REGARDING A NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE WITH LINK AND EXCERPT BELOW: The Democratic Party has entered the controversy regarding the downloading of copyrighted material from websites that facilitate MP3 capture of digital entertainment material from websites at no cost to the downloading party. A report issued by an affiliate of the Democratic Party, the Progressive Policy Institute, has called for revision of the Copyright Act to make piracy of materials from websites and having websites that enable such piracy illegal. Hearings will be held by Congress to determine if such updating of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act are needed to solve the problem of internet websites enabling free downloading of copyright protected material from the internet.
Websites enabling such downloading claim, in their defense under the current legislation, internet access and search engine portal status exemption in that they connect the client via search to a downloading site. On the one hand sites like Napster can be viewed as enabling or causing piracy. On the other hand, on suspects, that making it illegal to provide information regarding places that provide a service, such as where a work can be downloaded, may infringe on the right of free speech. Is it illegal, for example, to tell a person where they can obtain illegal drugs or the addresses of record stores that sell bootleg entertainment merchandise. If Napster and similar sites are simply connecting a site visitor to another third site that has digital material they wish to download, is this piracy or just pointing out where to find pirates who do not play baseball in Pittsburgh? Technology may have taken legal rights to the limits and the debates that ensue in legislatures and government agencies may lead in the actions they percipitate to far reaching results in far broader matters.
For those seeking more background information on copyright law there are some resources and links on the Educational Cyberplayground website:
MUSIC And COPYRIGHT LAW http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Music/musiclaw.html COPYRIGHT: RESOURCES: Copyright: Where to Begin http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/ringleaders/ddcopyright.html COPYRIGHT AND COPYLEFT http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Technology/THE_LAW.html
Sincerely,
David Dillard
Temple University
(215) 204-4584
jwne[_at_]astro.temple.edu
Source: New York Times (NYT)
Author: JERI CLAUSING
Title: Report Proposes Update of Copyright Act
Source Date: May 22, 2000
Resource Type: News Article
Description/Keywords: Copyright, Legislation, Law Revision,
Internet/WWW, Digital Entertainment, Digital Publications,
Downloading, Royalties, Enforcement Issues, Napster, Lawsuits,
Report, Recommendations, Democratic Party, Affilitate,
Progressive Policy Institute
URL: Listed Below Article Summary
(Free Registration Required by the New York Times)
May 22, 2000
Report Proposes Update of Copyright Act
By JERI CLAUSING
WASHINGTON -- The law meant to protect intellectual property on
the Internet needs to be updated, a Democratic research center says
in a report to be released on Monday.
The report proposes outlawing technologies like the controversial Napster software that enables Internet users to trade music files with little regard to copyrights.
Web Sites Related to This Article:
Progressive Policy Institute
http://www.dlcppi.org/
Napster
http://www.napster.com/
On the Napster Website:
Information About Metallica's Request To Disable Napster Users
http://www.napster.com/metallica-notice.html
Check My Articles on Database Searching
http://www.Edu-CyberPG.com/
Click on Ringleaders and Then Reference
Diversity University Collaboratory Mailing List (DUC) http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/diversity.html
Full Story May Be Read At:
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/05/biztech/articles/22naps.html
New York Times, USA Today, MSNBC Hot Site Pick Awards The Educational CyberPlayGround <http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/>
Diversity University Collaboratory Mailing List ISSN:1529-7861 <http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/diversity.html> Received on Mon May 22 2000 - 15:06:22 GMT
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