Problems of Copyright Management and Control Technologies Profiling and Data Mining At their most basic copyright management and control technologies might simply be used to provide pricing information, negotiate the purchase transaction, and release a copy of a work for downloading to the customer's computer. Still, from a technological point of view, such systems also have the capacity to be employed for digital monitoring. Copyright owners could for example use the transaction records generated by their copyright management systems to learn more about their customers. Profiles, in their crudest form consisting of basic demographic information, about the purchasers of copyrighted material might be created. Moreover copyright owners could use search agents or complex data mining techniques to gather more information about their customers that could either be used to market other works or being sold to third parties. Fair Use Through the widespread use of copyright management and control systems the balance of control could excessively be shifted in favor of the owners of intellectual property. The currently by copyright law supported practice of fair use might potentially be restricted or even eliminated. While information in analogue form can easily be reproduced, the protection of digital works through copyright management systems might complicate or make impossible the copying of material for purposes, which are explicitly exempt under the doctrine of fair use. Provisions concerning technological protection measures and fair use are stated in the DMCA, which provides that "Since copying of a work may be a fair use under appropriate circumstances, section 1201 does not prohibit the act of circumventing a technological measure that prevents copying. By contrast, since the fair use doctrine is not a defense e to the act of gaining unauthorized access to a work, the act of circumventing a technological measure in order to gain access is prohibited." Also the proposed EU Directive on copyright and related rights in the information society contains similar clauses. It distinguishes between the circumvention of technical protection systems for lawful purposes (fair use) and the circumvention to infringe copyright. Yet besides a still existing lack of legal clarity also very practical problems arise. Even if the circumvention of technological protection measures under fair use is allowed, how will an average user without specialized technological know-how be able to gain access or make a copy of a work? Will the producers of copyright management and control systems provide fair use versions that permit the reproduction of copyrighted material? Or will users only be able to access and copy works if they hold a digital "fair use license" ("fair use licenses" have been proposed by Mark Stefik, whereby holders of such licenses could exercise some limited "permissions" to use a digital work without a fee)?

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Recent "Digital Copyright" Legislation: European Union Directive on Copyright and Related Rights in the Information Society In November 1996 the European Commission adopted a communication concerning the follow-up to the Green Paper on copyright and related rights in the information society. The proposed Directive aims at transposing into Community law the main international obligations arising from the two treaties on copyright and related rights adopted within the framework of the WIPO in December 1996 (WIPO Performances and Phonogram Treaty and WIPO Copyright Treaty). It applies to provisions relating to: - the legal protection of computer programs - rental right, lending right and certain rights related to copyright in the field of intellectual property - copyright and related rights applicable to broadcasting of programs by satellite and cable retransmission - the term of protection of copyright and certain related rights - the legal protection of databases The proposal was first presented by the Commission in January 1998, amended in May 1999 and currently is at second reading before the Parliament. Final adoption of the Directive could take place at the end of 2000 or the beginning of 2001 respectively. A full-text version for download (pdf file) of the amended proposal for a Directive on copyright and related rights in the Information Society is available on the website of the European Commission (DG Internal Market): http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/en/intprop/intprop/docs/index.htm General critique concerning the proposed EU Directive includes: - Open networks The new law could require (technological) surveillance of communications to ensure enforcement. Also because Service Providers might be legally liable for transmitting unauthorized copies, the might in turn have to deny access to anybody who could not provide them with financial guaranties or insurance. - Interoperable systems The draft could negate the already established right in EU law for software firms to make their systems interoperable with the dominant copyright protected systems. This would be a threat to the democratic and economic rights of users. - Publicly available information It is yet unclear whether new legal protections against the bypassing of conditional access technology apply only for content with an exclusive right. If the content is already in the public domain, then there can be no possible violation of copyright law just from gaining access to it. Comments from the library, archives and documentation community on the amended Directive embrace: The Library Association http://www.la-hq.org.uk/directory/prof_issues/dcrris2.html EBLIDA (European Bureau of Library, Information and Documentation Associations) http://www.eblida.org/lobby/position/ampos2fi.htm Society of Archivists (U.K.) and Public Record Office (U.K.) http://www.pro.gov.uk/about/copyright/copyrightdraft.htm EFPICC (European Fair Practices In Copyright Campaign) http://www.eblida.org/efpicc/comments.htm

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Mass production The term mass production refers to the application of the principles of specialization, division of labor, and standardization of parts to the manufacture of goods. The use of modern methods of mass production has brought such improvements in the cost, quality, quantity, and variety of goods available that the largest global population in history is now sustained at the highest general standard of living. A moving conveyor belt installed in a Dearborn, Michigan, automobile plant in 1913 cut the time required to produce flywheel magnetos from 18 minutes to 5 and was the first instance of the use of modern integrated mass production techniques.

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Viacom One of the largest and foremost communications and media conglomerates in the world. Founded in 1971, the present form of the corporation dates from 1994 when Viacom Inc., which owned radio and television stations and cable television programming services and systems, acquired the entertainment and publishing giant Paramount Communications Inc. and then merged with the video and music retailer Blockbuster Entertainment Corp. Headquarters are in New York City.

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