David Mercer
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01-22-2003 03:20 AM ET (US)
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This is the point the former VP of my former (fucked) company said would never come, going after individual P2P users. I opined that it would only be a matter of time, under the DMCA. I prevailed, and our (socially unfriendly, legally ass-covering) corporate policy for Napster et. al. became "leech only", as we didn't want to get sued when the storm clouds arrived.
Well, the clouds are here, and it's one time I really hate having been right. But there is hope, as the DMCA vastly alters the 'shape' of copyright law (Supreme Courts' term from the Eldred majority decision), as opposed to the just-upheld Bona Act, which merely alters its scope in time.
So, some bits in Eldred could be used to challenge the DMCA in a future test case (this one could be it, if argued correctly...individual consumers without financial gain haven't been liable for incidental copying ever before in the US...this is 'structurally' the same as a friend copying a tape, which the usual suspects hated, but no one ever was liable for.
I for one wouldn't mind an extension of copyright a BIT if P2P sharing was deemed legal!!
Lets take THAT message to Disney!
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