Several of the biggest players in the technical and Internet worlds have formed a group to push for overturning the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's prohibition on copy-protection bypass technology on fair-use protection grounds, and to back a pending U.S. House bill that would do just that.
Formed by Intel, Sun Microsystems, and Verizon, among others, the Personal Technology Freedom Coalition is throwing considerable weight behind the so-called Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act of 2003, a bill by Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Virginia) that would allow descrambling technologies and products to be made and marketed, and copy protection to be circumvented, as long as no copyright infringement is committed.
"[I]t is not a violation of copyright law, but fair use, to: (1) circumvent a technological measure in connection with access to, or the use of, a work if such circumvention does not result in an infringement of the copyright in the work; or (2) manufacture, distribute, or make noninfringing use of a hardware or software product capable of enabling significant noninfringing use of a copyrighted work," according to a summary of the bill.
The PTFC is said to have met with representatives of more than 20 Congressional offices, and is also said to be arguing not just for fair use but for pressing the point that the DMCA endangers computer research the group believes vital to national security, according to ZDNet News.
The group members also include SBC, Qwest, Gateway, BellSouth, Philips North America, the Consumer Electronics Association, the American Library Association, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Consumers Union, the Consumer Federation of America, Public Knowledge, the American Foundation for the Blind, the United States Telecom Association, and the Computer and Communications Industry Association.
"The limited introduction into commerce of 'copy-protected compact discs' has caused consumer confusion and placed increased, unwarranted burdens on retailers, consumer electronics manufacturers, and personal computer manufacturers responding to consumer complaints, conditions which will worsen as larger numbers of such discs are introduced into commerce," says the text of the Boucher bill.
"Recording companies introducing new forms of copy protection should have the freedom to innovate, but should also be responsible for providing adequate notice to consumers about restrictions on the playability and recordability of 'copy-protected compact discs,'" the bill text continues. "The Federal Trade Commission should be empowered and directed to ensure the adequate labeling of prerecorded digital music disc products."
