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Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act



Those concerned about the digital preservation implications of legally mandated digital rights
management technology may want to find out more about the recently introduced Consumer Broadband and
Digital Television Promotion Act:
http://politechbot.com/docs/cbdtpa/

For an article on the CBDTPA, check out:
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,51245,00.html

According to the article, the bill "prohibits the sale or distribution of nearly any kind of
electronic device -- unless that device includes copy-protection standards to be set by the federal
government."

According to Senator Fritz Hollings, "any device that can legitimately play, copy or electronically
transmit one or more categories of media also can be misused for illegal copyright infringement,
unless special protection technologies are incorporated."

It would seem that software implementing the standard would have to be open-source, but that the
hardware implementing it could be proprietary.

=========================================================
 Cal Lee
 University of Michigan
 School of Information
 Phone: 734-647-0505
 http://www-personal.si.umich.edu/~calz/
 "The boundary is the best place for acquiring knowledge."
                                      - Paul Tillich, 1930

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