World Intellectual Property Organization Treaties

According to a CEMA report, Congress has approved legislation which will be a boon for the high-tech consumer electronics industry. Approved legislation implementing the World Intellectual Property Organization treaties will update U.S. copyright law for the digital age, including provisions which will maintain the balance of rights among copyright holders and copyright users while allowing for effective use of technological protections (i.e., encryption, scrambling, etc.) to safeguard copyrighted works such as movies and recorded music. Thus, recording devices such as digital VCRs, DVDs and PCs remain legal, marketable items for consumer purchase and use. At the same time, movie studios and record labels have new civil and criminal penalties to use in battling pirates who circumvent technological protections in order to make and sell illegal copies of movies and music.