FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, March 22, 2002
Contact: Mark Blafkin
(202) 331-2130 x104; mblafkin@ACTonline.org


Hollings' Digital Rights Management Bill Is "Wrongheaded"

Washington, DC – In response to the most recent draft of digital
rights management legislation from Senator Hollings, the Consumer
Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act (CBDTPA), Association
for Competitive Technology (ACT) President Jonathan Zuck issued the
following statement:

“Senator Hollings’ bill is simply wrongheaded.  It’s no
secret that the federal government has difficulties creating standards
for cutting-edge technology.  I’m disappointed that some content
owners would to push for government interference in a process best
handled by the market.  It seems that the bill would be more
accurately titled the ‘Content Owners Market Promotion Act.'"

"This bill’s artificial timeframe for development of rights
management standards undermines our incentive to create the best
products that will provide secure content to consumers.  It makes no
sense to have the government supplant the efforts of the IT industry
and device manufacturers in this space.  We are in the best position
to create the products that meet the copyright needs of content
providers.”
  
ACT is a national education and advocacy group for the technology
industry.  Representing mostly small- and mid-size companies, ACT is
the industry’s strongest voice when it comes to preserving
competition and innovation in the high tech sector.  ACT’s
membership includes businesses involved in all aspects of the IT
sector including computer software and hardware development, IT
consulting and training, and e-businesses.

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