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Public Hearing for MA ''State-Level DMCA''
Posted by Paul Szynol on Monday, March 31 @ 01:36:02 EST
Contributed by DavidCarroll
Digital Millennium Copyright Act
DavidCarroll writes "The Massachusetts House will be holding hearings for its version of a supposed "State-Level DMCA" on 2 April 2003 at 10 AM. Details here. All members of the public are welcome to attend and speak.

Text (possibly preliminary?) of the bill, House Bill No. 2743, can be downloaded here. Pre-existing versions of the statues being modified are here and here.

My State Representative provided the following instructions for attending these hearings:
The purpose of a committee public hearing is to receive testimony from anyone who wishes to weigh in on a bill. You are welcome and encouraged to attend.

The Committee will be hearing testimony on a number of bills. The usual procedure is to sign in as you enter, and wait to be called forward. You will be asked to keep your remarks brief. If you have written testimony you should give copies to the Committee, and it is preferable that you not read your statement but summarize your argument. Bills are discussed in order by bill number, so you may have to wait awhile before speaking. It is usually difficult to predict exactly when you will speak.

The entrances that are open at the State House are Beacon Street near the Hooker statue, Bowdoin Street, and Derne Street (rear of building). You will be required to go through security screening/metal detector. Room 222 is on the 2nd floor of the building.
General information on public hearings for Massachusetts bills is here. Check here for schedule updates. "
 
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Re: Public Hearing for MA ''State-Level DMCA'' (Score: 0)
by Anonymous on Tuesday, April 01 @ 09:26:53 EST
Don't these Super-DMCA's violate dormant commerce? They substantially interfere with interstate telecommunications standards to make international--let alone interstate--communications technologies otherwise legal illegal if received in certain states.

While the courts have been lax in applying 1st amendment standards to the DMCA even though it outside the "traditional boundaries" of copyright protection, I doubt that courts would be as lax against state super DMCAs that make virtually every company, every consumer broadband user, and a large percentage of internet communications illegal.

If there was any doubt about the dormant commerce problem, I'll just note that all the states had to do was increase penalties or create a separate crime for commiting a crime using anonymous or masked telecommunications. That would be less of a commerce clause problem, meet the state's needs, and allow legitimate interstate telecommunications over IP to continue.

-anonymous


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