EFF: Digital Copyright Law Hurts Consumers, Scientists and Competition

Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Release

For Immediate Release: Thursday, April 13, 2006

Contact:

Fred von Lohmann
   Senior Intellectual Property Attorney
   Electronic Frontier Foundation
   fred@eff.org
   +1 415 436-9333 x123 (office), +1 415 215-6087 (cell)

Digital Copyright Law Hurts Consumers, Scientists, and
Competition

EFF Report Highlights More Unintended Consequences in Seven
Years of DMCA

San Francisco - In the seven years since Congress enacted
the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), examples of
the law's impact on legitimate consumers, scientists, and
competitors continue to mount. A new report released today
from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), "Unintended
Consequences: Seven Years Under the DMCA," collects reports
of the misuses of the DMCA -- chilling free expression and
scientific research, jeopardizing fair use, impeding
competition and innovation, and interfering with other laws
on the books. The report updates a previous version issued
by EFF in 2003.

The report tells the story of the delay of the disclosure
of the Sony BMG "rootkit" vulnerabilities on millions of
music CDs.  The dangerous software flaws were initially
discovered by Princeton graduate student J. Alex Halderman.
But Halderman delayed sounding the alarm about the
security problems for several weeks so he could consult
with lawyers about potential violations of the DMCA. The
report also details the DMCA's role in impeding
RealNetworks from selling digital music to Apple iPod
owners, along with other unintended consequences from the
DMCA.

"Rather than being used to stop 'piracy,' the DMCA has
predominantly been used to threaten and sue legitimate
consumers, scientists, publishers, and competitors," said
EFF senior staff attorney Fred von Lohmann. "This law is
not being used as Congress intended, and a review of the
past seven years makes it clear that reform is needed."

For "Unintended Consequences: Seven Years Under the DMCA":
http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/?f=unintended_consequences.html

For more on EFF and the DMCA:
http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/

For this release:
http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2006_04.php#004554

About EFF

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil
liberties organization working to protect rights in the
digital world. Founded in 1990, EFF actively encourages and
challenges industry and government to support free
expression and privacy online. EFF is a member-supported
organization and maintains one of the most linked-to
websites in the world at http://www.eff.org/


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