--- Date: Wed, 04 Sep 2002 22:49:32 -0400 From: Holympusat_private To: declanat_private Subject: Tell Rep. Berman to Respond to This: www.opposesection514.com Declan, I am responding on behalf of the people to the slew of bad legislation Congress has recently presented, specifically H.R. 5211, the so-called P2P Privacy Prevention Act. Since Representative Berman's "Frequently Asked Questions about the P2P Piracy Prevention Act" attempts to create misimpressions about the bill among the people, I ask that you extend me the customary courtesy of the freedom to respond...a freedom that Rep. Berman, it seems, would like to see taken away from me. I welcome all discourse on this issue--feel free to show my email address. Stephen Conn A concerned but well spoken and somewhat knowledgeable kid What appears below is an excerpt from my new website, www.opposesection514.com. If you like what you read please give it a look and consider emailing your Representative the form letter I provide at the bottom of the page. Thank you very much for your time. rep. howard berman maintains a page of frequently asked questions about H.R. 5211 on his website. A question and his response appear below: "Does the P2P Piracy Prevention Act authorize copyright owners to do illegal things that no one else can do? H.R. 5211 simply ensures the law treats copyright owners just like other property owners by correcting an unfair and unintentional byproduct of current law. Satellite companies face no liability when they use electronic countermeasures to stop the pirating of their signals and programming. Banks face no liability when they repossess automobiles for delinquent loan payments. A bicycle owner faces no liability for grabbing his bike from a thief’s yard. A victim of a pickpocket faces no liability for tackling and taking back his wallet from the pickpocket. Similarly, copyright owners should face no liability for stopping the online theft of their copyrighted works." Representative Berman cites various actions that he feels are analagous to those that H.R. 5211 would permit. In each of these analogies, it is clear that one party has committed a crime. What Representative Berman has apparently forgotten is that H.R. 5211 does not require that a crime be committed by a so-called "file trader" for a copyright holder to place malicious files on the file trader's computer. The file trader could be using his or her files completely within his or her rights of fair use. The copyright holder need not present any evidence that his or her copyright has been violated. Here is a truly analogous situation: a record store is shut down because their placement of CDs around the store could allow a criminal to steal a CD, thus violating an artist's copyright. Head to www.opposesection514.com now. Thanks. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Like Politech? Make a donation here: http://www.politechbot.com/donate/ Recent CNET News.com articles: http://news.search.com/search?q\clan CNET Radio 9:40 am ET weekdays: http://cnet.com/broadband/0-7227152.html -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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