IT: How To Win (DMCA) Exemptions And Influence Policy

[Seth Finkelstein]

 Date: Mon, 25 Nov 2002 08:07:11 -0800
 From: Lee Tien
 Subject: guide to DMCA "exemption" process -- 3 weeks left
 To: Law & Policy of Computer Communications

EFF is pleased to present a guide to the DMCA "exemption" process.

http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/finkelstein_on_dmca.html

Under this process, the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress 
must make a triennial inquiry regarding adverse effects of the DMCA's 
prohibition on circumvention on "certain classes of works."

If adverse effects are shown, the office can "exempt certain classes 
of works from the prohibition against circumvention of technological 
measures that control access to copyrighted works."  The exemptions 
only last 3 years.

The author, Seth Finkelstein, is one of the very few people who 
succeeded in arguing for an exemption (for the act of circumventing 
access/copy controls on censorware blacklists) in the last round 
(2000).  [The Copyright Office received many comments and rejected 
the overwhelming majority of them; I think in the end only 2 or 3 
exemptions were created.]

The upcoming round is the next one, for 2003.  "Written comments are 
due by December 18, 2002."

This is about the only part of the DMCA that can mitigate its fell 
sway, so if you have any interest in the topic at all, it's well 
worth reading.

Lee
-- 
**********************************
Lee Tien
Senior Staff Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
454 Shotwell Street
San Francisco, CA  94110
(415) 436-9333 x 102 (tel)
(415) 436-9993 (fax)
tien[at-sign]eff.org