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 | 
