FC: Two replies on Berman's P2P bill: "A bunch of crybabies!"

From: Declan McCullagh (declanat_private)
Date: Fri Sep 06 2002 - 22:07:10 PDT

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    From: "Duplantis, Ron" <Ron.Duplantisat_private>
    To: "'declanat_private'" <declanat_private>
    Subject: A few words from another perspective
    Date: Fri, 6 Sep 2002 11:36:02 -0700
    
    What a bunch of hair-splitting cry babies. I'm not happy that my freedoms 
    are limited by laws such as the one that requires me to wait at a red 
    signal light at 3 a.m. despite the fact there is not a pair of headlights 
    within miles, but the proximate cause for the creation of such laws are 
    negligent actions of the kinds of rabble crying about Berman's proposed 
    legislation.
    
    I have no doubts at all that the language in Berman's bill is hiding some 
    sneaky methodology the copyright holders are planning to use without 
    penalty. That's what legislators like Berman do: protect their 
    contributors. I also agree that legislators often write legislation for 
    problems that don't exist, granted. But as a writer, I can see a real 
    problem here. I'd like one of the cry babies who responded here to answer a 
    couple of questions for me:
    
    1. Do they think that "sharing" copyrighted materials without compensating 
    the authors -- as defined under all laws including fair use ones -- should 
    be illegal? Don't play word games, you know what I mean: if under present 
    law, a copyright holder wishes to be compensated for each copy of his work, 
    should the "sharing" of such a work with someone who does not compensate 
    the author constitute an illegal act by BOTH the sharer and the sharee? Put 
    even another way, if a rock group releases a new CD, you alone buy it, and 
    you "share" it with the world (without compensating the rock group), should 
    any of those actions be considered illegal? If the answer is no, ignore 
    question #2 and feel free to continue to believe in an anarchical world 
    that will never exist.
    
    2. Technologically-speaking, how would you suggest that those copyright 
    holders stop the illegal "sharing" of their work? As the saying goes, "It's 
    always easier to be an editor than a writer." If you don't like the 
    side-effects of Berman's bill, propose something yourself.
    
    My sense is that few, if any, of the cry babies who responded to French's 
    reply ever got to question #2 because they don't think any author should be 
    able to demand compensation for his work. That everything should be public 
    domain, no matter the amount of time and work put into it. Those who stand 
    in the way of attempted solutions, pointing out incredible side-effects and 
    creating fantastic scenarios, and not offering another solution of their 
    own, in my view typically don't see a problem.
    
    "But suppose I have non-copyrighted material in my P2P share folder and 
    whine, whine, whine...." Please! If you don't want some DoS or other 
    methodology hindering your legal P2P offerings, put the copyrighted 
    material in a non-P2P share folder. Duh!
    
    Ron Duplantis
    Huntington Beach, CA
    
    ---
    
    Subject: Re: FC: Politech members reply to Rep. Berman on anti-P2P piracy bill
    Date: Fri, 6 Sep 2002 00:36:52 -0700
    From: David Lawrence <davidat_private>
    To: "Declan McCullagh" <declanat_private>
    
    On or about 9/5/02 8:27 PM, a certain Declan McCullagh [declanat_private]
    wrote:
    
     >blah blah blah don't use my e-mail
    
    I find it really interesting that the people who respond most negatively
    to Rep. Berman's efforts to educate the subscribers of your list are
    least likely to stand up and be counted.
    
    The level of (ir)rationalization demonstrated by most of your respondents
    boils down to:
    
    a) screw big corporations
    b) screw the RIAA
    c) fair use rulz, d00d.
    
    Can't do much about ill-placed feelings towards organizations that until
    a few years ago were considered neutral if not admired. But, as to fair
    use...feel free to re-publish my Radio and Records column from last week
    on your list. Oh, and feel free to publish my e-mail address - I have
    nothing to hide.
    
    David Lawrence
    Online Tonight
    The Net Music Countdown
    
    ---
    
    NMC/R&R eChart main column - 8/30/02
    
    FAIR USE?
    
    It seems as though every time a defender of our right to share files on
    the Internet runs through the litany of reasons why the government/media
    giants/mean old labels want to limit our choices, the phrase "fair use"
    comes up. To hear some promoters of file piracy sites talk, "fair use" is
    all about the people being able to access what the horrid copyright
    owners want to completely control. That's not fair use.
    
    Take a look at the four tests that are implicit in Section 107, Title 17
    of the US Code that is so freely tossed about, sometimes by people who
    should know better. Once you understand that although fair use is
    something that is still left up to the courts to interpret, it's not
    nearly as hard to understand as it appears.
    
     >From the code:
    
    ...In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case
    is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include -
    
    (1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is
    of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
    
    (2) the nature of the copyrighted work;
    
    (3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the
    copyrighted work as a whole; and
    
    (4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the
    copyrighted work.
    
    In the case of (1), the law is promoting the reference and use of pieces
    of the work in research, criticism, news stories, and the like. The law
    is decidedly not promoting the opposite: commercial exploitation or the
    replacement of a potential sale of the original.
    
    It is with (3) and (4) that every single instance of piracy masquerading
    as "sharing" fails. "Sharing" an entire musical work, as opposed to a
    clip of it, is not fair use. You want to let someone know how much you
    like that new Eminem cut? Fair use means sharing 30 seconds or so of it,
    more along the lines of a callout hook, not the entire Track 7, ripped
    from The Eminem Show CD.
    
    And "sharing" the entire single in a format (128k joint stereo MP3 or
    higher) that is good enough for most people to re-burn on CDs provides an
    excellent "sales replacement" on a mass basis. If CDs are truly
    unaffordable, as some vehemently argue (despite the fact that CD prices
    haven't changed in over 20 years, meaning with inflation, CDs are less
    expensive today than when they were introduced), then how does it follow
    that downloading 6,000 MP3 files will somehow alter the purchasing power
    of file sharers? It doesn't, but free MP3 files, put up en masse on the
    Internet, is a powerful competitor to CD's available at any price.
    
    ---
    
    ..............................................  David Lawrence
    :   Host, DC Radio 700 WGOP : 1p-3p ET M-F   :  vox: 800-396-6546
    :      Host, Online Tonight : 10p-1a ET M-S  :  vox: 800-396-6546
    : Host, Net Music Countdown : check listings :  fax: 509-479-6695
    :............................................:...................
    
    
    
    
    
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