"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!"

Good Luck

somehow i doubt the governor is going to listen to his constituents when the MPAA i$ breathing down his neck.

Re:Good Luck

Money buys access, and it buys influence, but unless the governor is corrupt, it doesn't buy decisions. Why shouldn't the governor listen to his consituents? After all, they're the ones who voted him into office and the ones who can vote him out of office the next time. I'm sure the MPAA has powerful and convincing lobbyists, but I doubt the governor of Arkansas owes his entire campaign to donations from the Motion Picture Association of America. That just doesn't make sense.

You have a chance in TN.

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 /. techies crowd. He will listen if you get the time. Here is the reason why:

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.

Re:Good Luck

Voting is a very non-descript way of expressing an opinion, and is therefore the least effective way of compelling a statesman to reconsider a position. The two most effective ways are lawyers and money. You can combine the two by donating to the EFF.

Write your senator

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.

EFF page for TN action as well

The EFF has also set up a page to Fax, email, or print a letter to your Tennessee reps:
[eff.org]
http://action.eff.org/action/index.asp?step=2&it em =2628

Re:EFF page for TN action as well

For crying out loud people, leave you homes and SHOW them how many people care.

Do you really think it will matter? Ok, so a bunch of people show up, and facing a modicum of public opposition they don't act on the bill.

...until 9 months from now when people lose interest in it, the lobbyists make their wishes known, and the bill gets tacked on as a rider to some unrelated (but much easier to pass) piece of legislation, signed by the governor, and becomes law. The end.

I don't think you realize how little control you have over your government. It's all money, all the time. In cases where public interest collides with money, the public interest will lose every single time. And if they can't get it the first time, they'll get it the second.

Your voice doesn't matter.

Re:EFF page for TN action as well

Why not do away with entertainment purchases for a year to see how much of an impact we can make? Are we too addicted to their drug to do this?

Because for this to have any effect whatsoever it would have to be done by a significant percentage of the population. How will you be able to spread the word about this boycott? Do you think you could ever get more than a modicum of people to join in? Man, hell no! "Law & Order" is on tonight!

Think about this: There hasn't been an effective consumer boycotts since the 1980's. Even the religious right has given up on product boycotts. Why do you think that is? And do you think you could fight the backlash of propaganda from the media were this to ever even to show the smallest signs of gaining traction?

Re:EFF page for TN action as well

A good starting point is here [eff.org], where you can find plenty of links to all of the most relevant information. There is also a chart showing the status of which states have bills pending or passed. If you live in any of the following states, your participation is especially urgently needed, as they have legislation pending right now:

• Arkansas [eff.org]
• Florida [eff.org]
• Georgia [eff.org]
• Massachusetts [eff.org]
• Oregon [eff.org]
• Tennessee [eff.org]
• Texas [eff.org]

Faxes

Knowing /. most people will just fax him a black page. The MPAA will be quaking in their boots at the huge bills for toner!

Re:Faxes

"Knowing /. most people will just fax him a black page. The MPAA will be quaking in their boots at the huge bills for toner! "

Actually that'd get the point across. "Why is this ink so expensive? The DMCA prevents companies from providing cheap alternative ink cartridges. You idiot! It was only supposed to work in our price gouging policies."

Better ways of convincing political figures

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.

Re:Better ways of convincing political figures

No, eventaully we'll quit buying their stuff. The record companies have already succeeded, and if the MPAA doesn't lay off, I may just have to stop buying DVD's too.

We are the customer, in the end we hold all the power. True - they may have to beat some of us back with a stick to keep us from buying their product eventually. But right now their primary task is looking around for a bigger stick to beat the customer with. Eventually, we'll just say "ouch" and walk away.

What I want to know ...

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.

We need some kind of tracking website...

...for this type of thing. The hearing in question took place at 10am on a Wednesday - how many people don't even find out about these opportunities in time?

Someone (not me, I have things [freenetproject.org] 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.

Re:We need some kind of tracking website...

to busy saving the Free World, eh?
good thing there already are things like this in place:
http://capwiz.com/afr/home/ [capwiz.com]
i've found it really handy, so far. nice record of how my reps and senators voted.

Dont Do it!!

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.

I live in Arkansas

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.

I faxed Huckabee...

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.

Re:I faxed Huckabee...

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.

Blame it on the "noisy" ex-presidents

If we could just get Washington, Lincoln, and Jackson to pipe down maybe we could get a word in edgewise. :-}

Re:I faxed Huckabee...

I'm afraid I still don't quite follow...

What's to stop the corrupt company in question (read RIAA / MPAA) to simply find a company rep in the proper riding and "decide" to give him a salary of $5 million a year. Perhaps that registered voter might "decide" to contribute $4.9 million to the candidate they wish to buy... er... support.

I think it would be a little better to simply cap contributions at $20,000 a year per political party or representitave.

Or just ban it outright - while you're in office, you get your paycheck from the government - anything else gets you jail time.

N.

Re:I faxed Huckabee...

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.

Governor Huckabee

"I'm Governor Huckabee, and I congradulate Canada on the preservation of it's national igloo."

Re:Governor Huckabee

This is *not a troll*, he actually said it!

Talking To Americans [tvguidelive.com]

I mean if the guy is stupid enough to say that, he is stupid enough to sign this bill, so WRITE, PHONE, GO DOWN IN PERSON to this guy and STOP HIM!

Re:Governor Huckabee

This is *not a troll*, he actually said it!

I read an interview with Rick Mercer about this, and it's one of the funniest things I've ever read.. the story behind the whole thing is funnier than what you saw on TV..

Rick and the crew were outside the Arkansas legislature building, getting the typical "man on the street" responses, when someone from the Governor's office comes out and asks where the're from... Rick gives them the "we're from CBC television getting reaction from the people of Arkansas, blah, blah (he notes that nobody questions why Canadians would want to know the opinion of someone from Arkansas).. they immediately get hustled into the Governor's office, where they get an interview with Mike Huckabee.. he said he was sweating bullets, because he knew that anyone could just open up an internet connection and see that the House of Commons is not an igloo, but nobody ever did..

Then, just before the interview, Huckabee says he wants a private chat with Mercer, and pulls him aside.. at this point, Rick is thinking "damn, we've been made.." but Huckabee just says to him: "This here igloo, it's not controversial in any way is it? Because it wouldn't look right for me to be making a comment about something that's controversial to Canada." Rick assures him that no sir, there is nothing controversial about it at all..

They get their interview, and as Rick put it "got the hell outta Dodge, before anyone wised up."

Re:Governor Huckabee

GO DOWN ...ON... this guy

You're thinking of a previous Governor of Arkansas.

The horses are already out of the barn...

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.

That won't work...

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.

Democratizing factor of the internet...

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!

It's time to really do something, people...

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 [eff.org] and the ACLU [aclu.org]. 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?

Re:It's time to really do something, people...

The sad thing in today's legislative system is that it takes a lobbyist or a lawyer to get your agenda even the least bit of attention. The masses have no real control...all we can do is support organizations that we agree with.

Re:It's time to really do something, people...

The sad thing in today's legislative system is that it takes a lobbyist or a lawyer to get your agenda even the least bit of attention. The masses have no real control...all we can do is support organizations that we agree with.

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.

Re:It's time to really do something, people...

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.

User Friendly

It's fun to violate D.M.C.A. [userfriendly.org]

Why is everyone surprised about this legislation

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?

What You Can't Do

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.

DMCA

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.

Summation of Super DMCA

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.

These bills are REALLY stupid

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.

Re:At least this won't stifle innovation.

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.

In other words...

posessing a natural number

278293794287349823794872398472938479234872934872 39 84792384729384709239
4887948798720824071874091674 1738178274821797837491 23874
9872384712874913874928748274938743658736587 4368522 34263746
3276472347293847273948237948237472349234 2348273498 2374

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

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?

Go out and win a few battles

The war is still at stake because those you oppose have more time, attention and money than you do and they will not rest until they have had their way in every state. Even if the laws won't survive a constitutional challenge, that will take years and years and years and will only affect one state. Then they're merrily sue you from a different state. They can keep that up until long after you and I are dead of old age or *AA death squads.

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 sorry, but...

Governor Huckabee of Alabama? That's just too perfect...

I'm sure he'll send Deputy Dawg around to rustle up the perpetrators.

How does this legislation get proposed everywhere?

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?

Re:How does this legislation get proposed everywhe

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.

H.R. 107

I just got the following message from my representative (in Pennsylvania), Melissa Hart:
********

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
************

Re:H.R. 107

Between the lines: Nowhere in this letter, do I, Melissa Hart, member of the IP Subcommittee, actually take a stand for or against the DMCRA. I will wait until the last possible moment to vote for it and hope that it is swept under the carpet when you are not looking. /waves hand/ This is not the bill you are looking for. PS - Did I mention I'm a member of the IP Subcommittee.

Make Note

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

What does this mean for the average user?

Nothing's illegal until you're caught. Now it's worse to get caught. Don't get caught.

American stupidity is the stuff of legends.

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.

Welcome to my world [the War on Drugs]

Pot smokers in the US understand all too well what is happenning. Get caught with marijuana residue in a ashtray, you go to jail and lose the ability to get student loans (convicted murders and rapists can still get them). Get caught with anything with pot in it (including residue) and get charged with posessing drug paraphernalia (a felony in most states). Roach in your car? Hope the cops don't find it or they'll take you ride. Pot smokers are hunted for sport in the US by LEOs (law enforcement officer) because it's a simple and safe arrest. We've been complaining for over twenty years but things just get worse [for us]. The number one conviction that lands you in a federal prison: simple marijuana posession. The feds are even locking up people who are in full compliance with CA's medical marijuana law (google out "Ed Rosenthal")

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?

No they don't

I constantly see this assertion"Remember, paper and phone calls make more of a difference than emails!"

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.

How to stop this ?

Get a law on the books that

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.

campaign spending limit

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!)

s-DMCA violates Federal HIPAA requirements?

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.

A Humble Arkansan's Input . . .

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:

"I think the definition part of the bill is what is giving most folks heart burn. What they need to understand is that to be convicted under this statute you have to knowing and with intent defraud a communication services provider. I believe that strong language narrows the scope [of] the statute tremendously." -- Jeff Wood (D), Rep-Sherwood

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.

So is it illegal to sell a CDRW in Illinois?

(3) Intentionally, knowingly or recklessly offers or makes available for a fee, rental or any other form of compensation, directly or indirectly, any equipment or machinery for the purpose of use by another to reproduce or transfer, without the consent of the owner, any sounds or images recorded on any sound or audio visual recording to another sound or audio visual recording or for the purpose of use by another to manufacture any sound or audio visual recording in violation of Section 16-8. [state.il.us]

I'm not a lawyer, but it certainly appears to be that way. CDW, look out.

Comments on Faxing / Contacting the AR Governor

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.

More information

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.

Divide and Conquer

An Effective Strategy

Congratulations, MPAA and RIAA, you have found the right way to do the wrong thing.