US Library of Congress attacked for failing to protect consumers

BOTH THE Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the IP Justice organisation have put pixel to screen to criticise the US Librarian of Congress over a Digital Millennium Copyright Act ruling.

The Librarian issued a ruling creating four exemptions from the DMCA ban for the next three years.

Those are compilations of lists of Internet addresses blocked by filtering software; programs protected by dongles that stop access because they're damaged, broken or obsolete; software or video games that are obsolete; and literary works distributed in E-book format.

But the EFF and IP Justice claim the rulings mean most consumers will still be unable to skip adverts on DVDs, play CDs in their own PCs and reading books on PDAs without violating the contentious DMCA legislation.

This, claim both organisations, is not good enough.

Robin Gross, IP Justice director, said that she found it disappointing that both the US copyright office and the Librarian are relinquishing their power to protect American consumers to "lawfully use their own property". Gross said Congress had intended this when it passed the rulemaking procedures in 1998.

The copyright office ruling is here. µ