Lee Hollaar
2008-04-16 07:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

WASHINGTON -

The latest version of H.R. 1201, ill-fittingly named the “Freedom and Innovation Revitalizing U.S. Entrepreneurship” (FAIR USE) Act, is Rep. Rick Boucher’s (D-Va.) newest attempt to unravel the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the Supreme Court’s unanimous Grokster decision and recent U.S. trade treaties in a single piece of legislation, says a new publication released today by the Institute for Policy Innovation.

The report, “Still Bad: A Critique of the Latest Attempt to Gut the DMCA,” points out the bill protects a special interest group — the consumer electronics industry — by blocking statutory damages for those found contributing to piracy, actively inducing others to pirate, or benefiting from piracy under their control. Unfortunately, shielding companies which create piracy-inducing software would leave only consumers to take the heat.

The bill also ignores the Supreme Court’s Grokster decision, in which the court unanimously recognized inducement liability as a form of secondary copyright infringement. By leaving out this precedent, H.R. 1201 would grant yet another free ride to companies contributing to or inducing copyright infringement.

Furthermore, the bill compromises … [some] carefully crafted intellectual property protections beneficial to electronic commerce. Should the bill be approved by Congress, losing such vital protections would harm U.S. innovators and entrepreneurs.

ipi.org