§ 5512. — National Research and Education Network.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 15USC5512]
TITLE 15--COMMERCE AND TRADE
CHAPTER 81--HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING
SUBCHAPTER I--HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING AND THE NATIONAL RESEARCH AND
EDUCATION NETWORK
Sec. 5512. National Research and Education Network
(a) Establishment
As part of the Program, the National Science Foundation, the
Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, the Department of
Commerce, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and other
agencies participating in the Program shall support the establishment of
the National Research and Education Network, portions of which shall, to
the extent technically feasible, be capable of transmitting data at one
gigabit per second or greater by 1996. The Network shall provide for the
linkage of research institutions and educational institutions,
government, and industry in every State.
(b) Access
Federal agencies and departments shall work with private network
service providers, State and local agencies, libraries, educational
institutions and organizations, and others, as appropriate, in order to
ensure that the researchers, educators, and students have access, as
appropriate, to the Network. The Network is to provide users with
appropriate access to high-performance computing systems, electronic
information resources, other research facilities, and libraries. The
Network shall provide access, to the extent practicable, to electronic
information resources maintained by libraries, research facilities,
publishers, and affiliated organizations.
(c) Network characteristics
The Network shall--
(1) be developed and deployed with the computer,
telecommunications, and information industries;
(2) be designed, developed, and operated in collaboration with
potential users in government, industry, and research institutions
and educational institutions;
(3) be designed, developed, and operated in a manner which
fosters and maintains competition and private sector investment in
high-speed data networking within the telecommunications industry;
(4) be designed, developed, and operated in a manner which
promotes research and development leading to development of
commercial data communications and telecommunications standards,
whose development will encourage the establishment of privately
operated high-speed commercial networks;
(5) be designed and operated so as to ensure the continued
application of laws that provide network and information resources
security measures, including those that protect copyright and other
intellectual property rights, and those that control access to data
bases and protect national security;
(6) have accounting mechanisms which allow users or groups of
users to be charged for their usage of copyrighted materials
available over the Network and, where appropriate and technically
feasible, for their usage of the Network;
(7) ensure the interoperability of Federal and non-Federal
computer networks, to the extent appropriate, in a way that allows
autonomy for each component network;
(8) be developed by purchasing standard commercial transmission
and network services from vendors whenever feasible, and by
contracting for customized services when not feasible, in order to
minimize Federal investment in network hardware;
(9) support research and development of networking software and
hardware; and
(10) serve as a test bed for further research and development of
high-capacity and high-speed computing networks and demonstrate how
advanced computers, high-capacity and high-speed computing networks,
and data bases can improve the national information infrastructure.
(d) Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency responsibility
As part of the Program, the Department of Defense, through the
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, shall support research and
development of advanced fiber optics technology, switches, and protocols
needed to develop the Network.
(e) Information services
The Director shall assist the President in coordinating the
activities of appropriate agencies and departments to promote the
development of information services that could be provided over the
Network. These services may include the provision of directories of the
users and services on computer networks, data bases of unclassified
Federal scientific data, training of users of data bases and computer
networks, access to commercial information services for users of the
Network, and technology to support computer-based collaboration that
allows researchers and educators around the Nation to share information
and instrumentation.
(f) Use of grant funds
All Federal agencies and departments are authorized to allow
recipients of Federal research grants to use grant moneys to pay for
computer networking expenses.
(g) Report to Congress
Within one year after December 9, 1991, the Director shall report to
the Congress on--
(1) effective mechanisms for providing operating funds for the
maintenance and use of the Network, including user fees, industry
support, and continued Federal investment;
(2) the future operation and evolution of the Network;
(3) how commercial information service providers could be
charged for access to the Network, and how Network users could be
charged for such commercial information services;
(4) the technological feasibility of allowing commercial
information service providers to use the Network and other federally
funded research networks;
(5) how to protect the copyrights of material distributed over
the Network; and
(6) appropriate policies to ensure the security of resources
available on the Network and to protect the privacy of users of
networks.
(Pub. L. 102-194, title I, Sec. 102, Dec. 9, 1991, 105 Stat. 1598.)
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in section 5503 of this title.
