After previous bills to amend the DMCA had failed, a new bill to amend the DMCA targeted at protecting fair use rights for consumers is a cut down version of earlier attempts. This bill is titled the Freedom and Innovation Revitalizing U.S. Entrepreneurship (Fair Use) Act. While the bill does not does allow consumers to circumvent copy protection measures to backup discs, it opens six narrow exceptions to the DMCA's total ban on any tampering of any digital access control. A few exceptions include allowing the consumer to circumvent an audiovisual lock to skip content (such as commercials), ensure librarians can circumvent any locks to allow copying to protect their content and limit damages against individuals & firms that have been found to have been found directly or indirectly involved in copyright infringement.
As pretty much expected the RIAA is opposing this bill claiming it will allow electronics companies to encourage others to break the law for profit and that the bill effectively legalises hacking. Even though the new bill is specifically targeted at non-infringing use, the RIAA also mentions that it is impossible to differentiate between hacking for non-infringing use and hacking to steal. The Consumer Electronics Association is backing the bill as it gives protection to consumers, educational use and libraries.
The main problem with the DMCA at present is that it helps protect copyright holders at the expensive of taking away consumer's fair-use rights. For example, while consumers in the US are able to bypass the commercials and or any other personally objectional content, they are not allowed to tamper with content restrictions in order to give them this ability.
