Congressional action speeds Y2K compliance

The cold war between users and carriers on Year 2000 issues has a chance of ending if, as expected, a new piece of federal legislation becomes law.

On Oct. 1, the House of Representatives passed the Year 2000 Information and Readiness Disclosure Act. The Senate also signed off on the decree. The bill's goal is to loosen tongues among suppliers by ensuring that information they share about Year 2000 readiness isn't flung back in their faces if things go wrong after Dec. 31, 1999.

The law would apply to all sectors of the economy and could even help user organizations make Year 2000 disclosures to their own customers. But Washington, D.C. insiders say the law is directed largely at the telecom, electric power and computer industries, whose compliance is at the heart of the economy's vulnerability to a millennium meltdown.

President Clinton is expected to sign the bill shortly. If he does, carriers will gain the right to make disclosures about their Year 2000 readiness without having those statements entered as evidence in lawsuits, as long as those disclosures were made in good faith. The law also nullifies antitrust laws that might prevent carriers from sharing Year 2000 information with one another.

Analysts caution that the act is not a free pass to obtain complete status reports on carriers' Year 2000 compliance. For one thing, it does not obligate carriers to make Year 2000 disclosures; it only protects them if they choose to do so. The act also doesn't mandate interoperability testing among carriers. In fact, it doesn't actually mandate Year 2000 compliance itself.

Experts also note that carriers already had some liability protection in their general telecom tariffs. But anything that encourages carriers to quit bumping Year 2000 issues up to their legal departments should help, according to some lawyers, including Colleen Boothby, whose Washington, D.C. firm represents users in contract negotiations with carriers.

"The users' attitude is: 'If our engineers talk to your engineers, and the lawyers leave the room, we'll be fine,' " Boothby says.

- David Rohde