« be back soon.... | Main | news "magazines" publish patent nonsense as well »
April 27, 2005
congress is washing your DVD's mouth out with soap
President Bush signed into law a bill (S. 167 and H.R. 357 entitled the Family Entertainment and Copyright Act of 2005) that is intended to protect technology (and especially the companies which have developed and employ the technology) which strips DVDs of material deemed offensive by parents.
Both sides of the issue, pro and con, have weighed in on this legislation and I doubt that this is the end of the battle. How the courts reconcile this legislation with the current copyright laws and free speech guarantees will be interesting.
My take: more special interest legislation run amok.
Posted by Douglas Sorocco at 05:55 PM.
Permalink: congress is washing your DVD's mouth out with soap
| Comments (2)
| Sphere: Related Content
Sheesh. Next thing you'll be telling me is that I don't have the right to use the FFWD button to skip through the boring parts of movies. Better yet, how is that any different than skipping commercials with a DVR (TiVo)?
Posted by: Nipper at April 27, 2005 07:33 PM
There is definitely more to FECA than just the so-called ClearPlay legislation you mentioned here, though.
I'd also note that the Family Movie Act seems to cover more than just ClearPlay. It doesn't "legalize censorship" as some have made it out to be. It specifically talks about "making imperceptible" a portion of a copyrighted work you have legally obtained. It's plausible to make the argument that this would include commercial skipping. Some have argued that this wouldn't be included because the commercials are copyrighted materials themselves and thus you wouldn't be skipping "limited portions", but I have a hard time buying that - since when can't you skip an ENTIRE copyright work?
Posted by: Tim Marman at April 28, 2005 07:57 PM
