Tag: Free Standards on the Internet

How do Internet sites that sell Standards illegally get customers?

In my investigation of the sites on the Internet that sell downloaded standards illegally, I notice a few characteristics that most sites have in common.  I want to bring these to your attention so that you will not be duped into purchasing a pirated copyright document.

First, it appears that there are only a few individuals that perpetrate the majority of the sites.  We can  determine this because of the use of similar home page designs in various URL’s (Uniform Resource Locator — the website address).

There are about 3 or 4 designs that crop up for several different websites, suggesting that the intellectual property thieves are reusing the code in order to maximize the profits to be made as quickly as possible.  The sites will look like authorized stores, with logos from the actual SDO’s (Standards Developing Organizations) prominently displayed.

Additionally, the home pages display the covers of the standards they offer.  They include copies of standards from API, ASME, AWS, IEC, DIN, SAE, UL, and others.

When you look on WHOIS to determine who owns the website in question, you’ll often find that the owner is located in Florida, unfortunately with a 6 digit zip code that starts with the number 8.  Too bad Florida zip codes are 5 digits and start with the number 3…  Additionally, the names and email addresses of the owners are also patently false or incomplete.  Or the WHOIS information may be linked to a service that provides internet domains anonymously.

These sites are ranking fairly high in website ratings.  They are doing so by posting trackbacks and comments to various blogs.  The blogs they target do not bother to edit the incoming requests.  They tend to not only have trackbacks from these IP (Intellectual Property) pirating sites, but also from sites that offer introductions to young ladies from Russia, storefronts for the purchase of viagra, etc.

The sites in question also use Google adwords to get advertisements posted in the margins when you do a search for a standard.  This is particularly onerous, as it appears to give these sites legitimacy when they are actually in the business of thievery.

We cannot stress enough that should you choose to purchase a document on such a site, you are abetting those who are stealing from the standards community and helping to destroy a system that is already under pressure from the changes in technology we’re currently experiencing.

Stopping these sites is a time-consuming business, costing time and money. Often the cases must be pursued in non-U.S. courts (notably in China).  The results of a favorable judgement are not effective enough to prevent the perpetrators from renewing their services once out of jail.

Since Document Center Inc. is an advocate for proper use of intellectual property and the copyright obligations that accompany the sale of standards, we continue to work with Standards Developing Organizations to identify and solve this problem.

 

ANSI’s response to the OMB Circular A119 petition on Free Internet Access to Standards incorporated into Federal Regulations

Last week I blogged about the petition by a group of academics led by Professor Peter Strauss regarding the availability of standards incorporated by reference in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR’s).  ANSI, as the umbrella organization for U.S. standards developers, has sent in a reply addressing a number of questions raised by NARA, the National Archives and Records Administration, the executive branch that oversees that part of the CFR addressed by the petition.

The first area of concern for NARA was the meaning of “reasonably available,” existing language in the circular which is at the center of the discussion.  ANSI’s position is that the text of standards and associated documents should be available to all interested parties on a reasonable basis, which includes appropriate compensation as determined by each SDO (Standards Developing Organization).

ANSI brings up the fact that the accessibility of information on the Internet has not diminished the protections of copyright.  They additionally note that online access has not “…changed the need and the ability of standards developers to cover the significant costs of creating the documents that are used to further public policy goals in law and rulemaking.”

ANSI also points out that requiring various agencies to purchase licenses for public access to standards incorporated into regulations would defeat the original intent of Circular A119, “Federal Participation in the Development and Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards and in Conformity Assessment Activities.”

The ANSI response notes that if agencies subsidize the costs of certain standards by licensing, then “budgets will need to be substantially increased in order to pay such costs, either through taxes or additional interest on the national debt.”  This is precisely the kind of costs that OMB Circular A119 intended to avoid!

Other areas of concern for NARA, and by extension for ANSI, are articulated in the recent Recommendation issued by the Administrative Conference of the United States.  The ACUS recommendation addresses many of the issues raised by the academic’s petition.

ACUS, an independent agency of the Federal Government, provides suitable arrangements through which the various agencies may cooperatively study mutual problems, exchange information, and develop recommendations for action with regards to regulatory activities and other Federal responsibilities.

The recommendation suggests that agencies should work with the various SDO’s to promote (not mandate) free access to standards referenced in U.S. regulation.  The Conference’s research revealed that some agencies have successfully worked with copyright owners to further the goals of both transparency and public-private collaboration.

For example, some agencies have secured permission to make a read-only copy of incorporated material available in the agency’s public, electronic docket during the pendency of the rulemaking proceeding relating to the material. In other cases, the copyright owner has made the material publicly available in read-only form on its own Web site.  The ACUS recommendation therefore encourages agencies to take steps to promote the availability of incorporated materials within the framework of existing law.

The recommendation has a total of 18 line items to promote effective use of standards within the regulations of the U.S.  Since this encourages increased availability but does not mandate free access, ANSI supports the adoption of the suggestions by NARA.

Document Center Inc. congratulates ANSI on an articulate and timely response to NARA’s request for comment.   This is a subject that concerns both Standards Developers and Intellectual Property owners in general.  Use of copyright material, patents, and so on in public documents requires a fine balancing act between the needs of society and the rights of the property owner.

The petition reminds us that the perception of access to standards and other copyright material can be improved.  Document Center actively promotes new ways for the public to find and purchase the standards they need.  Hopefully the suggestions of ACUS will encourage Federal Agencies and SDO’s to continue to work together to come up with innovative solutions to this complex problem as well.

Proposed changes to OMB Circular A-119 could impact the Standards Community

On February 27th of this year, a Federal Register notice called for comment on a petition filed by a group of academics.  This petition would amend the OMB Circular A-119, “Federal Participation in the Development and Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards and in Conformity Assessment Activities.”

The Circular has been instrumental in directing Federal regulators, including the Department of Defense specifications and standards program, to move from government developed and maintained standards to the adoption of industry standards.  It has had a huge impact on the entire process of developing and implementing standards for both industry and government.

The usual process for government adoption of standards for regulatory processes is for industry standard in question to be called out by number, including date, in the applicable volume of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR’s).  There are over 9,000 such references in federal regulations at this time.

In the main, these industry documents must be purchased by those needing to comply with the law.  This allows the  standards organization that develop, monitor, and revise the standards to fund the costs associated with this caretaking activity.

Indeed, the original impetus for the Circular in the first place was to reduce government expense by avoiding duplicate activity within both the private and public sector.  It was intended to pave the way for more government participation in industry standards-making processes, including the costs involved in such participation.  However, it must be remembered that those costs are not only borne by those who develop the standards, but also by those who use them through the vehicle of the purchase price.  Further, industry standards are normally copyright material, with the full protection afforded by that coverage.

The petition by the academics seeks to make standards that are referenced in the CFR’s available on the Internet at no charge.  “Today, binding law cannot be regarded as ‘reasonably available’  if it cannot freely be found in or through an agency’s electronic library.”  The petition goes on to suggest that perhaps this could be provided through a licensing agreement between the agencies involved and the standards associations themselves.

Of course, there is the further question of how such free, public availability of certain standards would impact revenue from sales that are not related to the use of the regulation itself.  My own use of search engines to find specific standards has lead me to find approximately a half-dozen illegal sites involved in the unauthorized sale of copyright material.  This suggests that  the public is still interested in inexpensive or free standards without regards to the economic impact of such transactions.

As one would expect, the standards community in the U.S. is very interested in the results such a change would have on the entire standards process.  ANSI is accepting a leadership role in voicing the concerns of Standards Developing Organizations (SDO’s) to the issues raised by the petition.

Document Center Inc. monitors such activity on a regular basis and is also concerned about how this petition would change the financial structure for SDO’s.  We’ll cover the ANSI response to the call for comments in a blog next week.  Meantime, if you have comments, please let us know.