Net Copyright, Anti-Slamming Bills Approved

Moving to combat new forms of theft in the Information Age, Congress on Monday approved new penalties for the electronic theft of copyrighted works.

It also passed a bill to shield consumers from having their long-distance carrier switched without permission.

Both measures approved Monday are expected to be sent to the White House in a matter of days and signed into law by President Clinton.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, sought by computer software developers, movie studios, book publishers and other creators of intellectual property, implements provisions of two international treaties adopted by the World Intellectual Property Organization in 1996.

The bill bars the manufacture, sale or distribution of devices aimed at circumventing anti-piracy protections, such as encryption technology. But it also protects Internet and online service providers from being held liable for copyright violations by their subscribers.

“I think the Internet has come of age in terms of congressional attention,” said George Vradenburg III, general counsel of America Online Inc. “This legislation was the product of a good deal of compromise.”

Copyright reform was approved in a whirlwind evening House session, where lawmakers also passed legislation intended to crack down on an industry practice known as “slamming,” or the unauthorized switching of a customer’s long-distance provider.

As the number of long-distance carriers has mushroomed to 500 and intensified competition for subscribers, slamming has become more commonplace, experts say. The Federal Communications Commission received more than 30,000 complaints about slamming between January 1997 and July 1998.

Copyright reform and the telephone consumer protection bill were part of more than a dozen major bills introduced this legislative session. The measures were aimed at addressing everything from indecency in cyberspace to easing restrictions on the export of strong computer encryption technology.