HBA-JLV H.B. 2589 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2589 By: Hochberg State Affairs 3/22/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE State agencies with budgets exceeding a certain amount are required to maintain a generally accessible Internet site. In addition to specified information, such as budget, rules, and contracts, many sites also include commonly requested information such as hearing announcements, program descriptions, or publications. Currently there is no requirement for a state agency to post a notice stipulating the conditions of use for information copied from a state agency Internet site. Therefore some sites post a privacy policy notice or disclaimer, while others do not. Well-run commercial Internet sites clearly state a policy of use, often referred to as "terms of service." A terms of service statement informs an individual of the requirements regarding the use of information taken from an Internet site. House Bill 2589 requires the Department of Information Resources to create a terms of service statement for state agency Internet sites. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS House Bill 2589 amends the Government Code to require the Department of Information Resources (department) to adopt a policy that prescribes terms under which a person may use, copy information from, or link to a generally accessible Internet site maintained by or for a state agency, and which protects the identity of members of the public who access information from or through such sites. The bill requires the department to post the policy on its Internet site. All state agencies are required to prominently post a link to the policy statement on a generally accessible Internet site maintained by or for that agency. The bill requires that the policy include a statement: _generally permitting the use and reproduction of information on a state agency's Internet site without the state agency's permission, subject to specified conditions; _generally permitting linking from any web page to any page on a state agency's Internet site without the state agency's permission; _prohibiting a state agency from charging a fee to access, use, reproduce or allow linking to its Internet site except to the extent the state agency is specifically authorized to do so by the legislature; _requiring that the source of any information reproduced from a state agency's Internet site be clearly stated along with the date that the material was copied from the state agency's Internet site; _prohibiting a state agency from selling or releasing an electronic mail address of a member of the public unless the member of the public has affirmatively elected to allow the release of the address; and _specifying other policies as are deemed necessary. The bill provides that the electronic mail address of a member of the public who provides the address for the purpose of communicating electronically with a member of a governmental body is excepted from the public information law unless the member of the public has affirmatively elected to allow the release of the address. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.