EMA-supported anti-piracy bill passed by Congress

Entertainment Merchants Assn. legislative update for August

By Cheryl Cheng -- Video Business, 10/1/2008

OCT. 1 | The following summarizes key government affairs activities during August of the Entertainment Merchants Assn.

• Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights Act of 2008: An EMA-supported anti-piracy bill has passed Congress and is awaiting President Bush’s signature. The bill will enhance existing civil and copyright law, provide greater coordination of federal anti-piracy efforts and direct more resources for enforcement of intellectual property laws.

• MPAA v. RealDVD: The MPAA sued RealNetworks to stop the distribution of RealDVD software, which rips a DVD and saves it to a user’s computer hard drive so that the movie can be viewed without the physical DVD. MPAA argues RealDVD violates the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which prohibits technology that can circumvent DVD copy protection. RealNetworks contends that the software is fully compliant with its license for DVD copy protection technology.

• VSDA v. Schwarzenegger: The U.S. Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit has scheduled the oral argument in the VSDA v. Schwarzenegger case for Oct. 29. The case involves an appeal of California’s videogame restriction law.

• New York Videogame Law: EMA is currently in the process of identifying New York retailers who could serve as a representative on the advisory council, which will “address the potential impact of interactive media and similar entertainment devices on minors with particular attention focused on any relationship between the use of such devices and violent tendencies and related issues.”

• Utah Secondhand Goods Amendment: EMA’s suggested exemptions to Utah’s Secondhand Goods law, which recommended that retailers that offer only store credit for trade-ins and sell only previously viewed titles should be exempt, were not included.

• Jack Thompson Disbarred: Videogame critic Jack Thompson, who sued videogame retailers and publishers over the violent content in certain games, has been permanently disbarred. The Florida Supreme Court found Thompson guilt of 27 counts of ethical misconduct.