Berman Retreats, But Only To Regroup

thefinite writes "It looks like the P2P vigilante bill sponsored by Berman is going to have to be rewritten even just to be considered. A ZDNet story talks about the likelihood that the bill will get anywhere as currently written. Hopefully, the second time around will make it clear that the idea is flawed, not just the text."

Comments

Re:Stupid question...

[Meat Blaster]

Theoretically, yes, he can be voted out. He is in the House of Representatives (which, along with the Senate, makes up our Legislative branch of government). While the Senate consists of two people from every state (50 states = 100 members), with each set of two people being voted upon by the entire state they represent, the House is made up of varying numbers from each state depending on the population of each state. The state is divided into districts, and each district has one member in the House that it elects.

So, if the people in Berman's district (a relatively tiny spot of California) don't have a problem with him, or the people who run against him aren't fantastic choices, he gets back in. He's been in for twenty years (no term limits on the House or the Senate) and inertia is on his side because of things like voter apathy and lack of knowledge about the issues. Then again, Berman could be a perfectly good representative for his electorate, given the locale.

It would be hypocritical for most people to call you a stupid European, given the fact that only around a third actually bother to vote on average here in the states (and hypocritical for me because I know next to nothing about the European system -- aren't you ruled by a queen or something? :)

That's just standard negotiation

[shreak]

That's not corruption or ego or anything else.

Him: I'll sell you this car for $1000000
Me: That's outrageous! I'll take it for $1
Him: That's nuts!
Me: Maybe we should find a middle ground.

For the current topic:

Their congressman: If we think someone is pirating, we get to burn down their house and roast their children over the embers!
Our congressman: You're loopy. Anyone can copy, modify, distribute and profit from anything anywhere anytime for any reason and needs no permission whatsoever from anyone.
Their congressman: Gak! Anarchist!
Our congressman: Maybe we should find a middle ground.

Slashdotter from District 28 of CA in the house...

[MsGeek]

The trouble is, Berman might as well be running unopposed. His Republican opponent, David Hernandez, would rather be Mayor of the new City of the San Fernando Valley, and is spending most of his money on the race. His Libertarian opponent, Kelley Ross, doesn't stand a chance.

I'm going to be voting for Hernandez only because I have met with him, he seems like a decent enough bloke, he's a "McCain Republican" who also cut his political teeth with Cesar Chavez, and he's also against the Berman Bill. But I do not hold much hope out for him to have any effect. Just look at the tale of the tape, courtesy of Opensecrets.Org. Hernandez has exactly zero in his war chest, Berman has almost $1 Million left. And guess where most of that comes from? Well take a wild flying guess, folks. Viacom and Walt Disney are his two biggest contributors.

No matter what we do at this late date, Berman will be back, just like the freakin' Terminator, next Congress. And after the election, he won't be as kindly bent to take outside input on his precious P2P hax0r bill.