Legal/Government

Clueful Congresscritters

Apparently the title is not an oxymoron!

Representatives Rick Boucher, D-Va., and John Doolittle, R-Calif., will soon introduce the Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act (DMCRA -- ack! Acronym overload!) which aims to undo some of the damage done by the RIAA, MPAA and co.

The DMCRA would make three changes to the DMCA which would allow basic fair use copy protection circumvention that has been prohbited by the DMCA. These changes would allow reasearchers like Ed Felten to continue his reseach without the fear of lawsuits brought by copyright owners. Furthermore, it allows consumers to bypass copy protection for fair use like making copies for backup of your content.

Sounds reasonable. Does it have a fighting chance?

Posted by Mayhem at October 4, 2002 03:03 PM