ALAWON: American Library Association Washington Office Newsline Volume 11, Number 80 October 3, 2002 In This Issue: URGENT ACTION NEEDED: Call Representatives to co-sponsor fair use legislation Today, Representatives Rick Boucher (D-Va.) and John Doolittle (R-CA.)introduced legislation that reaffirms fair use in the digital environment. The "Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act" (DMCRA) proposes three key changes to sections of the flawed Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. These changes would: *Bar the anti-circumvention provision of Section 1201 and only prosecute those individuals with intent to infringe as in the rest of the copyright law; *Not criminalize anti-circumvention tools when the tools have substantial non-infringing uses; and *Broaden allowances for anti-circumvention research. DMCRA focuses on many concerns of consumers and may not seem directly related to library activities and library copyright exemptions. However, this bill is a necessary first step to recognizing the rights of copyright users. In addition, broad support of DMCRA will put a damper on other legislation aimed at regulating digital technology and mandating restrictive anti-copying technologies. Please call or write your Representative today and ask him or her to co-sponsor this bill. Let your Representative know that the copyright balance - protecting the interests of copyright holders and the public - must be restored. Your help is critical to permit non-infringing uses in the digital environment and to allow scientific researchers the freedom to conduct research on technology without the threat of litigation. Another "ray of hope" in the copyright legislative arena: Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA.), a long supporter of libraries, has introduced H.R 5522, the "Digital Choice and Freedom Act of 2002" signaling to Congress that copyright law must be recalibrated to restore consumer and public rights. We very much appreciate Rep. Lofgren's strong interest in copyright and look forward to working with her and other members of Congress on these very important issues. ****** ALAWON (ISSN 1069-7799) is a free, irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office. All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. To subscribe to ALAWON, send the message: subscribe ala-wo [your_firstname] [your_lastname] to listproc@ala.org or go to http://www.ala.org/washoff/alawon. To unsubscribe to ALAWON, send the message: unsubscribe ala-wo to listproc@ala.org. ALAWON archives at http://www.ala.org/washoff/alawon. ALA Washington Office, 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Suite 403, Washington, D.C. 20004-1701; phone: 202.628.8410 or 800.941.8478 toll-free; fax: 202.628.8419; e-mail: alawash@alawash.org; Web site: http://www.ala.org/washoff. Executive Director: Emily Sheketoff. Office of Government Relations: Lynne Bradley, Director; Camille Bowman, Mary Costabile, Don Essex, Patrice McDermott and Miriam Nisbet. Office for Information Technology Policy: Rick Weingarten, Director; Jennifer Hendrix, Carrie Russell, Claudette Tennant. ALAWON Editor: Bernadette Murphy.