EFFector      Vol. 15, No. 32      October 10, 2002      ren@eff.org 

A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation	 ISSN 1062-9424 

In the 231th Issue of EFFector: 

*  ALERT: Tell Congress to Support the Digital Media Consumers'   
   Rights Act!
*  ALERT: Tell Congress to Support the Digital Choice and Freedom 
   Act!
*  Congratulations to EFF Board Member Lawrence Lessig
*  Hollywood Slams Electronic Frontier Foundation - The Saga 
   Continues
*  EFF Partners With Anonymizer
*  Deep Links: Tuning Out the Customer; Copy Protection Robs the 
   Future
*  Administrivia

For more information on EFF activities & alerts: http://www.eff.org/ 

To join EFF or make an additional donation: 
 http://www.eff.org/support/
EFF is a member-supported nonprofit. Please sign up as a member 
today!
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* ALERT: Tell Congress to Support Rep. Boucher & Doolittle's Digital 
Media Consumers' Rights Act!

Representatives Rick Boucher and John Doolittle recently introduced 
the Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act (DMCRA, H.R. 5544), which 
would introduce labelling requirements for usage-impaired "copy-
protected" compact discs, as well as several amendments to 1998's 
infamous Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). 

The DMCRA would: 

~ Require clear, visible labels for "copy-protected" audio compact 
  discs that identify their limitations and applicable return 
  policies. 
~ Restore consumers' fair use rights by amending Section 1201 of the 
  DMCA to allow circumvention of copy protection for non-infringing 
  uses of the material. For example, it would allow someone to bypass 
  the copy protection on a lawfully purchased DVD in order to view it 
  on a computer running Linux. 
~ Protect innovative, multi-purpose technologies. The DMCRA codifies 
  a doctrine, outlined by the Supreme Court in its 1984 "Betamax" 
  decision, which states that technologies with "substantial non-
  infringing uses" cannot be stifled by copyright holders. 

Use your voice to protect your digital fair use rights! After several 
years on legislative defense, this is your opportunity to let 
Congress know that we want positive changes to the DMCA. Tell your 
friends, tell your family, but first TELL CONGRESS! 

Take action here:
http://action.eff.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=2224 

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* Alert: Tell Congress to Support Rep. Lofgren's Digital Choice and 
Freedom Act!

Representative Zoe Lofgren recently introduced the Digital Choice and 
Freedom Act (DCFA, H.R. 5522), which would reform the Digital 
Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), restrict shrink-wrap licenses that 
harm the public's rights, explicitly allow backups and format-
shifting for copyrighted materials, and protect the public's rights 
in copyright on several fronts. 

Among other things, Lofgren's bill would: 

~ Allow consumers to make backup copies of digital works.
~ Explicitly allow format shifting of legally obtained material   
  amongst digital devices.
~ Codify a "first sale" right for digital media, which would allow 
  the public to sell, lend, or give away digital media products that 
  they have lawfully obtained.
~ Permit the circumvention of "content protection" technologies in 
  order to make noninfringing uses of copyrighted works. 

Use your voice to protect your rights! After several years on 
legislative defense, this is your opportunity to let Congress know 
that we want positive changes to our unbalanced copyright law. Tell 
your friends, tell your family, but first TELL CONGRESS! 

Take action here:
http://action.eff.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=2225 

-=end=-----------------------------------------------------------


* Congratulations to EFF Board Member Lawrence Lessig

EFF congratulates its Board Member, Stanford Law School Professor 
Lawrence Lessig, on his argument Wednesday before the Supreme Court 
in the closely-watched Eldred v. Ashcroft case. Prof. Lessig is 
arguing that the Sonny Bono Copyright Extension Act, which extended 
the term of copyright by 20 years, is unconstitutional. EFF supports 
his efforts and hopes that he is successful in his effort to preserve 
the public domain. 

Links:
To monitor the latest developments, visit the Eldred v Ashcroft web 
site:
http://eldred.cc 

For the latest coverage of the argument, try Google News:
http://news.google.com/news?q=eldred+supreme+court&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-
8&scoring=d 

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* Hollywood Slams Electronic Frontier Foundation - The Saga Continues

Amicus Brief supports public interest litigation; Court hearing on 
Tue October 15, 2002

The next stage in EFF's ongoing battle to gain access to critical 
documents in a case involving the rights of five ReplayTV owners 
takes place next Tuesday at a court hearing in Los Angeles. 

Last week Effector reported that EFF had filed court papers opposing 
an attempt by Hollywood entertainment companies to prevent EFF 
attorneys from accessing documents which EFF believes are important 
to preparing the five ReplayTV owners' case. 

The Stanford Law School Center for Internet and Society and seven 
other public interest groups wrote an amicus brief in support of EFF 
this week. The amicus parties, which include S.C.I.S., Earthjustice, 
the Electronic Privacy Information Center, the First Amendment 
Project, Privacyactivism and Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, expressed 
strong concern that the order being sought by the entertainment 
companies in this case would have significant detrimental 
implications for public interest litigation and advocacy 
organizations across the political spectrum. The amicus parties also 
argue that denying public interest organization attorneys access to 
discovery documents raises serious First Amendment issues. Both the 
EFF and the entertainment companies have also filed supplemental 
papers, including declarations from four of the ReplayTV owners 
represented by EFF and the Rothken Law Firm. 

The court hearing is scheduled for 9:00am PDT on October 15, 2002, 
before Magistrate Judge Charles F. Eick in the Central District of 
California, Court Room 20, 3rd Floor, 312 N. Spring Street, Los 
Angeles. EFF supporters in L.A. are encouraged to attend in 
appropriate court attire. 

Links:
Directions to the court:
http://www.cacd.uscourts.gov/cacd/ 

EFF and Entertainment Companies' Supplemental Memoranda:
http://www.eff.org/IP/Video/Newmark_v_Turner/#files 

Amicus Brief:
http://www.eff.org/Cases/Newmark_v_Turner/20021009_eff_amicus.html 

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* EFF Partners With Anonymizer

Anonymizer allows web surfers to use the Internet, you guessed it, 
anonymously. Using full-time SSL along with a number of innovative 
features, Anonymizer protects you from almost all conceivable 
monitoring while you surf the Internet. EFF members (new and current) 
are invited to try Anonymizer for free. If you are already an EFF 
member, just click on the URL below, enter in your email address, and 
you will be sent an email with instructions for setting up your free 
trial. If you are not already an EFF member, join today! 

Links:

Current members:
http://www.eff.org/support/anonymizer-trial.html 

Join EFF!:
http://www.eff.org/perl/join 

-=end=-----------------------------------------------------------


* Deep Links
Deep Links features noteworthy news items, victories, and threats 
from around the Internet. 

Robbing the Future
Dan Bricklin, co-inventor of Visicalc, discusses how DRM will "break 
the chain" of archival techniques that has existed for thousands of 
years.
http://www.bricklin.com/robfuture.htm 

Tuning Out the Customer
Fortune.com's David Kirkpatrick on how the media industry's defensive 
posture on digital piracy is damaging their long-term interests.
http://www.fortune.com/articles/209792.html 

You've Got Dissent!
Chinese dissident use of the Internet and Beijing's counter-
strategies.
http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR1543/ 

-=end=-----------------------------------------------------------


* Administrivia

EFFector is published by: 

The Electronic Frontier Foundation
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 http://www.eff.org/ 

Editor:
Ren Bucholz, Activist
 ren@eff.org 

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