Recording Industry Association of America lead attorney Jennifer Pariser recently expressed frustration with the manner in which courts have interpreted portions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and suggested current legislation may need to be amended in the future.

According to CNET, Pariser explained her stance on DMCA issues during a recent speaking engagement at the NY Entertainment & Technology Law Conference. Although she contends that the legislation was passed with good intentions, she fears it may be having unintended consequences.

"I think Congress got it right, but I think the courts are getting it wrong," the RIAA attorney stated, according to CNET. "I think the courts are interpreting Congress' statute in a manner that is entirely too restrictive of content owners' rights and too open to [internet] service providers."

Much of the controversy surrounds the removal of pirated works. According to CNET, many content companies believe they are spending a disproportionate amount of time rooting out infringements while ISPs - who often profit from the material regardless of its authenticity - are asked to contribute relatively little to the IP protection efforts.

However, PCWorld contributor Robert Cringely recently suggested that DMCA statutes still favor content owners, and companies have actually been abusing the legislation for personal gain. Citing data from Google, Cringely noted that more than a third of DMCA takedown requests were invalid and likely filed as a means of inhibiting competition or silencing critics.