Anyone who has ever used an iPod, taped TV shows, or made a mixtape
for their friend needs to read this! Hollywood is pushing Congress to
pass a bill that could make the VCR, CD-Rs, and iPods illegal.
http://savebetamax.org/
In late 70s, Hollywood tried to make the VCR illegal. Now they're at
it again. Back then, Hollywood's lawyers argued that because *some*
people might use a VCR to make illegal copies, they had a right to sue
*any* business that sold VCRs.
Fortunately for the future of technology, the Supreme Court said that
any new technology with "substantial non-infringing uses" was legal
and should be allowed to flourish. That wisdom, known as the "Betamax
decision" (after VHS's short-lived predecessor) was great news for the
economy: dozens of markets sprung up that would otherwise have been
smothered by the fear of litigation and liability. And it was good
news for Hollywood too: soon they were making billions in the same
video rental market they tried to litigate out of existence.
But now Hollywood (and the major record labels) are trying to undo
"Betamax" with a new law that would let them sue any business that
gave their customers freedom to make legal copies. The music and movie
companies claim they only want to ban p2p filesharing software like
Kazaa. But legal experts say that dozens of products--even Apple's
hugely popular "iPod"--would soon find themselves under the gun. We
need to stop this from happening, and the time to act is now.
http://savebetamax.org/
This legislation is called the INDUCE Act, and it's opposed by the
mainstream technology industry (eBay, Google, Intel, Verizon, and
Yahoo have all lobbied against it) along with public interest
advocates like Public Knowledge and even librarian Groups. These
companies and organizations are all making their voices heard in
Washington, but now it's time that members of Congress hear from the
public (you!).
We're organizing a national call-in day. The plan is: Senators who are
siding with Hollywood against the public interest will receive a
steady stream of phonecalls for as long as it takes. Think of it like
a consumers' rights march on Washington that you can do from your home
or your desk at work. Hollywood and the record companies have millions
of lobbying dollars, but all we have are our numbers. If you think
keeping the VCR legal was a good idea, we need you to act
now:
http://savebetamax.org/
US: Stop Congress from making iPod or VCRs illegal
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