SOME ORGANIZATIONS THAT HAVE
OPPOSED OR CRITICIZED UCITA
Many letters of opposition have been sent to members
of the Drafting Committee that have not been widely distributed.
This list is a subset of the collection of papers that have called
for an end to the UCITA (Article 2B) project or that have raised
major criticisms.
UCITA has been opposed by:
- 26 Attorneys General
- Software developers
- Every consumer advocacy organization that has looked at it
- Large software customers
- Librarians
- Other independent information content developers (writers,
photographers)
- Entertainment industry
- Magazine and newspaper publishers
- Many law professors.
Additionally, it has been
sharply criticized by the United States’ Federal Trade Commission,
http://www.ftc.gov/be/v990010.htm.
Attorneys General
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Connecticut
- Florida
- Georgia (Administrator
of the Georgia Fair Business Practices Act)
- Idaho
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Maryland
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Nevada
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- North Carolina (I have
not seen this letter)
- North Dakota
- Oklahoma
- Pennsylvania
- Tennessee
- Vermont
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin.
Software Developers
Consumer Advocates
- Consumer Federation of America (www.cptech.org/ucc/sign-on.html)
- Consumer Project on Technology (Ralph Nader) (www.cptech.org/ucc/sign-on.html,
www.cptech.org/ucc/ali3-10.html,
and www.badsoftware.com/alidec97.htm)
Article 2B protest page: http://www.essential.org/cpt/ucc/ucc.html
- Consumers Union ( 1999
www.2bguide.com/docs/cu699.html, 1998
www.2BGuide.com/docs/cu1098.html, 1997
www.ali.org/ali/hillga.htm, 1997
www.2bguide.com/docs/a.html, many others not on the web.
CU has been the hardest-working consumer organization opposing
UCITA. It is generally considered the most moderate of the consumer
advocacy groups.)
- National Consumer League (www.cptech.org/ucc/sign-on.html)
- United States Public Interest Research Group (www.cptech.org/ucc/sign-on.html).
- Cem Kaner. (1996
detailed analysis part: 1 www./uccpart1.htm, 1996
part 2 www.badsoftware.com/uccpart2.htm, privacy
problems 1996 www.badsoftware.com/privacy.htm, 1997
detailed analysis www.badsoftware.com/ali.htm, 1998
detailed analysis www.badsoftware.com/kanerncc.htm, 1998
American Bar Association www.badsoftware.com/abba1998.htm ,
1998 meeting
analysis www.badsoftware.com/uccnov98.htm, 1999Analysis
of e-commerce rules for FTC www.ftc.gov/bcp/icpw/comments/kaner.htm)
Large Software Customers
Librarians
Other independent information content
developers (writers, photographers)
Entertainment industry
- George Cooke, Home Box Office (www.2bguide.com/docs/gc1098.html
– interim assessment, strong criticism but suggestions for
fixing it. Since then, the industry’s position seems to
have hardened.)
- Motion Picture Association of America (www.2BGuide.com/docs/v9-98.pdf,
www.2BGuide.com/docs/mpaa1198.html,
www.2bguide.com/docs/1298mpaa.html,
www.2bguide.com/docs/coalit5.html)
- National Association of Broadcasters (www.2BGuide.com/docs/v9-98.pdf,
www.2bguide.com/docs/1298mpaa.html,
www.2bguide.com/docs/coalit5.html)
- National Cable Television Association (www.2BGuide.com/docs/v9-98.pdf,
www.2bguide.com/docs/1298mpaa.html,
www.2bguide.com/docs/coalit5.html)
- Recording Industry Association of America (www.2BGuide.com/docs/v9-98.pdf,
www.2BGuide.com/docs/riaa1098.html,
www.2bguide.com/docs/1298mpaa.html,
www.2bguide.com/docs/coalit5.html).
They may now be neutral because the latest version of UCITA more
effectively excludes their work products.
Magazine and newspaper publishers
Many law professors.
- fifty intellectual property law professors (www.2BGuide.com/docs/1198ml.html)
- forty-three contract professors of contracts and commercial
law (www.2bguide.com/docs/799profs.html)
- Working Group on Consumer Protection, American Bar Association
Business Law Section, Committee on the Law of Cyberspace, Subcommittee
on Electronic Commerce (www.2bguide.com/docs/jbmb699.html)
- Michael Froomkin, (www.law.miami.edu/~froomkin/articles/2b.pdf)
- Lawrence Lessig, Sign it and Weep, www.thestandard.com/articles/display/0,1449,2583,00.html?01)
- Jessica Litman (ftp://www.law.wayne.edu/litman/papers/UCCtales.pdf,
readable critique of licensing of information: ftp://www.law.wayne.edu/litman/papers/no.htm)
- Pamela Samuelson (summarizing opposition papers at the Berkeley
symposium, www.2bguide.com/docs/samuel.html;
see symposium notes at http://sims.berkeley.edu/BCLT/events/ucc2b/;
http://sims.berkeley.edu/~pam/papers/acm_2B.html)
- Paul Shupak, Paul S. Turner, Jane K. (electronic contracting:
www.2bguide.com/docs/0199winn.html)
- Charles McManis, (intellectual property, www.2bguide.com/docs/cmcali2.html)
- William Woodward (choice of law www.ali.org/ali/Woodward1.htm,
choice of forum, www.ali.org/ali/Woodward2.htm)
Bar Associations.
- American Intellectual Property Association (10,000 intellectual
property lawyers) (not on the net)
- New York (City) Bar Association
The articles at this web site are not legal advice. They do
not establish a lawyer/client relationship between me and you.
I took care to ensure that they were well researched at the time
that I wrote them, but the law changes quickly. By the time you
read this material, it may be out of date. Also, the laws of the
different States are not the same. These discussions might not
apply to your circumstances. Please do not take legal action on
the basis of what you read here, without consulting your own attorney.
Questions or problems regarding this web site should be directed
to Cem Kaner, kaner@kaner.com.
Last modified:July 22, 1999. Copyright © 1999, Cem Kaner.
All rights reserved.