MESSAGE
| DATE | 2003-09-14 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir Secretary NYLXS
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| SUBJECT | Subject: [hangout] The RIAA is finally making ourcase
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<without paying? Oh for god's sake, she's only 12 years old, what does she
understand about money and paying? Would it be OK for a 90-year-old hungry
homeless person to take a loaf of bread from supermarket? Oh for god's
sake he is HUNGRY. >>
--
Peter closed this topic, so I hope I'm not bounced for this post.
In any case. Your almost right about laws which most people
break which are a matter of public safety, like speeding.
However, your analogy breaks down in all kinds of directions after this.
First, when the speed limit was lowered to 55 for political reasons,
people completely disrepected the 55 limit and it was evential changed
back to 65. In fact, then the ezpass system was used to enforce the limit,
people got possitively hysterical and the practice was ended.
Furthermore, NOBODY thinks the abussive practice of using speed limit laws in
some locations outside of New York, for example, like in many in some small
southern cities, to lock up innocent notherners in order to hold them hostage
for ransoms as a policy to fill the county community chest, is justified,
democratic or fair. In fact, it's just outright nasty.
Secondly, stealing candy is not the same as copying a song. And no, you don't
lock up a 12 year old for even real theft of a candy bar. Sharing music
is something most people this is fine to do. It is not theft.
Nobody thinks it's as bad as stealing outside the delussional mind of Jack
Valenti, and the insane people who have money at stake in this issue. And in
fact, it is not stealing. Under the most rigid pro-MPAA interpretation of
this practice, it is consdered a violation of Copyright. It is not larcany.
And BTW, even the Copyright Office hasn't been able to decide what to make of
it. There is hours of debate on file if people have the right to make privately
owned copies.
Thirdly, even AFTER years of the lieing "FBI" warning on every video tape,
nobody thinks P2P is theft, or copying a video, or singing 'Happy Birthday'
at a Girls Scout meeting is even immoral. Some ungodly number of people
do it every day, and when it was shown by the RIAA how many people where sharing
music files with Kaazar, something like 40 million US users every day, the
panel had a good laugh when I interjected that every one of them can VOTE.
And when the RIAA starts dragneting the public like it is now, that is JUST
what they'll do...just like they did with the EZPASS. And it's about darn time.
The iron clad enforcement of Copyright and the current construction of the law,
as it affects digital computing systems, is a huge threat to Free Software.
It exposes developers to all kinds of law suits, not to mention the the
chilling affects it has on the work force through the NDA's individuals sign in
order to enforce the precieved absolute rights of 'copyright', which wouldn't
happen if copyright law was less flawed. Free Software has already suffered
a huge loss from the removal of this large percentage of people who would
like to contribute but are affraid to because of their employment contracts.
People have been rightfully comfortable that they could skirt the copyright
law and ignor it's statuatory wording because simply nobody was going to
enforce the flat out stupidity limitating on the use of Copy Machines, or the
ending of recording of broadcast TV on a VCR.
And this was NOBODY. Not the Supreme Court, not the local librarian,
absolutely NO ONE. And when it has historically come to the courts,
they find ways around this stupidy through things like the Sony Betamax
case. And then they are implemented, such as was tried in enforcing
rules on libraries, the law is flat out ignored.
Even after the Kinko's case, Kinko's, and other copy business, like the
onces around Hillel Place and Brooklyn College, STILL copies whole curriculiums for teachers for students to pick up, etc etc etc.
But the noose, in the digital age, is now tightening. And despite your
endless ranting about how you know everyone stands behind a copyright
tyrany which is threatening to reach into every privately owned computer
and install a cybercop, and which has now clearly made the vast majority of
citizens criminals, the public is going to become outraged. So this is the
best thing to happen. Let the RIAA sue every individual they preceive
as a copyright violator.
God Bless Them!
In fact, let them sue YOU. Because, Alex, I know as a fact that at least a
dozen customers you have are using your service primarly for trading
music and movie files at Pilosoft DSL. And under current law, you're personally
fully exposed. And listening to you, it sounds like you wouldn't even give
your clients as much protection as Verizon did. When the RIAA asks for they're
names and addresses, it doesn't sound to me like you would go to bat for them
and protect their privacy.
So I would kindly say to you, you should reconsider your position on this
matter, in terms of how it negitivetely affects the individual rights of the
public, how it negitivetely affects education, how it negitivetiely affects
the distribution of news in a free society, how it negitivitaley affects
the economic prosperity of those in the IT field, how it negitiveitely affects
free software, and how it negitivitely affects you personally.
These chickens are gonna come home to roost.
<perfect? No, of course not. Would I want to change it to 'majority-rules'
system? Hell no!>>
Your mixing up the political theory of 'the layer of apathy' and the
concept that in this nation, the major rules. In this nation, yes,
the majority does rule. In fact, in this country, the basis of political
power, as the founding notion of just government, is that the authority
of the government is derived directly from the people. The Constitution
begins with the words, "WE THE PEOPLE COME TOGETHER TO FORM A MORE PERFECT
UNION". You have not yet mastered a basic understanding of the American
System of government. But your not alone in this. Many whole nations
and societies in Europe suffer from this problem as well. And some of
them are even French ... I mean part of Nato and sit on the UN Security
Council.
Unfortunately, real Democracy is not something well understood in the world.
Hence Richard Stallman's constant complaint that Free Software is about
Freedom. It's a political movement, not a technological one. It's about
Freedom in the coming era of digital communications.
Ruben
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