There is new legislation pending that turn millions of Americans enjoying songs they purchased legally into criminals. And not just petty criminals, but the kind that go to jail for 10 years.
An article on News.com tells of (we should say warns of) legislation being introduce in Congress to expand on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. While the current law has already been misused and made companies like Sony comfortable using root kits to protect copyrights, this new law moves further in the wrong direction.
Under current law, people are generally prohibited from distributing any software or hardware that can be used to bypass copy-protection devices. The new proposal would expand those restrictions to say nobody may "make, import, export, obtain control of, or possess" such tools if they may be distributed.
Let's think about what that says:
- Any software or hardware that can be used to bypass copy-protection devices. A computer can be used to bypass copy protection. In the case of some CDs, simply drawing a line with a black marker around the outside circumvents copy protection.
- Make, import, export, obtain control of, or possess. It doesn't say "use to break protection," just having it would be illegal.
- Computers, black markers, etc., can be given or sold to others.
- So, if someone has a computer -- which could be used to break copyright and can be sold to someone else -- that's a crime punishable by 10-20 years in prison.
Far-fetched? Of course. But no more far fetched than the attorneys for the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) making a legal argument that simply having a shared file on your computer (who doesn't?) can be considered grounds for copyright infringement.
To be clear, we are not defending those who are truly profiting unfairly from the creations of others. However, when the industry is successful in lobbying Congress to put laws into place that are so far reaching that honest fair use -- like moving a song to a laptop and an iPod, or making a mix CD of music you own for your own use -- is threatened, we've clearly lost sight of the fact that people purchase copyrighted material because they like it and they want to use it. Let them.
The people selling bootleg movies and albums in Times Square or on the Internet should be prosecuted. People ripping a CD to an iPod, a computer and maybe even a home server should be thanked. They're called fans, and they support the artists and the industry itself.
Email your Congressperson. We need to fix the legislation we've already got, not put new and ridiculous regulations in place.
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