MESSAGE
| DATE | 2002-08-01 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [hangout] Article on Political Shift in our favor
|
saw this article in Congress Daily it may be of interest to you.
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OUTSIDE INFLUENCES The Digital Duel
Momentum has been building since this spring behind the advocates of
consumers' "fair use" of copyrighted materials. And that momentum has been
challenging the entertainment industry's traditional clout with lawmakers,
as the Motion Picture Association of American pushes legislation aimed at
fighting intellectual property theft.
On the West Coast and in New York City, digital consumer activist
groups such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Digital Consumer.org
and the Free Software Foundation have been organizing consumers through
Web sites to send letters and e-mails to fight MPAA's efforts on the Hill.
In Washington, consumer advocacy groups, such as the Center for
Democracy and Technology, Consumers Union, the Digital Future Coalition
and Public Knowledge have been meeting with staff on Capitol Hill to
discuss their concerns about the policy ideas proposed by the motion
picture industry and the impact on the consumer.
The catalyst for movement is legislation introduced in March to
mandate technology to manage digital rights. Introduced by Senate Commerce
Chairman Hollings, the bill would mandate a technological solution to
content piracy.
"The Hollings bill really served as a wake-up call to the consumer
community -- about rights in the future," said Fred von Lohmann, senior
staff attorney with EFF.
At stake is the future level of individuals' flexibility to make
copies of copyrighted material - something consumers currently have the
right to do on a limited basis under fair-use provisions in the law. The
entertainment industry, however, never has been entirely comfortable with
those rights, because some have exploited fair use to pirate content. The
development of the Internet and digital technology has made it even easier
to copy and distribute content, causing the motion picture industry to
look for ways to clamp down on such copying and distribution over the
Internet.
Enter Hollings, who worked with motion picture studios to draft his
legislation, which sets a deadline for high-tech companies and the motion
picture industry to reach an agreement on anti-piracy technology to be
included in every information technology product. Although consumers would
have the right under the bill to participate in the discussions leading to
the development of the technology, they still fear their fair-use rights
will be limited.
Among the rights consumer groups want to ensure is "time-shifting"
copyrighted material - taping a TV show and watching it later, for
example. They also want to ensure they can "space-shift": copy a song from
the computer onto a compact disc and then play it in the car.
"In 1970, we wouldn't have even thought about the VCR and hence
didn't know what fair-use rights would be associated with that," said
Chris Murray, Internet and telecommunications counsel for Consumers Union.
"How do we know what rights we would want to have from technology of the
future? If we limit those rights now, how do we know that we aren't
foreclosing innovation of the future?"
Since March, EFF has helped send more than 3,200 negative letters to
the Hill on the Hollings bill. The consumer groups have allied themselves
with the high-tech sector, which also is fighting efforts by the motion
picture industry to legislate technology, fearing it could interfere with
the future design process of their products.
One cofounder of the now defunct Internet portal ExciteAtHome, Joe
Kraus, helped form the Web site DigitalConsumer.org, which signed up
42,000 individuals who wanted to oppose the Hollings bill. The Web site
also calls for the creation of a consumer bill of rights for the digital
age. Kraus was invited to testify on Capitol Hill in March and April to
explain the consumer perspective to lawmakers.
"Hollywood had the upper hand for a while on this issue, but since
the consumers started arguing for Congress to slow down, it has really
resonated up here," said one Senate Democratic staff member who works on
high-tech issues.
Since the consumer groups' opposition has gotten lawmakers'
attention, momentum has slowed on Hollings' bill. It is not expected to
move in the 107th Congress. But the digital rights issue will continue
into the next Congress. The FCC already is looking at the possibility of
regulating a requirement that digital television equipment include
anti-piracy technology, and the consumer activists and advocacy groups
plan to participate in the debate.
"There is definitely is a groundswell of consumer and citizen
organizations that are getting involved in this debate," said Gigi Sohn,
head of Public Knowledge. By Bara Vaida
----- End forwarded message -----
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Fair Use -
because it's either fair use or useless....
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