What does the power shift in the US Congress mean for digital music? William McGeveran, a fellow of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School, says there may be some dark days ahead."In the House, it appears most likely that Rep. Howard Berman will take over the chairmanship of the subcommittee that handles intellectual property law. As National Journal's Congress Daily noted, we can expect him to "protect his nearby Hollywood interests by cracking down on piracy and protecting against copyright infringement of TV, music and movie productions." In general terms, that means restrictive IP law that favors content producers and rightsholders and hostility toward flexibility or expansion of fair use. That's the bad news for Info/Law."
Berman's record on intellectual property law is the stuff of RIAA executive dreams. However, the news isn't all bad. Balancing the Berman effect could be Rep. Rick Boucher of Virginia who has stated in the past that fair use rights are "severely threatened"
[via Info/Law]
