As if the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) wasn't bad enough, we may soon have to deal with the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act (CBDTPA) which Senate Commerce Committee chairman Ernest Fritz Hollings introduced to Congress on Thursday.

It is with this piece of legislation that Hollings and Hollywood hope will eliminate piracy on the Internet.

Once referred to as the Security Systems Standards and Certification Act (SSSCA), the newly named Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act (CBDTPA) would force the embedding of copy-protection technologies into all future "digital media devices."

A "digital media device" is defined as any hardware or software that can store, reproduce, display, retrieve, or access any type of copyrighted work.

What does this all mean? Drafted by Hollings and co-sponsored by Senators John Breaux (D-LA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Daniel Inouye (D-HI), Bill Nelson (D-FL) and Ted Stevens (R-AK), the bill would prohibit the sale, creation, distribution or importation of any kind of electronic or digital media device that does not include some form of copy-protection technology built into it that has been approved by the federal government. But because the bills wording is so broad and vague, even toasters and microwaves could be required to have copy-protection built in.

To look at it another way, the design of all future digital media devices will either be under the control and watchful eye of our federal government or forbidden. But as Congress is increasingly being influenced by Hollywood's financial clout, we may instead see Hollywood dictate what new technologies can be developed. And anything which they view as detrimental to their financial well-being will be outlawed.

What they don't seem to realize, however, is that this bill will lead to a lack of innovation and to the deterioration and crippling of the technology industry.

Take for example the VCR. If Hollywood had been allowed to have their way, they would have kept it off the marketplace. Why? Because they feared that its widespread use and adoption would harm the entertainment industry. MPAA president Jack Valenti even campaigned against the VCR, claiming that it was like the "Boston Strangler" of the American film industry. The entertainment industry has always fought to keep new technologies out of the marketplace. But time and again, these very technologies have proven to be to their benefit, generating for them millions of dollars each year.

"The tradition of American law is not to ban technologies, but to punish infringing use." However, the CBDTPA would change all that.

This bill, if adopted, would be so harmful that it could even automatically override court case decisions. Take for example a 1999 federal appeals court decision in which Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Diarmuid F. O'Scannlain ruled that Diamond Multimedia Systems' Rio MP3 player wasn't subject to government restrictions because it wasn't a "digital audio recording device" and therefore not subject to restrictions of the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992. But because MP3 players, such as the Rio, fit the CBDTPA's definition of a "digital media device," that decision would no longer be valid.

How will this bill affect consumers' fair-use rights? According to the bill's sponsors, it would not change existing copyright laws. Instead, it would preserve them and the consumer's right to make copies of copyrighted works for personal use. It even specifies that no copy-protection technology may prevent consumers from "making a personal copy for lawful use in the home."

This means little, however, as we are already prevented from making personal back-up copies of such things as our DVD movies. And with the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the record labels pressing forward with their plans to implment Digital Rights Management, or copy-prevention technologies, onto music CDs, what fair-use rights will there be left to preserve?

Everyone needs to get involved as this issue may not stay as just a U.S. one for long. Many countries around the world are considering legislation similar to that of the DMCA and the CBDTPA (SSSCA). The entertainment industry should not be given the power to dictate how you can use content on the digital media devices which you've bought and paid for. They should not be allowed to restrict our fair-use rights.

Here's what you can do now: The Senate Judiciary Committee's Chairman Patrick Leahy and Ranking Republican Member Orrin Hatch are accepting comments on the CBDTPA via an on-line form that's located at http://judiciary.senate.gov/special/input_form.cfm?comments=1. Meanwhile, the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet & Intellectual Property is accepting comments by e-mail and fax that's addressed to the Chair Hon. Howard Coble [howard.coble@mail.house.gov]

This is your chance to voice your opposition to the laws which will restrict your rights and make all future digital media devices either compulsory or forbidden. Don't let the government impose technological mandates at the behest of the entertainment industy. Don't let them treat you as a criminal before the infringement has even occurred. Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty?