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Digital Media Consumer Rights Act
irabinovitch writes "Representatives Rick Boucher and John Doolittle introduced the DMCRA which would to quote the EFF would "require labelling requirements for usage-impaired "copy-protected" compact discs, as well as several amendments to 1998's infamous Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)." We always seem to complain about the DMCA around here now is our chance to change it! Check out this "Action Alert" at the EFF."
if you want to listen to a preview, listen to the radio That's the problem. >90% of music never gets on to the radio because radio is under the control of the music "industry". If your band isn't one of the few being promoted this month you cannot get on the radio.
While signing the EFF letter is a great place to start, those of us with extra free time should take the time to craft our own thoughts on the issue and send those in as well. Many copies of a similar letter have a strong effect, but original letters show that you _really_ care and will probably remember around voting season.
Past that, we should also, as the EFF states, tell our families and friends about the issue. Not many people care about this currently, because not many people know, and the information sources most people rely upon are more concerned with 5 minute wheather reports than reporting on people's rights being stripped away.
Because he's a Kennedy
Right now, it's sort of like this huge country, with stores, residents, jobs, basic laws etc... but no real government to speak of
What? You want to change this? Why?
Right now, many things are illegal, but the laws are deemed unfair, so these things are socially acceptable
Damn straight. And once those absurd laws are gone things will balance out.I don't want the internet to speak with a singular voice. What a horrible thought. That would turn it into network TV or a clear channel radio station.
If Mr. Edison had thought smarter he wouldn't sweat as much. --Nikola Tesla
Make sure to write your representatives. It's the only recourse we have left in this 'democracy' that has gone afoul - The only reason it has gone afoul is that WE (American Citizens, not slashdotters) have allowed it to but NOT writing our representatives. Their title 'REPRESENTative' should say it all. Their SOLE purpose is to represent YOUR opinion to the people that make the laws that govern how our lives are lived. If you don't write - LAWS WON'T CHANGE. The EFF has made this task incredibally easy - They've even written a nice letter and will auto-lookup your representative based on your address. Get your opinion out there. It's our only chance to change the laws of the land we live in.
I'll give you the link again in case you missed it the first time.
Don't Tread on Me
You can actually do more to make a difference than you think. Write your congress(wo)man a well-worded physical letter stating why you support this legislation and why they should as your representative sign-on to support it and help ensure it passes. The legislators must look at each letter as representing a larger portion of their consitituents than just yourself, based on the statistics of per-capita letter writing. If everyone on /. that believed in this legislation did the same, we'd probably have enough overlap that it would get something done.
Don't send email. Send a paper letter!
By legislating standards by which fair-use impaired proudcts are created, aren't we then giving fair-use impaired products our blessing?
Music wants to be free.
You are right in that this fraud must be prevented.
All that this requires is existing fraud legislation be brought to bear against these bogus CDs -- libertarians do support opposing the initiatiation of force or fraud.
Now, while legislation can provide safety from fraud allegations to those who would peddle such defective product, clearly marked, it should not require such marking. Here's why: this would lead to government "testing" of CDs to see if they were crippled and in need of such a mark, which costs the producer of the clean CD, harming them economically. Such people do not need such testing -- they know their CDs are clean, and need not fear fraud suits from their customers.
You could've hired me.
Actually the music companies do not really have much control over the radio. (In fact they often complaing about their lack of power)
Radio is now controlled by _radio_ marketing. Listeners drive advertising. Through marketing research ClearChannel thinks it knows what music gets people to listen to a particular station and demands conforming music.
Because ClearChannel owns so many stations it's in the game of focusing listeners to one or the other of its homogenized stations. The stations are not competing with each other really. ClearChannel just want's you to keep the radio on for as long as possible. McDonaldsization makes each station attempt to sound the same always. Thus the stations adopt music that sounds the same as what listeners already are hearing. The buzzword is 'wallpaper'.
You do realize that legislation is allowed to come from Representatives other then Boucher and Doolittle, right?
Just because the DMCA was introduced by some Representatives/Congressmen doesn't mean that all Representatives/Congressmen are idiotic gits.
Kierthos
Mr. Hu is not a ninja.
"I can find a lot of fault with what Congress did," Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said. "This flies directly in the face of what the framers of the Constitution had in mind, but is it unconstitutional?" Although the Supreme Court did not find retroactive copyright extension unconstitutional, there is no doubt that Congress strayed from the spirit of constitution. Copyright has become extremely unbalanced and biased towards monied interests. Many of whom have made their most valuable content off of the ever shrinking public domain.
Congress has a responsibility to right this situation and the Digital Media Consumer's Rights Act (DMCRA, H.R. 107) is a step in the right direction. 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.