The FAIR USE Act: Anything But Fair to Consumers, Innovators, Trade - IPI

According to a forthcoming study from the Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI), written by Lee A. Hollaar, Boucher's bill "has little to do with 'freedom,' 'innovation,' 'revitalizing entrepreneurship,' or even 'fair use.'"

Hollaar points out the bill protects a special interest group -- the consumer electronics industry -- by blocking statutory damages for those found contributing to piracy, actively inducing others to pirate, or benefiting from piracy under their control. Unfortunately, shielding companies which create piracy-inducing software would leave only consumers to take the heat.

"The solution is not to give the consumer electronics industry a free pass and continue the potentially-draconian penalties for their customers," said Hollaar. "That would be especially reprehensible in the case of some 'file-sharing' systems that may be tricking users into sharing a vast number of files, so that the users' statutory damage liability can bankrupt them."

The bill also ignores the Supreme Court's Grokster decision, in which the Court unanimously recognized inducement liability as a form of secondary copyright infringement. By leaving out this precedent, H.R 1201 would grant yet another free ride to companies contributing to or inducing copyright infringement.

Furthermore, the bill compromises U.S. trade treaties, such as CAFTA, by making permanent several anti-circumvention exemptions in violation of the treaties' carefully crafted intellectual property protections beneficial to electronic commerce. Should the bill be approved by Congress, losing such vital protections would harm U.S. innovators and entrepreneurs.

The risk is clear: H.R. 1201 is just the latest of Boucher's misleading bills attempting to covertly repeal provisions outlined not just in the DMCA, but also established by Supreme Court decision and international trade treaties.

"Changes to the DMCA, and other copyright provisions, should be made carefully so as not to cause future problems just to give backers of the bill a free ride from liability for their help with copyright infringement," concluded Hollaar.

The Institute for Policy Innovation is a national, non-profit public policy organization based inDallas, TX. IPI experts are available for interview by contacting Erin Humiston at (972) 874-5139 or erin@ipi.org.

SOURCE Institute for Policy Innovation

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