H.R. 4947. The Honorable Robert W. Kastenmeier, a Representative in Congress from the State of Wisconsin; Chairman, Subcommittee on Courts, Civil Liberties The Honorable Patrick J. Leahy, a Senator from the State of Vermont; Chairman, Senate Subcommittee on Technology and the Law....... The Honorable Carlos J. Moorhead, a Representative in Congress from the Vans Stevenson, Director of Public Relations, Erol's, Inc., Springfield, VA; on behalf of the Video Software Dealers Association, Marlton, NJ Statement of the Honorable Paul Simon, a Senator from the State of Illinois; Chairman, Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution....... Statement of the Honorable Alan K. Simpson, a Senator from the State of Invitation to testify from the Honorable Patrick J. Leahy and the Honorable ..136, 138 Letter from C. James Schmidt, Chair, Intellectual Freedom Committee, Office for Intellectual Freedom, American Library Association, Chicago, IL; to the Honorable Robert W. Kastenmeier, August 25, 1988.. Letter from Judith F. Krug to the Honorable Robert W. Kastenmeier, 140 (V) Letter from David R. Bender, Ph.D., Executive Director, Special Libraries Letter from John H. Buchanan, Jr., Chairman, and Arthur J. Kropp, Presi- Letter from Duane E. Webster, Executive Director, Association of Research Letter from the Honorable Robert W. Kastenmeier and the Honorable Don Letter from Thomas M. Boyd, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Office of Page 142 143 145 146 148 VIDEO AND LIBRARY PRIVACY PROTECTION ACT OF 1988 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 1988 U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON Washington, DC. The subcommittees met, pursuant to notice, at 9:40 a.m., in room 2237, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Robert W. Kastenmeier (chairman of the Subcommittee on Courts, Civil Liberties, and the Administration of Justice) presiding. Present (House): Representatives Kastenmeier, Berman, Cardin, Moorhead, DeWine, Coble, and Slaughter. Present (Senate): Senators Leahy and Simon. Staff present (House): Michael J. Remington, chief counsel; Virginia E. Sloan, counsel; David W. Beier, counsel; Joseph V. Wolfe, associate counsel; and Judith W. Krivit, clerk. Staff present (Senate): Ann M. Harkins, chief counsel; Marc S. Rotenberg, counsel; Susan P. Kaplan, counsel; and Jill D. Friedman, clerk. Mr. KASTENMEIER. The meeting will come to order. [Copies of H.R. 4947 and S. 2361 follow:] (1) I 100TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 4947 To amend title 18, United States Code, to preserve personal privacy of individuals with respect to certain library use and use of services involving the rental or purchase of video tapes, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 29, 1988 Mr. KASTENMEIER (for himself and Mr. MCCANDLESS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend title 18, United States Code, to preserve persona1 privacy of individuals with respect to certain library use and use of services involving the rental or purchase of video tapes, and for other purposes. 1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 4 This Act may be cited as the "Video and Library 5 Privacy Protection Act of 1988". 6 SEC. 2. CHAPTER 121 AMENDMENT. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.-Chapter 121 of title 18, United 8 States Code, is amended 2 (1) by redesignating section 2710 as section 2711; (2) by inserting after section 2709 the following: 4 "§ 2710. Wrongful disclosure of information relating to li 5 6 brary use or video tape rental or sale "(a) PROHIBITIONS.-Except as provided in subsection 7 (b), it shall be unlawful for a video service provider or library 8 knowingly 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 "(1) to disclose to any other person or entity any personally identifiable information about any user of covered services; or "(2) to retain in a record any such information more than one year after "(A) that information is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was collected; and "(B) there are no pending requests or court orders for disclosure under this section. "(b) EXCEPTIONS.-It is not a violation of sub 19 section (a) of this section to disclose information about an 20 individual— 21 22 23 24 25 "(1) to that individual; "(2) with that individual's consent under the circumstances described in subsection (c) of this section; "(3) to a law enforcement agency pursuant to an order under subsection (d) of this section; or |