WASHINGTON-Differences over liability continue to slow digital copyright legislation in Congress, keeping wireless and wireline carriers in limbo about whether they will be held accountable for unintentionally transmitting unauthorized copyrighted material.
The bill is not a high priority for the wireless telecommunications industry, despite the prospect that content is expected to play a bigger role in coming years as wireless carriers make information services a key component of their marketing mix on digital networks.
The increase in spectrum for new narrowband and broadband personal communications services licenses is expected to put pressure on carriers to find creative ways to fill up channel capacity .
The law is not entirely clear on copyright violation. One court case has held that carriers are not liable, but lawmakers want a comprehensive federal policy on digital copyright.
In the House, Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) is overseeing negotiations among various interests in connection with a bill co-sponsored by Reps. Carlos Moorhead (R-Calif.) and Pat Schroeder (D-Colo.).
“Some progress has been made during negotiations,” said Larry Clinton, a lobbyist for the United States Telephone Association who’s been closely involved in those talks.
Clinton said copyright holders rejected a compromise whereby carriers would remove unauthorized copyrighted material when notified of its existence in exchange for copyright holders’ agreeing not to sue service providers.
Copyright holders want carriers to be responsible for detecting illegally copyrighted information and want to retain the right to take legal action against carriers, among others.
More negotiations on the House bill are scheduled early this week. USTR said it will not support the bill until the liability issue is resolved.
“Appropriate copyright reform is a necessary next step to ensure that information actually reaches our nation’s homes, schools and libraries,” said USTR President Roy Neel in a letter written to Reps. Moorhead and Schroeder earlier this year.
Small and rural firms, according to the trade group, “may be reluctant to offer new information services if they are liable for copyright violations that they are neither knowledgeable of or participating in.”
Lawmakers in the House would like to markup the bill May 15 in the Judiciary subcommittee on courts and intellectual property subcommittee.
The Senate, in the meantime, has been monitoring the House digital copyright bill.
The Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing tomorrow on a bill co-authorized by panel chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), a ranking minority member.
Penalties for violations of digital copyright include up to a $500,000 fine and a five-year prison sentence.
