The Anti-Anti-Piracy Campaign: CEA Tells RIAA To Stop Harassing People

No, no, CEA (Consumers Electronic Association) is not pro-piracy, but what they are against are the Anti-piracy campaigns that are being lobbied in the Senate Judiciary Committee which is now considering new legislation which would restrict well-established consumer recording practices. The statement was made during the CATO Institute Copyright Debate, wherein CEA President and CEO Gary Shapiro mentioned that laws that are being considered to stop piracy will benefit the content industry’s campaign to extend intellectual property law so as to grant them the right to dictate the design of technology, which only means that the content industry could hold their consumers by their necks and could litigate them (us) anytime if they think we broke some laws.

With that, the CEA is instead pushing for the reform of the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act), which is the DMCRA (Digital Media Consumers’ Rights Act) HR 1201. Going down on the nitty-gritty of things, HR 1201 would give citizens the right to dodge 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. The CEA people also added that RIAA should stop harassing people, and that with the passing of HR 1201, RIAA’s alleged harassment would be put to a halt.

It seems that the CEA sees HR 1201 as a band-aid for all the woes (legal ones for this matter) of digital consumers (including President Bush). The organization along with other groups fighting for the same consumer rights and cause (such as the Electronic Frontiers Foundation and Consumers Union) are extensively lobbying for the passage of what is deemed as the frontlining consumer protection against the hassles of litigations and lawsuits coming from the content industry and from the RIAA. It is now up to you if you’ll support or diss this piece of legislation.

No, no, CEA (Consumers Electronic Association) is not pro-piracy, but what they are against are the Anti-piracy campaigns that are being lobbied in the Senate Judiciary Committee which is now considering new legislation which would restrict well-established consumer recording practices. The statement was made during the CATO Institute Copyright Debate, wherein CEA President and CEO Gary Shapiro mentioned that laws that are being considered to stop piracy will benefit the content industry’s campaign to extend intellectual property law so as to grant them the right to dictate the design of technology, which only means that the content industry could hold their consumers by their necks and could litigate them (us) anytime if they think we broke some laws.

With that, the CEA is instead pushing for the reform of the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act), which is the DMCRA (Digital Media Consumers’ Rights Act) HR 1201. Going down on the nitty-gritty of things, HR 1201 would give citizens the right to dodge 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. The CEA people also added that RIAA should stop harassing people, and that with the passing of HR 1201, RIAA’s alleged harassment would be put to a halt.

It seems that the CEA sees HR 1201 as a band-aid for all the woes (legal ones for this matter) of digital consumers (including President Bush). The organization along with other groups fighting for the same consumer rights and cause (such as the Electronic Frontiers Foundation and Consumers Union) are extensively lobbying for the passage of what is deemed as the frontlining consumer protection against the hassles of litigations and lawsuits coming from the content industry and from the RIAA. It is now up to you if you’ll support or diss this piece of legislation.