Questions for Town Meeting with Congressman?

tongue asks: "I have the opportunity tomorrow to go to a town meeting with my Congressman, Gene Taylor (D, Miss.). I'd like to be able to ask several (preferably intelligent) questions regarding issues facing the technology industry today, on bills like the DMCA, SSSCA, etc; but I'm having trouble narrowing down the field. The research I've been able to do so far indicates a fairly conservative voting record, although I haven't had much luck finding a good site that summarizes a bill-by-bill voting record along with a synopsis of the bill." We did a similar question, last month about the CBDTPA which dovetails nicely with this issue. What questions about these and other questionable electronic laws passed over the last few years, would you like tongue to ask Senator Taylor?

Comments

Bad news

[Pomme de Terre!]

If you think these townhall meetings are forums to pursuade or convince your Congressman of *anything*, you will be pretty disappointed.

These things are primarily designed to get a nice story in the local paper, and maybe help a few people with "The road near my cousin's house is falling apart" or "I'm getting the runaround from can you help?"

If you are serious about garnering insight or pursuading your congressman of anything beyond the superficial, you need to set up a private meeting with him or one of his staff. (This is not a difficult thing to do, and contrary to the press, you do not need to be a millionaire contributor to do it.)

At the said meeting, you need to have a concise argument ready, provide facts, figures, and documentation. ("I hate Microsoft and think everyone should use BSD" will not cut it.)

Please be knowledgable about your subject. The fact that you're dredging Slashdot for talking points is not a good sign, and will likely do more harm than good when the conversation gets into specifics and fine details. Remember, the idea is to convince, not just spout off your opinion.

Technology issues are a huge body of legislation, and you will more than likely find at least somebody on his staff with experience in such matters, who will be the true path to action. (Staffers are the key to power.)

I can promise you that any townhall grandstanding about any substantive issue will result in a noncommittal "That's really good point, and there are a lot of people who agree with you. Let me look into it."

Pomme de Terre

A little advise:

[numbuscus]

If you want more information about his voting record, just take a look at Opensecrets.org. I seem to notice a high correlation between campaign donations, the people who give them, the issues they support, and the way Senators/Representatives vote. Buying votes - it's called democracy.

As for questions to ask, I worked for a Senator for a while (I was an intern - nothing exciting). Anyway, it was my job to help set up these town meetings and I'll tell you one thing, Senators are very busy people. They only know what their aides have told them. Not because they aren't intelligent enough to understand the issues (most are very astute), they just don't have time to study every issue. I suggest asking very general questions like:

"Senator Hollings recently introduced a bill that will require every piece of electronic hardware to possess copyright protection. It has been argued by hardware manufacturers and consumer advocates that this will increase the costs of production as well as infringe on consumer's rights; what do you think of this bill?"

In essence, give him some background and try to get him to commit to something. Most good politicians will be able to easily sidestep the issues; however, if the question is clear enough, even the dullest watcher will be able to tell that he's trying to evade the question. Now, if you know his position on a topic, and you don't agree with it - go for the throat, but nicely. Try to get him to commit to an answer. Politicians hate committing to anything - and they hate their voting records to be scrutinized.

Hope this helps and I hope you agree with me on most issues. I hate helping the enemy. :-)

Existing copyright laws

[Pacer]

Given that "digital piracy" (etc. etc.) is already illegal under existing pre-digital-age copyright laws, is it really necessary to pass waves of new anti-technology legislation that seriously threaten the digital infrastructure that took 40 years to build?

Bills Sponsored by Gene Taylor (D-MS) in the 107th

[wrt2]

From THOMAS: Gene Taylor has sponsored or co-sponsored two bills in the 107th Congress. Here they are.
Looking at this, I'd push the impairing-defense-readiness angle. CBPDTA (?), by preventing DoD from procuring GNU/Linux systems offering greater transparency and security and a lower total cost of ownership, does not contribute to the goal of a leaner, more efficient military and leaves the services more exposed to 21st Century asymmetrical warfighting tactics (e.g., the enemy-du-jour 0wning the properly-licensed regimental IIS server).

Re:Keep it simple

[lucifuge31337]

And follow up with "Congressman, why does everyone keep calling you Senator?"

Re:What about our rights?

[darkonc]

First of all, what would be wanted is not to back up the DVD. 'Backing up' a dvd is seen by many as euphamism for 'pirating'. Don't shoot your self in the foot by using that phrase.

The DMCA makes it illegal for you tor RECOVER a damaged DVD using any but the most primative methods. That's more of a catcher than 'backing up' a DVD. Few people would see fit to 'back up' a perfectly good DVD, but many people might get raised hackles at the prospect of being legally prevented from recovering a damaged one.

I would also suggest a more direct question. The question that I would ask would be more along the lines of:

The DMCA has severely limited consumer rights, and the Hollings bill (CBPTBPA, or whatever) threatens to almost completely gut consumer rights.
Do you intend to vote for, or against Hollings' bill -- and what would your justification be for that vote?