Previous Politech message: http://www.politechbot.com/p-03795.html --- Date: Mon, 29 Jul 2002 11:56:51 +1000 From: Nathan Cochrane <ncochraneat_private> Reply-To: ncochraneat_private Organization: The Age newspaper To: Declan McCullagh <declanat_private> Subject: loopholes s.514(b) 1(A) "except as may be reasonably necessary to impair the distribution, display, performance, or reproduction of such a work, or portion thereof, in violation of any of the exclusive rights of the copyright owner under section 106" Pretty big loophole to the exception. So the copyright holder just deletes the movie viewer or filesharing software because that's more reasonable than deleting the allegedly copyrighted works. And how does a copyright holder tell if their works were pirated without first checking them on the target PC? The bill would allow copyright holders to take down files that may parody their works, or even files that contain fair use of their works. And even if there was a case to answer, how could the affected owner bring a complaint? The filesharing software was free -- no "economic" loss there. The media player often comes free as part of the bundle of the OS -- so no "economic" loss there. They may be upset, but they can't claim emotional distress because it's a "non-monetary" loss. And what if the alleged infringer is outside the US, as is often the case on P2P networks? Rep Berman says the Bill doesn't capture instant messaging or e-mail or presumably newsgroups. But I don't see anything in the legislation that couldn't be bent to capture these services if an argument was brought to court. -- Nathan Cochrane Deputy IT Editor :Next: The Age and Sydney Morning Herald http://www.next.theage.com.au ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Like Politech? Make a donation here: http://www.politechbot.com/donate/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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