ITHACA, N.Y. -- A battle is ongoing between consumers, who enjoy using their computers to copy, time-shift and trade multimedia entertainment, and the entertainment industry, which would just as soon such activities were not so easy.

Alan Davidson, associate director at the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), will discuss the issue in a talk titled "A Nation of Felons: The Impending Political Debate Over Digital Copyright," Tuesday, Nov. 5, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. in 265 Statler Hall on the Cornell University campus.

Davidson is expected to discuss the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), as well as the 1998 Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, which currently is being challenged in the U.S. Supreme Court.

The DMCA sought to update the copyright law to cope with the digital age. Critics charge that it has limited the fair-use rights of consumers, such as the ability to make copies of CDs they own. The title of Davidson's talk reflects the fact that, as written, the DMCA now is being violated by millions of ordinary citizens. The Bono amendment extended the term of copyright from 50 years after the death of the creator to 70 years, or 90 years for copyrights owned by corporations, and was advocated by entertainment companies whose early works were about to go into the public domain. Examples commonly cited include the earliest Mickey Mouse cartoons.

CDT is a Washington, D.C., nonprofit group working to promote civil liberties and human rights on the Internet and other new digital media. Its position is that copyrighted material should be protected from large-scale unauthorized copying but not at the expense of reasonable consumer expectations or in ways that hinder new and innovative communications networks like the Internet.

Davidson, who holds a degree in computer science, led CDT's multiyear campaign to promote widespread availability of strong encryption security technologies. His other research interests lie in civil liberties, generally, and the special problems posed by the interaction of technology, public policy and the law. He is also an adjunct professor at Georgetown University's Program in Communications, Culture and Technology, where he currently teaches a graduate seminar on the policy implications of Internet technical architecture.

The event is one of a series sponsored by the Cornell Computer Policy and Law Program, which seeks to educate the campus about legal issues arising from digital technology.

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o Center for Democracy and Technology: http://www.cdt.org/