MESSAGE
| DATE | 2002-05-15 |
| FROM | Ruben I Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [hangout] Re: OFF LIST Re: [nylxs-announce] Happy Birthday NY Fairuse
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Note that photos are on the NYLXS site for the core door knockers and
Washington Trip people with write up:
Ruben
____________________________________
Year One of New Yorkers for Fair Use
This May marks a milestone for Free Software and Fair Use in the United
States as NY Fairuse was founded a year ago this month, to spearhead
a new fight of proper copyright law which respects the property rights
of individuals and freedom of speech. It was last May, when a few of
the Free Software community in New York broke off from the technology
focused groups that surround the GNU/Linux mania of the last few years,
to focus more on the pressing issues of Fair Use which the Free Software
movement depends upon. Over the last decade, technofiles have focused
on the building free software systems and making them available to the
public, giving only reactionary responses to the ongoing infringement
of the publics rights with regard to digital media. We have protested
the DMCA, and protested when Jon Johansen was arrested over the DeCSS
hack which provided access to commercial DVD's on Free OS's. However,
it becomes apparent when we analyze how the Free Software community
responds to these threats, and the the results of these efforts, that
something new needed to be tried.
After realizing that much more needed to be done to guarantee a future for
free software development and usage in the future, and that no one seemed
to be addressing these issues effectively, we founded NY Fair Use in May
of 2001 to pick up the slack, and to be more aggressive in campaigning
for fair use and sane copyright law, in order to protect all of us from
a future resembling the police state George Orwell described in '1984'.
Of course, when we started, nearly everyone said it couldn't be done.
New Yorker for Fair Use was started with the understanding that the issues
plaguing the software world was but a microcosm of a more fundamental
rights problem The encroachment by copyright legislation has begun to
impede the common uses of information needed by the public to conduct
its business. This was most clearly demonstrated when the American
Association of Publishers began to attach public education and libraries
in the name of copyright control. The heigh point came when Judith
Platt, the head of the AAP, accused librarians of being like terrorists.
It was cemented when the Vital Books corporation gained an exclusive
contract with NYU Dental School which forced students to purchase all
their text books on DVD. And the DVD would turn itself off at the end
of the school year, requiring students to purchase the books again.
Everyone who has participated in the efforts over the last year to
roll back the DMCA and to fight for Fair Use, should take a bow, as
NY Fair Use is one year old this week. It was last May, in response
to the growing threat of digital rights management systems and legal
extortion which threatened our Public Libraries, and Public School
system, a few of us joined together for the first meeting of NY Fairuse
at the Killarny Rose downtown. Through that Summer, and through the
most difficult Fall anyone could ever imagine, NY Fair Use has been a
beacon for freedom, individual rights, and political action unto today.
Every week we were knock on doors in targeted congressional districts,
fighting to save libraries from the AAP, and collecting signatures.
After the destruction of the World Trade Center, we STILL hit the
streets, every week, even knocking on the doors of Senator Schumer,
himself.
Over this past year, we have had incredible success in bringing the
issues to Congress, and making our elected leaders aware of present
danger to the foundation stone of Democracy. When Librarians were
called terrorist by AAP, we were their fighting for libraries.
And when Dmitry Skylar was jailed, we were ready to lead the way for
his freedom. We protested weeking for several months, into the winter.
And when the WTC was being destroyed, we were in the streets protecting
the rights of individuals to their property and access to information.
And this winter, when everyone was afraid to go to Washington, we were
there dropping our petitions and presenting our cases.
NYFairuse focused on Libraires as a bread and butter issue for soccer
Mom's and the community. Our fliers and petitions focused on a list of
points relating to digital media and libraires, and quoted Pat Schoeder
and Judith Platt. They were addressed to Congressman Anthony Weiner,
who is appointed to the Intellectual Property subcommittee in the house.
We set a goal on the number of house doors to knock on, how many people
to speak to and precisely what actions we were asking for people to take.
We tried to support the door knocking with "Save the Libraries" buttons,
and by handing out fliers on the main business district of Park Slope,
Brooklyn, the neighborhood we targeted.
Every week we totaled our results, so that we were armed with a
summary for the Congressman as we made it down to Washington. We also
brought groups of people to the community office, and tracked down the
Congressman at speaking engagements, putting a "Save the Libraries"
button in his hand. In the end, he had his office call us to make the
trip to Washington and to discuss the issue.
But there is still more to do. Come join NYFAIRUSE as we plan our
next phase in protecting digital property rights, as we press Congress
for protection from Copyright abuse in the home and in business as we
press for a new Fair Use bill, currently being written by Jean Thewell.
The objectives of this bill will be to give power back to artists and
writers, to prevent wiretapping our our computers, and protect fair
competition in the digital device market, by defining more tightly
Copyright as the exception to Fair Use.
Our upcoming Bill plans to do an end run around the DMCA, by mandating
and sinking teeth into the Fair Use doctrine. The Bill will be a tough
fight, but if we take it to the districts of key members of congress,
we WILL be heard.
The Bill will cover every important point threatening Free Software
and a Free Society today:
Consider it a Digital Bill of Rights for the New Millennium:
he legislation to be drafted will accomplish the following main stream
objectives which all reasonable people can expect:
-All copyrights to individual scores, writings, and recordings will be
returned to the original artist after a period of 10 years.
-No technology can be deployed which spies on, wiretaps or discloses
privately owned information which is stored on digital devices by
any government agency or private 3rd party without the issuance of
a publicly pronounced and disclosed warrant limited to a specific
criminal investigation.
-All copyright cases must prove, prior to a judgment of guilt, proof
that the actions in question did not infringe on Fair Use, and the
individuals rights under the 4th and 1st amendment of the Bill of rights
US Constitution.
-Ownership of all physical media, and devices to read such media, is
the sole property of the purchaser of the media, without an expressly
negotiated and signed contract between both the copyright holder and
the purchaser.
-No technological software or hardware method can be deployed in a
digital product and made available for normal retail sale which inhibits,
in any way, the full enjoyment of the property by the purchasers,
regardless of any agreement between the designer of the hardware or
software products. Such agreements are null, and not contractible.
-Copyright is an exception to Fair Use as it limits the ability for
individuals to enjoy their private property and express themselves
with the use of such copyrighted materials. Fair Use is a doctrine to
be based on the 4th and 1st amendments of the US Constitution.
-Individuals have the right to express themselves to others about the
means, mechanism and workings of all digital devices, including but
not limited to, discussion on how to make fair use of media, how to
improve such devices, or to reverse engineer all such devices and the
algorithms which are used to help them display, copy or run media.
We need to get as many big guns on this as possible and then relentlessly
campaign, actively working to elect supporters and vote out incumbent
opposition. In fact, we should look to defeat, not just the proposed
spyware legislation, but also defeat Senator Hollings
Remember that all politics is LOCAL.
> Ruben, > > So do you want to do an article about "1 year of NY Fair Use"
> explaining the group's accomplishments for the LJ web site? What you >
just wrote plus some detail on door to door work and your meeting > with
your Representative would be good. Might help get some people > to join.
> > -- > Don Marti > http://zgp.org/~dmarti Help
spread accurate information > dmarti-at-zgp.org about
Xenu and the Church of Scientology. > KG6INA href="http://xenu.net/">Scientology on your web site.
____________________________
New Yorker Linux Users Scene
Fair Use -
because it's either fair use or useless....
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