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a decent proposal?
by flynn23 at 1:03 pm EST, Nov 10, 2003

As some of you know, I have been heavily involved in fighting the state based DMCA laws (or commonly known as SDMCA or SuperDMCA), specifically in TN. We formed a group called the Tennessee Digital Freedom Network in response to these laws in the TN legislature last year.

One of the things that has come about through my involvement in this process is the idea that there needs to be an active government lobby associated with people who want to preserve and protect digital rights. Everyone knows about the RIAA and the MPAA and the AARP and the NRA. There is not really a group devoted to researching, articulating, or lobbying for issues centralized on technology and digital freedoms.

You could claim that the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) holds this role. Certainly they accomplish some of these goals, but it could be said that they are lacking in the political might and/or activism necessary to truly work an issue at a local level.

Assume that this group would be geared towards three key competencies:

o researching and providing comment and/or solutions to legislators on key issues involving technology or digital themes.
o organizing and applying legislative effort to ensure that key issues remain open, free, and accessable.
o sponsoring legislators who actively serve to protect technology and digital freedoms.

So I have questions to ask of the Memestreams population:

1) Do you feel as though your rights and freedoms are being infringed in the digital realm?
2) Do you feel as though you have adequate power to protect these rights and freedoms?
3) Do you feel as though the EFF is an adequate tool to protect these rights and freedoms for you (or en masse)?
4) Do you feel that another group (or groups) might be necessary to ensure that these rights and freedoms are protected?
5) Would you be willing to contribute financially to such a group? What is the level that you feel you would contribute? $10/year? $10/month? Would you encourage your colleagues to contribute?
6) Would you be willing to contribute your time as a volunteer to such a group? What is the level you feel you would contribute? 1 hour/month? 1 hour/week? Would you encourage your colleagues to contribute?

any response by you is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for your time and energy.

Cheers,
Scott

RE: a decent proposal?
by Decius at 11:52 pm EST, Nov 16, 2003

flynn23 wrote:
] 1) Do you feel as though your rights and freedoms are being
] infringed in the digital realm?

Rights are constantly threatened. People are trying to use anti-porn laws to wipe any controversial speech out of the net, or at least out of the school and library (surf control's usenet news category). Discussion about security systems is frequently threatened with prosecution. Some discussion of e-voting has been sued away... Deep linking... personal websites with humor or artistic purpose that make use of trademarked or copyrighted material... fan fiction... small/personal internet radio is almost impossible; people don't see it as a viable alternative to running micro-power or college/community stations because the royalties have priced it out of the market... Copyright is now eternal, and the public domain almost not existent. Innovative approaches to art/media, and the consumption of art/media are frequently illegal, and usually the policy is sue first and ask question later.

Basically, the situation is far too litigious. Individuals don't have the resources to defend themselves from suits, even ones that are unreasonable. The result is that speech by individuals has been chilled on a wide scale. The people who can speak are the ones who are big enough to take a lawsuit. This has made the network undemocratic. Only the rich have a voice. Everyone has a printing press, but the rich are the only ones who can face the consequences of using one.

The recent spat of DRM laws makes the situation even worse. Not only are we stopping you from speaking with laws, we're forcing you to buy technology that stops you from speaking. Not directly mind you, but indirectly. By eliminating the public domain. By preventing you from remixing and recontextualizing content. By preventing innovation.

] 2) Do you feel as though you have adequate power to protect
] these rights and freedoms?

No. I cannot defend myself against a frivolous suit by a large company. I cannot stop Congress from passing laws that are dramatically not in my interests. Congress follows the interests of the people with the power, and right now the public interest has no power in this arena.

] 3) Do you feel as though the EFF is an adequate tool to
] protect these rights and freedoms for you (or en masse)?

They have succeeded in many many respects. Right now they are our best hope. However, they have also failed in several respects. This is because they can only advise before passage, and sue after passage. If the laws we oppose are held constitutional (like the copyright extension), then there is nothing the EFF can do.

] 4) Do you feel that another group (or groups) might be
] necessary to ensure that these rights and freedoms are
] protected?

We need to throw people out of office. Congress only responds to those with power. The only way that Congress will respond to the public interest... [ Read More (0.1k in body) ]