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Old 03-01-2002, 11:08 AM   #1
klkyte
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Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: trenton, nj
Posts: 18 klkyte is on a distinguished road
... and in Washington

Apparantly, Senate Commerce Committee hearings on digital copyrights are happening RIGHT NOW.

http://www.tvinsite.com/broadcastin...ay=breakingNews

Here's the written testimony of Michael D. Eisner (dated Feb 28):
http://investor.cnet.com/investor/n...-8936249-0.html

Hollings circulated a draft (AKA the SSSCA) to serve as a basis for these discussions. Here's what some people had to say about it:
http://www.eff.org/alerts/20010921_eff_sssca_alert.html
http://www.stoppoliceware.org/

And so >>>>

Senate Mulls Law to End Tech-Media Piracy Fight
Thu Feb 28, 6:00 PM ET
By Andy Sullivan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Media and technology companies told Congress Thursday they had not yet settled on a method to stop digital piracy, prompting a key senator to say he would go ahead with plans to impose a government solution.


Sen. Ernest Hollings, chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, said he would prefer that media companies like Walt Disney Co. and high-tech firms like Intel Corp.. figure out a technological fix on their own to stop unauthorized digital copying of movies, music and other media.

But after a bumpy three-hour hearing in which executives of Disney and Intel clashed, Hollings said he would introduce a bill to push the two sides toward a compromise.

The South Carolina Democrat's long-discussed bill is championed by Disney and other media companies but opposed by tech firms who fear it would impede innovation.

The bill would require makers of personal computers, digital televisions, VCRs and other consumer electronic devices to include copy-protection technology preventing the devices from playing pirated movies, TV shows, or other broadcasts.

Federal agencies would set the standard if the two sides could not come to an agreement after 18 months, a period Hollings said he might shorten to 12 months because the technology has already been developed.

"They can easily do it, we all saw that," he said.

At the hearing, Disney CEO Michael Eisner blasted the high-tech industry, alleging Intel and other tech companies were basing their growth strategy on enabling customers to download entertainment illegally. Intel Vice President Leslie Vadasz accused Disney and other media companies of trying to dictate computer design.

PIRACY FEARS SLOW DIGITAL TV, INTERNET GROWTH

Media companies have withheld content from new distribution channels like the Internet and digital television because they fear their movies and TV shows could be copied easily.

New consumer devices like CD recorders and portable MP3 players have only compounded their concerns.

This lack of content has slowed consumer adoption of digital television and high-speed Internet connections, experts say.

Technology and media companies have worked together over the past seven years to come up with digital watermarks and other technologies to prevent unauthorized copying, but such efforts will be of little use if copyright-protection controls are not also placed in computers and other devices that play digital material, media companies say.

The technology industry has been unresponsive to these concerns, Eisner said, because they design products to encourage unauthorized copying.

"It's hard to negotiate with an industry whose growth, they think, is based on pirated content," he said.

Intel's Vadasz denied the charge, and countered that high-tech innovation would suffer if Disney and other movie studios were able to dictate the design of personal computers.

"The media industry would try to make the personal computer nothing more than an expensive DVD player," he said.

Technology groups say progress is being made. A standard to prevent unauthorized copying of digital television broadcasts will be ready by the end of March, Vadasz said. A group of high-tech CEOs sent a letter to media executives Wednesday pledging to cooperate on copyright-protection efforts.

Eisner said the tech companies have become more responsive to his industry's concerns because they are afraid of government intervention.

"Until Senator Hollings said he was going to consider legislation, we couldn't have a conversation," he said.

Vadasz said it was a coincidence that the CEOs' letter was sent a day before the congressional hearing. His response drew snickers from the audience.

Hollings and other senators said they hoped industry could solve the problem on its own, but they would continue to keep close tabs on the situation.

"Fear is a good motivating factor," said Virginia Republican Sen. George Allen. "Whether that's fear of draconian government regulations or fear of inept government regulations, that may get folks moving."

Last edited by klkyte : 03-01-2002 at 11:17 AM.
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Old 03-01-2002, 11:53 AM   #2
klkyte
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Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: trenton, nj
Posts: 18 klkyte is on a distinguished road
and here's something you can do about it

Copied this off another site as a sample letter if you want to become involved in some political alternative solutions:
____________________________________

I (V. Ruiz) wrote this letter to send to Congressman Billy Tauzin, Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which oversees Telecommunications and Consumer Protection:

Date

Hon. William J. Tauzin, Chairman
Committee on Energy and Commerce
U.S. House of Representatives
2125 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington DC 20515


Hon. Chairman Tauzin:

An important issue has arisen that you, as Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, need to be made aware of. This issue has the potential to not only cause major financial damage to millions of American consumers, but to derail the current transition to Digital TV and the reclaiming of the analog spectrum for future auction. As one of the many consumers that will be affected by this measure, I urge you to review the facts that I will present to you and take the necessary steps to prevent this travesty from becoming a reality.

The issue in question is an attempt, currently in progress, by the Motion Pictures Association of America to force the Consumer Electronics Association and its members to provide a new standard interface called Digital Visual Interface (DVI), in order to use a new encryption method called High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP). This DVI connection is not compatible with High Definition Televisions and other display devices (including computer monitors) currently being used to view digital television. Their intention is to not only force consumers to purchase new and expensive equipment but to also circumvent fair-use provisions by preventing the recording of television signals for personal use under the guise of anti-piracy protection.

As you well know, the transition to digital television is well under way, and to date several million American consumers have made substantial investments in this exciting technology. All display devices sold (these include HDTVs, projectors, and computer monitors) have only analog inputs to receive the digital signals. By requiring that the DVI interface be the standard for displaying digital signals, the MPAA and the CEA are in fact rendering all these display devices useless to view high definition signals. We are talking about more than two million HDTVs and HDTV-capable projectors now in consumers' hands. If we include computer monitors (which many people use to view high definition signals) the number is in the hundred million range.

The electronic manufacturers are continuing to sell this equipment in droves, advertising it as HDTV-ready and HDTV-capable, knowing full well that their capabilities will be severely crippled in the near future, and without alerting their customers to that fact. This misrepresentation of the equipment is a bad faith business practice and it's absolutely unconscionable. The obsolescence of these display devices will constitute a heavy financial burden unfairly placed on the unsuspecting consumers who chose to support the digital transition mandated by Congress. This in fact will serve to erode consumer confidence in the stability and direction of said transition, and will undoubtedly bring it to a screeching halt. No one will purchase new digital equipment with the transition process in such a state of flux. The longer the transition takes, the longer it will take to reclaim the analog spectrum to be auctioned by Congress.

The other, and perhaps more disturbing aspect, is that with DVI coupled with the HDCP encryption, the MPAA plans to do an end-around the fair use provisions guaranteed to the American people by the Supreme Court, with regards to the recording of television signals for personal use. By encrypting broadcast, cable, and satellite signals, and demanding that they can only be viewed through a DVI/HDCP-compliant device, they can in fact decide not only what content they will allow the public to record but they can also prevent us from viewing it at all. If their plan is allowed to succeed, the MPAA will have total control over what the American people can watch, when they can watch it, and how many times they can watch it in the privacy of their own homes, even after paying for it. This is a totally unacceptable breach of privacy and a circumvention of the presumption of innocence in which our system is based. What the MPAA is doing is penalizing innocent consumers and preventing them from exercising their fair use rights, under the assumption that they MIGHT pirate their content. This just cannot be allowed to happen.

I expect our country to respect and to protect copyrighted material, but the economic needs of the copyright holder must be balanced with the needs of a free and open society. DVI/HDCP is not a balanced approach. Forcing this overly burdensome technology on the public for the express purpose of preventing the copying of copyrighted material also has the intended side effect of preventing the fair use of intellectual property. This is not the spirit of the copyright law or the Constitution.

I urge you, our top consumer protection advocate in Congress, to review the matters I have presented to you and take the necessary steps to ensure that they are not allowed to succeed. Please feel free to have your staff contact me if you need any additional facts or clarification of these issues.

Truly Yours,

Victor G. Ruiz
xx-xx xxxx Street
Glendale NY xxxxx
(xxx) xxx-xxxx

I have not sent it yet. I will wait a couple of days for your suggestions/revisions/comments. If it has any errors of fact please let me know. After all revisions are made I will send it via certified mail, return receipt requested to Congressman Tauzin. I urge as many of you as possible to do the same. Feel free to copy/paste any part or all of it for your letter (thanks Joe Floyd, I borrowed part of one of your posts for my closing paragraph).

I urge all of you to also post feedback to the Subcommittee on Telecommunications, Trade, and Consumer Protection at the following link:
http://www.house.gov/commerce/telecom.html
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