Though it could leave him open to another charge of making flip-floppy, as the old Talking Heads song put it, presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) is believed to be leaning toward supporting a change in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act that would allow backup copying of digital media.
The remaining question, however, is just whether Kerry graduates from "openly examining" the prospect to full-throttled support for it.
"If Kerry is serious, that would be a remarkable metamorphosis on a law that the Senate approved without one dissenting vote," Internet political/technological columnist Declan McCullagh said October 25. "It would also be remarkable because, contrary to what Kerry and President Bush tell you, few differences exist between the two White House hopefuls on nearly any topic imaginable."
The speculation centers around a comment Kerry made in response to a questionnaire from the Computing Technology Industry Association, a questionnaire that included queries regarding intellectual property. Kerry at first said he does not condone "illegal sharing of copyright material," but the Massachusetts senator – who voted for the original DMCA in the Senate – went on to say making backup copies was another question entirely.
"[I am] open to examining whether legislative action is necessary to ensure that a person who lawfully receives a transmission of a digital work may back up a copy of it for archival purposes," the Kerry answer said, according to ZDNet.
President Bush, answering the same question, said he supported intellectual property protection and made a point of saying government must prosecute the violators but not the technology – a suggestion that he's not exactly eager to take off after peer-to-peer programs like Grokster and Morpheus, particularly since two federal courts have ruled those programs can't be held liable for their users' copyright violations.
McCullagh said Kerry's answer suggested a "rare display of political independence by a prominent Democrat" in looking as though he might well side with consumers and electronics makers rather than with Hollywood, which tends to favor contributions to Democrats over Republicans 2-to-1. But how serious Kerry is, McCullagh added, is open to speculation, especially since a House bill to "defang" the DMCA is two years old and doesn't yet have a Senate sponsor.
"Kerry, a member of the committee overseeing e-commerce, could have lent a hand but never did," McCullagh said. "If the senator had time last year to announce two bills dealing with tariffs on imported 'pouch tuna' from Indonesia, he surely had time to help Boucher and Doolittle."
