Hollywood Proposes That USPTO Regulate Technological Copyright Management

The recording industry is moving quickly toward technological ways to prevent digital copying and thus promote digital rights management (DRM).  One recognized vulnerability is the “analog hole” or more blandly, the analog reconversion issue. 

Analog Hole: When the information is converted to a perceptible analog form, there are no restrictions on the resulting analog signal, and the content can be captured back into digital form with no restrictions. (from Wikipedia).

Oddly, the Hollywood endorsed Analog Content Security Preservation Act Of 2005 would transform the Patent Office (USPTO) into a regulatory agency by giving the agency the job of enforcing a Copy Generation Management System for Analog (CGMS-A).

Read the proposed changes to 35 U.S.C. 101.