Re: Opposition to S. 835, the ‘‘Protecting and Enhancing Public Access to Codes Act’’ (Pro Codes Act)

"The undersigned organizations write to express our strong opposition to the ‘‘Protecting and Enhancing Public Access to Codes Act’’ (Pro Codes Act). The trade associations and civil society groups that signed this letter agree with the findings of Congress in the Pro Codes Act that technical standards are critical to the public interest. Our interest is in ensuring 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. Further, courts have found there is no evidence to support the SDOs’ claims that they have lost revenue due to the public dissemination of their standards...."