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CEA Warns S.3804 Bill Poses Threat

Arlington, Va. – The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) sent
an open letter to U.S. senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Jeff Sessions (R-AL)
calling for regular order on S. 3804, the “Combating Online Infringement and
Counterfeits Act” (COICA).

In the letter, CEA was joined with a number of organizations concerned
with eroding fair-use rights, including the American Library Association (ALA),
Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), Association of Research
Libraries (ARL), Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), Computer and
Communications Industry Association (CCIA), Electronic Frontier Foundation
(EFF), Home Recording Rights Coalition (HRRC), NetCoalition and Public
Knowledge. 

The groups asked Congress to consider the bill’s “numerous legal,
political and technical issues,” which, if left unresolved, “could harm
consumers, educational institutions, innovative technologies, economic growth
and global Internet freedom.”

The signatories expressed concern that the type of careful
deliberation required on S. 3804 cannot be accomplished in the waning days of
this session of Congress and encouraged the Senate Judiciary Committee to hold
“a hearing on S. 3804, with testimony from impacted industries and user
constituencies.”

The groups have pledged their support for intellectual property
laws that “can be enforced while preserving free speech, due process, and the
stability, freedom and economic potential of the Internet.”

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