11Oct98 USA: PIQUED REPUBLICANS DELAY DIGITAL COPYRIGHT BILL

11Oct98 USA: PIQUED REPUBLICANS DELAY DIGITAL COPYRIGHT BILL.

By Aaron Pressman

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican lawmakers, outraged that a major high-tech trade group selected a Democrat as its president, have slowed the approval of landmark legislation updating copyright laws for the digital age, congressional staff said on Saturday.

The digital copyright bill, already approved by the Senate, was expected to gain easy approval from the House (of Representatives) this week until former Democratic Representative Dave McCurdy was selected to head up the Electronic Industries Alliance.

That raised hackles among leading Republicans including House majority leader Tom DeLay of Texas. The copyright bill was yanked from the House calendar on Thursday, but is still expected to be approved before Congress adjourns for the year in a few days, staffers said.

"A message is being sent," said one Republican staffer.

Paradoxically, while software makers, movie studios, book publishers and other creators of copyrighted works have pushed hard for the legislation, members of the alliance have not been strong supporters.

The alliance includes major electronics manufacturing trade groups such as the Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association and the Telecommunications Industry Association.

Before selecting McCurdy, who served from 1981 to 1995 in the House representing the fourth district of Oklahoma, the alliance interviewed a number of retiring Republican lawmakers, spokesman Mark Rosenker said.

"I find it hard to believe this is holding up the (copyright) bill," Rosenker said. "This is not solely an EIA measure. This is not even one where we're leading."

If approved by the House, the bill would implement the provisions of two international treaties adopted by the World Intellectual Property Organisation in 1996. The White House has supported the legislation and President Bill Clinton is expected to sign it into law when it reaches his desk.

Creators of copyrighted works feared that as their products increasingly became available on the Internet in digital form, pirates and criminals would be able to easily make and sell illegal copies.

The legislation creates criminal penalties for anyone who circumvents high-tech anti-piracy protections, such as encryption, used to block illegal copying. The bill also forbids the manufacture, import, sale or distribution of devices or services used for circumvention.

A variety of exceptions were also included at the request of libraries, scientists, universities and some manufacturers of consumer electronic devices.

They feared the law would prevent some kinds of research and would unfairly limit "fair use," a central principle of existing copyright law which allows copies to be made for educational and other noncommercial purposes.

The exceptions include allowing circumvention if done for computer security testing, encryption research or limited kinds of computer software development. Internet surfers can also circumvent in limited ways to protect their privacy and parents could circumvent to monitor their children's travels through cyberspace.

Reuters/Variety.