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List:       dmca-discuss
Subject:    [DMCA_Discuss] Congress returns to the DMCRA
From:       Vladimir Katalov <vkatalov () elcomsoft ! com>
Date:       2004-05-12 7:27:07
Message-ID: 3988902546.20040512112707 () elcomsoft ! com
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Congress returns to the DMCRA
Will you be able to legally copy that DVD? 
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posted 10:52am EST Tue May 11 2004 - submitted by Joshua

http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/2004May/gee20040511025086.htm

The House of Representatives is holding a hearing on Wednesday to
discuss the Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act (DMCRA), also known as
HR107. This bill was originally introduced in the House in February
2003 (see our previous coverage), but it has not seen the light of day
since. It is intended to revise the Digital Millennium Copyright Act
(DMCA) of 1998, which has been decried for years as unconstitutional
and unfair to consumers.

Rick Boucher, a Representative from Virginia, is the main sponsor of
the bill, which would allow purchasers of DVDs to make backup copies
of those DVDs for "fair use" purposes. He feels that "once the
consumer is more empowered to use media he lawfully acquires ... he
will want to buy more media ... even the content creators, the people
who oppose this bill, will in the long-term, benefit." Robert Moore,
founder and president of 321 Studios, will testify at the hearing on
Wednesday. 321 Studios has been fighting the MPAA for a few years now
to gain the right to sell its DVD X Copy backup software (see our
previous coverage). As a result of multiple court cases, the software
has been banned in the U.S., so 321 Studios has hired congressional
lobbyists and runs ProtectFairUse.org to support its cause.

For information on the bill and on what you can do, check out the text
of the DMCRA, FOXNews.com, the ProtectFairUse.org press release, and
the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Action Alert.

JOSHUA'S OPINION

It is almost amazing to me that Congress actually has a few
Representatives with their heads on straight. It is sad that it has
taken this long to see the DMCRA make some real headway, but it is
encouraging that its backers did not give up the fight. Now we have to
see whether it can withstand an election year.

What this all comes down to is money. There is no way that the MPAA is
going to stand around and let its cash cow be slaughtered. That is why
it has fought so hard over the last few years to support the DMCA.
That is why we pay US$20 for a little piece of plastic that only
costs, at most, a few dollars to make. (Granted, the movie studios
invest in the actual production, but any good movie will make that
investment back with strong profits just in the theaters.)

If you get a chance, I encourage you to contact your Congressman about
this bill. Whether or not you are in support of it, they need to hear
from geeks who are consumers who know the truth about these issues,
not just from the loud voices on either end of the debate table.

_______________________________________________


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