Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Boucher's DMCRA To Get A Hearing On May 12

Posted by timothy on from the speak-up-sonny dept.

Mr. Firewall writes "It's been a long road since Slashdot first carried the story that Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.) was speaking out about the DMCA's trampling of fair-use rights. Well, his bill (HR 107) gets a hearing this Wednesday and the multi-billion-dollar music and movie industries have called out their Big Guns to stop it. This morning an urgent message from the Professional Photographers of America arrived in my inbox characterizing Boucher's bill as 'A bill that would make it impossible for photographers to protect their work' and other lies (apparently, the RIAA and MPAA have recruited the PPA into their Axis of Evil). The alert finishes by saying that 'a strong grassroots effort combined with [our] recent lobbying efforts should be enough to keep this harmful bill locked in the subcommittee ... until Congress adjourns.' Let's give these folks a little taste of the slashdot effect and do a little 'grassroots' contacting of congresscritters ourselves." Of course, you can decide only for yourself what your thoughts are on the bill.

3 of 305 comments (clear)

  1. This argument by cubicledrone · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    This argument has long since lost any credibility. There is no point at which the "Fair Use supporters" will agree to stop wholesale infringement. No amount of legislation or agreements or anything else is going to stop people from saying "well, what's to stop me from just downloading it?"

    Discussion of legislation is pointless. Nobody respects the law now. Why would any new legislation change anything?

    If copyright is repealed (for example) 30% of the economy vanishes overnight. Think the last recession was bad? Think the Great Depression was bad? The number of people who would lose jobs that depend on copyright, patent and trademarks is incredible.

    Copyright is in need of reform, but it's academic unless the "we want it all for free" bullshit stops.

    --
    Business isn't willing to pay for products, innovation and careers, so we get brands, mortgage commercials and layoffs.
    1. Re:This argument by cubicledrone · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Care to back that number up?

      Sure. I'll hire a couple hundred economists to write up a 600 page report that nobody will read, and people will still argue that the number is inaccurate.

      Let's start with books, newspapers, advertising, radio, television, film, theatre, music, software, research, pharmaceuticals and semiconductors. All of those industries, and all the businesses that support them vanish on day one.

      That's not even close to a complete list, by the way. Yeah, I'd say it's about a third.

      --
      Business isn't willing to pay for products, innovation and careers, so we get brands, mortgage commercials and layoffs.
  2. Re:mod parent DOWN by 110010001000 · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Oh, so I should be modded down because I support the view that IP is valuable since I am in the IP business (writing software)? Nice.