New Digital 'Fair Use' Bill Introduced

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Two politicians have introduced a new bill called the Freedom and Innovation Revitalizing U.S. Entrepreneurship (FAIR USE) that has the backing of the Consumer Electronics Association. The legislation seeks to amend the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act which the lawmakers says “goes to far”.

"The Digital Millennium Copyright Act dramatically tilted the copyright balance toward complete copyright protection at the expense of the public's right to fair use," Boucher said in a statement. "Without a change in the law, individuals will be less willing to purchase digital media if their use of the media within the home is severely circumscribed and the manufacturers of equipment and software that enables circumvention for legitimate purposes will be reluctant to introduce the products into the market."
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Highly commendable, but the media industry lobbyists will make absolutely certain that this bill dies in committee. I would love to see this passed though...
 
A bill in the interest of, and for, the general public? Whoops, it's going to be shot down, sorry!

Looks good, though, but this just doesn't happen it seems nowadays :(.
 
Riddlinkidstoner said:
Seriously wow, I was taken by this proposal and I sure as hell support it but yes, a futile attempt.
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What happened to ...

"...that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom--and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth...."

I don't think Abe meant the gov to be controlled by rich/greedy bastards...
 
Isn't democracy great? Considering the alternatives, sure, but this just reminds us how far away from the roots of this country we have come...
 
PolarbearBigEd said:
What happened to ...

"...that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom--and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth...."

I don't think Abe meant the gov to be controlled by rich/greedy bastards...
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First, I assume you are referring to Abraham Lincoln. If so, he had absolutely nothing to with the creation of the constitution.

Second, when the constitution was originally drafted, for "of the people, by the people, for the people" generally meant white men owning land as they where the only ones who where allowed to vote. How is that for rich greedy bastards?

On topic... It's great to see something to benefit the consumer instead of the businesses, but how often does something like that actually get done... I agree with those above who say don't hold your breath.
 
MorfiusX said:
First, I assume you are referring to Abraham Lincoln. If so, he had absolutely nothing to with the creation of the constitution.

Second, when the constitution was originally drafted, for "of the people, by the people, for the people" generally meant white men owning land as they where the only ones who where allowed to vote. How is that for rich greedy bastards?

On topic... It's great to see something to benefit the consumer instead of the businesses, but how often does something like that actually get done... I agree with those above who say don't hold your breath.
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ok...
 
Maybe the CEA is enough of a special interest that it has a chance to get their bill passed.
 
You know why nothing ever benefits consumers? Because we are lazy!

Businesses spend Billions of dollars every year trying to influence politicians through donations, lobbyists, and even playing golf with the executives.

Ahhh… but there is a way. Some fair laws get passed and they are painstakingly pushed through by really hard working people. In every state that legalized medical marijuana (against the interests of big pharmaceutical companies and the federal government) you have hundreds of people that spent years doing everything from contacting politicians to petitioning.

Every one of you should visit the Electronic Frontier Foundation and find out more about this bill. You can then contact not only your representatives, but the people on the committee that will be hearing this bill. If they do support it, congratulate them. And if they don’t, find out why and work to change their minds. Most importantly, get involved with the groups that support this type of legislation.

Now, I am not unrealistic. I doubt this bill will pass this time around, but that is not the point. As long as there are enough hard working people and organizations supporting these bills, they get further every time they are introduced. Eventually they make it all the way.

We should start the [H]ard voters network! We will work towards fair use legislation and stricter standards for power supply labeling. :D
 
This is another case of the consumer overlooking the obvious.

Take a half decent CD player and copy the contents using the analog signal from that player using Sound Forge or something equivalent to your computer. Yes, or rather no, it doesn’t supply the instant gratification we all seek but since most people down convert to MP-3 anyway this solves all your problems. The big drawback is of course time but if you are dedicated to fighting the system……………well, you sacrifice, right?;)
 
BillR said:
This is another case of the consumer overlooking the obvious.

Take a half decent CD player and copy the contents using the analog signal from that player using Sound Forge or something equivalent to your computer. Yes, or rather no, it doesn’t supply the instant gratification we all seek but since most people down convert to MP-3 anyway this solves all your problems. The big drawback is of course time but if you are dedicated to fighting the system……………well, you sacrifice, right?;)
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Why even worry about doing it analog? Every copy protection scheme has been cracked in some way. If you are going to break the law under the DMCA, might as well get a decent quality rip. :)
 
BillR said:
This is another case of the consumer overlooking the obvious.

Take a half decent CD player and copy the contents using the analog signal from that player using Sound Forge or something equivalent to your computer. Yes, or rather no, it doesn’t supply the instant gratification we all seek but since most people down convert to MP-3 anyway this solves all your problems. The big drawback is of course time but if you are dedicated to fighting the system……………well, you sacrifice, right?;)
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Yeah, and it being analog it sounds like shit and with Soundforge you can't have any other "sounds" coming in so it's basically hands off the computer. Why get a crappy rip of something that you paid for? Fair Rights means that you should have the right to use that media as you see fit for personal use. That includes mp3 players, burning a copy, making a backup, or whatever. There never should have been the legislation that there has, and this bill goes a step towards fixing that.

I have to actually tip my hat to Jobs on this one, since he kind of started this snowball running downhill. Hopefully some good will come of it all.
 
I doubt this will pass. The public simply does not have enough green to fill the deep pockets of those who are the ones signing.
 
There are two certainties when Boucher is sponsering a technology bill:

1. It is good for consumers

2. It will not pass
 
I do not believe that the DMCA nor the AHRA (despite what the RIAA might want you to believe) makes it ILLEGAL to backup music you purchased. I contend that when I purchase a music cd, I LEGALLY have the right to rip it into MP3. My mp3 ripper of choice, for example, does not put any copy protection (and I do believe that all mp3 rippers are the same in that regards)

I also have my system setup in such a way that the rootkits & spyware that are on audio cd's
today (which ARE illegal for companies such as sony to surreptitiously install on my machine) cannot actually work on my computer.


Illegal would be if I then take that music and burn it, then sell that burnt cd on ebay, as well as the original.

I have a massive music collection. Probably larger than any single person on this forum, and I'll be damned if they can tell me what I can, and cannot do, with the music I purchased legally from a store.

I do purchase the majority of my music at discount price, (i.e. I am not paying $16 for a cd when I know damn well I can go to the 2nd hand music store and get it for $5 a month after it came out)

I also have converted about 500 albums to mp3 format, a good portion of my music is NOT AVAILABLE on cd today (and it definately does not have copy protection). It is also increasingly difficult to find a RECORD PLAYER nowadays.
 
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