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Consumer Groups, Tech Firms Launch Effort
To Defend Legal Uses of Copyrighted Works


Consumer interest groups, technology companies, inventors, and authors groups announced Oct. 25 the launch of a new project, the Digital Freedom campaign, to argue for protection of legal uses of copyrighted works by consumers.

Representatives of the coalition, speaking at a Washington, D.C., press conference, said that over the last few decades, the lobbying efforts of large entertainment conglomerates, such as the movie and recording industries, have succeeded in garnering stronger protections at the expense of consumers' fair use and free speech rights.

"New technologies and consumers' rights to use these technologies and fair use are under attack," according to Gary J. Shapiro of the Consumer Electronics Association. "We think it's time to change this, and it's time to fight back."

Shapiro said that increasing restrictions imposed by regular changes in the law pushed by the entertainment industry are hampering "legitimate use of legally acquired content" and that this result is poor public policy that results in harm to the economy and to free expression, including political speech.

Gigi B. Sohn of Public Knowledge singled out for criticism several recent legislative efforts, including:


- the Copyright Modernization Act of 2006 (H.R. 6052) which would have required incidental digital copies of works to be subject to a compulsory license, but would not extend the license to noncommercial uses (72 PTCJ 501, 9/15/06 );

- the Platform Equality and Remedies for Rights Holders in Music Act of 2006 (H.R. 5361), which would have limited the rights of subscribers to digital radio services from time shifting (72 PTCJ 53, 5/19/06 ); and

- the Audio Broadcast Flag Licensing Act of 2006 (H.R. 4861), which would have authorized the Federal Communications Commission to set technical standards for digital radio designed to prevent time or place shifting (71 PTCJ 567, 3/24/06 ).


The group also criticized the litigation strategy of the entertainment industry, such as a May copyright infringement lawsuit against XM Satellite Radio. Atlantic Recording Corp. v. XM Satellite Radio, S.D.N.Y., No. 1:06-cv-03733, filed 5/16/06 (72 PTCJ 55, 5/19/0 6).

Technology Makes All Consumers Potential Creators

As an example of a new type of political speech made possible by technological innovations, Harold J. Feld of the Media Access Project cited a June 28 speech by Sen. Theodore F. Stevens (R-Alaska) which analogized the Internet with a "series of tubes." Individuals took clips of that statement and combined it with music and other effects to make a political statement in a way that would not have otherwise been possible.

"Restraints on technologies being advocated would make that difficult if not impossible," Feld said.

Shapiro also criticized a recent announcement by the Los Angeles area Boy Scouts to offer a "copyright protection patch" for scouts who complete a program on copyright infringement.

"We agree that commercial piracy is wrong," Shapiro said. However, he said that the public should also be educated about what legitimate uses can be made of copyrighted works. "They shouldn't only be learning about what they can't do. ... There are rights that you do have and rights that you should have."

The panel proposed Digital Freedom's "Bill of Rights" for consumers, which states five principles, including the right to use digital technology to make creative works, to develop digital technology "without unreasonable restrictions, and to be free of the risk of being subject to lawsuits for personal uses of digital technology. The bill of rights also calls for Congress to refrain from imposing technological mandates and to protect creation and innovation outside the large entertainment companies.

Members of the Digital Freedom coalition include the Consumer Electronics Association, the Media Access Project, the Computer and Communications Industry Association, the New America Foundation, Public Knowledge, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, as well as digital service providers and filmmakers organizations.

Information about Digital Freedom is available at the organization's Web site, http://www.digitalfreedom.org

By Anandashankar Mazumdar