Time to rewrite the DMCA, a guest editorial by Representative Rick Boucher
"At the time, libraries, universities, consumer electronics manufacturers, Internet portals and others warned that enactment of the broadly worded legislation would stifle new technology, would threaten access to information, and would move us inexorably towards a "pay per use" society. That day is now close at hand." [in News.com, via MeFi]
Rep. Rich Boucher is one of two Congressmen who "get it" when it comes to the implementation of the horrible Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Here are what I think are the key points in his essay:
1. "The DMCA, as enacted, quite clearly tilted the balance in the Copyright Act toward complete protection and away from information availability." Now remind yourself that libraries are in the business of INFORMATION AVAILABILITY!!!!
2. "A time may soon come when what is available for free on library shelves will only be available on a pay-per-use basis. It would be a simple matter for a copyright owner to impose a requirement that a small fee be paid each time a digital book or video documentary is accessed by a library patron. Even the student who wants even the most basic access to only a portion of the book to write a term paper would have to pay to avoid committing a crime." How are you going to collect a payment from a nine-year old photocopying a page from an encyclopedia and send that payment to the copyright holder? And how will you assure them that the nine-year old won't use those two paragraphs for nefarious purposes?
3. "We need to rewrite the law for the benefit of society as a whole before all access to information is irreversibly controlled. In short, we need to reaffirm fair use." And if you think the copyright holders are lining up to preserve and maintain libraries' access to materials, then I've got a bridge to sell you. But with only a handful of supporters in Congress, how are we going to make this happen? If you're a librarian and you're not tracking DMCA and SSSCA issues, you should be. The time will come when you have to let your voice be heard, not just for yourself, but for your patrons. We have to make our own place in the "heavenly jukebox."
10:44:42 PM 
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