WASHINGTON -- Napster shouldn't expect any help from Congress anytime soon.
The chairman of the House Judiciary committee, which oversees copyright law, said Wednesday that any legislation that could help the increasingly embattled firm will wait until after the U.S. Supreme Court rules.
"I don't think we should intervene in that case," Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wisconsin) said at a Digital Media Association conference in Washington. "Unless there is a Supreme Court decision or if certiorari is denied."
Sensenbrenner was talking about the ongoing lawsuit against Napster brought by the recording industry. Legal experts are increasingly pessimistic about Napster's fate at the hands of the federal courts, which is one reason Napster is trying to rally thousands of users to show up at a Senate hearing next week.
Last month's lengthy ruling against Napster from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is based on fine points of copyright law -- such as the Audio Home Recording Act and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act -- and any changes to the law could improve the chances of either the plaintiffs or the defendant.
Depending on what happens next in the appeal process, the Supreme Court could rule on Napster's fate by mid-2002. But an injunction against Napster that requires it to limit the availability of copyrighted songs might drive many users away by then.
Napster has said that it supports some kind of mandatory licensing of songs, but politicians don't seem excited about the prospect of stepping into this high-stakes tussle that has pitted tens of millions of Napsterites against influential and well-funded entertainment lobbyists.
Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Virginia), the co-chair of the Internet Caucus and an ally of content owners, said last month that: "I don't think you're going to see legislation in the Congress."
On Wednesday, though, at least one legislator signaled he'd be willing to consider a more active approach. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-California), who serves on the House Judiciary committee, said at the DiMA conference that Congress should update copyright laws for the Internet.
"It's important that we act in the next two years," Issa said. "It's not the highest priority of the Judiciary committee.... I think it should be, but it's not. The market is broken today. In a digital age we have no new rules different from the old age."
Earlier Wednesday, Napster vice president and lobbyist Manus Cooney lashed out at the recording industry.
"This is not about copyright," Cooney said at a Washington Legal Foundation forum. "It's about market control."
Cooney criticized the Recording Industry Association of America for thwarting consumer demand, saying that "the RIAA and its member companies are quick to promise a rich online environment, but they fail to deliver."
In response to a question about Napster's scheduled testimony before the Senate Judiciary committee next week, Cooney said the company would not ask for new legislation.
"We want it settled," Cooney said, referring to the lawsuit. He said that automatic licensing could free Napster from negotiating with the recording industry.
