If you were wondering whether the RIAA might concede the mild reforms to the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) proposed in yesterday's FAIR USE act, introduced by Reps. Rick Boucher (D-Viginia) and John Doolittle (R-California), so as to head off notions of more sweeping reform, think again. They've come out guns blazing, describing it as "kneecapping" copyright laws that "enable consumers to enjoy creative works."
That they've opted for a "no concessions whatsoever" strategy is understandable: they're an entrenched cartel that's managed to acquire an absurdly favorable legal and political landscape, and they're not going to let a single leak appear in the dam if they can stop it. It's the way they cast everything they do as being for the consumer's benefit, when they are in fact focused heavily on suing consumers, and on using the DMCA to preventing them from exercising explicitly enumerated fair use rights, that makes them so icky.
The big picture they don't see, thankfully, is that unenforceable, outrageous laws are a better deal for the free movement of culture than more sensible and enforceable restrictions. The more silly it gets, the less people will even pretend to nod along with the more reasonable arguments ("We're the artists' paycheck; we have a right to do business; piracy is always wrong.") that allow the RIAA's unscrupulous behavior to pass muster. If we're going to see it in terms of manifestos and revolutions, milquetoast legislation like FAIR USE would barely be a beginning anyway.
RIAA slams FAIR USE Act [Ars Technica]
