Finally, A Good Reason to Vote For Kerry*

[theknife]

*as opposed to just voting against Bush.

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

[Mazer]

Copyright law isn't a presidential election issue just yet. Kerry might be willing to change the DMCA, though he has made no pledge to do so and may infact decide to leave it alone.