Current Bills & Breaking Stories
(Posted  May 3, 2002) - Anticounterfeiting Amendments of 2002 - A bill introduced by Senator Biden:
 
(Posted  May 3, 2002) - Grove's Wall Street Journal Article - on the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act (CBDTPA; S. 2048)

Valenti's Response
 
(Posted  May 10, 2002) - EFF Releases DMCA Three Year Report Card
Unintended Consequences: Rights Undermined

San Francisco ­ The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has released a report collecting cases where abuses of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) undermined fair use, free expression and scientific research in the three years since its passage.

The report, titled "Unintended Consequences: Three Years under the DMCA," collects reported incidents involving the controversial anti-circumvention provisions of the DMCA. These provisions prohibit the bypassing of technological restrictions intended to protect copyrighted works. In pressing Congress for these provisions in 1998, the copyright industries claimed that the law was needed "to thwart pirates." In the three years following the DMCA¹s passage, however, the anti-circumvention provisions have instead been used by copyright owners to stifle a range of legitimate, non-copyright-infringing activities.

The report describes how the anti-circumvention provisions have so far been used to: (1) chill free speech and legitimate scientific research; (2) undermine the public¹s fair use rights; and (3) block legitimate competition and technological innovation. The EFF report represents the first time all the reported abuses of the DMCA have been gathered together in one resource.

"The DMCA went too far," said EFF's Senior Intellectual Property Attorney, Fred von Lohmann. "Fair use, free expression, and legitimate science have all suffered collateral damage in Hollywood¹s war on piracy. How many more scientists, hobbyists, and legitimate competitors have to be threatened or sued before we all admit that the DMCA is not working?"

EFF will update the report as new cases arise. The current report is located at: http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/20020503_dmca_consequences.pdf

Courtesy of Fred von Lohmann
Senior Intellectual Property Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation (www.eff.org)
 
(Posted  May 13, 2002) - Intellectual Property
Rep. Boucher To Seek 'Fair Use' Changes To Copyright Law
by Liza Porteus

A key lawmaker in the debate about intellectual property in the digital age
on Friday said that within the "next couple of weeks," he would propose
changes to digital copyright law in order to give more rights to users of
copyrighted content.

Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., is drafting a bill to amend the Digital
Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) so researchers could study and publish
information on the efficacy of encryption technology without fear of
prosecution. Boucher said his measure would "take a fairly surgical
approach" to addressing "fair use" of copyrighted works.

"I think it's time that Congress re-examine the DMCA," Boucher said during
an event sponsored by the New America Foundation and Public Knowledge.
Boucher also said he is working on another measure to protect people from
prosecution for making copies of content they own for personal uses. He
said his type of "consumers' bill of rights" would shift the burden from
defendants having to prove that they did not violate the principle of fair
use to companies having to prove that consumers' acts were illegal.
Boucher's ideas were floated during congressional debate on the DMCA before
it was enacted in 1998. He said he was a "lonely voice" among the loud din
of the entertainment industry, which advocated a law to protect their
industry from piracy.

But it is a different time now, Boucher said, adding that many groups such
as the Digital Media Association and digitalconsumers.org have gained
momentum as they have realized the ramifications of the DMCA on the rights
of copyright users.

"I expect many other major technology companies to support this effort as
well," Boucher said.

On another issue, Boucher said his staff is investigating whether current
federal statutes prevent contracts that enhance protections for content
providers in cases where consumers have little bargaining power over the
contracts. The issue has gained prominence with the passage of laws such as
the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act, which provides
guidelines for governing e-commerce contracts and licenses for computer
information or programs.

Boucher said he also is concerned about an anti-piracy bill sponsored by
Sen. Ernest (Fritz) Hollings, D-S.C., noting that the bill, S. 2048, has
caused a "huge backlash" in the country.

"The legislation is unnecessary, and let me just say, it's not going
anywhere," Boucher said, adding that Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman
Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., also has said the bill will flop. "We can put our
minds at ease that this particular measure is not going to pass for now."

Afterward, Gigi Sohn, president of Public Knowledge, said her group is
working to increase the awareness of the public and Congress on how public
access to databases and electronic versions of books, films, music and
software is being thwarted by new technological locks and licensing regimes.
Sohn said there appears to be a "generational gap" between people about age
35 and older -- who are more sympathetic toward content owners and less
tech savvy -- and younger people who are more technologically adept.
 
(Posted May 27, 2002; courtesy of Sumir Meghani) - Silicon Valley Grows Up

May 24, 2002
By CLAIRE TRISTRAM

Right now the most important story for Silicon Valley just
may be in Washington, where the valley and Hollywood are
fighting over the future of digital entertainment.

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/24/opinion/24TRIS.html?ex=1023446191&ei=1&en=0af19a99e1464572