Copyright Office Needs Comments On DMCA By March 31

mdonaghy writes: "The EFF and the U.S. Copyright Office are looking for [further] public comments on the DMCA, as stated in this EFF alert. The deadline for comments is Friday, March 31. This should be a good place to voice our concerns about copyrights that several readers have previously voiced in Slashdot forums." (more)

Though the DMCA was signed into law in 1998, the rules of engagement are still being debated. This is your chance to make "reply comments," and address the arguments raised by the entertainment giants. The EFF link above sorts important previous comments straightforwardly into "pro-freedom" and "anti-freedom," for obvious reasons.

If you haven't yet added your voice, you now have nearly two weeks to do so. You might want to read the thread about the last round of comments on the same issue, and emulate the comments you find most persuasive.

Comments

no one's posted it yet, so..

[Blue Lang]

Send to 1201@loc.gov a message containing the name of the person making the submission, his or her title and organization (if the submission is on behalf of an organization), mailing address, telephone number, telefax number (if any) and e-mail address.

Efficeincy is beauty, efficeincy is art. Can you dig it? -- Clutch

They coulda just posted that in the body of the story, and not made us go thru three links. :P

--
blue

Don't flame!

[CentrX]

Write to them intelligent and well thought-out comments. An unintelligent comment will not be considered seriously or possibly even at all and might even get those government-types annoyed at us Linux hippies.

You still definitely should respond though, intelligently! These are our rights they're taking away. Every time any one of our rights are taken away, even in smallest, it makes it easier for our rights to be taken away in the future. If an abundance of people don't stand up and say "NO!" I foresee a time when we will be almost devoid of rights. And for those of you who say "I don't count," EVERY comment on this counts. If everyone decided they would not voice their opinion to protect their rights, no one would, and this would lead to a very horrible future...

Chris Hagar

Several avenues

[348]

If you enjoy playing DVDs on your Open Source system, and if your future is in how open source continues to evolve, Get those comments in. Whining on this site helps with some dialog and focus on issues, but physically does nothing. Getting your comments to the Copyright office will have an impact. Please don't make them flaming in nature, be professional and polite, any "DMCA sux" comments will go right to the bottom and your voice won't be heard.

The MPAA has exploited the DMCA to architect CSS licensing in a way that completely manipulated and controlls the publishers and DVD player manufacturers. If the MPAA wins out over DeCSS, a precident will be set that will set back the MPAA a long way.

Also don't just submit one comment. They are public and you can respond to other comments already received and posted. (See the last /. story on this). Lastly don't stop at just the copyright office. Support EFF,and also write you elected represetatives and let them know how you feel, Make sure that in all your verbal or written communication to either an elected official, industry lobby or industry exec that you be nice. Elected officials really don't respond well to flames, spam, mail floods or harsh language. You will come off as a script kiddie and be completely ignored. For a loose reference, re-read the Linux Advocacy Guide, it will give you the right sort of flavor for your communications.

The house of representatives has a search facility to find your representative:
http://www.house.gov/writerep/
The senates listing is here:
http://www.senate.gov/contacting/index.c fm

ALL CALL

[MerkuryZ]

We all need to do something about this. The DMCA is a VERY bad thing. We have 13 days to voice our opinions. If we don't all do our part, we will all regret it. If you haven't read the DMCA yet, you can read about it here

The DMCA can be interpreted to put ISPs out of business if they don't respond quickly to requests. Several weeks ago, I recieved an email from the RIAA telling me that a customer of ours had an illegal site up, and that we could be help responsible for ANY OTHER copyright violations, now that they have informed us. This was not a site hosted by us, but a customer with a broadband connection. This brings up the following questions...

1.) How does the RIAA go about finding these sites, do they scan networks for port 21. Do they hop on IRC to find these sites?

2.) How am I, as a network admin, supposed to prevent any single user from setting up a server that violates any provision of the DMCA?

3.) If I, as a network admin, am unable to determine whether or not the material on a server is indeed violating any law, am I required to shut it down until I am able to determine this?

4.) Am I, a normal user, allowed to make back-up copies of music that I own. What formats am I allowed to make these back up copys in. Can I make a duplicate of a CD, for my car. According to the DMCA, I can't

If we don't do something about these issues now, we lose our opportunity to do so for 2 years, then 3 years after that.

A Proposal

[ATKeiper]

If anyone wishes to send their comments to the Copyright Office in PDF format, I would be glad to save your message in PDF format and send it back to you so you can send it on to the Copyright Office. As the EFF site notes, PDF is not required by the Copyright Office, but it is "preferred."

If you wish, we'll also make suggestions for how you can improve your comments for maximum effect.

Just send your message to:
Copyright_reply@hotmail.com

A. Keiper
The Center for the Study of Technology and Society
Washington, D.C.