I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1892 

To amend section 1201 of title 17, United States Code, to require the 

infringement of a copyright for a violation of such section, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 8, 2013 

Ms. LOFGREN (for herself, Mr. MASSIE, Mr. POLIS, and Ms. ESHOO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend section 1201 of title 17, United States Code, 

to require the infringement of a copyright for a violation 

of such section, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Unlocking Technology 

5 Act of 2013’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INFRINGEMENT OF A COPYRIGHT REQUIRED FOR 

2 ANTICIRCUMVENTION PROHIBITION. 

3 (a) AMENDMENTS.—Section 1201(a) of title 17, 

4 United States Code, is amended— 

5 (1) in paragraph (1)(A)— 

6 (A) by amending the first sentence to read 

7 as follows: ‘‘No person shall, in order to in8 fringe or facilitate infringement of a copyright 

9 in a work protected under this title, circumvent 

10 a technological measure that effectively controls 

11 access to that work.’’; and 

12 (B) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘It 

13 shall not be a violation of this section to cir14 cumvent a technological measure in connection 

15 with a work protected under this title if the 

16 purpose of such circumvention is to engage in 

17 a use that is not an infringement of copyright 

18 under this title.’’; 

19 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

20 (A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting after 

21 ‘‘for the purpose of’’ the following: ‘‘facilitating 

22 the infringement of a copyright by’’; 

23 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘cir24 cumvent’’ and inserting ‘‘facilitate the infringe25 ment of a copyright by circumventing’’; and 


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1 (C) in subparagraph (C), by inserting after 

2 ‘‘for use in’’ the following: ‘‘facilitating the in3 fringement of a copyright by’’; and 

4 (3) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para5 graph (4), and inserting after paragraph (2), the fol6 lowing new paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(3) It is not a violation of this section to use, manu8 facture, import, offer to the public, provide, or otherwise 

9 traffic in any technology, product, service, device, compo10 nent, or part thereof that is primarily designed or pro11 duced for the purpose of facilitating noninfringing uses of 

12 works protected under this title by circumventing a tech13 nological measure that effectively controls access to that 

14 work, unless it is the intent of the person that uses, manu15 factures, imports, offers to the public, provides, or traffics 

16 in the technology, product, service, device, component, or 

17 part to infringe copyright or to facilitate the infringement 

18 of a copyright.’’. 

19 (b) REPORT REQUIRED.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the end of 

21 the 9-month period beginning on the date of the en22 actment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary for 

23 Communications and Information of the Department 

24 of Commerce shall submit to the committees de25 scribed in paragraph (2) a report on— 


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1 (A) the impact of section 1201 of title 17, 

2 United States Code, on consumer choice, com3 petition, and free flow of information; 

4 (B) whether section 1201 of such title 

5 should be reformed in part, reformed entirely, 

6 or repealed; and 

7 (C) barriers and challenges to such reform 

8 or repeal, including international trade agree9 ments and treaties. 

10 (2) COMMITTEES.—The committees described 

11 in this paragraph are the following: 

12 (A) The Committees on the Judiciary and 

13 Energy and Commerce of the House of Rep14 resentatives. 

15 (B) The Committees on the Judiciary and 

16 Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 

17 Senate. 

18 SEC. 3. NETWORK SWITCHING NOT INFRINGEMENT. 

19 Section 117 of title 17, United States Code, is 

20 amended by adding at the end of the following new sub21 section: 

22 ‘‘(e) NETWORK SWITCHING.—Notwithstanding the 

23 provisions of section 106, it is not an infringement to copy 

24 or adapt the software or firmware of a user-purchased mo25 bile communications device for the sole purpose of enaVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:04 May 11, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1892.IH H1892

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1 bling the device to connect to a wireless communications 

2 network if— 

3 ‘‘(1) the copying or adapting is initiated by, or 

4 with the consent of, the owner of that device or the 

5 owner’s agent; 

6 ‘‘(2) the owner of that device or the owner’s 

7 agent is in legal possession of the device; and 

8 ‘‘(3) the owner of that device has the consent 

9 of, or an agreement with, the authorized operator of 

10 such wireless communications network to make use 

11 of that wireless communications network.’’. 

12 SEC. 4. HARMONIZATION OF TRADE AGREEMENTS. 

13 The President shall take the necessary steps to secure 

14 modifications to applicable bilateral and multilateral trade 

15 agreements to which the United States is a party in order 

16 to ensure that such agreements are consistent with the 

17 amendments made by this Act. 

18 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

19 (a) AMENDMENTS.—The amendments made by this 

20 Act shall apply to acts carried out after the expiration of 

21 the 9-month period beginning on the date of the enact22 ment of this Act. 

23 (b) REPORT.—Sections 2(b) and 4 shall take effect 

24 on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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