Update on CDA and copyright (5/29/96)

[Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>]

ON THE CDA:

Folks involved in the case expect a decision within the next week from the
Philadelphia three-judge panel hearing our challenge to the CDA. The DoJ
has a few weeks to appeal to the Supreme Court if they lose. 

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ON COPYRIGHT:

Regarding the online copyright legislation, there's plenty of action on
the Hill -- and contrary to what I thought a week ago, there's even a
fighting chance that this bill will pass this year. 

So far, full Senate judiciary and the House judiciary intellectual
property subcommittee have held hearings. 

The House has taken the lead here, and the tentative date for the
subcommittee markup of HR2441 is June 5. (It was to have been last week,
but was cancelled at the last minute when no agreement was reached.)

The Senate seems to be waiting to see what the House does before making
any sudden moves. General feeling is that the legislation was on a fast
schedule but has been slowed down considerably because of ongoing
controvery over OSP liability and (especially) section 1201. 

The big snarl is over 1201, and some alliances of convenience are breaking
down. More to the point, libraries are finally mobilizing grassroots
opposition.

Brock has a piece about this in a recent Muckraker on HotWired.

(I'm hundreds of messages behind on cypherpunks so if you reply to this 
please copy me.)

 -Declan