Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Fall Semester, 2010
MIT 6.805/STS085: Ethics and Law on the Electronic
Frontier
Preparation for week of class on November 8
Congressional Hearing on the Best Practices Act
Class on November 8 will be devoted to a mock Congressional hearing, with
roles for everyone in the class.
Look here to
see your role.
The class will give you a chance to combine your technical skills with the
law and policy background you've obtained in class. We hope you'll get a
sense of how the legislative process creates new laws, with the give and take
among competing interests.
There is no writing assignment to turn in for this class, but you
should think in advance about the positions you will take on the
issues, and what you will say. For fun, you should do a little
research on the (real) person whose role you are playing, to add some
color to your performance in class.
The Bill
The hearing will be on an actual bill before Congress, HR 5777: Building Effective
Strategies To Promote Responsibility Accountability Choice
Transparency Innovation Consumer Expectations and Safeguards Act,
or "The Best Practices Act", introduced last summer by Rep. Bobby
Rush, of Illinois. There were preliminiary hearings on this bill in
July, held by the House Commerce Committee's subcommittee
Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection, which Rush chairs.
You can find the
report on the hearings here. It includes statements by Rush and by
Commerce Committee Chair Henry Waxman,
a transcript of the proceedings, and testimony by several agencies and
orgnizations that were asked to appear.
The text
of HR 5777 is long and complex, but you should read it. You should
read the Chairman
Rush's Opening Statement, and also the briefing
memo prepared for members of the subcommitee.
You should also skim the transcript
of the hearings to get a sense of what the proceedings are like.
And you should also have a look at the statement of one of the
organizations relevant to the role you'll be playing, either because
you'll be agreeing or disagreeing.
You might also want to look at a
letter this month to Rush in support of the
legislation from EBay, Intel, and Microsoft.
The hearing
Last summer's hearing was under a House controlled by the Democrats. The people who
testified were largely Beltway insiders and policy wonks, and the
earing seemed tame for a subject as potentially controversial
as privacy.
For us, envision that our 6.805 hearing takes place next spring, with the
House under Republican control, and where the cast of characters and
the tenor of the hearings may be rather different.
As of now, no
one knows who the Subcommittee members will be or who will chair the
committee.
For those of you who will be playing members of Congress, you get the
fun of choosing the Democratic or Republican member you'd like to
play and we'll assume that person is on the Committee. Pick someone
who will be fun to play. Representatives have been
know to use these hearings to grill organizations and agencies on
issues beyond the specifics of the bill. (Imagine that!)
Schedule
| 7:00 - 7:20 |
Parties meet in interest groups |
| 7:20 - 8:00 |
Statements by Committee Members:
Hearing called to order -- each member speaks for at most 5
minutes. Statements may be in support of or opposition to the
bill, and members may suggest changes (amendments) to the legislation.
|
| 8:00 - 8:50 |
Invited testimony: Each party presents for 3 minutes
followed by up to 4 minutes of questions from the committee (which may
be friendly or not). |
| 8:50-9:10 |
House Legislative Counsel summarizes positions and amendments and
parties take a break at lunch bought by lobbyists |
| 9:10 - 9:20 |
Committee votes on each amendment |
| 9:20 - 9:25 |
House Legislative Counsel reports on final legislation |
| 9:30 - 9:45 |
Each party responds to outcome and announces plans for the future
(2 minutes per party)
|
| 9:45 - 10:00 |
Summary
All repair to Capitol
Grille for drinks purchased by lobbyists
|