Re: Commerce Department copy control regs?

On Tue, 4 Aug 1998, Terry Carroll <carroll[_at_]tjc.com> wrote:
>
> The Audio Home Recording Act of 1992 included provisions calling for
> the Commerce Department to promulgate some regulations in support of
> the Act. Does anyone have any cites for the regs as promulgated?

Nobody has ever gotten around to promulgating any, nor is it evident that anyone has ever petitioned the DOC to do so. In light of new technologies and interfaces, however, the day may yet come.

> Dor example, 17 USC 1001(1) calls for a regulation regarding
> the definition of "professional audio product," and section 1002(b)
> requires Commerce to set verification standards for SCMS-like copy
> protection schemes.
>
> Related to this, does anyone know where Serial Copy Management System
> is defined, as that term is used in section 1002 and elsewhere? I'd
> expected an entry in the definitions section 1001, and there's nothing
> there.

The Chairman of the IP subcommittee of the House Judicary Committee at the time (Rep. Hughes, D-NJ) and his staff thought that such a definition was surplusage, so they excised it. SCMS, however, is described in the Technical Reference Document, reference to which they also excised from the bill. However, on this subject the House Judiciary Committee Report refers to the Report of the Energy & Commerce (now plain "Commerce") Committee, which does reprint the TRD (as did the Senate version of the bill). Be careful to refer, however, to the "Star" version of the Energy & Commerce Committee Report; the original misprinted a few Xs and Os.

Bob Schwartz
Mcdermott, Will & Emery, D.C.
<shebam[_at_]access.digex.net> Received on Wed Aug 05 1998 - 12:57:47 GMT