CDT Joins Others in Letter Opposing the Pro Codes Act
On February 7, the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) joined 19 other civil society organizations in a letter to Congress opposing the Pro Codes Act. The bill limits access to publicly beneficial standards by allowing for their copyright. We believe that legal standards should remain in the public domain and that providing access to law is a form of fair use.
Opposition to the Pro Codes Act will help ensure that copyright law is not exploited to create a monopoly in which private standards development organizations (SDOs) control access to the codes and regulations that govern public health and safety.
We urge Congress to engage with our organizations and the public to meet its ostensible goal of making mandatory regulations available online for free so people can know, share, and comment on them. Pro Codes will only serve to unnecessarily ration public access to U.S. law.
