--- From: "Robert A. Costner" <rcostnerat_private> To: <declanat_private> Subject: GA SDMCA Golick Letter Draft Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2003 20:18:14 -0400 Dear Declan, my favorite reporter: I'm meeting with GA Rep. Golick on Thursday morning along with other groups about the Georgia SDMCA bill. Below is a near final draft of the letter I am taking him. I'm waiting for other signatures to come in. We have comments on the bill from Georgia lawmakers at http://www.efga.org/ip/sdmca/analysis/legislators.html When I get back in town on Monday I hope to try to enlist support for a cosponsor to the Brownback bill. Robert A. Costner Electronic Frontiers Georgia http://www.efga.org/ip/sdmca/ (703) 948-7572 June 10, 2003 The Honorable Richard Golick 601 LOB Atlanta, GA 30334 Re: House Bill 867--OPPOSE Dear Representative Golick: The undersigned citizens' and consumer rights groups are writing to express our opposition to House Bill 867. As we stated in our April 18 letter to the Georgia General Assembly Public Utilities Committee (attached), this bill limits citizens' rights, limits legal uses of commonplace consumer electronics (such as Digital Video Recorders and computers) and stifles technological innovation and research. In recent weeks, policymakers in four states have stopped passage of bills that are substantially similar to House Bill 867. In Colorado, Governor Bill Owens vetoed the bill, while in Texas, Tennessee and Oregon, opposition from citizens and the consumer electronics companies created considerable doubt in the minds of state legislators about the need for these bills and the reach of the proposed language. We thank you for the time you have taken to listen to the viewpoints of citizens and consumer groups on this bill. We look forward to the opportunity to participate in the discussion on House Bill 867 and hope to have something positive for you to promote when the legislature meets next year. Thank you. Sincerely, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility Consumer Federation of America Consumer Project on Technology Consumers Union Digitalconsumer.org Electronic Frontier Foundation Electronic Frontiers Georgia Free Software Foundation Public Knowledge US Internet Industry Association Dr. Gerald Lucas, Macon State College Dr. Hans Klein, Georgia Institute of Technology ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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