105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1609

AN ACT

To amend the High-Performance Computing Act of 1991

to authorize appropriations for fiscal years 1999 and

2000 for the Next Generation Internet program, to require the Advisory Committee on High-Performance

Computing and Communications, Information Technology, and the Next Generation Internet to monitor

and give advice concerning the development and implementation of the Next Generation Internet program and

report to the President and the Congress on its activities,

and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Next Generation Inter5 net Research Act of 1998’’.
2

S 1609 ES

1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

2 (a) TERMS USED IN THIS ACT.—For purposes of

3 this Act—

4 (1) INTERNET.—The term ‘‘Internet’’ has the

5 meaning given such term by section 230(e)(1) of the

6 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 230(e)(1)).

7 (2) GEOGRAPHIC PENALTY.—The term ‘‘geo8 graphic penalty’’ means the imposition of costs on

9 users of the Internet in rural or other locations at10 tributable to the distance of the user from network

11 facilities, the low population density of the area in

12 which the user is located, or other factors, that are

13 disproportionately greater than the costs imposed on

14 users in locations closer to such facilities or on users

15 in locations with significantly greater population

16 density.

17 (b) DEFINITION OF NETWORK IN HIGH-PERFORM18 ANCE COMPUTING ACT OF 1991.—Paragraph (4) of sec19 tion 4 of the High-Performance Computing Act of 1991

20 (15 U.S.C. 5503) is amended by striking ‘‘network re21 ferred to as the National Research and Education Net22 work established under section 102; and’’ and inserting

23 ‘‘network, including advanced computer networks of Fed24 eral agencies and departments; and’’.

25 SEC. 3. FINDINGS.

26 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Congress finds that—
3

S 1609 ES

1 (1) United States leadership in science and

2 technology has been vital to the Nation’s prosperity,

3 national and economic security, and international

4 competitiveness, and there is every reason to believe

5 that maintaining this tradition will lead to long-term

6 continuation of United States strategic advantages

7 in information technology;

8 (2) the United States’ investment in science

9 and technology has yielded a scientific and engineer10 ing enterprise without peer, and that Federal invest11 ment in research is critical to the maintenance of

12 United States leadership;

13 (3) previous Federal investment in computer

14 networking technology and related fields has resulted

15 in the creation of new industries and new jobs in the

16 United States;

17 (4) the Internet is playing an increasingly im18 portant role in keeping citizens informed of the ac19 tions of their government; and

20 (5) continued inter-agency cooperation is nec21 essary to avoid wasteful duplication in Federal net22 working research and development programs.

23 (b) ADDITIONAL FINDINGS FOR THE 1991 ACT.—

24 Section 2 of the High-Performance Computing Act of

25 1991 (15 U.S.C. 5501) is amended by—
4

S 1609 ES

1 (1) striking paragraph (4) and inserting the fol2 lowing:

3 ‘‘(4) A high-capacity, flexible, high-speed na4 tional research and education computer network is

5 needed to provide researchers and educators with ac6 cess to computational and information resources, act

7 as a test bed for further research and development

8 for high-capacity and high-speed computer networks,

9 and provide researchers the necessary vehicle for

10 continued network technology improvement through

11 research.’’; and

12 (2) adding at the end thereof the following:

13 ‘‘(7) Additional research must be undertaken to

14 lay the foundation for the development of new appli15 cations that can result in economic growth, improved

16 health care, and improved educational opportunities.

17 ‘‘(8) Research in new networking technologies

18 holds the promise of easing the economic burdens of

19 information access disproportionately borne by rural

20 users of the Internet.

21 ‘‘(9) Information security is an important part

22 of computing, information, and communications sys23 tems and applications, and research into security ar24 chitectures is a critical aspect of computing, infor25 mation, and communications research programs.’’.
5

S 1609 ES

1 SEC. 4. PURPOSES.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The purposes of this Act are—

3 (1) to serve as the first authorization in a series

4 of computing, information, and communication tech5 nology initiatives outlines in the High-Performance

6 Computing Act of 1991 (15 U.S.C. 5501 et seq.)

7 that will include research programs related to—

8 (A) high-end computing and computation;

9 (B) human-centered systems;

10 (C) high confidence systems; and

11 (D) education, training, and human re12 sources; and

13 (2) to provide for the development and coordi14 nation of a comprehensive and integrated United

15 States research program which will—

16 (A) focus on the research and development

17 of a coordinated set of technologies that seeks

18 to create a network infrastructure that can sup19 port greater speed, robustness, and flexibility

20 than is currently available and promote

21 connectivity and interoperability among ad22 vanced computer networks of Federal agencies

23 and departments;

24 (B) focus on research in technology that

25 may result in high-speed data access for users
6

S 1609 ES

1 that is both economically viable and does not

2 impose a geographic penalty; and

3 (C) encourage researchers to pursue ap4 proaches to networking technology that lead to

5 maximally flexible and extensible solutions

6 wherever feasible.

7 (b) MODIFICATION OF PURPOSES OF THE 1991

8 ACT.—Section 3 of the High-Performance Computing Act

9 of 1991 (15 U.S.C. 5502) is amended by—

10 (1) striking the section caption and inserting

11 the following:

12 ‘‘SEC. 3. PURPOSES.’’;

13 (2) striking ‘‘purpose of this Act is’’ and insert14 ing ‘‘purposes of this Act are’’;

15 (3) striking ‘‘universities; and’’ in paragraph

16 (1)(I) and inserting ‘‘universities;’’;

17 (4) striking ‘‘efforts.’’ in paragraph (2) and in18 serting ‘‘network research and development pro19 grams;’’; and

20 (5) adding at the end thereof the following:

21 ‘‘(3) promoting the further development of an

22 information infrastructure of information stores,

23 services, access mechanisms, and research facilities

24 available for use through the Internet;
7

S 1609 ES

1 ‘‘(4) promoting the more rapid development and

2 wider distribution of networking management and

3 development tools; and

4 ‘‘(5) promoting the rapid adoption of open net5 work standards.’’.

6 SEC. 5. DUTIES OF ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

7 Title I of the High-Performance Computing Act of

8 1991 (15 U.S.C 5511 et seq.) is amended by adding at

9 the end thereof the following:

10 ‘‘SEC. 103. ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In addition to its functions

12 under Executive Order 13035 (62 F.R. 7231), the Advi13 sory Committee on High-Performance Computing and

14 Communications, Information Technology, and the Next

15 Generation Internet, established by Executive Order No.

16 13035 of February 11, 1997 (62 F.R. 7231) shall—

17 ‘‘(1) assess the extent to which the Next Gen18 eration Internet program—

19 ‘‘(A) carries out the purposes of this Act;

20 ‘‘(B) addresses concerns relating to, among

21 other matters—

22 ‘‘(i) geographic penalties (as defined

23 in section 2(2) of the Next Generation

24 Internet Research Act of 1998); and
8

S 1609 ES

1 ‘‘(ii) technology transfer to and from

2 the private sector; and

3 ‘‘(2) assess the extent to which—

4 ‘‘(A) the role of each Federal agency and

5 department involved in implementing the Next

6 Generation Internet program is clear, com7 plementary to and non-duplicative of the roles

8 of other participating agencies and depart9 ments; and

10 ‘‘(B) each such agency and department

11 concurs with the rule of each other participat12 ing agency or department.

13 ‘‘(b) REPORTS.—The Advisory Committee shall as14 sess implementation of the Next Generation Internet ini15 tiative and report, not less frequently than annually, to

16 the President, the United States Senate Committee on

17 Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and the United

18 States House of Representatives Committee on Science on

19 its findings for the preceding fiscal year. The first such

20 report shall be submitted 6 months after the date of enact21 ment of the Next Generation Internet Research Act of

22 1998 the last report shall be submitted by September 30,

23 2000.’’.
9

S 1609 ES

1 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

2 Title I of the High-Performance Computing Act of

3 1991 (15 U.S.C 5511 et seq.), as amended by section 5

4 of this Act, is amended by adding at the end thereof the

5 following:

6 ‘‘SEC. 104. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

7 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated for the pur8 pose of carrying out the Next Generation Internet pro9 gram the following amounts:

‘‘Agency FY 1999 FY 2000

‘‘Department of Defense .................................... $40,000,000 $42,500,000

‘‘Department of Energy ..................................... $20,000,000 $25,000,000

‘‘National Science Foundation ........................... $25,000,000 $25,000,000

‘‘National Institutes of Health ........................... $5,000,000 $7,500,000

‘‘National Aeronautics and Space Administration ................................................................. $10,000,000 $10,000,000

‘‘National Institute of Standards and Technology ............................................................. $5,000,000 $7,500,000.

10 The amount authorized for the Department of Defense for

11 fiscal year 1999 under this section shall be the amount

12 authorized pursuant to the National Defense Authoriza13 tion Act for Fiscal Year 1999.’’.

14 SEC. 7. STUDY OF EFFECTS ON TRADEMARKS AND INTEL15 LECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS OF ADDING GE16 NERIC TOP-LEVEL DOMAINS.

17 (a) STUDY BY NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL.—Not

18 later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act,

19 the Secretary of Commerce shall request the National Re-
10

S 1609 ES

1 search Council of the National Academy of Sciences to

2 conduct a comprehensive study, taking into account the

3 diverse needs of domestic and international Internet users,

4 of the short-term and long-term effects on trademark and

5 intellectual property rights holders of adding new generic

6 top-level domains and related dispute resolution proce7 dures.

8 (b) MATTERS TO BE ASSESSED IN STUDY.—The

9 study shall assess and, as appropriate, make recommenda10 tions for policy, practice, or legislative changes relating

11 to—

12 (1) the short-term and long-term effects on the

13 protection of trademark and intellectual property

14 rights and consumer interests of increasing or de15 creasing the number of generic top-level domains;

16 (2) trademark and intellectual property rights

17 clearance processes for domain names, including—

18 (A) whether domain name databases

19 should be readily searchable through a common

20 interface to facilitate the clearing of trademarks

21 and intellectual property rights and proposed

22 domain names across a range of generic top23 level domains;

24 (B) the identification of what information

25 from domain name databases should be acces-
11

S 1609 ES

1 sible for the clearing of trademarks and intellec2 tual property rights; and

3 (C) whether generic top-level domain reg4 istrants should be required to provide certain

5 information;

6 (3) domain name trademark and intellectual

7 property rights dispute resolution mechanisms, in8 cluding how to—

9 (A) reduce trademark and intellectual

10 property rights conflicts associated with the ad11 dition of any new generic top-level domains; and

12 (B) reduce trademark and intellectual

13 property rights conflicts through new technical

14 approaches to Internet addressing;

15 (4) choice of law or jurisdiction for resolution

16 of trademark and intellectual property rights dis17 putes relating to domain names, including which ju18 risdictions should be available for trademark and in19 tellectual property rights owners to file suit to pro20 tect such trademarks and intellectual property

21 rights;

22 (5) trademark and intellectual property rights

23 infringement liability for registrars, registries, or

24 technical management bodies; and
12

S 1609 ES

1 (6) short-term and long-term technical and pol2 icy options for Internet addressing schemes and the

3 impact of such options on current trademark and in4 tellectual property rights issues.

5 (c) COOPERATION WITH STUDY.—

6 (1) INTERAGENCY COOPERATION.—The Sec7 retary of Commerce shall—

8 (A) direct the Patent and Trademark Of9 fice, the National Telecommunications and In10 formation Administration, and other Depart11 ment of Commerce entities to cooperate fully

12 with the National Research Council in its activi13 ties in carrying out the study under this sec14 tion; and

15 (B) request all other appropriate Federal

16 departments, Federal agencies, Government

17 contractors, and similar entities to provide simi18 lar cooperation to the National Research Coun19 cil.

20 (2) PRIVATE CORPORATION COOPERATION.—

21 The Secretary of Commerce shall request that any

22 private, not-for-profit corporation established to

23 manage the Internet root server system and the top24 level domain names provide similar cooperation to

25 the National Research Council.
13

S 1609 ES

1 (d) REPORT.—

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 12 months

3 after the date of enactment of this Act, the National

4 Research Council shall complete the study under this

5 section and submit a report on the study to the Sec6 retary of Commerce. The report shall set forth the

7 findings, conclusions, and recommendations of the

8 Council concerning the effects of adding new generic

9 top-level domains and related dispute resolution pro10 cedures on trademark and intellectual property

11 rights holders.

12 (2) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT13 TEES.—Not later than 30 days after the date on

14 which the report is submitted to the Secretary of

15 Commerce, the Secretary shall submit the report to

16 the Committees on Commerce and the Committees

17 on the Judiciary of the Senate and House of Rep18 resentatives.
14

S 1609 ES

1 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

2 authorized to be appropriated $800,000 for the study con3 ducted under this Act.

Passed the Senate June 26, 1998.

Attest:

Secretary.
105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1609

AN ACT

To amend the High-Performance Computing Act of

tivities, and for other purposes.port to the President and the Congress on its acof the Next Generation Internet program and reconcerning the development and implementationGeneration Internet to monitor and give advicetions, Information Technology, and the NextHigh-Performance Computing and Communicaprogram, to require the Advisory Committee on1999 and 2000 for the Next Generation Internet1991 to authorize appropriations for fiscal years