Digital denials.(digital entertainment restrictions)

The wonderful world of digital entertainment has begun to give consumers some nasty surprises. Take the class-action lawsuit filed against five major record companies in June by two Californians. They say that the CDs they bought were defective. According to the complaint, the CDs do not work properly in many personal computers, CD players, car stereos, and video-game consoles.

This is not mere happenstance, says William Doyle, an attorney at Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach in San Diego, lead firm for the plaintiffs. The defects, he argues, are a stealth effort by the music industry to modify standard CD technology to inhibit piracy. But such efforts also keep consumers from legally making copies for their own use and playing recordings on devices of their own choosing.

The Recording Industry Association of America says that so far only three CDs manufactured in the U.S. are copy-protected with encryption. But under discussion are all kinds of software code that would make it impossible for the average consumer to copy DVDs, electronic books, and TV programs for later use, says Graham Spencer, co-founder of Digital Consumer, a group lobbying for a consumer-technology bill of rights. "We want to raise grassroots awareness about what's happening," he says.

Already, the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act makes it unlawful for consumers to circumvent encryption or other access controls. On the horizon is legislation that could further restrict consumers' freedom to hear music, see films, and read digital books when and where they want: the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act. The bill requires manufacturers of computers, DVD ...