HRRC Opposes Bill Injecting FBI Into Copyright Policy

29-Jul-03

In a written statement filed with a House Judiciary subcommittee, the Home Recording Rights Coalition (HRRC) expressed strong opposition to H.R. 2517, a bill that would instruct the Federal Bureau of Investigation to ""deter"" all ""unauthorized"" home recording by consumers when the content is obtained ""from the Internet."" The HRRC statement observed:""The bill being considered today, H.R. 2517, would take several steps to engage our criminal, law enforcement, and border processes in areas that may intrude into ordinary consumer conduct. The Internet ties homes and institutions together in some ways that are clearly positive and some that are seen as threatening to content owners. It is tempting to chill, constrain or even criminalize all ties and practices that are considered potentially threatening. But to do so would be just as shortsighted as it would have been to outlaw consumer tape recorders in 1984."" The HRRC statement made the following key points:- The legislation instructs the FBI to ""deter"" unauthorized recording from the Internet, even though the U.S. Code and the Supreme Court recognize a ""fair use"" right to make such recordings. - The FBI should not be involved in collecting information on consumer practices or issuing ""warnings"" to consumers. Federal law prohibits such data collection without a search warrant, and FBI ""warnings"" to consumers about conduct that may be entirely legal seem unconstitutional. - The bill would direct FBI resources against ""hacking,"" even though most commercial piracy does not involve ""hacking"" at all. Disseminating private sector security ""keys"" to law enforcement officials would make DRM systems less, rather than more secure. - The Attorney General should not be involved in copyright ""education"" campaigns when he also has the responsibility of being an advocate in court. His law enforcement advocacy responsibilities are inconsistent with an obligation to provide balanced information as to consumer fair use rights. - The Attorney General should not be required by make discretionary decisions about which copyrighted content should be allowed to bear the FBI Seal. Yet it would degrade the Seal to authorize its use on all copyrighted writings, as U.S. law provides that all writings are copyrighted when made. HRRC Chairman Gary Shapiro also observed that the notion of giving discretion to the United States Attorney General to decide which content providers should receive the right to use official FBI markings, and which should not, ought to arouse the longstanding First Amendment concerns of the entertainment industry. He said, ""We find it hard to believe that the motion picture industry or the recording industry would be content with giving Attorney General Ashcroft, or any other Attorney General, the discretion to decide which copyrighted works may bear an official government seal and which may not."" For more information about the Home Recording Rights Coalition, visit www.hrrc.org.

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