This legislation is important to this Committee's agenda on electronic commerce.
Databases are critical to a robust marketplace.
These databases house information that is the currency of the Internet. Consumers use the Internet to price shop, to compare mortgage rates, to buy stocks, and for a variety of other commercial activities. The underlying ingredient to all of these transactions is information. Without it, electronic commerce would be a highway with no cars. The intent of this bill is to ensure that consumers will continue to have that critical access to information, while at the same time ensuring that database publishers have adequate protection against pirates in the digital environment.