Organization Formed to Promote Consumer Technology Bill of Rights
In yesterday's Wall Street Journal Personal Technology Column, Walter Mossberg pointed out the formation of DigitalConsumer.org, a consumer rights organization that advocates a six-point Consumer Technology Bill of Rights. According to Mossberg, "This bill of rights wouldn't condone theft of media content or bar the industry from protecting itself. It would merely mean that in doing so, industries couldn't trample on the rights of honest consumers who buy content legally."
The rights that Digital Consumer.org are promoting are meant to ensure that doctrines like Fair Use are not eviscerated by the Federal legislation promoted by lobbying efforts of the entertainment industries.
Walter Mossberg deserves credit for writing this column. It takes some courage for someone who works for a member of the "media establishment" to speak strongly on behalf of consumer rights at this moment in history. His position on the balance between consumer and author/publisher rights is reasonable.