[olug] congressman Terry needs more attention

Tue Nov 8 16:50:29 UTC 2005

Rep. Terry doesn't appear to be open to having his mind changed via
persuasive arguments and facts.  

It appears that if you really care about this issue it's going to take
some old time spot-light shining. 

Here is the ugly:
 1) Even though he is in favor of the BF, he wants to vote that the FCC
(non-elected) be given permission to modify and limit our first
amendment rights, namely "fair use."  The MPAA and RIAA know that if
they don't hide this decision in some non-elected committee that it
would never pass in an open Congressional session.  This is a blatantly
cowardly act, orchestrated by the MPAA/RIAA and one that only serves to
harm us, the electorate.  
In a nutshell, "Terry favors abridging First Amendment Rights"

Last Avenues of Influence:
 A spotlight needs to be set on the congressman and we need to point out
the negatives that affect voters locally and in the pocketbook.  To that
end: Letters to the Editor in the OWH would help.  Any Radio air time
that anyone can get, especially stations like 89.7, Z-92 etc.

A media event such as a demonstration in front of his office with lots
of news crews. Maybe the EFF could give some pointers on what would be
effective in getting news crews to attend.

We will need a website to promote that will instruct the motivated on
what they can do.

Anyone up for some old fashion politicking?  

-----Original Message-----
From: olug-bounces at olug.org [mailto:olug-bounces at olug.org] On Behalf Of
Neal Rauhauser
Sent: Monday, November 07, 2005 1:49 PM
To: Omaha Linux User Group
Subject: Re: [olug] congressman Terry needs more attention

  I've never owned a TV in my life, but I have lived with people who 
have them. The last time I watched television with any regularity there 
were new Three's Company episodes on the air.

  I will occasionally rent or purchase a DVD which usually gets watched 
at my girlfriend's house. I've recently started doing some consulting 
for a high end video conferencing company. Adding those two items 
together I think I am fairly close to my first television purchase - a 
27" flat panel so I can mount it, a small DVD player, a video 
conferencing terminal, and not clutter up my space.

  I could afford to go and get the flat panel today ... but if its going

to somehow get devalued on 15 January 2006 do I really want to shell out

the $900 for the machine and its mount? I think not ...

Daniel Linder wrote:

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>jman at neonramp.com wrote:
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>>One solution would be to stop watching so much TV
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>[...snip - Dan]
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>>It is like a drug. We all want to get another fix
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>>without the pushers control. If it wasn't money for
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>>them they wouldn't pursue it. If it isn't a fix for
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>>us we would not fight it.
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>I too try to limit myself to a core set of shows or aproximately 4
hours
>of TV (less using my ReplayTV to skip commercials), but those of us who
do
>that are in the minority.  My neighbor is one of the vast majority --
>she easily has 1-2 hours per night that she _must_ watch (her words),
and
>will sit and channel surf to find something...anything... when her
other
>shows aren't on.  It's is these people that we are going to have to
>convince that DRM (Digital Restriction Managment) is a bad thing.
>
>
>
>On Mon, November 7, 2005 07:43, Eric Lusk wrote:
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>>Unfortunately, some of the mosre extreme measures the
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>>MPAA and RIAA are advocating apply to MUCH more than
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>>just TV.
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>I agree 100%.
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>>If some of these measures went through, you'd be
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>>paying huge fees just to copy your home movies from
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>>your hard drive, or VHS tape, to DVD.
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>>Not to mention that we'd be dealing with proprietary
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>>hardware, which would mean software developers would
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>>have to pay fees to write any programs that would run
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>>on "secure" hardware.  That would bring the cost of
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>>both hardware and software up, and could lead to the
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>>end of free software altogether.
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>And remember, this proprietary hardware will become obsolete once their
>current encarnation of encryption is broken.  Right now, the first
>DVD players from the mid 1990s will play the vast majority of the DVDs
on
>the market.  When the new "DRM impared" DVD players are on
>the market and some 16 year old kid finds a way around their security,
do
>you think the MPAA and RIAA will be content to stay with their broken
>standard?  No, they'll go back to congress and ask for a
>"Version 2" of their security measures.  How long until all
>of the components in your stereo rack (DVR, VCR, TV, Stereo, etc) will
not
>only have to have "DRM impared" digital connections, but *ALSO*
>be running the same revision of the latest security software.  The
>first time I see "Sorry, your TV is running an old version of DRM --
>please upgrade."  I'll be surfing the web for Russian and Korean
>hardware vendors who will sell me working hardware.
>
>
>
>It is issues like this that will help us convince my neighbor (and the
>majority of Americans like her) that DRM is not necessary for the new
>digital age, and our government officials who support it are not going
to
>receive our vote during the next election.
>
>
>
>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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>  
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