Monday, October 27, 2008
« Roots of Reggae | Main | Take the 2008 Speak Up Survey Open Now T... »
10th Anniversary of DMCA
BUSH SIGNS RIAA-BACKED INTELLECTUAL-PROPERTY LAW

President George Bush (R) on Monday signed into law an intellectual-
property enforcement bill that would consolidate federal efforts to 
combat copyright infringement under a new White House cabinet 
position. The Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual 
Property Act establishes within the executive branch the position of 
intellectual property enforcement coordinator, who will be appointed 
by the president. The law also steepens penalties for intellectual-
property infringement, and increases resources for the Department of 
Justice to coordinate for federal and state efforts against 
counterfeiting and piracy. The so-called Pro-IP Act passed unanimously 
in the Senate last month and received strong bipartisan support in the 
House. The Bush administration initially expressed its opposition to 
the legislation, but one of its more contentious provisions, which 
would have allowed the Justice Department to pursue civil litigation 
against copyright infringers, was removed.

"It would've been nice to have something to benefit the public and artists
instead of big media companies," Public Knowledge Communications Director
Art Brodsky said, noting that Congress and the president could give more
consideration to the public on matters of intellectual property, with further
action on the issue of "orphan works," copyrighted material for which
the owner cannot be found.
The Senate in September passed a bill limiting civil actions in copyright
infringement cases involving orphan works.



Fred von Lohmann
Senior Intellectual Property Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
www.eff.org
+1 415 436-9333 x123 (office)

EFF Marks 10th Anniversary of DMCA with Report on Law's
Unintended Consequences

Ten-Year Legacy of Harm to Fair Use, Free Speech

San Francisco - Ten years ago Tuesday, the Digital
Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was signed into law. In a
report released to mark the anniversary, the Electronic
Frontier Foundation (EFF) documents the ways in which this
controversial law has harmed fair use, free speech,
scientific research, and legitimate competition.

"Unintended Consequences: Ten Years Under the DMCA" focuses
on the most notorious aspect of the law: its ban on
"circumventing" digital rights management (DRM) and "other
technical protection measures." Instead of protecting
against copyright infringement, this ban has routinely been
used to stymie consumers, scientists, and small businesses.
"Unintended Consequences" collects reports of the law's
most egregious abuses over the last decade. In 2003, for
example, Lexmark used the DMCA to block distribution of
chips that allow the refilling of laser toner cartridges.
In 2006, computer security researchers at Princeton delayed
disclosure of a dangerous hidden program in some Sony CDs
based on fears of DMCA liability. Meanwhile, the DMCA has
not prevented digital piracy. DRM systems are consistently
and routinely broken almost immediately upon their
introduction.

"Over the last ten years, the DMCA has done far more harm
to fair use, free speech, scientific research, and
competition than it has to digital piracy. Measured from
the perspective of the public, it's been a decade of costs,
with no benefits," said EFF Senior Intellectual Property
Attorney Fred von Lohmann. "The music industry has given
up on DRM, and Hollywood now relies on DRM principally to
stop innovation that it doesn't like. It's time for
Congress to consider giving up on this failed experiment to
back up DRM systems with misguided laws."

For "Unintended Consequences: Ten Years Under the DMCA":


For more on the DMCA:


For this press release:

About EFF

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil
liberties organization working to protect rights in the
digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF actively encourages and
challenges industry and government to support free
expression and privacy online. EFF is a member-supported
organization and maintains one of the most linked-to
websites in the world at http://www.eff.org/

Arts | Books | K12 Newsletters Mailing List | Literacy | Music | NetHappenings Mailing List
Monday, October 27, 2008 10:46:57 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)    Disclaimer  |  Comments [0]  |  Related posts:
Privacy
Beat Google Get a Library - National "ask" service
Submit Your Music - Major Airplay for Indie Artists
How to Make it in the Music Business
Chinese celadon
[EC] NetHappenings News and Resources
Comments are closed.