RESOLUTION SUPPORTING AMENDMENT OF THE DMCA

AND OPPOSING ENACTMENT OF LAWS LIKE THE HOLLINGS BILL

Approved by the

Faculty Senate,

University at Buffalo, State University of New York

March 4, 2003

1 WHEREAS, direct unmediated unfettered access to information is fundamental and essential to scholarly inquiry, academic communication, research, the advancement of research methods,
academic freedom, and freedom of speech; and

2 WHEREAS, complete control by a computer-user of the computer's operating system and hardware is essential to the use and adaptation of computers in research and to the preservation of privacy; and

3 WHEREAS, the continued existence of libraries as we have historically conceived of them depends on the rights to lend purchased materials afforded under the doctrine of First Sale; and

4 WHEREAS, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (DMCA) makes it an offense to circumvent technological access-control measures, or to provide the means for others to do so, thereby criminalizing the act of obtaining direct access to copyrighted information (and even public-domain information) for legitimate non-copyright-infringing purposes; and

5 WHEREAS, the “Hollings Bill” (S. 2048 of the 107th Congress: The Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act (CBDTPA)) would mandate the erection of an impenetrable barrier controlled by third parties between the user of a computer and the data on that computer, and furthermore create draconian constraints on computer programming and on the adaptation of computers to specific research and personal needs; and

6 WHEREAS, the DMCA and Hollings-type mandates, individually and in concert, will enable copyright holders to virtually extinguish the rights afforded by the doctrines of Fair Use and First Sale with respect to material in digital format; and

7 WHEREAS, the DMCA and Hollings-type mandates thus undermine the core missions of the University at Buffalo; and

8 WHEREAS, Section 5 of the proposed Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act (DMRCA, HR 107, introduced January 7th, 2003 by Rep's Boucher (D-VA), Doolittle (R-CA), Bachus (R-AL) and Kennedy (D-RI)) would amend section 1201 of the DMCA so as to allow circumvention of access-control measures for non-copyright-infringing uses; now, therefore, be it

9 RESOLVED that the Faculty of the University at Buffalo strongly support the enactment of the DMCRA, and vehemently oppose the enactment any bill such as the Hollings Bill that would mandate access-restriction technology, and call on the President and Provost of the University to take these positions publicly; and be it further

10 RESOLVED that the Faculty of the University at Buffalo call on the President to direct the University's Office of Governmental Relations to lobby in favor of the DMCRA, especially Section 5, and to lobby against any re-introduced version of the Hollings Bill that likewise threatens research and academic freedom.