From: Matthew James Gering <mgering@ecosystems.net>
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1998 14:15:37 +0800
To: "Cypherpunks (E-mail)" <cypherpunks@cyberpass.net>
Subject: RE: Rental of PC software...
Message-ID: <33CCFE438B9DD01192E800A024C84A19284646@mossbay.chaffeyhomes.com>
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USC Title 17  109 subsec (b)(1)(A)

...unless authorized by the ...owner of copyright in a computer program
(including any tape, disk, or other medium embodying such program),
...[no] person in possession of a particular copy of a computer program
(including any tape, disk, or other medium embodying such program), may,
for the purposes of direct or indirect commercial advantage, dispose of,
or authorize the disposal of, the possession of that ...computer program
(including any tape, disk, or other medium embodying such program) by
rental, lease, or lending, or by any other act or practice in the nature
of rental, lease, or lending. ... The transfer of possession of a
lawfully made copy of a computer program by a nonprofit educational
institution to another nonprofit educational institution or to faculty,
staff, and students does not constitute rental, lease, or lending for
direct or indirect commercial purposes under this subsection. 
(B) This subsection does not apply to - 
(i) a computer program which is embodied in a machine or product and
which cannot be copied during the ordinary operation or use of the
machine or product; or 
(ii) a computer program embodied in or used in conjunction with a
limited purpose computer that is designed for playing video games and
may be designed for other purposes. 
...
(2)(A) Nothing in this subsection shall apply to the lending of a
computer program for nonprofit purposes by a nonprofit library, if each
copy of a computer program which is lent by such library has affixed to
the packaging containing the program a warning of copyright in
accordance with requirements that the Register of Copyrights shall
prescribe by regulation. 
(B) Not later than three years after the date of the enactment of the
Computer Software Rental Amendments Act of 1990, and at such times
thereafter as the Register of Copyright considers appropriate, the
Register of Copyrights, after consultation with representatives of
copyright owners and librarians, shall submit to the Congress a report
stating whether this paragraph has achieved its intended purpose of
maintaining the integrity of the copyright system while providing
nonprofit libraries the capability to fulfill their function. Such
report shall advise the Congress as to any information or
recommendations that the Register of Copyrights considers necessary to
carry out the purposes of this subsection.