Slashdot Mirror
"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!"
somehow i doubt the governor is going to listen to his constituents when the MPAA i$ breathing down his neck.
"I can not bring myself to believe that if knowledge presents danger, the solution is ignorance" - Isaac Asimov
Time to once again send a fax to my senator. This is really getting to the point of rediculous by the MPAA and the RIAA. People will still be cracking their movies and music and spreading them over systems they cannot touch.
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.
The EFF has also set up a page to Fax, email, or print a letter to your Tennessee reps:
t em =2628
http://action.eff.org/action/index.asp?step=2&i
Knowing /. most people will just fax him a black page. The MPAA will be quaking in their boots at the huge bills for toner!
In Soviet Russia, beowulf clusters imagine YOU!
Friends, we are wasting our time with petty faxes, emails and written letters. We need to band together and purchase a Tomahawk cruise missile and then, only then, will be convince these infidels that they are wrong.
is this the most links ever in a Slashdot article? We should give amnesty to everyone who comments without R'ing The F'ing A's.
"And this is my boy, Sherman. Speak, Sherman." "Hello." "Good boy."
Someone (not me, I have things to do) needs to set up a website tracking this type of event, which allows people to enter their zipcodes and email addresses to be alerted when a lobbying opportunity arises in their area. I would be the first to sign up for Southern California.
If you feel you are up to the task - email me at ian[@]locut.us and I will do what I can to help, within the time contraints of my other projects.
Don't fall into the trap of thinking you can "make a difference".. Don't oppose the decisions of the government, that would be undemocratic of you. They know whats best for you, they are provided all the info they need on these issues by well-paid professionals.
Just sit back and take it easy.. writing letters is hard. Hey! whats on TV? could be you're missing a reeeealy good show! Nothing more to see here, move along..
This post has been sponsored by the **ia, this space for rent.
air and light and time and space
It will do no good to try to change their minds they
are to busy lining their pockets. Hucklebarry has cut budgets to about every social service in arkansas other than medicaid and food stamps. He will no doubt get a nice contribution from one of the labels for signing it.
As one of his constituents, I doubt he will listen (a lot of people in Arkansas recognize that he is in office for the wrong reasons), but I would say that's because most government officials will not take time to look at this issue in depth. The MPAA and RIAA can be very loud.
"I'm Governor Huckabee, and I congradulate Canada on the preservation of it's national igloo."
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!
maybe it's just me but some of these bills seems to be blatantly in violation of the BILL OF RIGHTS. Anyone remember that thing? I'm sure you've heard of it.
Why is the RIAA allowed to just snoops around just based on suspicion. The police need this thing called a WARRANT. If I went snooping around the RIAA offices because I thought they stole something from me I'd probably be arrested for breaking and entering.
I can understand when bills get past that may not necessarily be good for anyone but a big company, but these "DMCA" bills are out of control and unconstitutional. Maybe I'm just crazy or global warming has fried my brain and I'm not seeing strait.
Thank goodness someone brought this issue to light. I tried submitting an article earlier and was rejected.
This DMCA stuff is serious. Together with the USA PATRIOT act, we are *seriously* look at an Orwellian future, people.
It's really time to do something, no more procrastinating.
If you can't go out and do something in person, then at least make a donation to the EFF and the ACLU. They both even have a monthly recurring system where you can have a small charge made to your credit card every month. A monthly contriubtion will make you feel a lot less guilty when going to the movie theater or blockbuster.
Please don't let this pass you by. The ??AA lobbyists are subverting our freedoms to tell us what we are allowed to do with the things we already own!
It's ridiculous that corporations have more political power than the people who actually elect our officials. Can we not read the bribery between the lines? This is offensive on so many levels...
It's time to act, people. How do you want your future to be determined -- by youself or by a corporation?
Please consider making an automatic monthly recurring donation to the EFF
It's fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A.
It's fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A.
Oh, wait..
Note to self: get smarter troll to guard door.
Don't you remember the Segway? How before it was even available, and before most people had even seen one it was being pronounced legal to ride on the sidewalks of major cities all over the US? How snappy lobbying suddenly made something OK without any real discussion?
The dangers of this are entirely in the disturbing broadness in the definitions, and the "everything not permitted is forbidden" catch. I much prefer the "everything not forbidden is permitted" way of things.
This would make it illegal for me to use fake referrer IDs (which I sometimes use) on my web browser. This would forbid me to share the DSL connection I share with my father's computer- why would ISPs ever want to allow shared connections? This would forbid me from burning my own music to CD, meaning the music that I myself composed.
The way it's worded actually outlaws power-line networking! While I don't really see that as a bad thing- people picking up on that will oppose the bill, and I think power-line networking is a Really Bad Idea(TM), it's more devious than that- with the "express consent required," you would have to get written consent from the companies in question whenever you want to plug something in to a wall outlet if power-line networking occurs.
This is a truly horrid, debilitating law- which I have every intention to flagrantly violate if I get a chance- start a company that specializes in making nothing but those things, use resources that law would forbid...
The "must get permission" thing is the part that scares me the most.
Warning: Poster of this comment is a nerd. Just like everybody else here.
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
Essentially what this "Super DMCA" is geared at is allowing copyright holders access to ISP private information (including but not limited to, IP address, street address, phone number, etc) of "copyright infringers" in the hopes of halting online music/movie piracy. It would basically outlaw any network address translation device (e.g. routers, gateways, firewalls) that could coneal the IP address of a suspected infringer.
Just take a Linksys box, and a copy of Windows XP into the hearing room and tell the dumbasses there assembled that these useful and commonly used devices will be illegal in their state if this moronic bill passes. And that all those High Tech Jobs (TM) that aforementioned dumbasses keep saying they want to attract will move out of state if said moronic restrictions in fact become law.
sulli
RTFJ.
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.
It's a shame people hold their entertainment as such an important part of their life that there could never be a successful boycot of the MPAA or RIAA.
No way would most people skip out on Matrix 2! Can you imagine, not forking over $8 to the MPAA to see a movie?!
Forget freedom, what's on TV?
The Bourgeois Class is not interested in the welfare of the Working Class... All they care about is increasing their capital at the expense of others.
They don't care about us, all they want is our cash. They introduce shit laws as these to get more and more money.
A few of us try to fight it...
They try to take our rights away, so stand up and fight!
Mobilize everyone you know against the DMCA, educate them about it.
It's fun to violate D.M.C.A.
Will I retire or break 10K?
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 sure he'll send Deputy Dawg around to rustle up the perpetrators.
Stop by my site where I write about ERP systems & more
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."
The RIAA and MPAA send their lobbyists to individual state legislatures in an attempt to get Senators and Representatives they feel will be sympathetic to their cause to introduce the bill. Those Senators and Representatives then contact their friends in the Senate and House of the state to gain support for their proposed bill. The bill is then drafted and a hearing often takes place before one or more committees in the state house and senate. During these hearings the MPAA and RIAA lobbyists are often called on to speak and say why the law should be adopted. These hearings are usually done in such a way that the average Joe can't participate, nor can groups opposed to the bill such as the EFF and ACLU. Once the RIAA and MPAA lobbyists have addressed the state congress they will then have presented a completely one-sided view of their issue to the congress, which will only see one side of the coin, and vote before they can really look at the other side. A lot of this gets hurried through because of the large number of issues that come before the state house and senate, and some of it gets hurried through by the Senators or Representatives that introduce the bill because they want to get it passed.
I present an exerpt from my ISP's AUP: :-] )
(I've renamed the name so as to not incriminate the ISP
A) ISP
ISP is designed for personal and family use within a single household. Customer agrees that only the Customer and co-residents living in the same household will use the Service. The term 'single household' means the Customer's home and includes an apartment, condominium, flat or other residential unit that may be used as a residence in any multiple dwelling unit. Customer may not resell or distribute the Service outside Customer's household. The Service is being provided solely for use in Customer's household and any unauthorized access by a third party to e-mail, Internet access, or any other function of the Service relieves Charter of any affirmative obligations it may have, and is in violation of this Policy.
Customer may set up one (1) web page per primary e-mail account for personal use using the Service, but Customer may not establish a web page using a server located at Customer's home. Customer will not use, nor allow others to use, Customer's home computer as a web server, FTP server, file server or game server or to run any other server applications. Customer will not use, nor allow others to use, the Service to operate any type of business or commercial enterprise. Customer will not advertise that the Service is available for use by third parties or unauthorized users.
ISP reserves the right to disconnect or reclassify the Service to a higher grade for failure to comply with any portion of this provision or this Policy. Any violation of these policies may lead to prosecution under state and/or federal law and/or termination of Customer's service.
3. NO COPYRIGHT OR TRADEMARK INFRINGEMENT
Customer will not use, nor allow others to use, the Service to send or receive any information which infringes the patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets or proprietary rights of any other person or entity. This includes, but is not limited to, digitization of music, movies, photographs or other copyrighted materials or software.
ISP is registered under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (DMCA). Under the DMCA, copyright owners have the right to notify ISP if they believe that an ISP customer has infringed the copyright owner's work(s). If ISP receives a notice from a copyright owner alleging any Customer has committed copyright infringement, ISP will notify the Customer of the alleged infringement. If ISP receives more than one notice alleging copyright infringement on Customer's part, Customer may be deemed a "repeat copyright infringer." ISP reserves the right to terminate the accounts of repeat copyright infringers.
Does this mean the RIAA and MPAA are trying to gain even more power than is already allowed under current law? Or is this merely a restating of current law, so as to more actively enforce it?
If you read Slashdot, then more than likely you have above average interest and knowledge about computers and technology.
For political expediency, I'll just identify you as Knowledge Workers of the Third Millenium (rather than karma whores, trolls, etc.)
If ever in the future you might consider starting your own technology-related business, or already own a technology-related business, then you can start to increase your employee morale, productivity and unfettered creativity by choosing a place to base your business that does not place draconian measures on the free flow of information for the sake of vested special interest groups saying words like "piracy" and "patriotism".
A trickle of feedback like this to a few chambers of commerce in the right states would do wonders in stemming the tide of such ill-thought legislation. Just about every state in the USA and every locality everywhere wants to become the next Silicon Valley. If you let them know, as the kind of person that makes up what makes Silicon Valley represents, that Tennesse (or wherever) is condemning itself to becoming a repressive backwater by adopting the same kind of legislation that has done so much to help the information economies
"Provided by the management for your protection."
Nothing's illegal until you're caught. Now it's worse to get caught. Don't get caught.
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.
While I live on the opposite corner, we do happen to have quite a few local tech jobs around here. If one wanted to completely overlook all the secondary players, Wal-Mart alone employees several thousand programmers. Honestly I hate the way people see pictures of southern Arkansas (or for that matter Memphis or Little Rock) and assume the whole damned state is like that. I live in a metro area of roughly 350,000 people with a 2.5% unemployment rate. AARP recently rated Fayetteville as the 5th best town in the country to live in. Our MSA is currently the sixth fastest growing in the country(47% increase in population from 1990-2000). It is also rated the 36th safest metropolitan area in the US. Our airport was one of only a handful that actually INCREASED in traffic after September 11th and continues to increase to this day. I'm not really sure what started this diatribe, but please refrain from taking point statistics and making that information seem to apply to an entire two state region.
If we could just get Washington, Lincoln, and Jackson to pipe down maybe we could get a word in edgewise. :-}
--- I wish I could hear the soundtrack to my life. That way I'd know when to duck.
Sad to say your complaints are falling on deaf ears. The politians don't give a rat's ass what you want. Wait until they start locking you guys up for using ssh or squid proxy.
Again, welcome to my world. Can you pass the soap?
Having worked in the US Congress as a Legislative Correspondent, I can confidently say, huh uh! We physically counted phone calls, letters, faxes and emails completely equally with no regard to their type, as did every other congressional office that I was familiar with. The only thing that made one correspondence count and another not is if one was not from a constituent address.
I think I'll stop here.
1) Prohibits monitary donations to individuals with voting rights (i.e. NO LOBBYS / Corporations / Associations ).
2) Put a cap on monitary donations to no more than $ 5000.00 total per year to any policitcal campain (Local, Federal, or State). This would force "individuals" to re-think how they donate monies.
3) ALL donations regardless of the amounts must appear on the donater's tax returns (any amount over the $ 5000 would be taxed at the maximum % as a penalty)
4) All donations must appear on the polititians "records" and NOT aggrigrated.
NOTE: Lobbiests could still violage #1 but would be severely limited by #2 and #3.
UPS Sucks
One of the things prohibited by this legislation is concealing the origin or destination of any communication from the communication service provider. This could mean you can't use ssh or a VPN!
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act now requires these sorts of technologies when electronically communicating medical information. So will doctors in these states nolonger be able to access patient, hospital or insurance records from off-site?
It's all a question of priority. Your medical information isn't as important as the latest Britany Spears release.
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.
I'm not a lawyer, but it certainly appears to be that way. CDW, look out.
Hoist Number One and Number Six.
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
There is a good chance that a lot of the faxes, emails and other correspondance sent to Arkansas Governor Huckabee will be dismissed out of hand. It is the tendency of elected officials to only listen to their constituents. So, if you are not from Arkansas, he is not obliged to listen.
I first learned of this phenomina when I lived in Northern Virginia and became friends with a Legislative Assistant of a prominent US Senator. He commented that the US Senators always, always, always ignore any communication not sent by a consitutent. He said, "that's why they have their own Senators."
So, if you're not from Arkansas, don't expect to be heard by our Governor.
What those who want activist courts fear is rule by the people.
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
The way the problem was solved in France was to set spending limits for political campaigns, with penalties for trespassers including the cancellation of the election and the prohibition from running for public office for a while.
This may sound like a restriction to free speech... Yet if you think of it, the only way those people could have that much money was not from contributions from citizens,but using slush funds and corporate donations. Corporations have no right to free speech!
(Interesting note: membership fees for political parties are partly tax-deductible, but the receipts don't bear the name of the party so that the tax service doesn't see who you vote for. Of course, it is pretty useless since the membership fees for all major parties are known, it's just a matter of looking the price up!)
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.
Your lawsuit would be thrown out of court because you don't have standing to bring a claim. You aren't a hardware manufacturer, or a retail chain, or a provider of some service that's, in theory, being harmed by these devices. You'll blow some money on a lawyer and totally waste your time.
Now, if you had a reasonable fear that your activities would be subject to lawsuit, you could try to get an affirmation from the court as to whether your actions were legal or not. The only problem with this approach, as we've seen in recent DMCA legal wrangingling, is that the judge may throw it out, once again, because you have no standing.
Also, as far as suing retailers over possession of these devices, the law doesn't address that. I can certainly use NAT within my corporate network, and I can use NAT on my Internet service assuming my provider is okay with it. It's just saying that I can't use NAT unless they say it is okay.
The simple solution to all of this is to pay more money, either to the company who is making you pay per connection now, or buying into a service that doesn't care. I have DSL service through speakeasy and they don't care what I do. I run servers, I use NAT, and they are totally happy. I pay more and I get more. As long as there is competition in the market this isn't a problem.
This sig has been temporarily disconnected or is no longer in service
The governor doesn't need to be corrupt for a bit of "access and influence" to have a grossly disproportionate influence on the governor's decision. When it comes to complex matters of public policy, no politician has the time or energy to become an expert on even one or two fields, especially after you subtract all the time spent grubbing for contributions.
Instead, politicians generally have to defer to "experts" on unfamiliar matters like technology policy. So a "suggestion" from an informed-sounding lobbyist, backed by a few thousand dollars of "access," can be quite persuasive.
It's really time to yank the money out of politics. McCain-Feingold didn't go nearly far enough. If, as proponents of the current system claim, "money is a form of speech," corporate interests are carrying huge friggin' megaphones and shoving the rest of us out of the conversation. And it's depressing to see our elected representative spending several hours a day dialing for dollars rather than studying the legislation they're going to vote on.
Just a thought: Maybe publically financed elections are the way to go.
You want the truthiness? You can't handle the truthiness!
ACM Communications, the primary publication of the Association for Computing Machinery, the Computer Science professional society, contains a special feature on Digital Rights Management. I have not finished reading all of the articles in this section, but my take thus far is that ACM US has taken an active role in attempting to provide technological guidance and advise to Congress on this issue and with respect to both proposed legislation and court cases testing laws in this area. Yet, the pressure that has been brought to bear by the big copyright holder interests thus far have far outweighed those of the technologists and their commercial interests.
Additionally, there have been a continuing series of articles in this publication as well as others produced by ACM providing additional analysis of the topic along with recommendations for action.
Give it a good read... its both encouraging that such comprehensive analysis is in fact being brought to the highest levels of government, and discouraging in that thus far it seems to have made little difference.
Finally, this might be a good reason to join ACM to add to the strength of their(our) voice.
Actually, I am a member in good standing of the media in TN. I am a avid slashdotter, and apparently my plate has been too full to see this one coming down the street. Terribly sorry for the gaff, but here is some TN advice.
SO here is what I would suggest to people, as I know Phil Bredesen (the Gov), and interview him about once a week or more...
Pick a spokesman for the
He is a nerd. Harvard math. Grad school stuff. He likes computers. I kid you not. He will get technical with you in a second about a number of subjects (he one day asked what Kelvin the color temperature my camera was getting in the shade). It is actually refreshing to meet a man that is the governor that is also smart enough to look up to. This is a man that got elected on the "TN is not thinking smart about its finances, and I know finances" platform. He should know. He is a self-made millionaire, so he doesn't worry about re-election money or owing anyone anything. He's already got money. He even turned down his salary because of budget problems. I don't like politicians because I see them up close, but I actually like this guy.
So, if you can, make a very detailed, very compelling argument to him FROM HIS CONSTITUENTS and send it off. If he gets it I guarantee it will not pass over his head... few things do. I would help, but I work for the local news, and well, my microphone is pointing at him too often to get involved.
Personally, I think that Phil Bredesen is your best shot on shooting this down in TN. The TN House and Senate are the most political animals on the planet (truly "Old Southern Politics" at work) so there is no hope there with the lobbyists around.
Good luck guys.
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!
An Effective Strategy
Congratulations, MPAA and RIAA, you have found the right way to do the wrong thing.
-=-=-=-=
I know life isn't fair, but why can't it ever be un-fair in MY favor!?