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How about making copyright reform a central issue in the upcoming election?

Very likely most politicians don't know if the DMCA is fit to eat, feel Disney and the RIAA are important campaign contributors whose requests should be given priority, and music downloaders are simple thieves who deserve every bit of punishment they get.

You can change that. But it's going to take some work. There are enough people sharing music in America - more people than voted for George Bush - that if you get off your collective asses and get politically active, you can get laws passed to get the RIAA off your back.

In Change the Law, I explain that copyright is not a Constitutional right, like free speech. Instead copyright is allowed (but not required) to serve a useful purpose, a purpose which I feel has long since outlived its usefulness.

I suggest steps you can take to bring about copyright reform, ranging from speaking out to practicing civil disobedience.

One thing I'd like you all to do today is to write your elected representatives to ask their opinion of the current state of copyright law given its widespread abuse by organizations like the RIAA and MPAA, and to urge them to work towards copyright reform. Let them know your vote will depend on a positive response.

When you're done writing that letter, write to the other candidates for each office in the upcoming elections, to ask them the same question.

Sixty million American peer-to-peer file traders have the potential to raise a lot of Hell with the politicians. I want every candidate to be peppered with questions about copyright reform at every campaign stop and in every press interview. I want the repeal of the DMCA to be discussed in the Presidential debates.

People marched in protest when Dmitry Sklyarov was arrested. Dmitry is free now - but the law under which he was jailed is still on the books.

If you agree with me that something needs to be done about copyright, I need your help.

Thank you for your attention.

How about making copyright reform a central issue in the upcoming election?

Very likely most politicians don't know if the DMCA is fit to eat, feel Disney and the RIAA are important campaign contributors whose requests should be given priority, and music downloaders are simple thieves who deserve every bit of punishment they get.

You can change that. But it's going to take some work. There are enough people sharing music in America - more people than voted for George Bush - that if you get off your collective asses and get politically active, you can get laws passed to get the RIAA off your back.

In Change the Law, I explain that copyright is not a Constitutional right, like free speech. Instead copyright is allowed (but not required) to serve a useful purpose, a purpose which I feel has long since outlived its usefulness.

I suggest steps you can take to bring about copyright reform, ranging from speaking out to practicing civil disobedience.

One thing I'd like you all to do today is to write your elected representatives to ask their opinion of the current state of copyright law given its widespread abuse by organizations like the RIAA and MPAA, and to urge them to work towards copyright reform. Let them know your vote will depend on a positive response.

When you're done writing that letter, write to the other candidates for each office in the upcoming elections, to ask them the same question.

Sixty million American peer-to-peer file traders have the potential to raise a lot of Hell with the politicians. I want every candidate to be peppered with questions about copyright reform at every campaign stop and in every press interview. I want the repeal of the DMCA to be discussed in the Presidential debates.

People marched in protest when Dmitry Sklyarov was arrested. Dmitry is free now - but the law under which he was jailed is still on the books.

If you agree with me that something needs to be done about copyright, I need your help.

Thank you for your attention.

How about making copyright reform a central issue in the upcoming election?

Very likely most politicians don't know if the DMCA is fit to eat, feel Disney and the RIAA are important campaign contributors whose requests should be given priority, and music downloaders are simple thieves who deserve every bit of punishment they get.

You can change that. But it's going to take some work. There are enough people sharing music in America - more people than voted for George Bush - that if you get off your collective asses and get politically active, you can get laws passed to get the RIAA off your back.

In Change the Law, I explain that copyright is not a Constitutional right, like free speech. Instead copyright is allowed (but not required) to serve a useful purpose, a purpose which I feel has long since outlived its usefulness.

I suggest steps you can take to bring about copyright reform, ranging from speaking out to practicing civil disobedience.

One thing I'd like you all to do today is to write your elected representatives to ask their opinion of the current state of copyright law given its widespread abuse by organizations like the RIAA and MPAA, and to urge them to work towards copyright reform. Let them know your vote will depend on a positive response.

When you're done writing that letter, write to the other candidates for each office in the upcoming elections, to ask them the same question.

Sixty million American peer-to-peer file traders have the potential to raise a lot of Hell with the politicians. I want every candidate to be peppered with questions about copyright reform at every campaign stop and in every press interview. I want the repeal of the DMCA to be discussed in the Presidential debates.

People marched in protest when Dmitry Sklyarov was arrested. Dmitry is free now - but the law under which he was jailed is still on the books.

If you agree with me that something needs to be done about copyright, I need your help.

Thank you for your attention.

How about making copyright reform a central issue in the upcoming election?

Very likely most politicians don't know if the DMCA is fit to eat, feel Disney and the RIAA are important campaign contributors whose requests should be given priority, and music downloaders are simple thieves who deserve every bit of punishment they get.

You can change that. But it's going to take some work. There are enough people sharing music in America - more people than voted for George Bush - that if you get off your collective asses and get politically active, you can get laws passed to get the RIAA off your back.

In Change the Law, I explain that copyright is not a Constitutional right, like free speech. Instead copyright is allowed (but not required) to serve a useful purpose, a purpose which I feel has long since outlived its usefulness.

I suggest steps you can take to bring about copyright reform, ranging from speaking out to practicing civil disobedience.

One thing I'd like you all to do today is to write your elected representatives to ask their opinion of the current state of copyright law given its widespread abuse by organizations like the RIAA and MPAA, and to urge them to work towards copyright reform. Let them know your vote will depend on a positive response.

When you're done writing that letter, write to the other candidates for each office in the upcoming elections, to ask them the same question.

Sixty million American peer-to-peer file traders have the potential to raise a lot of Hell with the politicians. I want every candidate to be peppered with questions about copyright reform at every campaign stop and in every press interview. I want the repeal of the DMCA to be discussed in the Presidential debates.

People marched in protest when Dmitry Sklyarov was arrested. Dmitry is free now - but the law under which he was jailed is still on the books.

If you agree with me that something needs to be done about copyright, I need your help.

Thank you for your attention.

Michael D. Crawford
crawford@goingware.com

How about making copyright reform a central issue in the upcoming election?

Very likely most politicians don't know if the DMCA is fit to eat, feel Disney and the RIAA are important campaign contributors whose requests should be given priority, and music downloaders are simple thieves who deserve every bit of punishment they get.

You can change that. But it's going to take some work. But there are enough people sharing music in America - more people than voted for George Bush - that if you get off your collective asses and get active politically, you can get laws passed to get the RIAA off your back.

In Change the Law, I explain that copyright is not a Constitutional right, like free speech. Instead copyright is allowed (but not required) to serve a useful purpose, a purpose which I feel has long since outlived its usefulness.

I suggest steps you can take to bring about copyright reform, ranging from speaking out to practicing civil disobedience.

One thing I'd like you all to do today is to write your elected representatives to ask their opinion of the current state of copyright law given its widespread abuse by organizations like the RIAA and MPAA, and to urge them to work towards copyright reform. Let them know your vote will depend on a positive response.

When you're done writing that letter, write to the other candidates for each office in the upcoming elections, to ask them the same thing.

Sixty million american peer-to-peer file traders have the potential to raise a lot of Hell with the politicians. I want every candidate to be peppered with questions about copyright reform at every campaign stop and in every press interview. I want the repeal of the DMCA to be discussed in the Presidential debates.

People marched in protest when Dmitry Sklyarov was arrested. Dmitry Sklarov is free now - but the law under which he was jailed is still on the books.

If you agree with me that something needs to be done about copyright, I need your help.

Thank you for your attention.

How about making copyright reform a central issue in the upcoming election?

Very likely most politicians don't know if the DMCA is fit to eat, feel Disney and the RIAA are important campaign contributors whose requests should be given priority, and music downloaders are simple thieves who deserve every bit of punishment they get.

You can change that. But it's going to take some work. But there are enough people sharing music in America - more people than voted for George Bush - that if you get off your collective asses and get active politically, you can get laws passed to get the RIAA off your back.

In Change the Law, I explain that copyright is not a Constitutional right, like free speech. Instead copyright is allowed (but not required) to serve a useful purpose, a purpose which I feel has long since outlived its usefulness.

I suggest steps you can take to bring about copyright reform, ranging from speaking out to practicing civil disobedience.

One thing I'd like you all to do today is to write your elected representatives to ask their opinion of the current state of copyright law given its widespread abuse by organizations like the RIAA and MPAA, and to urge them to work towards copyright reform. Let them know your vote will depend on a positive response.

When you're done writing that letter, write to the other candidates for each office in the upcoming elections, to ask them the same thing.

Sixty million american peer-to-peer file traders have the potential to raise a lot of Hell with the politicians. I want every candidate to be peppered with questions about copyright reform at every campaign stop and in every press interview. I want the repeal of the DMCA to be discussed in the Presidential debates.

People marched in protest when Dmitry Sklyarov was arrested. Dmitry Sklarov is free now - but the law under which he was jailed is still on the books.

If you agree with me that something needs to be done about copyright, I need your help.

Thank you for your attention.

Hearts and minds? The RIAA has made it clear that they're not trying to win friends with this campaign... they're (in my words) trying to scare the hell out of people. The position that the RIAA has taken in various quotes and press releases is that education didn't work.

Of the folks who've spoken out about being sued by the RIAA, their responses seem to be in four categories:

• You made a mistake (the granny with the Mac)
• I'm not responsible / I didn't know all those files were on the PC
• I didn't know what my kids were doing
• I thought that by paying Kazaa, I was getting legally licensed content

Of those sued, the biggest category of all, I think, is of people who knew damn well that distributing copyrighted material without the copyright owner's permission is illegal (100% of Slashdot readers would probably fall into this category), but there'd be little point in going on record with this if you were sued by the RIAA. It wouldn't put one in a sympathetic light, and the "I didn't know the files were on my PC" sounds so much nicer. In general, people tend to lie when they're caught.

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