P2P-Zone - Finally, A Good Reason to Vote For Kerry*

*as opposed to just voting against Bush.

Quote:

Inalienable right to make backups

Kerry's campaign said the senator might support rewriting U.S. copyright law to let Americans make backup copies of digital media they've purchased.

Pay attention, folks: In the tech world, this maybe-or-maybe-not pusillanimity counts as headline-grabbing news. Right now, under the DMCA, it's unlawful to make a backup copy of copy-protected DVDs or computer programs. The 1998 DMCA broadly bans "circumventing" anticopying schemes, and selling software that can do so is a criminal offense.

Kerry's survey response said he is "open to examining" whether to change current law "to ensure that a person who lawfully obtains or receives a transmission of a digital work may back up a copy of it for archival purposes" or transfer it to another device. CompTIA's open-ended question had merely asked "What should federal policy be toward protecting intellectual property on the Internet?"--without mentioning backup copies.

This is no theoretical debate. 321 Studios was forced to shut its doors in August, after a federal judge blocked the small company from selling its DVD backup software. 321 Studios' utility, the judge said, ran afoul of the DMCA's anticircumvention restrictions.

Kerry's answer appears to be a tentative attempt to side with consumers and electronics makers over the entertainment industry--a rare display of political independence by a prominent Democrat. (Hollywood firms hand money to Democrats over Republicans by a 2-to-1 margin.)

in other words, Kerry is willing to revisit the DMCA - Bush, on the other hand will defend the DMCA at any cost.

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5425019.html