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DMCA critics decry state-level proposals
Quietly, opponents said, with few people paying close attention, state legislators are considering bills that would be even broader than the controversial DMCA, which restricts bypassing copy-protection measures.
The DMCA critics reacted with dismay this week after learning about the existence of the state bills when a lobbyist flagged one as disturbing, an industry source said. On Friday, library groups quickly dashed off a note to Arkansas and Colorado warning politicians there that their "proposed legislation is deeply flawed and should be rejected."
"The entertainment companies state that these laws need to be updated to combat digital piracy," said the letter from the Association of Research Libraries, the American Association of Law Libraries and the American Library Association. "While digital piracy is a serious problem, some of the proposed amendments will undermine the ability of libraries to provide important information services."