Subject: Y2K Issue On 19 October 1998, President Clinton signed into law, the "Year 2000 Information and Readiness Disclosure Act." (S. 2392) A brief excerpt follows below, taken from his statement at that event, which launched "National Y2K Action Week," in order to draw greater public attention to the problem, and to urge small and medium-sized businesses to take the steps necessary to ensure that the technologies they depend upon are reliable and are prepared for the year 2000, especially with respect to the transfer of information. The Small Business Administration, the Department of Commerce, and several other Federal agencies also hosted Y2K educational events across the nation, with more than 160 national organizations representing industries, professions, government, and the nonprofit sector participating. The significant details of this legislation are summarized in the President's remarks: << Many organizations have been reluctant to share valuable information about their experiences in dealing with the Y2K problem or the status of their Y2K efforts for fear of lawsuits. The Act's limited liability protections will promote and encourage greater information sharing about both experiences and solutions, which will significantly enhance public and private sector efforts to prepare the Nation's computer systems for the new millennium. However, the bill will not affect liability that may arise from Y2K failures of systems or devices. While I understand that companies have a wide range of concerns related to the Y2K transition and potential litigation, we must also protect the rights of consumers. Therefore, this legislation is focused exclusively on exposure related to information exchange and would not cover statements to individual consumers in marketing a product normally used for personal use. Firms within an industry confront similar challenges as they work to ensure that their computer systems are Y2K compliant. Although the Department of Justice has already indicated that competitors in an industry who merely share information on Y2K solutions would not be in violation of the antitrust laws, this Act creates a specific exemption from the antitrust laws for these activities. The limited antitrust exemption created by S. 2392 will make it easier for firms to cooperate with one another to solve the Y2K problem while continuing to protect consumers from industry agreements to boycott, allocate a market, or fix prices or output. Information sharing will be important not only to those who have already made progress addressing the Y2K problem, but also to the many small business and State, local, and tribal governments that are just beginning their Y2K work. I urge trade associations and umbrella organizations to collect such information from their members and provide it to others through websites and other means devoted to discussing Y2K experiences and solutions. My Council on Year 2000 Conversion looks forward to working with Federal agencies, other levels of government, and consumer and industry groups in expanding the website, www.y2k.gov, that already supports activities related to our Nation's efforts to address issues related to the Y2K transition. The Y2K problem is an enormous challenge, and we must meet it. Enactment of this legislation is a significant achievement toward allowing all of us to take a successful step into the new millennium. >> [http://www.y2k.gov/new/finalst.htm912000568-disast.html//222437.stml] Additional information relating to solutions and related resources can be found at the Y2K website for The National Institute for Standards and Technology: << NIST's role in the year 2000 solution is to promote awareness of the issues and provide information to users on standards and testing with an emphasis on technology appropriate to small and medium sized enterprises and manufacturers. NIST is accomplishing this through the Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) and the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP). ITL is concerned primarily with information technology (IT) standards and testing. MEP is a nationwide network of centers providing technical and business assistance to smaller manufacturers. The MEP web site provides information on a new year 2000 training program called Conversion 2000: Y2K offered by the MEP technology centers. In this, the NIST web site, you will find: - free software and tools to assist in assessing year 2000 problems - year 2000 assistance for smaller manufacturers - documents on year 2000 solutions and testing - archives of presentations from the NIST International Symposium on the Year 2000 held in June 1997 for downloading and using in your organization - slide shows for use in preparing your own informative sessions on Y2K awareness - links to other outstanding and informative year 2000 web sites >> See the NIST Y2K website: http://www.nist.gov/y2k/documents.htm000568-disast.html//222437.stml For information concerning the effect of the Y2K problem on telecommunications, see: The Federal Communciations Commission's Y2K website: http://www.fcc.gov/year2000/ments.htm000568-disast.html//222437.stml Ginger McCarthy Director of Special Programming WTJU-FM at The University of Virginia Phone: 804-924-0885 FAX: 804-924-8996 http://wtju.radio.virginia.edunts.htm000568-disast.html//222437.stml Resources For Community-building, Peacemaking, Dialoge & Conflict Resolution Telecommunications Resources: http://members.aol.com/Altdisres/Telecommunications.html/222437.stml