of the legal, ethical, and academic requirement to cite all my sources. In fact, to fail to so cite may give rise to allegations of plagiarism and even fraud. Now it appears that opponents will assert citations, tabular cross references, and searching methods will violate their rights. Members of the Judicial Conference, that dog won't hunt. REQUESTS: I request that the United States Judicial Conference act in support of the American Bar Association and establish a public domain citation system structured to integrate well into modern computing and communications systems. I also request that the United States Judicial Conference act to oppose any and all attempts by any and all entities, commercial or otherwise, to assert intellectual property rights in means of citation that would restrict, tax, charge fees for, or otherwise increase the burden of use for any and all court, regulatory, legislative, or other public documents. I stand ready to offer the services of my knowledge and experience in these matters. James Y. Bryce Attorney at Law ___________________________________________________________________ JAMES Y. BRYCE bryce@bryce.com COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY FORECASTING ISDN 512 377-4225 6103 Shoal Creek Boulevard FAX 512 454-4060 Austin, Texas 78757-3129 Voice 512 454-6788 http://www.bryce.com PRESENTATIONS + DOCUMENTATION + CONSULTATION + SYSTEMS INTEGRATION ___________________________________________________________________ Author "Special Edition, Using ISDN" (Que 1995 0-7897-0405-6) Second Edition (Que 1996 ISBN 0-7897-0843-4) "La Grande Guida ISDN"