Interesting People mailing list archives
IP: WIPO
From: Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>
Date: Wed, 06 May 1998 10:00:07 -0400
The clause exempting te ISPs seems to create the same mess that eexists with the Domain Names trademark issue. Someone claiming that material is copyrighted may cause the ISP to delete it even before any legal action is taken -- like has been done in Europe on certain religious material. The much of the rest is in my view also defective. Dave May 4, 1998 Legislation on Online Copyrights Advances By JERI CLAUSING ASHINGTON -- Hoping to take global leadership on the hotly disputed issue of protecting creative works in cyberspace, Congress is completing legislation that would expand copyright protections to online material. The legislation, meant to put into force an international treaty on digital copyrights, seeks to protect intellectual-property holders while limiting the liability of Internet access providers that unwittingly store, transmit or link Web surfers to illegally copied material. When it was introduced last year as a way to put into effect two treaties agreed upon by the World Intellectual Property Organization, the legislation was met with widespread opposition from groups that feared it would inadvertently trample on scores of acceptable fair uses of copyrighted material. Librarians and educators, for example, feared they would be unable to share research, make digital copies or use computers to link classrooms. Other critics were particularly concerned about a provision that would make it illegal to unlock data-scrambling technologies used to protect digital copies of prose, music and software without the copyright holder's permission. The provision would also outlaw hardware capable of unlocking those protective codes. Software developers had said the measure would make it illegal for them to unscramble competitors' products to make sure that different programs could work together. Parents feared it would outlaw the devices they use to track their children's Web-surfing habits. And privacy advocates said it would prevent them from disabling so-called cookies -- electronic markers that companies deposit on the computers of people who visit their Web sites. After weeks of negotiations, the Senate Judiciary Committee last week adopted a version that is intended to allow exceptions for those and many other fair uses. But some remain nervous about what has been left out, both intentionally and unwittingly. Most notably absent is any exemption for devices used in research of the data-scrambling, or encryption, technology used to protect the privacy of e-mail and other computer communication. The lack of such an exemption "would pose a serious impediment" to the science of computer security, said John Scheibel, vice president and general counsel for the Computer and Communications Industry Association, a trade group. Senate leaders said they still hoped to reach a compromise on the issue of encryption research. Still, Scheibel said he remained concerned about the basic premise of outlawing hardware rather than focusing on the act or intent of illegally copying material. But Hilary Rosen, president and chief executive of the Recording Industry Association of America, which supports the legislation, said such concerns "are more philosophical than a practical reality." A key compromise was the agreement between the copyright holders and Internet service companies to exempt online networks from liability for copyright infringements that they unwittingly transmit or store. In return, service providers agreed to "expeditiously" remove or disable access to sites that copyright holders contend are illegally using their material. The Senate bill would also ensure that Web-search services like Yahoo are not held liable for linking Web surfers to sites that might be committing copyright violations. A companion bill, with fewer changes, was approved last month by the House Judiciary Committee. The full Senate and House are each expected to take up the legislation later this month.
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- IP: WIPO Dave Farber (May 06)