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IP: Senate Panel Adopts Digital Copyright Bill
From: Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>
Date: Fri, 01 May 1998 11:16:55 -0400
How depressing. URL for full story: http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/05/cyber/articles/01copyright.html May 1, 1998 Senate Panel Adopts Digital Copyright Bill By JERI CLAUSING WASHINGTON - The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday adopted the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which takes a new step toward protecting creative content in cyberspace by outlawing the equipment used to commit a copyright infringement, not just the act or intent of illegally copying material. Although the panel adopted a number of compromise amendments intended to allow exceptions for just about every imaginable fair use of the hardware used to unscramble protected material and software, some interest groups remained nervous about what has been left out. Most visibly absent was any exemption for devices used in encryption research, an issue Senate leaders said they hope to work out before the bill goes to the floor. To improve the codes used in encryption technology, researchers need to use these devices to crack the software that is already on the market. "The Administration has already burdened the encryption industry with misguided export restrictions. Adding language that makes it unlawful could be a final fatal blow that forces the industry overseas," said Senator John Aschroft, a Missouri Republican who led two weeks of intense negotiations that smoothed out most concerns about the bill. Still, he said, "I want to make it clear that I will support this bill even if the [exceptions for encryption research] cannot be resolved. But I think we will have a better bill if we address this issue."
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- IP: Senate Panel Adopts Digital Copyright Bill Dave Farber (May 01)