Kansas Republican Sen. Sam Brownback is preparing a consumer-friendly digital copyright bill that he could present as soon as this week. In what must be taken as a good sign, it has the RIAA spitting:

"This draft legislation is weighted down with a variety of bad public policy judgments hostile to all property owners," the RIAA said in a statement.

As to the bill's content, it would

limit some of the devices movie studios and recording companies use to prevent rampant copying of their products. It would also make it more difficult to track down those who trade songs and movies online.

....Brownback's bill requires copy-protected media to be clearly labeled and allows consumers to sell or donate digital media as long as they destroy their own copy.

Efforts to develop a copy-protection scheme for digital-TV broadcasts could be complicated by a section that prevents the Federal Communications Commission from mandating specific copy-control technologies.

Another section would require recording companies and other copyright investigators to clear an additional legal hurdle before forcing Internet providers to reveal the names of customers suspected of trading songs online. That would reverse a recent court ruling that requires Verizon Communications and other Internet providers to hand over customer names when investigators ask them to do so.

"We would like Congress at this point to step in and try to negotiate a legislative solution, so we're very pleased that Senator Brownback is interested in our issue," said Sarah Deutsch, a Verizon vice president. [Reuters]