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May 2005, Week 1

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Subject:
From:
Jeremy Butler <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Fri, 6 May 2005 06:29:10 -0500
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My last message had a typo in the Web address for the EFF.  It should be:

http://action.eff.org/site/Advocacy?id=115

-- original message --

There's a bill currently in the US Congress that is of interest to
film/TV/media teachers:

Support DMCA Reform - Help Pass HR 1201!

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) has been wreaking
havoc on consumers' fair use rights for the past seven
years.  Now Congress is considering the Digital Media
Consumers' Rights Act (DMCRA, HR 1201), a bill that would
reform part of the DMCA and formally protect the "Betamax
defense" relied on by so many innovators.

HR 1201 would give citizens the right to circumvent
copy-protection measures as long as what they're doing
is otherwise legal.  For example, it would make sure
that when you buy a CD, whether it is copy-protected
or not, you can record it onto your computer and move
the songs to an MP3 player.  It would also protect a
computer science professor who needs to bypass
copy-protection to evaluate encryption technology.

In addition, the bill would codify the Betamax defense,
which has been under attack by the entertainment
industry through the "Induce Act" last year and the
MGM v. Grokster case currently before the Supreme
Court.  This kind of sanity would be a welcome change
to our copyright law.

Last year we sent 30,000+ letters of support for the
DMCRA, and the bill got a hearing on Capitol Hill.  It's
time to double that number - take action at the link
below, then urge your friends and family to support HR
1201, too!

Make your voice heard with the EFF Action Center:
<http://action.eff.org/site/Advocacy?id=115>

----
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