Boucher Introduces FAIR USE Act, Aiming To Make The DMCA Much Less Egregious
from the is-this-guy-really-a-politician? dept
Rep. Rick Boucher certainly looks like the digital consumer's best friend on Capitol Hill, with his long-running attempts to reform the DMCA as well as his support for fair use, an idea that many politicians hold with disdain. Boucher has again introduced legislation that would, among other things, create a DMCA exemption for private, non-commercial copies of digital content. The EFF notes some of its other aims, such as making it clear that manufacturers can't be held liable for infringing use of devices with substantial non-infringing uses (basically putting the Betamax decision into law). The bill would also add 12 exemptions to the DMCA to allow for the circumvention of DRM for lawful, classically recognized fair use purposes. Given the way these issues are generally treated by Congress, this bill sounds pretty stellar. But Boucher and other legislators that have introduced other, similar bills haven't had much success in actually getting them passed. Let's hope that this time is different.
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It's about time...
Three guesses who they are.
I'll keep my fingers crossed, but I'm not going to hold my breath.
EtG
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woohoo!!
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I'm not hopeful
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Re: I'm not hopeful
They don't need to. I followed some of the very interesting links given in TFA and what you have in the USA Congress is truly frightening. Boucher hasn't a chance, almost to the last man and woman they are uniformly brainwashed. You have senators that do not understand intellectual property, do not understand fair use, and don't even understand the simplest principles of law. What they do understand they ignore unless it fits in with their established beliefs and loyalties.
Lobyists have completely destroyed American politics from where I'm seeing it. Your politicians are so enchanted by their corporate puppet-masters that they do not even pretend to have loyalty to the constituents they serve.
Seriously, the only way forward for politics in the USA is to sweep the board clean and take revolutionary measures to remove every serving person from office and replace them with some younger blood. You need people who have the first fucking clue about what is going on in the world today, people who have a modecum of ethics and social conscience. You need to completely dismantle the lobbying circus and make it illegal to seek political influence through bribery (which is what lobbying is under a fancy name).
It's a cold comfort to see Boucher stand for common sense and moderation, but I'm sure he won't succeed. With the system so fundamentally broken you can't really hope for this to be anything but a token effort which maintains the illusion of democracy and political diversity.
False hope is worse than none in many ways. I hope I'm wrong.
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Re: Re: I'm not hopeful
I also believe congress needs to be completely dismantled and start a-new with No Name candidates that are elected on their track records, not promises they "intend" to keep. Being a republican or democrat no longer means you're either conservative or liberal, it means you agree to shovel out whatever BS the party decides is the most important 4-6 key topics that are in the meida. Whatever's in the damn media shouldn't be the concern of the US Congress. Improving foreign relations, offering technology as a form of aid to under developed nations, and embracing NIC's instead of trying to draft insulting legislation like NAFTA that we'll never honor, is what needs to be the primary objective. I hope congress continues on it's rampant stampede into the completely unparalled dominion of cluelessness. The youth today, the ones who will graduate college and go on, will be more educated in all mannerisms of life, that hopefully they'll see why the current installments of government needs to be done away with and as quickly as possible.
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I hate that bullshit made-up term.
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no surprise
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no surprise
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Senator For Sale! Senator For Sale!
.. then pass the bill anyway :)
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End lobbying
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Where does the line start?
Why have the citizens who do understand the rights we are losing not stood up for those rights? Why have we not banded together and made our thoughts clear in public instead of on blog comments and forums?
Where does the line start? I want to be one of the first in it?
Why? Why? Why?
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Insurance
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Using the media against the media
Yes, I realise that representatives do not necessarily take into consideration what their representees want. But rather than sit back and whine about this fact, we -should- be writing to our reps and spreading the word to encourage others to do the same. Put your local reps on the spot. If the media is well-used and the bill is popular enough, they'll have to make a tough decision that may impact their re-election.
Boucher is providing an opportunity for us (the citizens) to voice our opinions. He's giving us the chance to change the way people view free use.
Take advantage of this opportunity: spread the word, use the media, and write to your reps.
You know, or just sit around and whine when it doesn't get passed... whichever's easier.
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drm boycott
Typically, consumers speak very loudly with their pocketbooks. Because media merchants have imposed DRM technology on their consumers, even to the extent of imbedded rootkits, I personally have not participated in the commerce of ANY material in which such technology that limits fair use is imbedded. I encourage others to do the same.
Send a clear signal that the marketplace will not stand for iTunes, Sony, MS and other providers who utilize technology such that it prevents the freedom of legitimate buyers to transfer media from one device to another, to make archive copies (noncommercial use) to protect their investments and other legitimate fair use practices.
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It should be legal to circumvent DRM for legitimate fair use. It should be illegal to circumvent DRM for illegal purposes, such as large-scale piracy.
Make sense?
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