I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1587 
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 
MARCH 24, 2015 
Ms. LOFGREN (for herself, Mr. MASSIE, Mr. POLIS, and Ms. ESHOO) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Ju-
diciary, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a pe-
riod to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for con-
sideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com-
mittee 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Unlocking Technology 
Act of 2015’’. 
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SEC. 2. INFRINGEMENT OF A COPYRIGHT REQUIRED FOR 
ANTICIRCUMVENTION PROHIBITION. 
(a) AMENDMENTS.—Section 1201(a) of title 17, 
United States Code, is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1)(A)— 
(A) by amending the first sentence to read 
as follows: ‘‘No person shall, in order to in-
fringe or facilitate infringement of a copyright 
in a work protected under this title, circumvent 
a technological measure that effectively controls 
access to that work.’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘It 
shall not be a violation of this section to cir-
cumvent a technological measure in connection 
with a work protected under this title if the 
purpose of such circumvention is to engage in 
a use that is not an infringement of copyright 
under this title.’’; 
(2) in paragraph (2)— 
(A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting after 
‘‘for the purpose of’’ the following: ‘‘facilitating 
the infringement of a copyright by’’; 
(B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘cir-
cumvent’’ and inserting ‘‘facilitate the infringe-
ment of a copyright by circumventing’’; and 
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(C) in subparagraph (C), by inserting after 
‘‘for use in’’ the following: ‘‘facilitating the in-
fringement of a copyright by’’; 
(3) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para-
graph (4); and 
(4) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol-
lowing new paragraph: 
‘‘(3) It is not a violation of this section to use, manu-
facture, import, offer to the public, provide, or otherwise 
traffic in any technology, product, service, device, compo-
nent, or part thereof that is primarily designed or pro-
duced for the purpose of facilitating noninfringing uses of 
works protected under this title by circumventing a tech-
nological measure that effectively controls access to that 
work, unless it is the intent of the person that uses, manu-
factures, imports, offers to the public, provides, or traffics 
in the technology, product, service, device, component, or 
part to infringe copyright or to facilitate the infringement 
of a copyright.’’. 
(b) REPORT REQUIRED.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the end of 
the 9-month period beginning on the date of the en-
actment of this Act, the Assistant Secretary for 
Communications and Information of the Department 
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of Commerce shall submit to the committees de-
scribed in paragraph (2) a report on— 
(A) the impact of section 1201 of title 17, 
United States Code, on consumer choice, com-
petition, and free flow of information; 
(B) whether section 1201 of such title 
should be reformed in part, reformed entirely, 
or repealed; and 
(C) barriers and challenges to such reform 
or repeal, including international trade agree-
ments and treaties. 
(2) COMMITTEES.—The committees described 
in this paragraph are the following: 
(A) The Committees on the Judiciary and 
Energy and Commerce of the House of Rep-
resentatives. 
(B) The Committees on the Judiciary and 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the 
Senate. 
SEC. 3. NETWORK SWITCHING NOT INFRINGEMENT. 
Section 117 of title 17, United States Code, is 
amended— 
(1) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub-
section (e); and 
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(2) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol-
lowing new subsection: 
‘‘(d) NETWORK SWITCHING.—Notwithstanding the 
provisions of section 106, it is not an infringement to copy 
or adapt the software or firmware of a user-purchased mo-
bile communications device for the sole purpose of ena-
bling the device to connect to a wireless communications 
network if— 
‘‘(1) the copying or adapting is initiated by, or 
with the consent of, the owner of that device or the 
owner’s agent; 
‘‘(2) the owner of that device or the owner’s 
agent is in legal possession of the device; and 
‘‘(3) the owner of that device has the consent 
of, or an agreement with, the authorized operator of 
such wireless communications network to make use 
of that wireless communications network.’’. 
SEC. 4. HARMONIZATION OF TRADE AGREEMENTS. 
The President shall take the necessary steps to secure 
modifications to applicable bilateral and multilateral trade 
agreements to which the United States is a party in order 
to ensure that such agreements are consistent with the 
amendments made by this Act. 
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SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
(a) AMENDMENTS.—The amendments made by this 
Act shall apply to acts carried out after the expiration of 
the 9-month period beginning on the date of the enact-
ment of this Act. 
(b) REPORT.—Sections 2(b) and 4 shall take effect 
on the date of the enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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