The United States Constitution includes copyright protection of artistic expression. Since its ratification, there have been a number of laws that affect how an individual can use copyrighted works. One of the most restrictive is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The law was passed in 1998 and made it illegal to break any coding or encryption scheme used to prevent copying or other backup. Attorney Wendy Seltzer and Steven Cherry, Senior Associate Editor for IEEE Spectrum Magazine discuss the ramifications of the law, as well as other legislation currently under consideration that either expand on the DMCA or reduce some of the restrictions. They also talk about lawsuits filed by copyright holders and how the law is stifling technological innovation.
Cherry first gives a general background, beginning with the Constitution. He talks about how copyright holders looked for extra protection because of digital formats that allowed for virtually identical copying. While Hollywood considers this to be a necessary way to protect their investments, the law added an unnecessary extra layer of protection. They state that prior law already allowed copyright holders to fight piracy.
Seltzer and Cherry also discuss the effect of the DMCA on technological development, including lawsuits against Sonic Blue and XM. They review how consumer electronics companies are less likely to innovate to avoid possible litigation. They also discuss current legislation, much of which might further restrict fair use rights. Finally, they discuss what might happen in the future and what consumers can do to fight the legal restrictions.
This program was originally broadcast on IEEE Spectrum Radio.
Wendy Seltzer is a visiting assistant professor at Brooklyn Law School, teaching Internet Law, Information Privacy, and Copyright, and a fellow with the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School. She was previously an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Before joining EFF, Wendy taught Internet Law as an adjunct professor at St. John's University School of Law, and practiced intellectual property and technology litigation at Kramer Levin in New York.
Steven Cherry is Senior Associate Editor for IEEE Spectrum Magazine. he covers the Internet and intellectual property and related issues in telecommunications, networking, computing and public policy. He also oversees editorial content for Spectrum Online. Before joining the IEEE staff, Steven served as executive editor at the Association for Computing Machinery where he founded netWorker magazine. He has written many articles for magazines including Internet Week, Computer Shopper and Internet World and he holds a B.A. in philosophy and mathematics from the State University of New York at Geneseo.
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