worst bill you never heard of

[moblsv]

http://ipaction.org/blog/2006/06/worst-bill-youve-never-heard-of.html

The worst bill you’ve never heard of

This will be a busy week in the House -- Congress goes into summer recess Friday, but not before considering the Section 115 Reform Act of 2006 (SIRA). Never heard of SIRA? That’s the way Big Copyright and their lackey’s want it, and it's bad news for you.

Simply put, SIRA fundamentally redefines copyright and fair use in the digital world. It would require all incidental copies of music to be licensed separately from the originating copy. Even copies of songs that are cached in your computer's memory or buffered over a network would need yet another license. Once again, Big Copyright is looking for a way to double-dip into your wallet, extracting payment for the same content at multiple levels.

Today, so-called "incidental" copies don't need to be licensed; they're made in the process of doing *other* things, like listening to your MP3 library or plugging into a Net radio station. If you paid for the MP3 and the radio station is up-to-date with its bookkeeping, nobody should have to pay again, right? Not if SIRA becomes law. Out of the blue, copyright holders would have created an entire new market to charge for -- and sue over. Good for them. Bad for us.

Don't let Big Copyright legalize double dipping. Fight SIRA today.

The House is going into recess for the summer at the end of this week, so you have a unique opportunity to kill this legislation. If we can stall SIRA now it would effectively kill it for the reminder of the year, giving us more time to prepare an offensive.

Please call the Members of the Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property and voice your opposition to this legislation.

[Atman]

1. I don't know the particulars of this bill, but I do know one thing...

There is no "Big Copyright." As the holder of thousands of copyrights myself, I assure you, there is nothing "big" about most copyright holders. In fact, the copyrights protect us creative types from the "big" guys who try to rip us off without paying for our work product.

I think the derision and action should be against the RAIA or the "big" record labels who are just looking for ways to shore up their bottom lines in the face of a paradigm shift in the in the industry for which they are woefully unprepared.

[blondeatlast]

2. Amen, Atman. As to the "worst bill I've never heard of,"

not anywhere close.

There's plenty of poo they've snuck in under the radar that's much more devastating.

Pissed off teenagers, IMHO, do not equal "the worst bill I've never heard of."

[nickinSTL]

3. it's a lot more than pissed-off teenagers

the implications are much bigger than that.