[DMCA-Activists] Cox and Wyden Support Digital Rights

[Seth Johnson]

Cox and Wyden are starting to show some truly helpful
cluefulness.  And Valenti seems to finally be starting to
address the issues in terms other than his own!

Seth

(Snippets:)

"Digital media simply shouldn't be more restricted than
other copyrighted items," Wyden said. "Digital technology is
a great step forward, and it would be a shame to take a big
step backward on consumers' rights when it comes to using
this material."

[. . .]

Valenti characterized it more like a license to destroy the
movie industry. "If it were passed into law, it would
declare that every non-commercial use of a copyrighted work
is a fair use," he said. "Second, it would authorize people
to hack into the secure methods we use to protect our movies
and the distribution of the sophisticated tools to do that."


> http://www.backstage.com/backstage/features/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1746587


Lawmakers Back Digital Rights 

By Chris Marlowe 
October 22, 2002


Consumer advocacy group DigitalConsumer.org has gained two
noteworthy supporters.


Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Rep. Chris Cox, R-Calif., on
Friday introduced a bipartisan, bicameral joint resolution
that seeks to assure that the fair use rights of individuals
are not eroded in the digital world. The resolution is
largely symbolic, however, because the 108th Congress does
not begin until January. The MPAA quickly stated its
opposition. 

The Cox-Wyden resolution states that consumers should be
able to exercise the same personal control over information
and entertainment content whether or not it is digital. The
co-sponsors expressed their support for strong anti-piracy
and copyright protections but added their concern about such
things as audio CDs and high-definition television
broadcasts that cannot be recorded for later personal use or
on for use on another player.

"Digital media simply shouldn't be more restricted than
other copyrighted items," Wyden said. "Digital technology is
a great step forward, and it would be a shame to take a big
step backward on consumers' rights when it comes to using
this material."

MPAA president and CEO Jack Valenti said that in actuality
the resolution was decidedly anti-consumer. "If this
resolution is implemented, then consumer choice would be
limited," he said. "Who in their right mind would put their
movies on the Internet? It would frustrate the ability of
copyright owners to distribute to the consumer in convenient
ways."

The joint resolution affirms consumers' personal use rights
to shift legally obtained content in regards to time, place
and format. It further seeks to guarantee the right to
personal back-up copies, non-commercial editing and the use
of technology to assert these other rights. 

Valenti characterized it more like a license to destroy the
movie industry. "If it were passed into law, it would
declare that every non-commercial use of a copyrighted work
is a fair use," he said. "Second, it would authorize people
to hack into the secure methods we use to protect our movies
and the distribution of the sophisticated tools to do that."

According to Valenti, Cox and Wyden's suggestions would
prevent anyone from investing in new films. "Why would
anyone put up large sums of private capital to make a movie
when it can be ambushed in its first week?" he said.

Emerging business models such as pay-per-view and VOD
conditional access systems would no longer be pursued,
Valenti said. 

Wyden and Cox based their resolution on the Technology
Consumer Bill of Rights devised by DigitalConsumer.org, the
organization started in 2001 by Joe Kraus and Graham
Spencer, two of the co-founders of the Internet portal
Excite (HR 5/17).

DigitalConsumer.org declared its support for the Cox-Wyden
resolution. "We believe their leadership is a sign of a
growing backlash against Hollywood's overreaching in this
area," Kraus said. "Hollywood shouldn't be allowed to
control all aspects of how a consumer uses content in the
privacy of their own home."

Valenti expressed his respect for Kraus but noted that he
speaks for the technology industry.