wessman
October 4th, 2002, 05:39 PM
U.S. Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren
16th Congressional District, California
http://www.house.gov/zoelofgren
Digital Choice and Freedom Act of 2002
For over one hundred years, copyright law has aspired to strike a fair balance between the interests of copyright holders in the control and exploitation of their works with the interests of society in the free flow of ideas, information and commerce. The great challenge today is to maintain that balance in the digital age by finding ways to prevent and punish digital pirates without treating every consumer as one. The Digital Choice and Freedom Act achieves this, and does so without utilizing government mandates or other prescriptive measures that ultimately only serve to stifle innovation.
Specifically, the Act:
Clarifies that America’s historic principles of fair use – protected under Section 107 of the Copyright Act – apply to analog and digital transmissions.
Allows lawful consumers to make backup copies and display digital works on the devices of their choice.
Protects lawful consumers by prohibiting non-negotiable shrink-wrap licenses that limit their rights and expectations.
Clarifies that lawful consumers can sell or give away their copies of digital works, just like they can with traditional hard media.
Protects lawful consumers by permitting them to bypass technical measures that impede their rights and expectations.
Provides flexibility for content owners to develop new and innovative ways to protect their content and enable lawful uses.
Current proposals to combat digital piracy focus primarily on “locking-down” content in ways that threaten the traditional balance. In addition to fighting piracy, technical protection measures can give copyright holders the power to control how consumers use the movies, music and books they lawfully purchase. The DCFA seeks to restore the balance while recognizing that the problem of digital piracy will never be truly solved until consumers are given a legitimate alternative that is affordable, reliable, secure, and respectful of their reasonable rights and expectations.
Source: http://www.house.gov/lofgren/press/107press/021002_summary.htm
Official wording: http://www.house.gov/lofgren/press/107press/021002_act.htm
------------------------------
New consumer-protection bill introduced
By Lisa M. Bowman
Staff Writer CNET News.com
October 2, 2002, 12:21 PM PT
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-960531.html
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., has finally introduced a long-promised bill that would outline how consumers can use electronic media, books and software in the digital age without running afoul of ever-stricter copyright laws.
The Digital Choice and Freedom Act of 2002, unveiled Wednesday, would provide protections for consumers who give away or make backup copies of digital material they've purchased. The bill would also amend the divisive Digital Millennium Copyright Act so that consumers could bypass technical protections on copyrighted material if they plan to use the work legally. And it would place restrictions on shrink-wrap licenses.
"Consumers need a voice in this debate," Lofgren said in a statement. "Right now, it is the entertainment industry versus the technology industry, and the consumers are watching from the sidelines."
Lofgren's efforts are designed to force a debate over copyrights in the digital age. In an effort to thwart piracy, the entertainment industries have been slowly chipping away at consumer rights by refusing to let people use digital content in the same way they've used analog material. Through lawsuits and lobbying, Hollywood has succeeded in limiting people's ability to perform tasks such as sharing or making backup copies of their work without breaking the law.
Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., is scheduled to unveil another consumer-protection bill Thursday.
The efforts are responses to Hollywood-backed bills introduced earlier this year, including one that would require anti-copying technology in new devices and another that could allow copyright holders to hack consumers' machines in a search for illegal material.
It's unlikely the new consumer bills will gain much traction in the near future, partly because they come at the end of the session. Many congressmen spend the final days of the session introducing bills that cover issues important to the lawmakers and their constituents, even if they aren't likely to get a hearing. The lawmakers are essentially planting a stake in the ground with plans to resurrect the issue next year.
Lofgren's bill was met with enthusiastic support by many consumer and free-speech advocates, many of whom have been looking for official endorsement of their cause. Representatives from some entertainment industry trade groups did not immediately respond to requests for comments on the bill.
Related News
Hollywood hacking bill hits House July 25, 2002
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-946316.html
Anti-piracy bill finally sees Senate March 21, 2002
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-866337.html
Get this story's "Big Picture"
http://news.com.com/2104-1023-960531.html
Copyright ©1995-2002 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.
--------------------------------
DRM bill proposed in US House
By Gretel Johnston
October 02, 2002 10:08 AM
WASHINGTON -- A bill introduced Wednesday in the U.S. House of Representatives approaches digital rights management (DRM) from consumers' standpoint by ensuring that people who buy digital media can make backup copies and play them on whatever device they like without fear of breaking copyright law, according to the bill's sponsor.
Representative Zoe Lofgren, a Democrat from California whose district includes Silicon Valley, introduced the bill, saying the legislation seeks to maintain in the digital age the same balance that existing U.S. copyright law establishes between the interest of copyright holders in controlling the use of their works and the interests of the public in the free flow of ideas, information and commerce.
"Consumers need a voice in this debate," a release issued by Lofgren's office quotes the congresswoman as saying. "Right now it is the entertainment industry versus the technology industry, and the consumers are watching from the sidelines."
The bill seeks to punish digital pirates without treating every consumer as a criminal, the release said. Lofgren noted that current proposals to combat digital piracy focus on "locking down" content and controlling how consumers use it. Cryptographic tools currently under development, for example, could play a role in legislative efforts to prevent copyright violations of DVDs.
The bill also prohibits shrink-wrapped licenses, also known as EULAs (end-user license agreements), that limit consumer rights, and the proposal clarifies the ways in which consumers can legally sell, archive or give away copies of digital works they purchased. In addition the law gives flexibility to digital content owners to develop new and innovative ways to protect their content and enable its use without violating copyright law.
Lofgren's bill is supported by the Computer & Communications Industry Association, the Association of Research Libraries and the public interest advocacy organization Public Knowledge, all based in Washington. It also is backed by Stanford Law School Professor Larry Lessig, founder of the Stanford Center for Internet and Society.
The Recording Industry Association of America Inc., which has been heavily involved in crafting DRM legislation, had no comment on Lofgren's bill.
The California Democrat's bill stands in contrast with a bill introduced in March by fellow Democrat Senator Fritz Hollings of South Carolina. That bill, which received a frosty reception from IT industry officials, gives the IT, consumer electronics and entertainment industries one year to develop safeguards to protect digital content from illegal copying. If the effort fails, the federal government would step in and mandate specifications.
Hollings' bill was referred to the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, but has not received a formal hearing.
Copyright 2001 InfoWorld Media Group, Inc.
http://www.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/02/10/02/021002hndrmbill.xml
----------------------
Slashdot:
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/10/03/1249222
Google News:
http://news.google.com/news?q=zoe+lofgren+digital+choice+freedom+act :sw
16th Congressional District, California
http://www.house.gov/zoelofgren
Digital Choice and Freedom Act of 2002
For over one hundred years, copyright law has aspired to strike a fair balance between the interests of copyright holders in the control and exploitation of their works with the interests of society in the free flow of ideas, information and commerce. The great challenge today is to maintain that balance in the digital age by finding ways to prevent and punish digital pirates without treating every consumer as one. The Digital Choice and Freedom Act achieves this, and does so without utilizing government mandates or other prescriptive measures that ultimately only serve to stifle innovation.
Specifically, the Act:
Clarifies that America’s historic principles of fair use – protected under Section 107 of the Copyright Act – apply to analog and digital transmissions.
Allows lawful consumers to make backup copies and display digital works on the devices of their choice.
Protects lawful consumers by prohibiting non-negotiable shrink-wrap licenses that limit their rights and expectations.
Clarifies that lawful consumers can sell or give away their copies of digital works, just like they can with traditional hard media.
Protects lawful consumers by permitting them to bypass technical measures that impede their rights and expectations.
Provides flexibility for content owners to develop new and innovative ways to protect their content and enable lawful uses.
Current proposals to combat digital piracy focus primarily on “locking-down” content in ways that threaten the traditional balance. In addition to fighting piracy, technical protection measures can give copyright holders the power to control how consumers use the movies, music and books they lawfully purchase. The DCFA seeks to restore the balance while recognizing that the problem of digital piracy will never be truly solved until consumers are given a legitimate alternative that is affordable, reliable, secure, and respectful of their reasonable rights and expectations.
Source: http://www.house.gov/lofgren/press/107press/021002_summary.htm
Official wording: http://www.house.gov/lofgren/press/107press/021002_act.htm
------------------------------
New consumer-protection bill introduced
By Lisa M. Bowman
Staff Writer CNET News.com
October 2, 2002, 12:21 PM PT
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-960531.html
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., has finally introduced a long-promised bill that would outline how consumers can use electronic media, books and software in the digital age without running afoul of ever-stricter copyright laws.
The Digital Choice and Freedom Act of 2002, unveiled Wednesday, would provide protections for consumers who give away or make backup copies of digital material they've purchased. The bill would also amend the divisive Digital Millennium Copyright Act so that consumers could bypass technical protections on copyrighted material if they plan to use the work legally. And it would place restrictions on shrink-wrap licenses.
"Consumers need a voice in this debate," Lofgren said in a statement. "Right now, it is the entertainment industry versus the technology industry, and the consumers are watching from the sidelines."
Lofgren's efforts are designed to force a debate over copyrights in the digital age. In an effort to thwart piracy, the entertainment industries have been slowly chipping away at consumer rights by refusing to let people use digital content in the same way they've used analog material. Through lawsuits and lobbying, Hollywood has succeeded in limiting people's ability to perform tasks such as sharing or making backup copies of their work without breaking the law.
Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., is scheduled to unveil another consumer-protection bill Thursday.
The efforts are responses to Hollywood-backed bills introduced earlier this year, including one that would require anti-copying technology in new devices and another that could allow copyright holders to hack consumers' machines in a search for illegal material.
It's unlikely the new consumer bills will gain much traction in the near future, partly because they come at the end of the session. Many congressmen spend the final days of the session introducing bills that cover issues important to the lawmakers and their constituents, even if they aren't likely to get a hearing. The lawmakers are essentially planting a stake in the ground with plans to resurrect the issue next year.
Lofgren's bill was met with enthusiastic support by many consumer and free-speech advocates, many of whom have been looking for official endorsement of their cause. Representatives from some entertainment industry trade groups did not immediately respond to requests for comments on the bill.
Related News
Hollywood hacking bill hits House July 25, 2002
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-946316.html
Anti-piracy bill finally sees Senate March 21, 2002
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-866337.html
Get this story's "Big Picture"
http://news.com.com/2104-1023-960531.html
Copyright ©1995-2002 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.
--------------------------------
DRM bill proposed in US House
By Gretel Johnston
October 02, 2002 10:08 AM
WASHINGTON -- A bill introduced Wednesday in the U.S. House of Representatives approaches digital rights management (DRM) from consumers' standpoint by ensuring that people who buy digital media can make backup copies and play them on whatever device they like without fear of breaking copyright law, according to the bill's sponsor.
Representative Zoe Lofgren, a Democrat from California whose district includes Silicon Valley, introduced the bill, saying the legislation seeks to maintain in the digital age the same balance that existing U.S. copyright law establishes between the interest of copyright holders in controlling the use of their works and the interests of the public in the free flow of ideas, information and commerce.
"Consumers need a voice in this debate," a release issued by Lofgren's office quotes the congresswoman as saying. "Right now it is the entertainment industry versus the technology industry, and the consumers are watching from the sidelines."
The bill seeks to punish digital pirates without treating every consumer as a criminal, the release said. Lofgren noted that current proposals to combat digital piracy focus on "locking down" content and controlling how consumers use it. Cryptographic tools currently under development, for example, could play a role in legislative efforts to prevent copyright violations of DVDs.
The bill also prohibits shrink-wrapped licenses, also known as EULAs (end-user license agreements), that limit consumer rights, and the proposal clarifies the ways in which consumers can legally sell, archive or give away copies of digital works they purchased. In addition the law gives flexibility to digital content owners to develop new and innovative ways to protect their content and enable its use without violating copyright law.
Lofgren's bill is supported by the Computer & Communications Industry Association, the Association of Research Libraries and the public interest advocacy organization Public Knowledge, all based in Washington. It also is backed by Stanford Law School Professor Larry Lessig, founder of the Stanford Center for Internet and Society.
The Recording Industry Association of America Inc., which has been heavily involved in crafting DRM legislation, had no comment on Lofgren's bill.
The California Democrat's bill stands in contrast with a bill introduced in March by fellow Democrat Senator Fritz Hollings of South Carolina. That bill, which received a frosty reception from IT industry officials, gives the IT, consumer electronics and entertainment industries one year to develop safeguards to protect digital content from illegal copying. If the effort fails, the federal government would step in and mandate specifications.
Hollings' bill was referred to the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, but has not received a formal hearing.
Copyright 2001 InfoWorld Media Group, Inc.
http://www.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/02/10/02/021002hndrmbill.xml
----------------------
Slashdot:
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/10/03/1249222
Google News:
http://news.google.com/news?q=zoe+lofgren+digital+choice+freedom+act :sw