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More Details on the CBDTPA
Gemini and many others wrote in with still more info regarding CBDTPA, formerly the SSSCA. Wired has a story. Cryptome has transcribed the text. The Senate Judiciary Committee has a web-form where you can submit comments (although directly contacting your representatives may be better). IMHO, the best thing people can do is explain to less-knowledgeable folks exactly what is at stake. When ABC News (Disney) and Fox News (News Corporation) discuss this, they're not going to be spending much time talking about the downside. Update: 03/23 00:55 GMT by M : EFF has an alert with a sample letter to Congress and background on the issue.
Probably the largest advantage the CBDTPA gives corporations over the SSSCA is that it is extremely hard to pronounce or remember, and is sufficiently long enough to keep it from coming up in day-to-day conversation.
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Hollings says the reason broadband isn't as popular today as it should have been is because media giants are afraid to provide large quantities of digital content to the masses over it.
I knew that whole, "I would use it but I can't get broadband service in my area" argument was a ruse.
To answer your question: This is more of the same trickle down nonsense that has been dragging this country down for decades. But more specifically, entertainment is the future of America's economy. Ensuring it's success will be a boone to us all. Just you wait!
Takahashi Rumiko made beats! DON, taku, DON, taku. . .
Spur broadband? Maybe nobody's shelling out for broadband because its $50 a month.
I dunno bout you, but shelling out an extra fiddy bones a moon would serious cut into my ramen consumption.
I'm not sure if there is a "best time." If you submit the first letter on a particular toipic then they may read it, if ony to find out what the hell you are talking about. This might be a powerful point to shape their views. On the other hand a massive onslaught of letters at one time all in favor of/opposed to an issue might make more of an impact from a "will this get me re-elected" standpoint. I think it probably depends upon how they do things there.
This isn't on everyone's radar yet.
That may not be the case. I called one of my senators a few months ago to discuss a bill on the day of the vote and the people in his office had no idea what I was talking about. I beleive the exact comment was "He usually tells us his position at some point, I think." I'm hoping that i just got the new person and this won't happen again.
Just to make sure though I've decided on a plan. I plan to begin with e-mail, and then a letter, and then a phone call, and then flowers (nobody really sends flowers any more). Then I'm going to move in next-door to him and play the text of the bill on my stereo really loudly all night long. Then I plan to move into his house and talk nonstop about the bill all the time. Then, finally, just when his daughter is set to marry me, I'll tell him that all he has to do to get me to go away is to vote against it. I'm hoping he'll accept.
Then I'll probably marry his daughter anyway...
wow... i just added dianne feinstein to my list of female senators i want to hit doggy style... ironic.
MARIJUANA, SHROOMS, X: ONLINE?! - E
No, if you do the Million Geek March, you must get at least 1,048,576 people there.
Disney is very liberal...at least senior managment is! They decided that having pirates chasing women in Pirates of the Caribbean wasn't PC anymore so they have them chasing men now!
You're using her as bait, Master!
It makes little sense to put such restrictions on equipment that is designed to do much more than watch a movie or listen to your favorite bands. ITS ONLY ENTERTAINMENT. If its such a problem then shut down the entertainment industry and leave us to our real work you F'n llamas! Im really not trying to flame. Think about it. It would be like a law that says you can no longer eat food that you cook at home since you might recreate the bigmac in your kitchen.. I'm thinking if McDonalds were so worried about that maybe they should give it up.. We gotta eat ;)
Creating Billions of Dollars Through Punishing Americans
We appreciate your past efforts to bring the PC and Internet into the mainstream. The benefits to the economies of the world over the past 15 years has been phenomenal. However, now that this task is completed, your services are no longer required. Please put your computer hardware on ebay and find new professions.
Some 500,000,000 mainstream users are online today. We must bring their offline world IP laws into the online world. This is necessary for their protection.
A couple million technically inclined people stealing music, movies and software is no big deal. However, 500 million (and soon billions) of people stealing information is the equivalence of Marxism.
So you should welcome this new law. This law will end warez forever. It will stop foreign countries who don't enforce IP laws from benefiting from the hard work of persons in the developed countries.
And finally let's not forget our friends in Hollywood. The end of the mass theft of music means better music in the long term.
We thank you for your hard work to create a sophisticated useable information distribution system, as well as easy to use terminals to access that information system. Your input in the legislation of these devices and their medium is not desired. Please let the professionals in Washington handle it from here.