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EFF Urges Support for Rep. Boucher's DMCRA
DarkSparks writes "The EFF is urging everyone to contact their Representatives and ask them to co-sponsor Representative Rick Boucher and John Doolittle's recently introduced Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act (DMCRA, H.R. 5544), which would introduce labelling requirements for usage-impaired "copy-protected" compact discs, as well as make several key amendments to the DMCA, including affirming the right of scientific research into technology protection measures and affirming the right of citizens to circumvent technology measures to gain access to copyrighted works they've purchased."
Hi :)
Perhaps the most boring story on slashdot! Horray! First Post!
You can't fight an unlegal law by promoting its opposite : you'd end with tons of legal imbroglioes and each situation would be as messy as it could be...
I suggest people contact their representatives to cancel the DMCA instead.
Trolling using another account since 2005.
So we get a label saying "Cannot be ripped and distrubuted over Kazza" on our CDs from now on?
This is all an exercise is futility it seems to me. People will find a way to copy the media, no matter what. Why not use money/technology to do something a bit more useful?
Both measures are good steps towards repealing the DMCA, or at least nullifying its more damning effects.
Seriously, can you tell me that you'd rather have one law and no rights than two laws and some rights?
I'll take the rights, thanks. Don't make me a criminal for ripping your CD to my computer so I can listen to it without having to swap physical CDs in and out.
Go Boucher.
You are allowed to do anything not made illegal. In the UK, laws set out the limits to your rights, they do not enumerate them. So a law affirming that I have the right to eat cheese, to take a daft example, would be pointless because there is no law saying that I cannot eat cheese. If a law banning cheese came in to force, then the correct action would be to repeal that law, not to introduce another one limiting it.
Cheers,
Ian
Quote:
"affirming the right of scientific research into technology protection measures"
This reminds me of all the people who use shadow, md5 passwords yet use something realy obvious as their root login. Does guessing their pets' name count as research?
Lobbying politicians doesn't work. They are mostly owned by corporations. And if they cause too much trouble for the status quo, they get assasinated, like Wellstone.
"The People" of the USA had their country ripped out from under them long ago. Now they wallow in consumerism and fascist corporate brainwashing.
You slashdot crowd really are a lazy and overpriviledged bunch. Thinking all you have to do is write a letter.
WAKE UP. BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!
If this bill were passed, people would be allowed to legally circumvent copy protection. That would go completely against the whole principle of the DMCA which is to restrict access to copyrighted works.
The same people that fought to get the DMCA passed will fight to get this stopped. The problem is that these people are very powerful and have a lot of money. Don't hold your breath...
spot on!
By labeling a CD as copy-protected, you exclude a great portion of your audience. If I sold baby food with rat poison in it, and I label the jar specifying that this product is probably lethal, you think more people will buy it? Of course not.
The sad fact is that both the music industry and the negligent baby formula company will find more success by not telling the public about their product's flaws. Without government intervention, the music industry WILL slip copy-protected CDs into the market without notice, as they already have started doing.
I'll form my OWN solar system! With blackjack! And hookers!
YOU FAIL IT!
A beowulf cluster of these mofos!
the server is running Microsoft-IIS/5.0 on NT4/Windows 98 according to netcraft...
They aren't using it for their main site, but this is a bit strange.
I bet they will get a warning label listing the various ripping progs that are nullified by the copy-protection, a la WARNING: This CD can NOT be ripped by: MusicMatch, Winamp, Windows Media Player (boy would MS sue over that), CDEx, etc...
Now watch this drive.
but you simply have no idea how the American system of law works. the law is a living work, and is ammended over time as the solutions to problems present themselves. government cannot be expected to get it right the first time, and this simple idea is the basis for the entire system of government. hence the bill of rights and the right of the courts to interpret the law.
What if M$ decided to oppose the DMC bill because it would limit the ability of consumers to rip music to their propritary .WMA format?
Now watch this drive.
Fuck if I'll support an organization anymore that's gonna try to get more regulation and bureaucracy introduced in the name of "helping consumers."
The record companies can label their shit any way they want and make it playable in any device they want..or don't want. Nobody holds a gun to our heads to listen to their crappy music.
I say let the marketplace decide. I'll be giving my business to labels that press regular ole CDs, and from now on I'll be giving my shinies to EPIC insted.
The right to free speech online is important. The right to electronic privacy is important. But EFF has gone off on this wildly statist, quixotic consumerist rant lately that boils down to lobbine government to tell private property owners how they can use their private property.
Fuck that statist bullshit.
Anyone have the feeling that the same people who voted for the DMCA will vote for this, the DMCRA, thinking they already voted for it once? I don't know any congresscriters personally, but either this is their thinking or they vote the party line if they have no clue.
Someone hates these cans.
The kiss of death. It will die in committee.
While I'd be the first to admit that our elected leadership aren't exactly the brightest lights in the harbor and that the RIAA/MPAA leadership aren't really rocket scientists (it doesn't take a genius to buy Congress, nor to pay people to create media campaigns), I have a certain amount of trouble believing that when Hilary Roseh was shown that one could download copyrighted content from labels belonging to one of her member organizations off the RIAA Web site, she immediately took everyone in the office out for drinks to celebrate.
Tech Public Policy stuff
No, it's not a fake. It's Michael Jackson testifying in Santa Maria, California Superior Court, November 13, 2002.
Give his office a call in a few days and let them know you'd like to discuss your concerns about the bill with your Congresscritter.
Tell him how you want him to vote and briefly, why.
If a few hundred people in your district do this, you've got yourself a new friend and a vote.
Of course, a high tech community PAC would save us all a lot of trouble in this area.
Tech Public Policy stuff
Recently there has been so much out cry against DMCA on slashdot, I thought I shall talk to my dad and convince them to talk to our constituents representatives. You know what my dad said "forget it son, there are lot more pressing issues than copying a cd".
I thought may be he was just being indifferent to me, but guess what none of my friends bother either. When I talked to them about this issue and even pointed to all the disadvantages, none of them were even winked. They said "dude right now my immediate concern is whether I'm going to get a job when I graduate, not whether I'll be able to copy a cd".
Now is this mere isolated instance of indifference or ignorance (well 99% of people I talked to never heard of DMCA)? So I think DMCA or corporate America is not the problem the, problem is plain ignorance and indifference. Doesn't matter if this article gets about 1000 comments and every one feels the same way. We've got to do something and by something I don't mean talking to representatives, I mean educating people. Only then can our voice have some effect.
Remember those anti-tobacco ads - "Knowledge is contagious"
Basically, American copyright law is a temporary excemption of the right of the public for the promotion of culture and science.
How about a law that would basically protect DRM systems, but *only* if these systems are designed to release their contents without further limits once the copyright of the work has expired (with an emphasis on the release part, i.e. if in doubt, release, because it finally belongs to the public domain, and to keep the information locked is only a temporary exception)?
This would all be right- and lawful to both sides of the copyright, but I consider an acceptable technical implementation of such a system is not feasible, therefor it would be impossible to protect a DRM system by law, because it cannot fulfil the demand of releasing the work once the copyright has expired.
I suggest people take action for themselves. We live in a capitalist society, use it! Don't buy the subject CDs, and don't buy CDs from that company. Tell your friends not to. Use your $14 as influence!
Don't bother with email; most won't even look at it. Send a fax; jam their fax machines up with swarms of requests if you want to get their attention.
Karma whorin' since 1999
I can tell you from experience that my father successfully got congresspeople elected with a PAC and he is no politician. Just a doctor (now retired, this was some years ago) who was fighting to keep his practice alive despite being told by insurance companies what to prescribe. He got thousands of doctors in three states to act (the purpose was to build a doctors' HMO and hospital, and they got pretty far before some sharks took over) and I believe they got a lot of attention (up to the president) and helped get a congressman elected. An anti-bigmusic/anti-closedsource PAC might be interesting if you could convince geeks to 1) put up money and 2) speak out. Of course maybe just sending the money to the EFF is best, not an expert about politics myself.
Subsection (c) establishes new labeling requirements for these non-standard compact discs. Among other things, a label prominently affixed to the front of the packaging must notify a consumer that the disc might not play properly in ordinary consumer electronics products and might not be recordable to the hard drive of a personal computer.
The label must be at least 120mm in diameter, and consist of full-size reproduction of the image presently located at http://goatse.cx and a black text "J4ck v413n7i 0wnz joo!" in 20mm high and 12mm wide letters in Helvetica font with at least 1mm wide lines, repeated three times 5mm from the rim of the label.
Contrary to the popular belief, there indeed is no God.
I read it as absolutely down-to-earth serious?
I am writing today to ask you to co-sponsor Rep. Boucher &
Doolittle's Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act (DMCRA, H.R. 5544).
I believe that recent movements in copyright law have unfairly plagued
the rights of consumers with respect to their ownership of digital
media.
Specifically, the DMCRA would require producers of digital media to
label any media that has been copy protected or otherwise crippled
in a way that would make that media unusable in certain devices, such
as personal computers, automotive stereo equipment, and other consumer
devices. I believe that consumers have the right to informed consent
with respect to purchases of digital media.
The DMCRA would also codify the right of the consumer to make fair-use
copies of any media they own. For example, a consumer who purchases a
CD should be explicitly allowed and encouraged by law to make copies of
that information for use in his/her automobile, portable diskless audio player,
or other device that may not be able to access that information on its
native media.
I also wish to convey and affirm my belief that it is absolutely wrong
to make copies of information for the purpose of avoiding paying for it.
Supporting this law is not supporting theft of intellectual property. It
is unfortunate that those who would use tools such as personal computers
and peer-to-peer networks to steal information have brought about the
changes in copyright law that have stripped the rights of law-abiding
consumers. It should be solemnly noted that personal computers don't
cause people to steal music just as peer-to-peer networks are not the cause
of piracy. We have seen many new and innovative technologies that have
a perfectly legitimate use in society, destroyed by the idea that it is
appropriate to punish everyone for the crimes of a select few who choose
to misuse those technologies.
There are other benefits to the DMCRA, both for consumers and our society
as a whole, and I emplore you to study this document for all of its merits.
I hope you will co-sponsor the DMCRA and show your support for the
public's rights in digital media. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Politicians aren't average consumers. The only time most of them back consumer (rather than corporate) interests is when they absolutely have to do so.
I highly doubt that any of the major music labels or film companies are too worried about a lack of consumer demand. Sure they whine a whole bunch about pirating leading them to bankruptcy, but I think we all know well enough by now that's just not true.
Hmmm...have I said anything that hasn't been said in at least 100 /. posts thus far? Oh well, screw the karma, I'm procrastinating homework right now.
Anyway, I applaud you for doing the ethical thing. Yes, if everyone else followed your model of boycotting ridiculously over-priced entertainmet, then maybe traditional economics would come into play and movie ticket prices would drop down. But most people do one or both of the following instead:
a) Pirate the movie/music instead
b) Pay whatever it costs anyway
From personal experience, I find that most people pirate movies/music they would have rented/borrowed . And they still pay to see/buy movies/CDs they really want to see/own. Let's face it, Yoda yielding a light saber on your 17" CRT and Altec Lansings isn't the same as watching it on the big screen with theater audio.
So, all in all, we're back where we were at the beginning. Pirating won't stop anytime soon (check out last sunday's userfriendly). The movie & music industries aren't about to agree to all our demands. DRM isn't going to disappear simply due to geek dislike (does your mom know what DRM is?). Instead, let's just try to get the letter of the law placed somewhere in the middle and play it by ear from there.
This will never become law. Americans are lazy - I doubt that even 0.1% of slashdot reader will bother to write a letter to their local represtative. Of course that many will bleat and wax lyrical the next time "big media" infringes their right to copy music...
Heres an idea for ya. Why don't we make our laws like we do our software. Somebody can setup some kind of CVS of laws and people can submit whole new laws or patches to laws. Hell we could even open up a new branch of sourceforge to host the whole thing.
chicks dig *nix Bell Labs Unix -- Reach out and grep someone 1 4m d4 1337
Sweet! Autogenerate a message to my rep with an easy to use web interface. Only if all legislation would be so simple, we'd be onto something here. Too often the steps needed to follow up on something like this are a) unspecified b) much more difficult than this. Kudos EFF.
What is music when you despise all sound?
Most congressmen do not even read or have anyone on their staff read email messages because of a couple of reasons.
1. They get way too much of it.
2. There is NO WAY to know if the email came from a person in their district. Its so easy to go to a place like this site and just enter in each and every member of congress' address.. and send it to everyone. A rep from one state does not and should not give a pooey what some freak from some other state with a web browser and too much time on his hands wants him to vote for.
Spend the $.37 and the little bit of toner and print the letter and mail it. It WILL get read by someone.. your email PROBABLY will not.
Just three more hours seapeople and you can finally take me away from this crappy God Damned planet full of hippies
After all, copy-prevented CDs don't play in all players, thus violating Red Book and making them defective CDs.
This is not an exercise in futility. This bill would put the freedom of choice back in the consumer's hands. Slashdot is decidedly a very small fraction of the population of the US (especially when you consider all those reading this in other countries who couldn't care less about the DMCA, unless it spreads), most people don't even *know* about the DMCA, or even what it stands for. No, my dad does not know what the DMCA is, but would he buy a CD that says "You cannot play this on some devices, including your Personal Computer"? No. Certainly not, nor I suspect would many other people.
That being said, one of two things could possibly happen (given that most people won't buy crippled CDs if they are informed of them unless there is no alternative): 1) Alternative versions of crippled CDs are available, people buy non-crippled discs. 2) Alternative versions may or may not exist, people who buy the crippled versions become frustrated, a public backlash to the crippling scheme arises.
Mind you, these "crippled" CDs don't just entail "copy-protection", it includes (at this moment, IIRC) any hardware manufacturer that does not build the RIAA's copy protection into its circuits. If Sony decides not to give in, your discman won't play the new Ja Rule CD.
--- What
Didnt bother to link, but I even think this was a slashdot-article once. Wouldn't suprise me the least!
Not Buzzword 2.0 compliant. Please speak english.
Spend the $.37 and the little bit of toner and print the letter and mail it. It WILL get read by someone
Or be discarded as an anthrax spore delivery vehicle.
Send a fax.
Will I retire or break 10K?
Faxes get the same treatment as email nowadays: Noise, unless it's got a corporate header. They DO get to it, usually through staffers noting the point of the fax, and whatnot.
They do the same for emails, but a lot of legislators are moving to web-based mail forms. For instance:
http://www.house.gov/writerep/ - The House "Write your Representative" mail link, although some rep's still have their own home-grown mail form too. The above will work with any US Rep, however.
Senate's not as organized. Check out the senator's webpage off http://www.senate.gov and look for a "Contact" area. 7 of 10 times, it'll point to a web-based mail form.
These methods are actually the most efficient ones to use currently; they get databased and counted immediately, linked with your name and address (required to prove constituency, otherwise the Iraqi would be spoofing Congress to pass a pro-Saddam law or something). This is pretty much the preferred method of contact for constituents; PACs, corporations, scholastic entities, etc. (anyone that represents a group) has a little more clout when going the fax route.
Sorry for the blahblah, but my company specializes in government relations software, hence why I know what works best for the DC yokels.
http://www.geekpac.org
:) FYI.
They got a CNN write-up earlier this year/last last year. This is pretty much what you're calling for.
Take four sheets of solid black paper. Tape them end-to-end. Feed fax machine. When the first edge comes out, tape it to the other edge, making a nice circular fax.
....
profit!!
It's ironic, giving the information available today, you would think you would have done just a little research.
You need to stop just speculating like every other idiot, go beyond hypothesis, and start rigorously testing your assertions.
If you're not just trolling and actually give a shit about the issues you claim you are. I suggest you start reading what the upper echelons read.
The Economist
The Financial Times
The Wall Street Journal
If it is Endored by the EFF, I assume that means that Hillary Rosen and Jack Valenti will end up blowing on the second deathstar. That could definitely be a good thing...
However, it could be a bad thing if the only song we can listen to in the future is "Yub Yub"
Anyone notice that Yub Yub is "Buy Buy" backwards?
--Joey
Hey, we've got to stop bickering and tell the congresss people to support it. Remember how the CBPTDA( whatever) got defeated by the "huge grassroots" movement? We can not afford to be apathetic here. Now is the time to strike while the iron is hot.
I wrote to all of my representatives about the RIAA vs. webcasters issue. I used e-mail, but I wrote a nice, in-depth letter, and presented my opinions thoughtfully. All except Senator Smith (who lost re-election) replied -- including John Sununu, who replaced him. I suppose it may depend on which congressional district you're in as to how much e-mail your representatives get, but some -- the good ones, at least -- are listening, and reply. John Sununu's reply was even in-depth, and included a copy of a Wall St. Journal article with which he (and I) agreed.
Bottom line: write your reps, however you do it. Just use good English, present your case well, and DON'T FLAME -- you'll just get tossed.
Oh -- one last thing: _do_ include your snail mail address. That way they can
a) get back to you with dead-tree stuff, and
b) know that you _are_ one of their constituents.
Perhaps media should work the same way: you can protect it with a copyright or with technological barriers, but you have to choose one or the other.
Call (202) 225-7944 if you live in 10009 (14th District NY) and let them know you support it. Be nice, just ask for their position and say that you support it.
Nice idea, but honestly Congress is in a lame duck session for the 107th Congress, waiting until January and promote it's passage in the 108th Congress would have greater impact at this stage of the legislative calender it won't go anywhere.
I just finished calling my local Congressman to tell him that I support this bill and want him to as well.
Instead of writing your congressman e-mail through the EFF's webpage, pick up your phone and call him or her. Politicians respond much more strongly to physical letters and phone calls than they do to e-mails. My Senate rep, Dick Durbin, won't even reply to your e-mail except in snail-mail form, and only if you attach your address to the e-mail when you send it.
You can find your House Rep's phone number by putting in your ZIP code at vote smart's website. Pick up the phone and give him your view on the bill - the person there will write that information down and let him or her know.
I have saved some of my Starcraft replays here
It's not like you have to call. I've tried that before, when you do get through you get an intern who takes a message. I usually get replies by email though still probably an intern.
Index of reps contact info
The same thing will happen that happened to the bill that was going to get rid of webcaster fees for small webcasters. Sen. Disney (TM) and Sen. TimeWarner (tm) will amend the bill to do exactly the opposite of what it was originally intended to do. Then theyll have the gall to say "vote for this bill, its EFF sponsored" neglecting to mention that by this time EFF will haveremoved its sponsorship.
This is all about money.. They think they're losing money with CDs and DVDs..
So STOP buying these things... You can live without a CD or better instead of a CD buy a book...
"I emplore you to study this document for all of its merits."
other than the misspelling, though, it's a well thought-out and well written letter...
mmm... yeah... You see, we're putting the cover sheets on all TPS reports now before they go out...
This is one of the best posts I've seen on Slashdot in a while. In particular,
The work of the artists and scientists and engineers outlives the work of the kings and generals, in the end.
is a candidate for fortune files.
May we never see th
Sounds like "wolfpack". "geekpack".
May we never see th
If you want to know how cheap DVDs really are, I've been told that General Mills is now giving DVDs away in cereal boxes. A friend of mine has told me that boxes of Cinnamon Toast Crunch where he is have The Muppets Take Manhattan or a Jackie Chan Adventures disc packed in with them. Freaky.
Editor Emeritus and Senior Writer, TeleRead.org
Funny how a site advocating electronic freedom is running on a Micro$oft platform. Micro$oft is going out of their way to develop DRM technologies.
IMHO, some better (or at least more creative) options might be:
1) Affirm the right of the consumer to receive a full refund for any intellectual property which utilizes technological impediments to fair use. The right extends for 30 days from the date of purchase, cannot be voided by contract, and does not apply to media which contain no intentional impediments to duplication.
Skip the labelling stuff; just guarantee a refund and let the sellers determine which producers they're willing to sell for.
2) Create a "self-help discouragement" rule which says that the right to statutory damages for infringement is voided by the use of any technological self-help measures applied to prevent duplication. That way, producers which copy-protect their intellectual properties can only collect real damages for infringement.
When a producer employs copy protection to prevent unlawful distribution, what they're really doing is taking the law into their own hands. Its like a vigilante street patrol, only the casualty is our rights instead of our lives. The law should discourage vigilanteism in all its forms.
Moderating "-1, Disagree" is simple censorship. Have the guts to post your opinion.
Ahhh thanks for the correction. I haven't sent it anywhere yet, so it's not too late to change it. Thanks! :)
Weapons? Hmm? so...
George Washington would count for less than Washington Irving?
The world is currently feeling greater effects from Japanese art than from nuclear weapons exploding in Japan? (And I would suggest that Einstein had a great deal to do with the end of that war. And Newton. Atomics, ballistics)
And of course there is Heinlein's line from Starship Troopers: "Tell that to the city fathers of Carthage."
I don't necessarily disagree with your intentions, but making generalizations like this just isn't smart.
I went to the link, typed-in basic info like name, address, and e-mail. Previewed a short pre-made letter, clicked the send button, and BAM! I was suddenly part of the democtratic process! The e-mail letter was sent to my Congress-critter with my "signature".
I was in a section called: EFF Action Center. On the right-side was a list of 9 "actions", or to-do items. Each one was a political issue, and a corresponding pre-made letter. Went through each one, found out that all the contact fields were automatically pre-filled from my last entry, and clicked my way to democracy!
I'm currently passing a kidney stone, so my bitch-o-matic meter is very high right now, but I have to ask: Why can't all political action be this easy? I vote every election, which actually requires some small effort on my part. But, why can't a lazy, kidney-stone-passing citizen like me simply vote for issues and candidates like the way this EFF has set it up? Only thing it needs is few more security measures and there you are. No different from mail-in ballots, but more convenient and little chance of losing a vote in the mail.
The internet is an indispensible tool for me and this EFF site has added even more value. Very cool.
Yes. And I farted again. Ooooff. Oh, the smell. The smell is like the smell of other people's cooking, you know that smell, but with CRAP.
The temperature of Heaven can be rather accurately computed from available ... shall have their
data. Our authority is Isaiah 30:26, "Moreover, the light of the Moon
shall be as the light of the Sun and the light of the Sun shall be sevenfold,
as the light of seven days." Thus Heaven receives from the Moon as much
radiation as we do from the Sun, and in addition seven times seven (49) times
as much as the Earth does from the Sun, or fifty times in all. The light we
receive from the Moon is one ten-thousandth of the light we receive from the
Sun, so we can ignore that. With these data we can compute the temperature
of Heaven. The radiation falling on Heaven will heat it to the point where
the heat lost by radiation is just equal to the heat received by radiation,
i.e., Heaven loses fifty times as much heat as the Earth by radiation. Using
the Stefan-Boltzmann law for radiation, (H/E)^4 = 50, where E is the absolute
temperature of the earth (~300K), gives H as 798K (525C). The exact
temperature of Hell cannot be computed, but it must be less than 444.6C, the
temperature at which brimstone or sulphur changes from a liquid to a gas.
Revelations 21:8 says "But the fearful, and unbelieving
part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone." A lake of molten
brimstone means that its temperature must be at or below the boiling point,
or 444.6C (Above this point it would be a vapor, not a lake.) We have,
then, that Heaven, at 525C is hotter than Hell at 445C.
-- "Applied Optics", vol. 11, A14, 1972
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