[legislation-discuss] Updates on the status of my software-related legislation in New Hampshire

Sat Jan 20 19:20:01 UTC 2024

Hello, software freedom advocates, just writing with some updates on the status of legislation related to Software Freedom in New Hampshire. This is a follow-up to my previous message from November: https://lists.sfconservancy.org/pipermail/legislation-discuss/2023-November/000004.html<https://lists.sfconservancy.org/pipermail/legislation-discuss/2023-November/000004.html>
(I meant to write something in December, too, but got sidetracked)

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LSR 24-2327, relative to the right to repair certain educational technology, is now HB1071: https://gencourt.state.nh.us/lsr_search/billText.aspx?id=1414&type=4 It has actually already had its hearing before the House Commerce Committee, but I don't think they've held executive session (i.e. voted) on it yet, so you still ought to be able to email <HouseCommerceCommittee at leg.state.nh.us> to voice your support.
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LSR 24-2328, relative to the right to review source code in certain eviction proceedings, is now HB1368: https://gencourt.state.nh.us/lsr_search/billText.aspx?id=1415&type=4 (note that OLS, our Office of Legislative Services, has given it a new title, "An act prohibiting termination of a tenancy based on a tenant's failure to pay rent that was increased by certain price fixing programs," which is kind of disappointing, as I think I preferred my previous title). This bill has been assigned to the House Judiciary Committee, which you can email at <HouseJudiciaryCommittee at leg.state.nh.us> to voice your support. The hearing for it is scheduled for Wednesday, February 14th, at 10:30AM, in the Legislative Office Building, Room 206-208 (rooms are combined for COVID-related social distancing). Note that the Legislative Office Building (or "LOB" for short) is located at 33 North State St, in Concord, NH 03301, so if you can attend to testify in person, that would be greatly appreciated. If not, you can also submit written testimony remotely, although it looks like the link for that isn't up yet. I'll try to remember to send it around once it's available.
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LSR 24-2428, relative to the autism registry, is now HB1615: https://gencourt.state.nh.us/lsr_search/billText.aspx?id=1515&type=4 It has been assigned to the House Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee, which you can email at <HHSEA at leg.state.nh.us> to voice your support. I don't think that the hearing for this one has been scheduled yet, but I will try to remember to send it out once the date is available.
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LSR 24-2330, relative to prohibiting employers from using polygraph testing, is now HB1072: https://gencourt.state.nh.us/lsr_search/billText.aspx?id=1417&type=4 The bill has already had its hearing before the House Labor, Industrial and Rehabilitative Services Committee, but unfortunately I forgot to have an amendment drafted requesting the addition of some language about FOSS on the polygraph machines in question. The bill is now the committee's to work on, so if you think such an amendment would still be useful, you can email <HouseLaborIndustrialandRehabilitativeServices at leg.state.nh.us> to request that they have one drafted.

Besides the bills that I mentioned when they were still at the LSR stage in previous emails, I have also filed a number of amendments, some of which are FOSS-related. Some of them can be seen in the following commit to my "legislation" repository on GitHub: https://github.com/cooljeanius/legislation/commit/1f1c06dd58fd1a4271fda24c3a37091b9590d6c4
Of note are:

  *   HB1071, the "right to repair" bill I mentioned previously, I requested amendment 2024-0056h for: https://github.com/cooljeanius/legislation/blob/1f1c06dd58fd1a4271fda24c3a37091b9590d6c4/tech/2022/HB%201071%20-%202024-0056h.pdf This amendment basically just clarifies some language to make it clear which words go with which other words, to avoid some confusion about software updates involved.
  *   HB1500, relative to prohibiting the unlawful distribution of misleading synthetic media, I requested amendment 2024-0066h for. The bill's text is here: https://gencourt.state.nh.us/lsr_search/billText.aspx?id=1830&type=4 ...and the amendment is here: https://github.com/cooljeanius/legislation/blob/1f1c06dd58fd1a4271fda24c3a37091b9590d6c4/tech/HB%201500%20-%202024-0066h.pdf Basically, this bill is about fraudulent generative AI creations. The main problem that I see with generative AI is that the training data used to build the models that are used to run it generally doesn't get disclosed, so I'm hoping that by adding some language about source code and training data disclosure to the bill, we can see which generative AI companies are violating copyright, or, more importantly, copyleft, with their products.
  *   HB1615, the autism registry bill I mentioned previously, I requested amendment 2024-0072h for: https://github.com/cooljeanius/legislation/blob/1f1c06dd58fd1a4271fda24c3a37091b9590d6c4/tech/HB%201615%20-%202024-0072h.pdf This amendment was requested by an advocate I consulted with, and basically just adds an opt-out option to the existing legislation, but doesn't touch the FOSS-related part of the bill at all.
  *   HB1710, relative to civil actions regarding the prohibited use of synthetic media, I requested amendment 2024-0075h for. The bills text is here: https://gencourt.state.nh.us/lsr_search/billText.aspx?id=1845&type=4 ...and the amendment is here: https://github.com/cooljeanius/legislation/blob/1f1c06dd58fd1a4271fda24c3a37091b9590d6c4/tech/HB%201710%20-%202024-0075h.pdf This bill is pretty similar to HB1500 from previously, except it's about a right of civil action instead of the criminal code, so my amendment is pretty similar: it basically just adds some FOSS-related language so that plaintiffs can have a right to see the source code and training data of the generative AI that they'd be suing over.

Some bills that have come before my own committee, House Municipal & County Government, have also had some parts that I've requested the prime sponsors draft amendments to include some FOSS-related language in, specifically:

  *   HB1461, relative to live-streaming all properly noticed meetings and hearings of elected and appointed municipal bodies: https://gencourt.state.nh.us/lsr_search/billText.aspx?id=1649&type=4
  *   ...and HB1708, relative to local records retention: https://gencourt.state.nh.us/lsr_search/billText.aspx?id=1691&type=4

I haven't actually got any such amendments drafted yet myself, though, but if you would like to see some, you could try emailing the sponsors (all NH legislators have email addresses in the form of Firstname.Lastname at leg.state.nh.us), or my committee, <HouseMunicipalandCountyGovt at leg.state.nh.us>.
That's about all that I have for now, but hopefully these lists will help you find some chances to help have an impact on the shaping of FOSS-related legislation in New Hampshire!
Thanks,
Eric Gallager

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