Biden, Hatch seek to exempt ISPs from piracy liability

Online sharing & "piracy"
Biden, Hatch seek to exempt ISPs from piracy liability
By Newshare staff
Jul 18, 2002, 07:23

Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. told Congressional Quarterly that he is working on a bipartisan amendment to S.B. 2395 with Sen. Orrin G. Hatch that would prevent Internet service providers such as America Online from being held responsible for transmitting illegal copies of hit songs on the Internet.

Biden has been focused on the general issue of piracy in the music, entertainment and software industries for months. On Feb. 12, his office released a study,Theft of American Intellectual Property: Fighting Crime at home and abroad. The report was released on the eve of a hearing by the Senate Foreign Relations Committtee, which Biden chairs, on IP piracy.

The Senate's official non-partisan summary of the measure says it amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit trafficking in an "illicit authentication feature." It defines that term to mean an authentication feature that: (1) without the authorization of the respective copyright owner, has been tampered with or altered so as to facilitate the reproduction or distribution of a phono-record, a copy of a computer program, a copy of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, or documentation or packaging, in violation of the rights of the copyright owner; (2) is genuine, but has been distributed, or is intended for distribution, without the authorization of the respective copyright owner; or (3) appears to be genuine but is not.

It authorizes a copyright owner who is injured by a violation of this Act or is threatened with injury to bring a civil action in an appropriate U.S. district court. Sets forth remedies for violations.

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