The U.S. Committee on Government Reform and Oversight

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3. Congress and the President Should Establish Carefully Limited Federal Liability Protection for Organizations that Share Information in Order to Facilitate Year 2000 Repairs.

Companies that go out of their way to inform other companies and the public of their year 2000 status should not be exposed to civil liability for unintentionally inaccurate statements. Limited protection from such liability would facilitate information sharing as the clock ticks toward January 1, 2000. S. 2392, the 'Year 2000 Information Disclosure Act,' establishes a uniform standard of legal liability to protect those who, in good faith, share information on the year 2000 problem and solutions to it. This bill passed the Senate on September 28, 1998. The House of Representatives passed the same bill by unanimous consent on October 1, 1998.

The key provision of the bill shields companies that make inaccurate statements on year 2000 issues from civil liability unless the statements are knowingly false or negligent. The bill also ensures that there is no threat of product defamation from inaccurate year 2000 statements unless they are knowingly false or negligent. Even well-tested systems can fail, especially in unusual situations.

The bill would not relieve companies of liability for building bad products. It protects sharing of information, but nothing more. The committee believes it would be counterproductive to relieve companies of liability for building bad products, doing sloppy work, or being careless with the truth. But with this legislation, Congress recognized that mistakes can be made, and that it is now more important for organizations to share year 2000 information than to argue over liability. The real work must begin in earnest as time is short. By taking the liability card off the table, organizations can share crucial information and focus on getting the year 2000 job done.

4. Year 2000 Problem Managers Should Develop Goals that are Linked to Readiness Measures.

Effective oversight by Congress and the Executive branch needs to measure regular progress towards year 2000 compliance for both public and private sectors. Year 2000 management should develop sector-by-sector goals. These goals should be linked to year 2000 readiness measures. The measures will provide a basis for determining what is being accomplished.

The year 2000 problem must not be allowed to spark a national crisis. Good measures of year 2000 readiness will be both a technological and psychological antidote to panic. For example, the subcommittee has measured how well the Federal Government is meeting the year 2000 challenge. It has developed a report card for the critical computer systems in the Executive branch. Grades are determined by the number of year 2000 compliant systems which are remediated by each agency achieves.

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