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"Super-DMCA" Bills In Tennessee and Arkansas
David Turner writes "Tomorrow, Tennessee's Senate Judiciary Committee is holding a hearing
on two nearly identical DMCA-like bills. These bills threaten
personal privacy, anonymity, and security research. SB
213 and HB457
are similar to state laws
introduced all over the country by the MPAA. Despite amendments, the bills still threaten digital freedom. Last
month, twenty people showed up at the Massachusetts public
hearing, and effectively opposed the one MPAA lobbyist. If you attend, speak from notes rather than simply reading a statement (but you
may be able to submit written testimony). Please come to Legislative
Plaza in Nashville, rooms 12 and 14 at 3:30pm." And Kraken137 writes "The House and Senate of the Arkansas state legislature have passed the MPAA's "Super-DMCA" Bill, and it is now sitting on the Governor's desk awaiting his signature. It's not too late to convince him to veto this bill! Arkansas residents are urged to contact the Governor's office to express their opposition to this violation of rights. The ever-vigilant EFF has a page where residents can send a fax to Governor Huckabee's office to let their voices be heard. Remember, paper and phone calls make more of a difference than emails!"
I've done my reading on the DMCA, but this "Super-DMCA" I haven't. Being the lazy college student that I am, could anyone provide a nice set of notes on the pertinent parts of this proposal? I can draw my own conclusions, but if you want to include yours too I'm sure you will.
Just telling me that the Super-DMCA threatens my "personal privacy, anonymity, and security" won't quite get me to bite, thanks.
So I've seen quite a bit about the super DMCA legislation and I hadn't heard anything about efforts to pass such a thing in Illinois. Well, turns out that it was passed in July of last year.
I heard nothing about it at the time, of course, and so it's a bit too late to do anything abou it. Sure, you can try to get a law repealed, but it's significantly more difficult to get a law off the books than it is to keep it off in the first place.
This sig has been temporarily disconnected or is no longer in service
I like this sort of grassroots dissemination through the internet. Now if American /. readers were to act on it in any great number, and act as polite but concerned citizens, they can be a force for good.
Remember! The Internet is not just for porn! It's also about organizing politcal action to keep porn legal!
reverse engineering playback, copying and even listening to media that you buy these are all antique ideas guys.
Get with the program. The owners of the copyrights to digital media are the only ones who should be authorized to tell you when and how you can listen to the products you buy. Ownership? You don't jack except the worthless piece of plastic that won't play in your machine.
The rights of consumers count for very little in a paranoid world of corporate heads who do NOT understand that people are buying their products because they suck. Naw, it is the technology that allows people to filter out the crap that is to blame. Doublespeak that has been endorsed through the courts.
I have a list of ten CDs I would like to buy because I have either lost my old ones or I have them only on tape and they are getting awfully warn out now. Still, I hesitate. Except for the stuff from SST from old Post punk bands of the time I hate the idea of funding the people that made the mantra Corporate Rock still Sucks so true and sad.
ACK
The MPAA and RIAA can be very loud.
Which is sad, because in theory, they have no voting rights as a corporation. How can the people who demand the freedom to do what we want with the things we own be overpowered by a band of theives which should theoretically have no political power?
Simple... Good old classic bribery through the "good buddy" system, you scratch my back, I scratch yours, etc...
Why do we put up with this and just let it happen? Especially when we are the ones who lose in the deal?
They won't be satisfied until they can pass legislation to make it illegal to even open the case on your computer, DVD player, television, VCR, Tivo box, etc. And even after that they'll be looking into ways to force people to wear a device which prevents them from perceiving any audio/visual signals which are not authorized by their organizations.
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posessing a natural number
2 39 847923847293847092394 1738178274821797837491 238747 4368522 342637464 2348273498 2374
27829379428734982379487239847293847923487293487
488794879872082407187409167
987238471287491387492874827493874365873658
327647234729384727394823794823747234923
is illegal and will be prosecuted by the full extent.
Because this number just happens to be a Britney song encoded in Radix-50 MPEG-4 format.
If you got this number in your calculations, you MUST
stop now and erase it as soon as possible.
Agreed. I've gotten about 20 people to fax him today, and I'm planning on calling his office later today, as are a couple of my co-workers (2 of whom are also college professors). We're also sending a carefully crafted email to our CEO to try and point out the places where this 'Super-DMCA' could possibly harm our ability to effectively do business in this state.
Agreed.
The only two I have found which are large enough to put a dent in the lobbyists's progress is the EFF and ALCU. If anyone knows of any others, I'd be glad to check them out.
Since the only thing our politicians will listen to is lobbyists, we need to form powerful lobbyists groups of our own to protect our interests. The only way we can grant these groups power is to donate our time and/or money to their cause. Since we are far less organized than the ??AA's, so we need all the help we can get.
Please consider making an automatic monthly recurring donation to the EFF
Orwell, or Atwood, either way we're all screwed.
Ita erat quando hic adveni.
Since the only thing our politicians will listen to is lobbyists, we need to form powerful lobbyists groups of our own to protect our interests.
More specifically, they listen to lobbyists with money. If you can help legislator X to get reelected by contributing to his campaign funds, you will have that legislator's ear. If you are merely operating from ideology but can do nothing to help that legislator win the next election, you may get lucky and be able to have lunch with him or her, but you will not have any long term effect.
The day of effective public advocacy groups is over. Nader is a laughing-stock, the ACLU is loathed by many members of the judiciary and much of the public, the EFF has been almost completely ineffective, and the American public is content with whatever legislative travesty the President advocates, so long as it is in the name of national security and supported by Republicans.
Corporate lobbyists control the legislative process. You, unfortunately, have no impact on this process. Your precious vote is worthless.
It would send a more powerful message if politicians faced recall votes over issues like these. I don't see that happening though.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
I'm not so sure you can go so far as to say worthless. Once the official is elected, true, you've lost all power. Until election, though, that politician is gonna kiss your ass as much as possible...so that makes you vote at least somewhat valuable.
What is the process by which this legislation is getting proposed everywhere. I am not real "up" on state politics, and completely ignorant of cooperation between state governments (I didn't think there was any).
Do state senators e-mail each other saying "here's a great opportunity for you to screw your consitituents".
Or, is someone with a vested interest going to reps from each state government, and pleading the need for this (along with some generous campaign donations)?
Can anyone shed some light on this?
********
Thank you for contacting my office regarding H.R. 107, the Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act (DMCRA). With changes in how consumers access copyrighted material, I agree that we must reexamine the application of our copyright laws.
As a member of the Intellectual Property Subcommittee, I will have the opportunity to work closely on this issue and agree that we must create a balance between protecting the artist's work and providing access for consumers. While copyright law should protect the property rights of the creators of a work, we must also ensure that consumers of those works have fair access to the material. Just as radio changed the way copyright law applied to music, the development of the Internet, peer-to-peer networks and digital copies are changing the applicatio of copyright law.
One way to address the imbalance is H.R. 107, which requires the producer of a work to properly label what the limits of how their materials may be used or accessed. In addition, the bill ensures that consumers have a fair use right to circumvent any new copyright protections. As this legislation is considerd in the Intellectual Property Subcommittee, I will be sure to keep your view in mind.
Again, thank you for contacting me and, if I can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact my office.
Very truly yours,
Melissa Hart
Member of Congress
************
"We apologize for the inconvenience."
We have a government and a people that are terrified of insecurity to the point of burning civil liberties left and right. Law after law after law is passed that intends to increase security (but really only increases paranoia).
While all of this is going on, that very same government passes legislation that has the side-effect of making the research of *real* security illegal. This not only effectively stops the advancement of security, it degrades existing security as well.
This makes no fucking sense.
It's so hypocritical, it's almost religious. What a remarkable Americna innovation. We are the image of our leader.
Why bother.
Which is sad, because in theory, they have no voting rights as a corporation.
Which is why I still advocate my unique and unfortunately unherelded campaign finance reform plan. It can easily be modified to encompass lobbyists as well.
1) There are no limits to campaign contributions, but...
2) You must be a registered voter. No corporations, unions or foreign nationalities allowed.
3) An exception is provided for independent political action committees, but...
4) They may only receive funds from registered voters.
A Government Is a Body of People, Usually Notably Ungoverned
I've got no problem skipping Matrix 2. Besides, I fear the Wachowski Bros may have got a touch of Lucas Syndrome. It's a psychological disorder where you attempt to captitalize on a previous smash success over and over again until it's bled dry, tweaking the story only slightly with each iteration to make it just about the same, but different enough to keep the audience from falling asleep.
Call me a pessimist, but can you say "Phantom Menace"?
-R
I totally agree with you. A monumental effort this would be, as I do not have the resources to build this sort of effort. However, the suggestion is still there.
I also agree that getting enough people to do it would be difficult. Spreading the word is probably about as difficult as convincing my mother to use Linux.
As per your Law & Order comment, it is obvious to me that the industry has a firm grip on the populace, because I know people just like that. Convincing them to boycott something to which they are extremely addicted would be like convincing the world that you should quit smoking because it causes lung cancer.
I am confused about the backlash comment. What could the media do? They would be suffering as well. If we boycott the media how would they propogate their propoganda? The worst they could do is kill the perpetrators of the boycott (no, I don't like this idea either).
However, I must say that I do not watch television. I have one in my home for my children to watch videos. I confess that I do buy and watch videos and DVDs that I find worth watching. However, I have found that removing broadcast television from my life has made me much more productive in life, and hence much happier. OH, and BTW, I also do not go to movies. The industry puts out very few films worth watching (my opinion!).
Again I state: the suggestion is still there.
Where is government for the people by the people? Do we really want to be measly serfs (in the majority) to the monstrous corporations (in the minority)?
Cheers!
Being a concerned Arkansas citizen, I contacted the representative who I consider to be the chief co-sponsor of House Bill 2361, the Arkansas 'Super-DCMA' bill that currently before the Governor's desk. He was kind enough to respond in brief although he is not my representative and with the end of this regular session (the second longest in Arkansas' history) must tend to more pressing matters. The summary of the email is an agreement to discuss the bill with me in greater detail soon (I trust him). He also made this one brief comment:
If anyone cares to hear the specifics of my future interview, I'll post it on my web site after the interview is held. Granted, the point is rather moot since the bill passed both houses.
What those who want activist courts fear is rule by the people.
Thank you. You stated that more concisely and clearly than I could. I've lived in and around Nashville my whole life. I'm considering at least attending this hearing tomorrow, as I won't have classes. I'm at a university that is home to much technology research, including robotics projects sponsored by NASA and DARPA. It has been my experience that rednecks and hillbillies can be found in virtually every state. Their accents may be different, as might be their general lifestyle. But they exist, and I hate the constant profiling of my state as a hillbilly haven. It is simply not that. I've made it this far without name-calling, so I think I'll stop.
Honor Among Slackers. A veri
Better yet, why don't we lobby for legislation to make corporate partnerships at the scale of these "Association of America" thieves illegal?
At their core, they are not really all that different from a monopoly. The only difference is that it's several different "separate" companies all working under the umbrella of another separate ??AA entity.
And really, are these companies competing? Each company has exclusive rights to all of it's content and contracted artists. It's not like an artist working under an RIAA company can just choose which of the companies they want to release their next record through.
Basically I see the RIAA and MPAA as organizations which are exploiting a monopoly loophole.
Time to close the loop.
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I hear you. I recently quit smoking largely because I'm sick of having to worry about legal issues all the time. I enjoy smoking, but that does not outweight the risks.
I guess before long, the risks of engaging in perfectly harmless activities like information security will outweigh their value. Then I'll probably quit technology too for the same reason.
"Suspect was apprehended for cipher posession and we believe he intended to use the cipher. I recommend the maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison.
"Next up, we have a rapist. Hmm.. doesn't look too bad. Give him a slap on the wrist."
Why bother.
Don't be so certian...
Since they have gone so far to flip over the law from "that which is not forbidden is legal" to "that which is not explicitly allowed is illegal" then why assume they will never do the same for budern of proof?
Please consider making an automatic monthly recurring donation to the EFF
Now if American /. readers were to act... as polite but concerned citizens, ...
/.ers are polite? Then why even have the negative mod points for trolling/flamebait/offtopic on /.? Unfortunately, some in this group are pretty offensive at times.
Remember! The Internet is not just for porn! It's also about organizing politcal action to keep porn legal!
Cute spin. I guess if they really want a substantial outpouring of support against these bills, the article summaries should reflect this spin. But, however helpful to their cause it may be, I'd be surprised if any of the anti-DMCA posts follow that path.
This is not my sig.
Not to flame, but I think that voting for 3d parties on a national level (senators, represenatives, president) is a great way to consign yourself to irrelvancy. Look at all the Green Party voters in Florida who went and principled George Bush right into office. Now I'm sure they could have had legit gripes with Gore, but Greens in general wanted better treatment of the environment, workers and a more accountable government. If thats what you want, why risk letting a guy into office who's going to trash workers rights, the environment and have an unaccountable government that would put Nixon to shame?
If you truly want to make a difference, forget 3d parties. Pick whichever party most fits your views and then fight to push the party in that direction. Like low taxes but hate having religion shoved in your face? Vote republican but yell loud and hard so your represenative isn't so ready to prostitute himself to the sourthern babtists. Similarily, if you like the environment but hate gun control, pressure your congressman to support your right to own firearms.
The only thing that made one correspondence count and another not is if one was not from a constituent address.
I don't know if this is a good thing, but soon as my Congress critter learned I'm an interested constituent, my email, phone and mail have been bombarded with invites for town hall meetings and current issue newsletters.
Too bad all they want is my support, in the name of political fundraisings.
Tennessee has the most corrupt of the state legislatures in the entire United States. They keep no public records of who buys who and have stopped all bills to open these records for decades. The MPAA/RIAA has already bought them, so the hearing is just a formality. Consider it a done deal!