The Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act

The Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act (DMCRA, H.R. 107) would roll back pieces of the infamous Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Since the DMCA's passage in 1998, it has been used over and over again to chill the legitimate activities of scientists, journalists, and digital media consumers. Specifically, H.R. 107 would:

• Restore consumers' fair use rights in digital media by allowing circumvention of copy protection for non-infringing uses. For example, it would allow someone to bypass the copy protection on a lawfully purchased DVD in order to view it on a computer running Linux.

• Require clear, visible labels for "copy-protected" audio compact discs that identify their limitations and applicable return policies.

• Protect innovative, multi-purpose technologies. The DMCRA codifies a doctrine, outlined by the Supreme Court in its 1984 "Betamax" decision, which holds that technologies with "substantial non-infringing uses" cannot be stifled by copyright holders.

IPac candidate Rick Boucher wrote and introduced this bill, and it currently has 23 cosponsors including IPac candidates Joe Barton, Christopher Cox, John Doolittle, and Zoe Lofgren. "