A new proposal has been introduced in the American congress this week. The proposal, called the Digital Consumer Right to Know Act, says that software, music and movies that employ copy-protection schemes must be prominently labeled with consumer warnings.
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Wyden's bill would give the Federal Trade Commission a year to devise regulations that would apply to copy-protected software like Microsoft's Windows XP and Intuit's TurboTax, most DVDs, and the relatively small number of music CDs girded with antipiracy schemes. The bill would not restrict the ability of companies, vendors or distributors to employ whatever antipiracy technologies they wish, as long as they were clearly labeled. It also would not apply to analog content. |
"While digital media companies are racing to develop technologies to combat piracy, some of these antipiracy measures could have the effect of restricting lawful, legitimate consumer uses as well as unlawful copying," Wyden said in a statement. "My bill says that if digital content is released in a form that prevents or limits reasonable consumer use, consumers have a right to be told in advance."Personally I'm all for this new proposal . Current copyright laws are not only restricting 'pirates' but they're also restricting the legitimate user and that's not a good thing. People should have a right to know that their discs have been copy-protected.
Source: C|Net News.com
