Qik StreamWired News: Senate May Ram Copyright Bill
This is one of those times when several threads in my brain coalesce. I got a chance to hear Pamela Samuelson, dean of the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology speak at UCSD two days ago on the subject of P2P. Fascinating talk on an issue of great importance to libraries (anyone know LOCKSS?). She talked a little about the Piracy Deterrence and Education Act of 2004 (HR4077) currently winding its way through Congress. She also referenced an article that I haven’t had a chance to read yet called “Darknet and the future of content contribution” by Peter Biddle et al (an ACM DRM workshop, Nov, 2002). Anyway, she’s working with several others — including the EFF — to make sure that the public domain, intellectual property law and copyright don’t get overrun by corporate zealots like the RIAA and MPAA. Now here’s this story in Wired that says that several pieces of legislation have been lumped together are are being pushed through the Senate by our good buddy Orrin Hatch and surpisingly, Patrick Leahy (D-VT) — until you check out their contributors on open secrets dot org and see that they’re both heavily financed by the TV/Movies/Music industries! Do you find this all as disturbing as I do? Then start by sending a letter to your Congress people at Public knowledge dot org.
The Senate might vote on HR2391, the Intellectual Property Protection Act, a comprehensive bill that opponents charge could make many users of peer-to-peer networks, digital-music players and other products criminally liable for copyright infringement. The bill would also undo centuries of “fair use” — the principle that gives Americans the right to use small samples of the works of others without having to ask permission or pay.
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