WASHINGTON–The key detail about a digital-copyright agreement announced here on Tuesday was who was not in the room at the time.
The peace accord was designed to show a unified front linking the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and a pair of computer industry groups, thus persuading Congress that new regulations are unnecessary. But absent from the press conference were influential lobbyists who have been far more aggressive–and who show no signs of relenting.
Take the Motion Picture Association of America, which worked with Sen. Fritz Hollings, D-S.C., to craft a bill that would require implanting copy-protection technology in PCs and consumer-electronics devices. Though the plan is anathema to Silicon Valley, Hollywood seems convinced that such extreme measures are the only way to prevent movies from becoming as widely traded as MP3 files currently are.
That’s why MPAA President Jack Valenti says he’s not about to sign a truce. “We are not prepared to abandon the option of seeking technical protection measures via the Congress or appropriate regulatory agency,” Valenti said in a statement Tuesday.
Neither is the other side. The Consumer Electronics Association has long-opposed Hollings’ bill, while supporting a different proposal to enhance Americans’ rights to make “fair use” of copyrighted content without running afoul of the law.
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