We Must Protect Consumers? Fair Use Rights in the Digital Age
On February 20, 2004, Judge Susan Illston created a paradox for digital rights when she sided with big Hollywood movie studios and ruled that 321 Studios violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) by including a DVD movie encryption descrambler - called a ripper - in its DVDXCOPY backup software.
While the ruling clearly acknowledges that there are legal backup uses that can be made of DVDs, it declared illegal the only commercially-available software that allows Americans to exercise those rights. In short, while I may have fair use rights, I cannot have the tools to exercise them! To my way of thinking, this decision effectively wipes out my fair use rights in the digital future.
Consumer advocates, like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (www.eff.org) and software company 321 Studios (with its ProtectFairUse.org), are working to identify legislative and technological solutions that will benefit everyone and ensure that free speech rights granted under the First Amendment are protected. Just like making photocopies from a book or back-up tapes of VHS movies you own, making a back-up copy of your DVD collection should be allowed under the fair use exception to copyright law. Fair use permits consumers' limited personal, noncommercial use of lawfully obtained material without prior consent of the copyright owner.
But, the entertainment industry, backed by the Motion Picture Association of America, which worked hard for passage of the DMCA, continues to oppose fair use rights for consumers of digital media.
PPS
This comes from an Emaill I get from 321Studios.com and in it they ask all to pass it on. Im not a pirate im a Person with a little right?s left. DVD Shrinkand DVD Decrypter as will as others is next to be taken a way from you and me
=Once A Marine Always A Marine:=
"From now until the end of the world, we and it shall be remembered. We few, we Band of Brothers. For he how sheds his blood with me shall be my brother."
- William Shakespeare ("King Henry V")
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 2. March 2004 @ 06:13
