Under what authority do legislators who have contributed to the legislative record claim 1201 was enacted?

This issue is highly up for debate, because the only thing so far that is clear is that 1201 as written pushes the boundaries of the Copyright Clause quite a bit. There are a number of questions regarding whether Congress in fact exceeded its constitutional authority in enacting 17 U.S.C. 1201. According to at least one legislator - Rep. Tom Bliley, Chairman of the Committee on Commerce - 17 U.S.C. 1201 was enacted under a "paracopyright" authority, by authority not only of the Copyright Clause of the Constitution but the Commerce Clause as well. It is unclear what exactly "paracopyright" is supposed to mean, assuming it means anything at all. Representative Bliley had this to say on the subject on October 12, 1998: In making our proposed recommendations, the Committee on Commerce acted under both the `copyright' clause and the commerce clause. Both the conduct and device provisions of section 1201 create new rights in addition to those which Congress is authorized to recognize under ...  more

This issue is highly up for debate, because the only thing so far that is clear is that 1201 as written pushes the boundaries of the Copyright Clause quite a bit. There are a number of questions regarding whether Congress in fact exceeded its constitutional authority in enacting 17 U.S.C. 1201. According to at least one legislator - Rep. Tom Bliley, Chairman of the Committee on Commerce - 17 U.S.C. 1201 was enacted under a "paracopyright" authority, by authority not only of the Copyright Clause of the Constitution but the Commerce Clause as well. It is unclear what exactly "paracopyright" is supposed to mean, assuming it means anything at all. Representative Bliley had this to say on the subject on October 12, 1998: In making our proposed recommendations, the Committee on Commerce acted under both the `copyright' clause and the commerce clause. Both the conduct and device provisions of section 1201 create new rights in addition to those which Congress is authorized to recognize under ...  more