The present law provides heavy fines for the owner of a copyrighted video cassette if he/she copies it on to his/her own DVD disk. This law punishes a video cassette owner for merely copying his/her own private property on to a different media. It applies even when the DVD format is unavailable. This is basically no different in principle than not permiting a private party to copy his/her own music CD to his/her own computer.

Copyright owners have the right to prosecute those who distribute copyrighted material to other persons. But they don't have the right to control what I do with my own property. Unfortunately neither Congress nor the ACLU appear to be taking an active stand to correct this fundamental violation of the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution, which states: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated..." Fining me for something I do with my own property is a clear violation of the Fourth Amendment.