Tech, Consumer Groups Pen Letter in Opposition to DMCA Bill

A bipartisan bill authorizing the government to set mandatory technical measures for online platforms to combat piracy would undermine the balance of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, industry groups, advocates and academics wrote Congress Tuesday. Computer & Communications Industry Association, Public Knowledge, CTA, NetChoice, American Library Association and R Street Institute signed. The Strengthening Measures to Advance Rights Technologies (Smart) Copyright Act (S.3880) authorizes the librarian of Congress to designate technical measures through a public rulemaking process, creating new liability for service providers hosting content (see 2203180069). “Within months of the designation of a technical measure, sophisticated infringers would find workarounds, while service providers would be on an endless cycle of ‘designated technical measure’ rulemakings,” the groups wrote.