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Unread 23-08-2006, 19:02
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Al Skierkiewicz Al Skierkiewicz is offline
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AKA: Big Al WFFA 2005
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Re: RIAA or no RIAA?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cyberguy34000
Most of these copyright laws are new, starting with the DMCA. ... These are some pretty drastic effects from a relatively small number of laws that affect everyone, and yet were rushed through without much debate or discussion from the people. It was just something they were forced to accept.

While it may have started with the DMCA, new bills are constantly being proposed that will take away our rights under the presumption that we might be getting around laws that we never had a say in creating. Congress is supposed to represent the will of the people, so why would an overwhelmingly strong majority of people break the laws that were created in their name, the name of the people? This dissenting majority and their number will only grow with time and frustration.

If the will of the people (the majority) says that a harmful law should be struck down and abolished, shouldn't our democracy abide?
-Chris
Interesting that you should reference the DCMA which is a law passed in 1998 as a direct result of our participation in international treaties through the World Intellectual Properties Organization. It has nothing to do with copyright infringement but does provide protection for ISPs and universities that act as their own ISP when copyrighted material is downloaded and or stored on their equipment. It also makes it illegal for someone to circumvent anti-copy protection in any form (including writing and distributing software to crack the locks) and it provides for the Register of Copyrights to examine and recommend changes to allow for distance learning without affecting copyrighted material or the rights of the originators of the material.

Yes the laws are passed by a relatively small group of people but that is the way our government works. I doubt that the debate over this subject and the final passing of the bills was done in a relatively short amount of time. You claim a "overwhelmingly strong majority" of law breakers but that is not really true is it? Would you say that 200 million people in this country are making copies of CDs? Or is it only the strong people who copy? What is more accurate is the majority of the people you know are breaking the law. I submit that is much less than a million. As to striking down the law just because a bunch of people say it should be struck down is justs plain wrong. We depend on the people who are running the country to examine each issue, decide it's merit and then make an informed decision. If you want a crack at the process, let's give it a try. I will take the place of the opposition in congress. You try and make a law that covers what you want to do. Now to be fair, you have to examine as many of the outcomes as you can think of. "What happens if I word this bill this way? Who will benefit and who will be hurt? Who will be hurt very badly?" Now you have to be honest and not just consider your own little world. You can't just think about what is happening now, but do some crystal ball gazing and see what your bill will be like in the future. You must consider all the people involved, artists, engineers, support people, truck drivers, retail stores, marketing, etc. Now it wouldn't be fair to make you think this up by yourself or overnight. Let's say you have the weekend to think about it, post on Monday morning. Get together with TheGathering or whoever else you want to pull in and then let Steve and myself have a day or two to shoot holes in your bill. Hard facts now, statistics, usage, revenues, etc. Fair enough?
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Good Luck All. Learn something new, everyday!
Al
WB9UVJ
www.wildstang.org
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Storming the Tower since 1996.
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