Despite all the new laws being proposed aimed to further tackle piracy or lockdown devices , there is a new bill (Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act) being introduced that aims to fight back that would allow consumers to make personal copies of their digital content such as music, video, E-books and so on to what every equipment they want for personal use only. This bill amends the 1998 DMCA legislation, which currently prohibits the circumvention of copy-protection measures such as that used on Video-DVD and other protected content.
This new law would entitle the user to get around any copy-protection locks so long as the user is doing this within fair use of the product and does not infringe its copyright. As expected the MPAA are reluctant to allow any change to the DMCA that would entitle users to make even personal copies of protected content. The MPAA claim that the copyright law does not give the right to make backup copies of motion pictures. They said that if consumers were able to make even a backup copy, there would be no way of stopping them from taking this 'backup' to a friend's house, distributing it or reselling it.
The MPAA claims that it is in the consumer's best interest that digital copy-protection locks cannot be bypassed; otherwise it could turn out like the situation inChina where movies are heavily pirated. Boucher has been trying for two years to get support for the bill claiming that it will benefit the consumers and even the reluctant content creators. A hearing on this bill is expected to take place on Wednesday. Thanks to Feslmogh for submitting the following news via our news submit :
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Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., author of the Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act, says consumers should not always have to worry about being slapped with a lawsuit every time they make a copy of their favorite videos. "We are seeking to empower the purchasers of digital media so that they can use the media in ways that are more convenient to them," Boucher told Foxnews.com. Boucher said that empowerment would mean "for example, by being able to move digital material '” whether it's video on a DVD or materials on a compact disc or the text of an electronic book '” around from digital device to digital device in their home or in their extended personal environment." The new bill amends the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, which allowed copyright holders to put digital locks on their work and makes it illegal to break those locks. Boucher's bill allows owners of DVDs and other works that have a digital lock to bypass the security and copy the work so long as the user is engaging in "fair use" of the product and not infringing upon its copyright. A hearing on the bill has been tentatively scheduled for Wednesday. Read the full article here. |
This is one bill that I am sure many consumers would be interested to see get enforced. Unfortunately e ven if it does take effect, it looks like the movie and music industries will find ways of counteracting the bill, just to keep their digital locks intact and keep suing users to try and 'fight' piracy.
Source: FOX News
