new copyright bill...

[Perry E. Metzger]

>From NewsScan Daily:

NEW COPYRIGHT BILL WOULD GIVE POWER TO THE PEOPLE
Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.) and Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.) have 
introduced legislation aimed at restoring specific fair use rights to copy 
digital works that were lost under the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright 
Act, as well as bestowing "circumvention" rights to bypass copy protections 
when done "solely in furtherance of scientific research." The Digital Media 
Consumers Rights Act has drawn support from a broad coalition of 
electronics and computer interests, consumer groups and academics. "It's 
just time," said Consumer Electronics Association president Gary Shapiro. 
"Consumers have been pushed up against the ropes. This is the first time in 
20 years in which consumers are going on the offense rather than on the 
defense." Meanwhile, entertainment groups bemoaned this latest development 
in the battle over digital media rights. "If this bill were to be enacted, 
content owners would be left with two unhappy choices: Protect their 
valuable works by not making them available in digital formats such as DVD, 
or lose all control over unauthorized reproduction and distribution," said 
Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of America. The 
bill has no chance of passage this year, but will set the stage for debate 
in the next session of Congress. (Wired.com 4 Oct 2002)
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,55569,00.html

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