Following is my Request To Testify before the Library of Congress regarding exceptions to the DMCA's prohibitions on circumvention (and also an explanation of what I mean).
As per the Notice of Public Hearings of March 20, 2003, I am requesting
the opportunity to testify before the LOC regarding exceptions to
circumvention restrictions.
NAME: Philip Gengler
ORGANIZATION: None (representing myself)
CONTACT INFORMATION:
EMAIL: pgengler@stevens-tech.edu
DAYTIME PHONE: (212) 948-2670
EVENING PHONE: (201) 659-9763
MAILING ADDRESS:
903 Castle Point Terrace
Hoboken, NJ 07030
PERMANENT ADDRESS:
3 Catawba Drive
Hamilton, NJ 08690
CLASSES OF WORKS: The playback and/or use of protected red-book audio CDs,
media files, and DVDs on non-mainstream computer operating systems and
platforms.
SUMMARY: Increasingly, copyrighted works distributed on CD or DVD, or as a
digital download, require to a special player or viewer to access. In
almost all cases, this player or viewer is only made available for the
Microsoft Windows operating system, with Apple's MacOS being supported
to a lesser extent. These are not the only operating systems, however,
and alternatives such as Linux are gaining popularity. Users of these
alternative systems are without a legal way to access a work they have
obtained legally. An exemption should be added to allow these users
access to works of this class.
A/V MATERIAL: None
DESIRED LOCATION: Washington, DC
PREFERRED DATE: Any
Thank you,
Philip Gengler
Ok, now for some explanation of what this means and why I'm doing it.
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), among other things, prohibits circumvention of an access control technology protecting any work. It also provides for the Library Of Congress to consider and implement any exceptions to this prohibition.
Beginning last November, the LOC allowed submission of written comments in favor of or opposed to exceptions. Following was a period of accepting reply comments, ending last month. Finally, on March 20, the LOC began accepting requests to provide testimony on the subject.
The particular class of work I wish to address is playback of copy-protected CDs, DVDs, and media files (like MP3s) on operating systems that an authorized player is not provided for (Linux being my example). I feel that an exception should be added to allow Linux users (and users of other OSs) to gain access to a work they paid for and obtained legally. Currently, gaining access requires prohibited tools, like DeCSS, which cannot legally be distributed in the US.
The hearings are being held in Washington, DC on April 11, April 15, April 30, and May 2. I will update when I have received a response (by April 4).