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121 lines
5.3 KiB
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<title>FSF Europe - EUCD - Copyright extensions that harm</title>
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<body>
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<p class="postit">
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Meanwhile, the EUCD has been implemented in all EU member countries.
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These pages are kept for archiving purposes.
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</p>
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<h1>EUCD - Copyright extensions that harm</h1>
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<p>
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In December 1996 in Geneve the WIPO Copyright Treaty was signed by
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most, if not all, developed countries. By signing this treaty these
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countries compromised themselves to give away the right to use a
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copyrighted work in favour of protection of electronic protections,
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independently of their effectiveness.
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</p>
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<p>
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Today we are starting to see the effects of this kind of
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legislation. The U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and
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the European Union Copyright Directive (EUCD) pass the WIPO treaty
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into effective law. This page is about the effects of this kind of
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legislation and related resources.
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</p>
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<p>
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The risks of this kind of legislation are:
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</p>
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<ul>
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<li>
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<strong>Monopolies on file formats</strong> - This is the issue that
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is worrying libraries. The ability to effectively control a file
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format means that each e-book format will have its own reader and it
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will only be readable by that company's reader. Maintaining access
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to all the different kinds of readers throughout decades needs the
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kind of personnel and technological ability that libraries can't
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afford right now, not to mention the cost of e-book readers that
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they'll need to have to give access to the library's users.
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</li>
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<li>
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<strong>Interoperability</strong> - If you can't use and share tools
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to analyze protocols, because they can be used to circumvent
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ineffective technological measures, then it's not possible to put
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two systems working together unless both vendors publish information
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on the protocols they use. Knowing the trend of proprietary software
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vendors to trap a client in its systems, this is not a realistic
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scenario.
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</li>
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<li>
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<strong>Insecurity</strong> - In the last years the full disclosure
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movement has made considerable improvements on the whole security of
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computer systems. This was done by forcing vendors to correct the
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vulnerabilities through the publishing of vulnerabilities even if
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they weren't corrected in a limited timeframe. To avoid an image
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problem most vendors started correcting in days what used to take
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months or even years to do. With this legislation a vulnerability
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that allows the circumvention of rights-management information
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cannot be even communicated. This means that full disclosure is not
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an option, and that we all lose its advantages.
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</li>
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<li>
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<strong>Freedom of Speech</strong> - By allowing copyright owners to
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define terms of use and protecting all measures taken by those
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owners to enforce those terms of use can limit rights as basic as
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freedom of speech. The most recent example is Microsoft Frontpage
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2002's latest End-User License Agreement (EULA) that prohibits the
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usage of the software to create sites that criticise Microsoft or
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any of its subsidiaries.
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</li>
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</ul>
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<h2>Legislation</h2>
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<p>
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The pieces of legislation that follow the letter of the <a
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href="http://www.wipo.int/clea/docs/en/wo/wo033en.htm">WIPO Copyright
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Treaty</a> are:
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</p>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="http://www.loc.gov/copyright/legislation/dmca.pdf">Digital Millennium Copyrigth Act</a> (USA)</li>
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<li><a href="http://europa.eu.int/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexapi!prod!CELEXnumdoc&lg=EN&numdoc=32001L0029&model=guichett">European Union Copyright Directive</a> (EU)</li>
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<li><a href="http://www.ag.gov.au/publications/copyfactsheet/copyfactsheet.html">Copyright Amendment (Digital Agenda) Act 2000</a> (AU)</li>
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</ul>
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<h2>Legislation Analysis</h2>
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<p>
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This legislation as already been analyzed by law professors, experts
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and others. Following is a sample of those analysis:
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</p>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="http://www.ivir.nl/publications/hugenholtz/opinion-EIPR.html">An analysis by a dutch pofessor of law</a>.</li>
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<li><a href="eucd-fs.html">Copyright Extensions threaten Free Software in Europe</a></li>
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</ul>
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<h2>Organisations against Copyright Extensions</h2>
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<p>
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Some organisations have understood the impact of this kind of
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legislation and have made statements about it:
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</p>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="http://www.acm.org/usacm/IP/dmca.exemption.htm">Association for Computer Machinery</a></li>
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<li><a href="http://www.eff.org/Legal/active_legal.html">Electronic Frontier Foundation</a></li>
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<li><a href="http://www.eblida.org/topics/position/legaffa.htm">EBLIDA
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Comments on Copyright Directive</a> - European Bureau of Library,
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Information and Documentation Associations, The European Consumers'
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Association, European Association of Consumer Electronics
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Manufacturers, European Blind Union, European Disability Forum,
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International League of Societies for Persons with Mental Handicap -
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European Association
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</li>
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</ul>
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