Association of Research Libraries (ARL®)

Eight library and higher education organizations jointly sponsored a one-day workshop on December 14, 2001, to analyze the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 (P.L. 107-56). The goals of the workshop were to provide the library and educational communities with a preliminary analysis of the implications of the act on our institutions and to identify necessary steps that institutions need to take in order to comply with provisions of the new law.

The "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act" (PATRIOT Act) was designed to broaden the surveillance capabilities of law enforcement following the horrendous terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. During the day’s informative sessions led by legal counsels from the participating organizations, the group discussed specific sections of the act that raise issues for our institutions as Internet Service Providers (ISPs).

These include:

• the new permitted uses of pen register and trap and trace devices — previously limited to recording the numbers dialed on a telephone line — to trace the "dialing, routing, addressing, and signaling information" of electronic communications;

• nationwide orders for pen/trap devices and search warrants for e-mail that can be issued by a judge but apply outside of the issuing district;

• the broadened use of subpoenas requiring the disclosure of user records "relevant" to an investigation, a lower standard than the previous need for "probable cause";

• subpoenas for business records under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) that override library confidentiality laws; and

• the section on computer trespass by unauthorized users that includes violations by hackers.

David E. Green, Principal Deputy Chief of the Computer Crime & Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, joined the afternoon workshop session to clarify some of the new definitions and requirements of the Patriot Act, and to answer specific practical questions from participants about the impact of these changes on our institutions. CCIPS has prepared a useful guide that is available at: http://www.usdoj.gov:80/criminal/cybercrime/PatriotAct.htm

Libraries and educational institutions need to be informed about these changes in order to comply with proper search warrants, subpoenas and wiretap requests from law enforcement under provisions of the new act, just as they have in the past. During the afternoon session, workshop participants defined the key legal issues and policy implications for our institutions, and also identified a number of educational tools that we are in the process of developing for our members.

Approximately thirty individuals with a broad range of responsibilities from library director to IT professional to university CIO attended this important workshop that was sponsored jointly by the following organizations: American Association of Law Libraries, American Library Association, Association of American Universities, American Council on Education, Association of Research Libraries, EDUCAUSE, Medical Library Association and Special Libraries Association.

January 2002

For more information:

Education and Library Community Matrix, The Search and Seizure of Electronic Information: The Law Before and After the USA PATRIOT Act (pdf file) (1/02)