The US Senate voted 99-0 to pass the Digital Millennium Copyright Act on Thursday. The law implements two treaties adopted in 1996 by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) division of the United Nations. The Senate has yet to ratify these treaties. The revised legislation limits the liability of ISPs and telcos for copyright violations on their networks (CI No 3,401). It recognizes providers such as AOL as mere conduits. Earlier versions had left this point unclear. Big news outlets from CNet to CNN have applauded the Senate vote. That’s hardly surprising, since the law as drafted by the US Patents and Trademarks Office favors copyright owners over pirates, music samplers and other ne’er-do-wells. The act makes it illegal to tamper with scramblers, crack passwords or circumvent in any way the measures that protect intellectual property on the net. The New York Times’ Denise Caruso is a lone dissenting voice. In an article for the Columbia Journalism Review, Caruso calls the legislation profoundly restrictive and notes that it has the potential to bar access to all kinds of information now available – for free – to journalists, scientists, researchers, librarians, and ordinary citizens under fair use provisions of the existing Copyright Act. Before it moves into law, the act must next be passed in the House.
