Sneaking in Bad Legislation
The lame duck Senate might try to sneak through a really nasty Copyright bill before this session expires. (Really, before the excerable Orrin Hatch's chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary committee expires.) This bill would do wonderful things like make it illegal to tape a movie from broadcast TV, and edit out the commercials for later viewing. Lovely. Since I'm in California, writing my senators (Boxer and Feinstein), has roughly zero chance of influencing their views or votes, but what the hey.
I am writing to you today to urge you to vote "no" on HR.2391, the CREATE Act, if it comes to a vote in the Senate. This bill further unbalances an already badly skewed copyright regime.
In addition, I urge you to adjust your position on such intellectual property matters. As a constituent, I note that you allowed the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, a similarly flawed piece of legislation to pass without registering an objection. That bill has created barriers to innovation in the the technology industry, but has created only small inconveniences in the everyday life of consumers. HR.2391, and upcoming regulatory changes such as the "Broadcast Flag" will have a far greater impact on everyday life. It is not likely that such legislation will go unnoticed as it has in the past when Tivos and VCRs start to lose functionality that upsets the MPAA or the RIAA.
Dave Moore
To see why these letters have no shot, check out the excellent opensecrets.org website. In particular: Boxer, top contributers (Time-Warner, Viacom, Sony, Disney, and Vivendi) and top catagories. Feinstein, top contributers (Disney, Time-Warner, and Vivendi) and top catagories.
These numbers are for Boxer's 2004 race, and Feinstein's 2000 race. It's extremely frustrating to me that I can't find candidates to vote for in this area that aren't completely in the pocket of the movie and music industry.