FC: Nathan Cochrane on loopholes in P2P hacking bill

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

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http://www.politechbot.com/p-03795.html

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Date: Mon, 29 Jul 2002 11:56:51 +1000
From: Nathan Cochrane <ncochrane () theage fairfax com au>
Reply-To: ncochrane () theage fairfax com au
Organization: The Age newspaper
To: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>
Subject: loopholes


s.514(b) 1(A)
"except as may be reasonably necessary to impair the distribution, display, 
performance, or reproduction of such a work, or portion thereof, in 
violation of any of the exclusive rights of the copyright owner under 
section 106"

Pretty big loophole to the exception. So the copyright holder just deletes 
the movie viewer or filesharing software because that's more reasonable 
than deleting the allegedly copyrighted works. And how does a copyright 
holder tell if their works were pirated without first checking them on the 
target PC?

The bill would allow copyright holders to take down files that may parody 
their works, or even files that contain fair use of their works.

And even if there was a case to answer, how could the affected owner bring 
a complaint? The filesharing software was free -- no "economic" loss there. 
The media player often comes free as part of the bundle of the OS -- so no 
"economic" loss there. They may be upset, but they can't claim emotional 
distress because it's a "non-monetary" loss.

And what if the alleged infringer is outside the US, as is often the case 
on P2P networks?

Rep Berman says the Bill doesn't capture instant messaging or e-mail or 
presumably newsgroups. But I don't see anything in the legislation that 
couldn't be bent to capture these services if an argument was brought to court.


--

Nathan Cochrane
Deputy IT Editor
:Next:
The Age and Sydney Morning Herald
http://www.next.theage.com.au




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