http://promo.search.com.com/search?dau=55&layout=story

More and more experts seem to agree that more is going wrong than right with the current approach to protecting digital content. The experts argue that current copyright laws (such as the DMCA) are serving the extremes, not the average users.

This conclusion is based on an increasing number of cases in which the Digital Millennium Copyright Act law is being used in the wrong way. This causes, for example, security researchers many more hurdles to overcome under the DMCA to publish research:

Such incidents have increased the resistance by consumers and rights advocates to the creation of a highly secure digital rights management system. In the current policy landscape--with such laws as the DMCA on the books--strict controls could lead to greater stifling of innovation and free speech, experts argued.

Even Microsoft--which is pushing for a security platform that could result in a extremely difficult-to-crack digital rights management system--wants to duck the policy issues.

"We have a clear focus that we don't want to restrict what people can use their computers for," said John Manferdelli, general manager for Microsoft's Windows Trusted Platform Technologies group. "We have found out in talking to customers that whatever the methods that you use, they cannot impose policy. It should be under user's control."

Yet, solving those issues will not be easy. The issues are not simple, and regulating every fair use of copyrighted content would lead to a complex law that wouldn't help, said Boston University's Liu.