IT companies show support for latest DRM bill

Intel Corp., Gateway Inc. and Sun Microsystems Inc. joined a host of companies and organizations representing the IT industry, consumers and libraries that expressed support Thursday for the latest digital rights management (DRM) bill introduced in the U.S. Congress.

Representatives of Intel and Gateway were on hand to speak in favor of the Digital Media Consumer Rights Act of 2002, which was formally announced at a news conference on Capitol Hill by Representatives Rick Boucher, a Democrat from Virginia, and John Doolittle, a Republican from California.

The principal goal of the bill is to reaffirm the "fair use" doctrine of U.S. copyright law to cover digital material, including music, books and other content that typically is copyrighted, Boucher said. The bill also would require proper labeling of "copy-protected" compact discs so that consumers know when they buy a CD what device it can be played in.

Supporters of the bill say protecting the fair use doctrine, which permits limited personal use of legally obtained copyrighted material, is extremely important for consumers and manufacturers of devices as digital content becomes more readily available for use on a growing number of gadgets.

"Fair use is a pressure valve on what would otherwise be total monopoly control by the copyright owner over the use of the copyrighted material," Boucher said at the news conference.

The bill aims to change a section of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (DMCA) that Boucher said dramatically tilted the copyright balance toward complete copyright protection. The DMCA enables the copyright owner to place technical protection measures on his or her material and says anyone who circumvents the protection measure could face legal consequences.

Doug Comer, Intel's director of legal affairs and technology policy, said Intel has worked for years to develop technical protection methods to protect against copyright infringement and will continue to do so. However, the company believes such protective measures should accommodate fair use of the content.

"There has been a disturbing trend over the past two years of content owners using the DMCA copyright laws to target fair use of the content ... and threatened action against individual users," said Comer, speaking at the news conference. "This legislation is needed to correct the balance. The focus should be on true offenders who distribute works without approval of copyright owners and not on individuals exercising traditional legal rights."

Boucher said that, given the limited time remaining on the congressional calendar, he is not seeking enactment of the Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act before the current session of Congress adjourns. Rather, he is looking for a chance to lay out arguments in favor of the bill in preparation for debate and discussion in the next session, which will begin next year.

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