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Sen. Hatch to Introduce Wide-ranging Copyright Bill
The Importance of writes "C|Net News is reporting that a new copyright bill, to be introduced next week by Sen. Orrin Hatch, will likely overturn the Betamax decision (which held that VCRs were legal) and threaten all sorts of innovation. EFF broke the story and Copyfight has been all over it. Don't miss the comments of law professor Susan Crawford who says, 'This is amazing. Now we're waaaaaay beyond contributory and vicarious theories of liability, which are court-created and pretty darn broad on their own.' Text of the bill here and PDF."
What I think is more important is the RIAA hired Senator Hatchs son as one of their lobbyists. It should be a conflict of interest. Since they can't outright buy the Senator, they hire the kid who will have a wealth of oppertunity to influance his father.
Rosco: "If brains were gunpowder, Enos couldn't blow his nose."
Cole's Axiom: The sum of the intelligence on the planet is a constant. The population is growing.
Hey, I'm in Utah, and I've never voted for him! I have had a personal vendetta against him for the last 4 years! Everyone I know is *WELL* aware of where I stand on these Hatch-inspired bills and why. I have personally sent him several emails as well as snail mail letters expressing my sentiments as a constituent for his legislation attempts. He is not representing me or anyone else in Utah that I know of. The only thing I can figure is that he is representing someone with deep pockets or he is *WAAAY* off the deep end. (Lest you think all of us in Utah are mindlessly voting Republican!)
Change your name to Homer Junior! Your friends can call you Hoju
A past scandal in congress was over institutional supporters of politicians buying lots and lots of a book written by that politician. Maybe the books were in a warehouse or distributed free to members afterwards but the money was "royalties".
The above paragraphs probably have nothing to do with each other.
Congress can't overturn a decision by the Supreme Court, thats a convenience of having a well-designed government.
Your "well-designed government" was designed by this thing called The United States Constitution, which states, in no uncertain terms:
Of course, The Constitution ain't the most politically correct document these days, and goodness knows the courts don't give a damn about it...Hey, it's our old friend, the Jackass from Utah!
1. Senator Hatch was the fellow who last year wanted to develop software to physically destroy the computers of people who download music.
2. One of his staffers cracked into computers of House Democrats.
3. Senator Hatch's website used unlicensed (read illegal) hosting software for several months.
4. Hatch also thinks of himself as an amateur musician, who is losing money because people download his music.
5. Hatch's son is a lawyer, one of who's clients is the SCO.
Hoist Number One and Number Six.
There are so few things that the Federal govermment can legally do...
And copyright is one of them. It's even in the original document, not the amendments.
The Digital Millenium Copyright Act was passed under a Democratic president. Please stop trying to pretend either party is terribly interested in giving you all the "fair use rights" you want for copyrighted works.
-Erwos
Plausible conjecture should not be misrepresented as proof positive.
Ten writers will NOT produce the same script given a basic treatment. And probably only one of those will be good enough to become an actual movie.
It's completely different. Programming is NOT art.
The entertainment industry is also pursuing this through another vector: through WIPO. If the U.S. signs the new WIPO treaty, then Betamax will be overturned even without Hatch's bill. See my Nov. 8, 2003 blog entry U.S. corroborating with WIPO to overturn Betamax decision and also eliminate public domain.
Or, go look at Perspective: The new jailbird jingle where you can start your research on the NET Act. Signed by Bill Clinton 1997, it makes peer-to-peer (P2P) pirates liable for $250,000 in fines and subject to prison terms of up to three years. Up to three years of jail time for copyriight infringement.
I write this not because I'm a supporter of either party, but because I'm tired of the finger pointing. They're all doing it, most are corrupt, and only active and educated voters can change it. And here's a hint... neither Bush nor Kerry are going to be your friend in the copyright law fights.
Saying Android is a family of phones is akin to saying Linux is a family of PCs.
Unfortunately he's not up for re-election til 06, and it is doubtful the Republican party will put up any serious contenders for his seat. Demos just waste their time and money trying for a Senate seat in Utah. There is one house seat they usually do well in, but forget the Senate.
As to this issue, I'm just waiting for EFF to put up an action center item on this, once they do he'll get a fax or three on this issue.
I'm too lazy to compose a creative sig.
I've never understood why people register for a party....most people I know don't like everything one party does, etc. I can't imagine just voting a 'party line' on all issues and candidates. To me that just shows no thought process or consideration at all. I say bravo to the grandparent of the thread saying he votes here at there even though a registered party person, but, I'm curious why register to a party at all?
Why register with a party? Here are a few reasons I can think of:
* MOST IMPORTANT: Being registered with a party lets you vote in the party primary in states that do not have an open primary. YOU SHOULD ALWAYS VOTE IN THE PRIMARY!!! If most of the Republican-leaning independents would register with the party, for example, and choose primary candidates that were more moderate, there would be less idiots like Hatch in the upper ranks.
* If you want to run for office, long standing in the party will equate to added support for you.
* All of the organization of the party starts at elected Precint Committeeperson (PCP) positions (in the major parties, anyway). Being registered with a party allows you to be elected to one of these positions. Getting elected to a PCP position means having some amount of say on party policy, especially at the local level.
* Being involved in the party by participating at the local level allows you to meet all of the candidates running in your area, and you can do your part to help the one you agree with the best to get elected. If none of them are good enough, run for office yourself.
FWIW, I'm a Republican, my wife and I both hold Precinct Committeeperson positions, and I am involved with the party a lot at the local level. I run the network at the central committee office and volunteer time here and there on various campaigns. I also contribute actual dollars to some of the candidates I like.
Knowing and volunteering for candidates is important if you really care about issues like this. You know what you get with your vote, and should that person be elected, they'll remember who you are when you want them to listen to why you think this latest bill is a bad idea.
"Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives" should be a convenience store, not a government agency.