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Digital Rights
Personal data is not the only thing protected on the Internet. Digital works, including text, movies, music and art are copyrighted and protected via the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The DMCA offers a number of protections for information published to the Internet, as well as other forms of electronic information. Among its many provisions, the DMCA
- Limits Internet service providers from copyright infringement liability for simply transmitting information over the Internet. However, service providers, are expected to, upon notification, remove material from its web sites that appear to constitute copyright infringement.
- Limits liability of non-profit education institutions for copyright infringement by faculty members or graduate students.
- Makes it a crime to circumvent anti-piracy measures built into most commercial software. However, reverse engineering of copyright protection devices, is permitted to conduct encryption research, assess product interoperability, and test computer security systems.
- Provides exemptions from anti-circumvention provisions for non-profit libraries, archives, and educational institutions solely for the purpose of making a good faith determination as to whether they wish to obtain authorized access to the work.
- Outlaws the manufacture, sale, or distribution of devices used to illegally copy software.
- Requires that "webcasters" pay licensing fees to record companies.
Visit the Patents, Trademarks and Copyright page for more information on copyright and other forms of intellectual property.
