News and Reviews....

    HRRC FIGHTS H.R 2517   October  2003

 By Robert Lieto

In a recent article I read how the HOME RECORDING RIGHTS COALITION (HRRC) submitted a written statement to the House Judiciary sub-committee opposing H.R. 2517, a bill that would allow the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to in their words, "deter" all unauthorized home recordings made by consumers from Web-based files.

The statement by the HRRC said that the bill would be detrimental to the growth of consumer electronics, if it was not amended. H.R. 2517 would take several steps to engage our criminal, law enforcement, and border processes in areas that may intrude into ordinary consumer conduct. To do so would be just as short sighted as it would have been to outlaw consumer tape recorders in 1984.

The written statement also touched upon a number of other points, including:

1. The FBI shouldn't be involved in collecting consumer information, and federal law prohibits this activity, except when there is a search warrant issued. The HRRC also says that even if the FBI were to issue a warning, it too would be unconstitutional.
2. The bill would direct FBI resources to find hackers, despite the fact that most commercial piracy does not involve hacking. Also, disseminating private-sector security information to law enforcement authorities would compromise digital rights management (DRM) systems, rather than making them more secure.
3. H.R. 2517 could institute a potential conflict of interest by requiring the attorney general to get involved in copyright education, when the attorney general's office also has the responsibility of being a court advocate.

Comment .....    One of the interesting aspects of the article is that a REQUEST Multimedia FUSION PRO 250 was pictured. It is one of our "PRODUCT SHOWCASE" components and a new product to consumer electronics, which has won many awards since it's introduction in 2002. It has the ability to link to your computer which could download music, and then be loaded into the REQUEST with a click of the mouse without changing your seat. That music could be transferred to a vacation house with a second click of the mouse. Oh, wait.... was that a FBI man I see outside my window?

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