The Digital Millennium Copyright Act: Worst US Tech Legislation in History?
The DMCA has been the bugbear of many IP academics since its inception. When I was at UC Berkeley's Boalt Hall Law School back in 1999, Prof Pam Samuelson candidly explained the folly of protecting technologies that protected copyright works. It became clear for me that the DMCA - that it is a piece of law that has the interest of content owner's close to its heart, and that it effectively reduced the public's rights under copyright law.
While I support lawful protection of content owners of IP, such one sided legal development was clearly going to cause huge legal battles. Charles Cooper in his column reported a string of high profile cases from 2001 to 2003 where the DMCA was in issue. It is unfortunate for the owners of IP to find themselves being desperate in the face of digital replicating technologies. I can understand the motivations for having the DMCA but that does not mean that the DMCA is the right way to go. The law of copyright has to change in a balanced way. Copyright owners must realise that the future is not locking up the content. They must realise that they just can't keep it locked for long. Having the DMCA to support locking technologies will stop individuals breaking these locks. Remember DeCSS (that broke DVD protection)? Look at the cases reported by Cooper in CNET. Enough said.
Copyright is in real trouble this decade. Will it ever be developed even handedly? Looks like in the immediate future that would be a unlikely prediction - with the extension of copyright by another 20 years. Conversely, more individuals are working at breaking the protection technologies.
Ironically, while the DMCA is being attacked locally its provisions are insidiously spreading everywhere. In its defence, its basis for the spread is in the WTO agreements but now its one of the fundamental conditions of US entering into Free Trade Agreements. I hope to see these provisions challenged in the same way in the other jurisdictions. Unfortunately, I think that will highly unlikely. So, US's "Worst Tech Legislation" will live to see another day.
(visit link: Rethinking the DMCA Perspectives CNET News.com)
While I support lawful protection of content owners of IP, such one sided legal development was clearly going to cause huge legal battles. Charles Cooper in his column reported a string of high profile cases from 2001 to 2003 where the DMCA was in issue. It is unfortunate for the owners of IP to find themselves being desperate in the face of digital replicating technologies. I can understand the motivations for having the DMCA but that does not mean that the DMCA is the right way to go. The law of copyright has to change in a balanced way. Copyright owners must realise that the future is not locking up the content. They must realise that they just can't keep it locked for long. Having the DMCA to support locking technologies will stop individuals breaking these locks. Remember DeCSS (that broke DVD protection)? Look at the cases reported by Cooper in CNET. Enough said.
Copyright is in real trouble this decade. Will it ever be developed even handedly? Looks like in the immediate future that would be a unlikely prediction - with the extension of copyright by another 20 years. Conversely, more individuals are working at breaking the protection technologies.
Ironically, while the DMCA is being attacked locally its provisions are insidiously spreading everywhere. In its defence, its basis for the spread is in the WTO agreements but now its one of the fundamental conditions of US entering into Free Trade Agreements. I hope to see these provisions challenged in the same way in the other jurisdictions. Unfortunately, I think that will highly unlikely. So, US's "Worst Tech Legislation" will live to see another day.
(visit link: Rethinking the DMCA Perspectives CNET News.com)
posted by Harry SK Tan at
4/09/2005 12:21:00 pm
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