[olug] congressman Terry needs more attention

[Daniel Linder]

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[This is quite long -- if you want the government to tell you what you can
do with your recordings of CSI and the West Wing, then just hit the delete
button now.  Otherwise, read on... -Dan]


 On Fri,
November 4, 2005 17:05, Neal Rauhauser wrote:

> Congress is at it again - more attempts at welfare for MPAA and
RIAA

> members. Our very own congressman Terry is one of the people behind
this:

> 

> (Link
to site)

> 

> An email counts as one voter, a call counts as ten, and a faxed or

> mailed letter counts as a hundred. Don't be a sissy - take the time
to

> write a letter and fax it to him.



I called Mr. Terrys' office a few weeks ago when this first came around --
check the OLUG archives for the e-mail I wrote up about it.



I received a letter from him stating his position, and why he felt it was
in the best interest of
Nebraska.  I'll type it
in here -- assume any typographical errors are mine.  



- - - - Beginning of letter - - -

Dear Mr. Linder:



  Thank you for contacting me regarding your opposition to a
broadcast flag.  I appreciate the opportunity to learn your
views.



  In Congress, there is bipartisan support for the broadcast flag as
a way to protect individual copyrights and intellectual property
rights.  While the broadcast flag might not be the best way to
protect content sent over the air, it can at least prevent unauthorized
use and redistribution.  As you may know, a federal appeals court has
ruled that the Federal Communications Commission may adopt a rule for
broadcast flag if Congress permits it.



  I am also a proponent of innovation and feel that there are ways
the FCC can revive the broadcast flag ruling without hindering
innovation.  The purpose of the broadcast flag is not to regulate
content that you as a consumer may wish to copy or enjoy within your
personal at-home network.  It is intended to protect the owners of
that content from illegal copying and redistribution.  I have
supported the idea of a broadcast flag to protect illegal distribution of
copyrighted material and believe the FCC has the authority to establish
rules governing how this technology should work.  Failure to protect
this content may result in program producers not licensing their DTV
programs for digital broadcast distribution.  For these reasons, I
believe the FCC should continue to work on this important issue.



  Thank you again for contacting me.  Feel free to do so again
on this or any other issue that is important to you.



Sincerely,

Lee Terry

Your Representative in Congress

- - - - End of letter - - -



My notes:

1: His stationary letter head states that he is on the subcommittee
“Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection”, and
“Telecommunications and the Internet.” 
When you write him, let him know that you are extremely interested
in how this bill will further “Consumer Protection” –
the benefits to “Commerce and Trade” are easy to see. 

2: He states, “Failure to protect this content
may result in program producers not licensing their DTV programs for
digital broadcast distribution.”  So Mr.
Terry is implying that when the government mandated “totally
digital” world arrives within the next 10 years, if the producers
don’t have this flag they will just quit making shows to sell us
stuff and take up gardening and poetry reading?
 
3: Imagine a time in the not-so-distant future where
the broadcast flag (and subsequent flags that the producers convince
Congress to push through) are in place.  This
will mean that the ability of you and I (the “Open Source
Programmers and Users”) will have ABSOLUTLY ZERO LEGAL CONNECTIVITY into the broadcast
world.  To comply with this, all software will
have to come “sealed” and only run on “trusted”
hardware (i.e. DRM : Digital Restriction Management). 
Trusted not by us,
the consumer who paid for the piece of hardware/software, but trusted by
the TV producers to only
display on other trusted devices so that some non-trustworthy piece of
equipment (say a computer running *shudder* Linux) running a non-trustworthy piece of
software (Gimp, Kino, or Cinelerra) will be either disabled or fed a low
resolution feed.  Our kids who want to help
produce and edit a school theatre DVD or their garage bands CD will be
forced to use these “low res” AV captures – they
won’t be able to download the full resolution DV camera output to
their computer (unless of course it is running Microsoft Windows and
Microsoft MovieMaker).
 
Thankfully the “Buggy Whip” political
action committee wasn’t in force, otherwise Henry Ford would have
had a hard time getting his cars on the road legally.


Dan



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"Wait for that wisest of all counselors, time." -- Pericles

"I do not fear computer, I fear the lack of them." -- Isaac
Asimov

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