Subject: Digital millinium copyright act


The U.S. Congress has just sent to the President for his signature, the
Conference report on H.R. 2281, a bill to amend Title 17 of the U.S. Code,
in order to implement the Performances and Phonograms Treaty and the World
Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty of 1996, both of which
were negotiated under the principle of "national treatment," in that each
country which is a signatory is obliged to grant the same protection to
foreign works that they grant to domestic works in their own country. The
treaties established minimum standards of copyright protection, as well as
an additional obligation: to provide "legal protection and effective legal
remedies" against circumventing any technological measures, such as
encryption, passwords, or authentication which may be used by copyright
owners to protect their work, to ensure the overall integrity of "rights
management information."

The final version of H.R. 2281, introduced as The Digital Millennium
Copyright Act of 1998, is the most comprehensive copyright bill enacted in
the U.S. since 1976. 

The Bill makes it unlawful to by-pass protections used by copyright owners
to protect materials from unauthorized access, including attempts to
defeat preventive technology, and the use of "targeting devices" made to
circumvent encrypted material; or to deliberately alter or delete
information provided by a copyright owner which identifies a particular
work, the identity of the owner, and any notices of its permissible use. 

In commenting on the passing of the Bill in the U.S. House of
Representatives, Rep. Dreier made the following statement: 

"If we look at figures, most recently in 1996, there are estimates that
$7.6 billion in theft of film, books, music and software has taken place,
and many of us believe that that figure has actually gotten higher in the
past 2 years." 

The Bill also clarifies the circumstances under which Internet Access
Providers and Online Service Providers could be held liable for copyright
infringement, for material transmitted through their services -- and
authorizes the removal of the unlawfully published material -- and limits
the liability of independent service organizations who may inadvertently
violate copyright protection in the act of activating a machine in order
to service it;  and creates a statutory licensing system for certain
performances and reproductions published or cast on the internet. 

Also included in the Bill is the preservation a strong "fair use"
provision for the benefit of libraries, universities and others, under
certain circumstances, and allows that manufacturers of
telecommunications, computer products which include both analog and
digital devices, will not be subject to design mandates in producing new
products, and can be free to make "playability" adjustments without
liablity. 

A controversial aspect of the House version of the Bill, pertaining to the
protection of databases, was eliminated from the final version of the
Conference report but will likely be addressed in the next legislative
session, in the 106th Congress. 


Sources: 

Thomas:United States Congress Legislative Information on the Internet:
http://thomas.loc.gov/home/thomas2.html

The Congressional Record and other Searceable Databases 
of the United States Congress, available at:
http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/dbsearch.html


Ginger McCarthy

Director of Special Programming 
WTJU-FM at The University of Virginia
Phone: 804-924-0885 FAX: 804-924-8996  
http://wtju.radio.virginia.eduocs/dbsearch.html