Usenix Takes Stand Against ATA and SSSCA

Davin writes: "The Usenix Board of Directors has emailed all Usenix members, suggesting that they contact their Representatives to oppose ATA and SSSCA." And I've said it before, but lick a stamp. Representatives aren't tapped into the wired quite yet (Hello ... Navi)

Comments

There is a reason they don't read email

[MongooseCN]

It's because it's too easy to send an email. Representatives don't have the time to go through 100's of emails a day and see peoples opinions, they need the peoples input to be filtered so only the important messages get through. Snail mail takes more effort to send and thus the person sending it is more likely to spend more time expressing theirs and others opinions.

It only takes a second to send a worthless email saying "SSSCA SuXoRs!", but if you take the time to write out a paper letter and post a stamp on it and mail it out, you are probably going to spend more time writing what you think.

Also, sending it with restricted delivery or a return reciept will make it stand out more from the other mails that get sent in.

What I can't believe

[einTier]

is that Congress will sell out the entire technology sector and presumeably everyone and anything else to protect the profits of one sector -- the entertainment sector.

Re:Wired?

[Alien54]

Representatives now get thousands of emails daily from every action group and special interest on the planet.

It is a very low signal to noise ratio, in the wrong direction. Low Signal, High Noise.

Being a Representative is like being an Offical Spam Recipient for the US Government. They are automatically opted-in for everything, with no ability to opt out.

Therefore, the old hand written letter with a stamp is uber-effective, because it sort of proclaims itself as a not spam.

Of course, there is nothing like a personal visit by a civil, literate, but angry constituent to their office, followed up by a letter citing the visit.

Write your reps!

[rice_burners_suck]

Yes, I mailed snail-mail--with a stamp (though it's a self-adhesive; I don't know if that makes a difference). If you haven't done so yet, I urge you to do so NOW! It's easy--I mailed the EFF's sample letter because they pretty much summed it all up. It took ten minutes to do the whole thing. (It would have been cool to print out the 11,000 some odd signatures (mine is in there) on the petition and mail that with the letter. But in the words of my intelligent employer, "Oh well.")

I'll try to locate mailing addresses for others who might send letters as well. You might try talking to folks who own small businesses or even mail letters to large companies, telling them about the catastrophic consequences of such legislation. This isn't about music. I suggest you don't even mention music because that causes folks to think you're an MP3 pirate or some geek or something. This is NOT about media or any bullshit like that. This is about policeware on YOUR belongings. This is about your computer making decisions for you. This is about your fair-use rights going down the tubes. This will have an enormous effect on small business owners who make "digital devices" for a living, who will probably be put out of business by defective legislation like this. (Rest assured there will be an ENORMOUS price on certification. Only companies the likes of Sony could afford it. And best of all, this won't benefit the individual artist--it will fill the pockets of beaurocrats and RIAA executives, empowering them to come up with more innovative legal solutions. What, did you actually think the artist would benefit?!)

This is about our rights and our responsibility to protect those rights. It's NOT the responsibility of government to do that, contrary to what most people believe.

Let's talk about the consequences for a moment. Where do you draw the line on what contains policeware? Will industrial automation systems (these are digital devices) contain policeware? (How about the position readout (digital device) for the lathe?) Don't forget the computer in your car--that thing is a full-blown digital device. Or aircraft control systems--I'm sure there's something digital in those. Don't even mention medical devices--on second thought, I think those should be the first to receive this technology. The patient has a song stuck in their head, so the life support systems turn off and kills them. Hey, thinking about a song is a copyright violation! How about business computers? (I'm not talking about a Dell desktop, I'm talking about computers the size of refridgerators.) What about ICs? Like 74F373 (latch/flip-flop)--that's a "digital device." Oh, I know, let's put Microsoft DRM software on every transistor. Will wristwatches (digital devices) need to contain government-mandated digital rights management? Will it be illegal to "traffic in" Swiss watches, which don't contain this compelling enterprise solution? Think this is funny? Think again. This is DEFECTIVE, but someone somewhere will go to PRISON for it if this gets passed. It could be you. I suggest you mail that letter ASAP. Either that, or buy some open airline tickets and have a suitcase packed and ready at all times. Better yet, just move out of the country while you have the chance.

Oh yeah, and let's see... the SSSCA is a sort of "extension" to the DMCA. I wonder what kind of law they'll come up with five years from now? Oh, I have a good idea: How about a law that states you have to mail $100 to the RIAA every time you get a song stuck in your head? Yeah, let me write up a draft and mail it to Congress.

Horrible for US. Wonderful for the world

[famazza]

Take a picture, put it in a safe. The world will change if SSSCA is aproved.

Imagine if technology development becomes much more bourocratic in US, with lot's of government licenses and taxes and bourocracy. Will the big corporations, that already keep their production in foreign coutries, spend money in development in the US? I don't think so.

What are the reactions? Try to imagine it? The developement will be done in foreign coutries (like Brazil or India, or even China, Cuba), and these countries will have a big economy growth, and will be a solid growth, because the technology development will be done there, where there's no bouracracy.

What about US? The high investments in University will stop, it won't be interesting for big corporations (like Sun, IBM, HP) to invest in Amaricans Universities. So the college education will lower quality, which will take a step back for US economy in a long term.

There are many and many companies that has born in garages. Companies like Sun, HP, and many others we all know. They will stop appearing, they will appear where home-made technology is possible. That's horrible for US, but wonderful for the rest of the world.

Imagine US without linux. Without BSD, how secure will be US internet? IIS? Apache will be outlaw! Imagine all the servers around US infected with Nimda, and nobody but M$ can do anything to change this.

What will you choose, the present or the future?

Re:This really works

[dillon_rinker]

I agree that real mail is taken more seriously. Admittedly, shouldn't it be?

No. Unless you believe that one of the goals of a participatory democracy is to enact barriers to communication between citizens and their elected representatives.

Your argument, taken to its logical conclusion, is that individuals who exert more effort to communicate with elected officials deserve more attention from the government. It is this attitude which has given us the system of legalized bribery we have now. Email often gets no response, snail mail gets a form letter, and a check for $1000 gets the ear of the representative. This is evil at its greyest.

Re:McCarthyism

[sconeu]

Seatbelt laws are state, not federal. The rationale was usually economic... many people involved in accidents were un/underinsured, or were on state medical insurance (Medi-Cal, etc...), and therefore the more severe injuries caused by not wearing a belt had a direct economic cost to the state. Ergo, the state had the right (and fiduciary duty?) to demand that drivers wear seat belts.