P2P Calls in Air Strikes
Published March 28, 2003
The only federal legislative proposal directly addressing the purported negative effects of P2P was the "P2P Piracy Prevention Act" introduced last year by Los Angeles area Representative Howard Berman. This proposal would excuse a copyright owner from any criminal or civil liability for impairing the unauthorized distribution, display, performance or reproduction of his work on a publicly accessible P2P network, subject to giving prior notice to the Department of Justice (DOJ) of his intent to use certain impairment technologies and provided that the actual out-of-pocket damages to any user of a P2P network or software did not exceed $50 per impairment. The bill also authorizes an aggrieved computer owner to bring an action for wrongful impairment against the copyright owner provided that prior notification of such intent to sue was provided to the Department of Justice, which would have a limited amount of time to investigate the complaint. Both copyright owner notices to the DOJ of their intent to use impairment technologies, and the notices triggering and results of the DOJ's investigations of allegations of unlawful impairment actions made by an aggrieved P2P users, would have been exempted from public disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. This proposal was strongly criticized by a variety of groups for undermining network and computer security, by potentially providing millions of entities with an overly broad and vaguely worded loophole through which they might engage in "hacking" activities that could wreak substantial economic and infrastructure damage. Last month, Rep. Berman indicated that he was leaning against reintroduction of this measure in the new Congress because of lack of support from entertainment industry interests. In particular, the MPAA was reportedly concerned that the bill would create worrisome new potential liabilities for copyright owners who engaged in any impermissible impairment activities.
The Hollings and Berman initiatives incited a counter reaction from a variety
of quarters. Separate bills that have been reintroduced in the new Congress by Representatives Rick Boucher of Virginia and Zoe Lofgren of California would, in particular, amend the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to allow circumvention of access control technologies to facilitate "fair use" of copyrighted materials, and make clear that consumers have a right to make a backup copy of digital media they have purchased. The Boucher proposal would also write the Supreme Court's "Betamax standard" into copyright law by clarifying that it is not a violation to manufacture, distribute or make non-infringing use of any hardware or software product capable of making significant non-infringing use of a copyrighted work. These proposals are strongly opposed by entertainment industry interests wishing to defend every aspect of the controversial DMCA, but a broad coalition of computer and telecommunications firms, library associations, and cyber liberties and consumer organizations back them.
The near-term outlook for enactment of new copyright legislation is unclear, and the best guess is that gridlock will prevail. But, for the long-term, it is clear that Hollywood interests have stirred up a hornets' nest and that they are now playing defense against legislative measures backed by the technology sector.
- P2P Calls in Air Strikes
- Published: March 28, 2003
- Type:
- Section: Sci/Tech
- Filed Under: Sci/Tech: Internet, Music: News, Video: News
- Writer: Eric Olsen
- Eric Olsen's BC Writer page
- Eric Olsen's personal site
- Spread the Word
- Like this article?
- Email this
Save to del.icio.us
Comments on this articleComments
Add your comment, speak your mind
(Or ping: http://blogcritics.org/mt/tb/4171)
this was great i am happy to see that others are benifiting to open mindness
of new technologies/ and sad to see that the world is all about price gouging/ worries of hollywood suicide and most inportant greed. I believe point in case
as a consumer of movies and music and will come straight out and say it as no one else will -fear of are goverment I guess.
1. movies-are so many experience good and bad /sad and happy -and so many experinces have been held on the cinimatic screen exploited/ and life situations to catastrophies of floods/earthquakes to aliens and how we view them. theaters are great experinces
but some times the translation is lost
and can only be gained by home expirence . thanks to technolgy we have that choice. are own tiny theater -surround
speakers /flat screen tv's -can you accually blame people for not wanting to sit in a theatre were some lady smells and has a crying baby. also might i add
that downloading of a movie is a differn't experiance all together-you have this wierd tech-feeling you get that we accually have moved into the future 2004. That u can not belive that u are accually watching this on a computer and quite an overwellming feeling just ask the executives of the movie industry /when they wanted to know exactly what was going on with the p2p
and one them said ooh let me show u and downloaded the matrix revolutions. so point in case no matter if u are watching it on a hollywood screen or
a computer screen-if u like what u watched -its most likly going to influince you to purchase it on dvd.
(mundanity i love it.)
1. big fish-saw in theatre -bought it on dvd
2. finding nemo-down·load·ed-bought it on dvd
_____________________________________________________________
Music it enriches are lives its one thing everyone agrees on -just not the form/ rap/hip-hop/ and boy bands and fake corporation meglaconglomerates
are now choosing the way we are to listen to music/ and how we are to view
who's hot and who's not. show's like american idol that cuts people's dreams and hopes down to size that does not fit the profile in fashion/and music style are outcasted. music should not be this way/ 2004 music terms are lets take the-sex out /no drugs/ hay what about just the rock and we can sell it as is.
nope it just doen't happen that way . some of the best groups like the sex-pistols were wacked out of their minds and made the best music. can u
imagine what john lennon would have been
like without drugs. the groups that no
one will hear such as revolver exept in small circles. here's my biggest point I own 3000 cd's used to have 2000 tapes
but traded them in for cd's. but still downloaded music to hear the new upcoming bands that no one wanted u to hear too controversial i guess. And help
people to experince music that they would not open up to. and vice versa
I have helped a 50 year old man to gain music back that his ex-threw out and thought he would never hear ever again.
Some of this music i downloaded I thought was good but not good enough to buy-as the letter to senator murry states just samplings never albums.
in a couple of cases was given full albums/ but one was the new mattalica and it just sucked sooooo bad that i gave it away. the other a new anthrax album-which i kept but plan to buy or get it at a pawn shop for the cover art .
and info in the jacket. so bottom line
music is music whatever the jonra. i have been buying cd's so long and also enjoy finding groups on the net like maroon 5 /overkill and d.r.i / groups not many listen too. last point -distrubution of these kind of music
can be bought but are hard to find it's either bidding on ebay for em-or special order. just try and find scars of the crucifix -from deicide not a liked group but hay someone listens to it.
thanks for the time/ viva la p2p controversy and the history that is made.