[luau] Legislative Alert: SSSCA becomes CBDTPA

[Rod Gammon]

Woops, got my address book backwards- I've been sending all my luau mail to
you Warren.  Hope it was interesting.

1. HTTA & MIC - No contacts there, maybe someone else should do it.
2. Honolulu Weekly - Will call them Sat.  Others should too.
3. Richardson Law- I'll contact admins on Monday, no prob.  But Spring Break
did just start, now that I think of it...

I also encourage everyone here to make frequent use of their legislator's
mail boxes.  Although we might not want to hear it, email is not always
treated well by law makers- it's just too easy for cranks to send floods of
messages.  So be sure to also fax and carrier mail stuff!

Finding contacts:

US HOuse of Representatives: http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW.html
US Senate: http://www.senate.gov/senators/index.cfm

It occurs to me that Inouye is supporting this because its pro entertainment
media- it fits in with the recent ad blitz promoting Hawaii as a place to
make movies (seen the Cheryl Crow video yet?)  E.g. Hawaii legislators
support MPAA properties and they'll come here and spend some money. (IMHO-
MPAA is a far worse, and more easily proven, monopoly than MSoft.  Their
website proudly proclaims ownership of about 90% of entertainment
properties!)

Ah, one other ingredient is a good form letter.  These serve 2 purposes.  1-
they make it easy for citizens.  2- Their uniformity lets legislators know
that there is organization behind the complaints.

How about a variant of Jeff's?  (But toned just a tad for readability,
please forgive me for being a fool...)

-rod g
_______

Dear Senator Leahy and Senator Hatch,

    I can not convey how frustrated and angry I am that the bill formerly
known as the SSSCA has been hauled back from the grave and renamed the
CBDTPA.  As a computer specialist, I know how terrible this will be from
a standpoint of implementation, cost and practicality.
This bill benefits Hollywood corporations while the important
computer/information industry will literally be set back 10 years.
Many programs will be broken by this ill-considered
legislation and lots of hardware will similarly become incompatible.
The cost to industry to reprogram and refit hardware will be staggering
with little actual benefit to the economy, businesses, workers, or
consumers.
   Besides the simple matters of cost and impracticality, this
legislation is also wrong from a standpoint of freedom and justice.
This legislation says that everyone who could duplicate digital
information is a criminal, in essence legislating us into a nation of
thieves!
I have purchased and burned hundreds of recordable CDs, most for
"simple" backups, with the rest being basically for easy data
transfers.  The draconian copy protection would complicate these
legitimate uses of digital media, effectively penalizing me for crimes I
don't commit.  This unbelievably intrusive bill will illegalize the
activites of a
majority of Americans, and with no measurable benefits gained.
    Further, if this terrible bill is not stopped, foreign companies wanting
to
avoid being chained by these onerous limitations will steer business
away from American companies.  This proposal is also completely
unacceptable from a competitive standpoint.
    I feel deeply hurt, betrayed and embarassed that my own legistlators,
who claim to stand up and fight for the little guy, have
fallen under the sway of this ill-prepared bill and its anti-American
proponents.
    Please oppose the CBDTPA.  Stopping this bill is the right thing for
consumers, innovation
and American business.

Sincerely,
<your name & address w/zip (to identify voting district)>
____



-----Original Message-----
From: Warren Togami [mailto:warren at togami.com]
Sent: Friday, March 22, 2002 4:12 PM
To: Rod Gammon
Subject: Re: [luau] Legislative Alert: SSSCA becomes CBDTPA


----- Original Message -----
From: "Rod Gammon" <gammonr001 at hawaii.rr.com>
To: "Luau List" <luau-admin at videl.ics.hawaii.edu>
Sent: Friday, March 22, 2002 3:57 PM
Subject: Re: [luau] Legislative Alert: SSSCA becomes CBDTPA


> Can HTTA or the Manoa Innovation Center help provide a mass of opposition?
>
> How about an article for Honolulu Weekly- there was just one opposing
ASCAP
> fees for bar bands.  This topic fits well with it, when properly
explained.
>
> How about contacting Richardson Law School for a motivated student to
> provide some bill analysis?
>
> I'm not sure how I could help, but I do write my legislature often.
>
> -rod g

Sounds good.  Would you be able to help us by being our person to connect to
these resources?

(mind if I post this to LUAU?)