emacs compatibility - changing a default binding?

From looking back at the archives (all the way to 1987), I see that ^A
has been the default command key for Screen from the beginning.  I
know that this can be changed on a per-user or even per installation
basis, but I'm wondering whether that's the best approach, since users
will become familiar with the universal default.

And yet, the default binding conflicts with the default binding C-a
for `move-beginning-of-line' in Emacs, which presumably affects many
users.  Rather than have lots of different workarounds
(http://emacswiki.org/emacs/GnuScreen#toc1), might it make sense to
change the default binding?

(One of the users on the Emacs Wiki page suggests C-; but notes no
luck with experiments trying to bind it.)