In an interview with Computerworld senior editor, Patrick Thibodeau, Scott Draughon discussed the highly controversial "Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Act", introduced by South Carolina Senator Ernest Hollings. S 2048 would require software and electronic equipment be sold with embedded copy protection technology. The bill has garnered the support of the entertainment industry and has the backing of the Disney Corporation. Draughon told the reporter, “This bill raises many fundamental policy questions going beyond what we saw in the Napster dispute. This legislation proposes that the technology industry is responsible for policing copyright protection rather than Hollywood as the copyright holder. This bias deviates from current legal frameworks.”

Draughon also pointed out that the bill represents an unnecessary intrusion of government power and reflects Old Economy thinking. “Cable and satellite systems already allow protection of copyrighted material and will be available to more than ninety million households by the end of this calendar year. This legislation only makes sense for protecting content by analog broadcast. But, analog broadcast is a passing technology that will undoubtedly fall victim to new delivery technologies that will squeeze the analog broadcaster of the wireless spectrum in the next five to ten years.”

Rather than impose government mandated solutions in a futile attempt to preserve ‘free TV’, Draughon suggested proprietary delivery systems allowing consumers options to purchase the appropriate copyright protections as a prerequisite to movie viewing. Under this arrangement content providers would negotiate and establish Internet distribution channels that would require consumers to have the appropriate digital rights management protections. This approach would be initiated by the content provider and consistent with current copyright law. Consumer compliance and technology industry participation would be voluntary and government mandates would be precluded.

The interview can be seen in the April 1, 2002 issue of Computerworld Magazine and ComputerWorld.com.