Webcaster Alliance fights Copyright Enforcement Act of 2003

The Webcaster Alliance went public on Friday with its opposition to legislation that would expand the Recording Industry Association of America's (RIAA) antitrust exemption.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch has introduced the Enhancing Federal Obscenity Reporting and Copyright Enforcement Act of 2003 (the EnFORCE Act). The bill wraps itself in a thin veil that it will protect children from exploitation by porn. Yet it also expands the RIAA's power by broadening the narrow antitrust exemption the RIAA currently enjoys to cover all compulsory mechanical licenses under section 115 of the Copyright Act.

"A Federal Judge recently approved a $ 143 million settlement in the CD price-fixing case that was brought against the RIAA's Big 5 record label members," Ann Gabriel, President of Webcaster Alliance said, "Yet here they are attaching additional language to expand their antitrust exemptions to a bill they know most legislators would have a hard time opposing, since it deals with the exploitation of children. This is so typical of the RIAA and their manipulative, smoke and mirrors tactics." Ms. Gabriel said, "Since the initial antitrust exemption was enacted more than eight years ago, the RIAA has done nothing but stifle, legislate against, and prosecute technical innovation in an attempt to secure obscene profit margins for their members at the expense of the consumer. With so little to show from an exemption that has been in place since 1995, why should legislators believe the answers to the RIAA's problems will somehow be solved by expanding the existing antitrust exemptions?"

In recent ramblings to Variety.com (registration required) by RIAA president Chairman/CEO Mitch Bainwol, he states that a growing public awareness of music copyright laws may lead to a deeper acceptance of paying fines for downloading music illegally. "At some point I think [the lawsuits] will become like parking or speeding tickets," Bainwol told Variety. "If you drive over the limit, you understand that you're running the risk of getting caught."

I beg to differ Mr. Brainwol, the public doesn't accept these sort of actions. But due to a sick interpetation of an antiquated law and an unconcerned Senate, we the public are powerless to do anything.

These are the same entities that stand by while a 79 year-old retiree who was issued a subpoena by the RIAA, had to write a handwritten note to a federal judge stating that he does not own a computer nor can he operate one. He wasn't driving Mr. Brainwol, yet he is still in court defending himself. 

Source: Music Industry News