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Savebetamax.org National Call-in Day
Posted by
timothy
on Sun Sep 12, 2004 07:11 PM
from the they-want-to-save-the-boston-strangler dept.
from the they-want-to-save-the-boston-strangler dept.
Rinisari writes "Savebetamax.org, a project of Downhill Battle, has set up a national call-in day for September 14th. They ask that on that day, each person signed up call a specific congressperson about the INDUCE act in an effort to keep a steady stream of calls all day. The "Save Betamax" nomenclature comes from the fact that the INDUCE act could reverse the decision in the 1984 Sony v. Universal case regarding Sony's Betamax VTRs and copying of copyrighted movies."
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Finally! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Finally! (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, just think... I know not everyone here on
Parent
Re:Finally! (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Finally! (Score:5, Informative)
I just don't get it. I hope we do slashdot them. Heck, you can hit the EFF Action Center [eff.org] and faxslashdot them.
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Re:Finally! (Score:5, Insightful)
I suspect that part of the problem is that the copyright cartel controls 90+% of the 'official' information flow - television, radio, print even billboards. This puts them in a position to have a huge effect on public and private opinion, something that few other industries are able to do and the copyright cartel gets gets it effectively for free.
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First thought... (Score:5, Funny)
Could the come up with a worse name? (Score:5, Insightful)
Honestly, could they come up with a worse name? (Well yeah, now that I think about it, I guess they could. But still.)
The names (downhill battle, save betamax, etc.) almost sound like they're trying to turn people off to their cause--which, by the way, I agree with. Why couldn't they call it "Fair use" or "Save our constitutional rights from corporate greed!" or something.
Even "File swappers for truth" or "ShareOn.org" (both of which suck) would be better names than what they're using.
-- MarkusQ
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Re:Could the come up with a worse name? (Score:4, Insightful)
I can imagine the average Senator's response: why do I care about saving an obsolete type of VCR?
It should be called: "Save the VCR day"h, or something similar that makes it clear that the problem is far wider than Sony Betamax VCRs.
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Re:Actually Beta is quite Popular (Score:5, Informative)
Beta was Sony's commercial endeavour and it was quite the hit, as you are claiming. BetaMax was the related, but different physical tape, consumer attempt that died a horrid death.
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Re:Actually Beta is quite Popular (Score:5, Funny)
I've used Beta a lot though and compared to the other formats available before it became the de-facto standard it indeed was much nicer.
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They'll call this terrorism. (Score:5, Funny)
who the hell do these people think they are anyway deserving the attention of congressmen? they don't even pay the campaign bills.
Re:They'll call this terrorism. (Score:3, Insightful)
-Virt
Not the INDUCE act again... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Not the INDUCE act again... (Score:3, Interesting)
Uhhh (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Uhhh (Score:5, Insightful)
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Ummm, the 90s called... (Score:3, Funny)
Uhhhh, a mime called... (Score:5, Funny)
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We've heard this song before... (Score:5, Interesting)
In short, these guys come up with nice ideas that don't work due to real world constraints.
Re:We've heard this song before... (Score:5, Funny)
Oh, they're libertarians?
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Why all in one day? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Why all in one day? (Score:3, Insightful)
I agree; Correct me if I have a fundamental misunderstanding of how calling a politican works, but if 1,000 people call Mr./Ms. Senator in a day, whoever records these types of calls will probably end up becoming annoyed/overloaded/whatever and is likely to dismiss the high volume... If the 1,000 calls are made over, say, a few months' time, wouldn't i
Re:Why all in one day? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Why all in one day? (Score:3, Insightful)
True, if the phone calls are few and far between. If the phones are ringing off the hooks for days, then maybe the congressperson might take notice, but wouldn't a single day of calls be forgotten after weeks of relative silence? I'd think a steady stream of daily calls would be much more memorable, and much less likely leave a negative impression
Re:Why all in one day? (Score:5, Insightful)
Of course, annoying a congresscritter's staff is a good way to NOT get whatever you want. Staff members sometimes have the critical influence over the congresscritter they work for on technical issues they don't understand.
Parent
I just signed up.... (Score:3, Insightful)
So, this means (Score:5, Informative)
No, seriously, they could have chosen a better name. "Save Betamax" doesn't mean shit to Joe Consumer (How many people actually remember that decision?). If you phrase it as "They're going to make it illegal to set your VCR to tape a show while you're away on vacation", that'll mean a lot more, although it would be a crappy domain name. But I'll be calling anyway, and you all should too. Write letters to the editors of your local papers,while you're at it.
It's hard to fight (Score:4, Insightful)
It's be great if it'd work, but it's hard to beat the money of the big corporations....The more I read the news, the more I see the big boys on the hill getting in on this....
Scary stuff it is...
Re:It's hard to fight (Score:4, Interesting)
Why don't each of us donate $5 or something.. i think $4,000,000 is a little more than $800,000 =P
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Re:It's hard to fight (Score:5, Insightful)
It'd be great if it'd work, but it's hard to beat the money of the big corporations....The more I read the news, the more I see the big boys on the hill getting in on this....
Ask any politician which he would prefer: 1000 voters going to the polls, or $10,000 (extra '0'.) You'd be hard pressed to find one that would take the money. Interest groups for corporations hold power, but there aren't 1000 Jack Valenti's in each and every district to vote for Congressman X.
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Intent of the law (Score:5, Insightful)
Clarification on Betamax decision (Score:5, Interesting)
Shameless plug: this was covered almost a year ago in my blog article U.S. corroborating with WIPO to overturn Betamax decision and also eliminate public domain [underreported.com] (which I've shamelessly plugged here before).
More trivia: before the Betamax decision, movies would come on HBO before videotape release (prime example: Star Wars -- HBO copies for a time were the only way to get a Star Wars videotape). Due to the assumed illegality of taping off HBO, movie studios considered HBO airing to constitute less ownership than selling videotapes. The Betamax decision reversed this notion, and thusly also the order of release.
What This Actually Means (Score:5, Informative)
Not too worried - I live in a free country (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm not too worried, I live in Canada. It's a little better here.
Maybe Canada will have to occupy the US soon to liberate it. =P
cut it out, guys.. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:cut it out, guys.. (Score:3, Insightful)
sorry for them... (Score:3, Interesting)
What's next?
Lost Cause (Score:5, Insightful)
Congress does *not* give a damn about the citizens, they are only concerned about the people that line their pocketbooks ( i.e. the 'media' and other large corporations ).
The very structure of this country has changed, and the citizens are going to be mowed over.
Fight it all you want, but id rather pick battles that aren't lost already.
The 2nd revolution is long over due, before the "American experiment" fails, and its remains fall into hardcore socialism.
You're mostly right (Score:5, Interesting)
Trouble is, just about every single poor and middle class bastard wants to join the oppressors. And every time you add an oppressor, you've got to add some oppressed. This is just the way human economy works. As soon as the masses make some gains, along will come someone to take them away so he can join the ranks of the wealthy and powerful. There is a way to stop this: forced birth control. Either that or War, famine and disease will work just as well. So long as there are too few people to effectively oppress. Capitalism needs lots of cannon fodder.
Oh, and give me Socialism over capitalism any day. Adam Smith envisioned a world of small time shop keepers and factory owners with a stake in thier communities because they lived there. Globalism breaks all that. What's been keeping your job from going overseas is isolationism broght on by the Cold War. Now that that's over capitalism's busted. Capital will flow where ever labor's cheapest, and that flow will keep standards of living down. You're not gonna feel this too bad, but you're children will. Their lives are gonna suck.
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Corporate bridge burners.. (Score:4, Insightful)
That was why they sued sony back then, they were scared shitless by the prospects of their property being stolen!
Unfortunately for them, they lost, but even then they still managed to get a new cash cow out of it. Home videos.
But with the coming of DVDs, they decided, "hey, we needed home videos no more, now that we got these new high tech media like DVDs and CDs that can only be pressed at the factory, why not we make all recording mediums illegal eh"
And if this law passes, the implications are powerful. With CDRs, DVDRs, videos, cassettes, maybe even video cameras all outlawed? Guess who are the only ones with access to recording equipment?
Just because they produce some lousy stinking movies doesn't mean they produce ALL the material in the whole wide world. What about people making home videos of little nelly celebrating her first birthday? Or can you imagine needing to procure a license from hollywood in the future just so you can make a video recording of big nelly's wedding?
No good would come out of this man.. no good at all..
No one's listening. (Score:3, Informative)
Let's face it: the politicians stopped listening to their constituents a long time ago.
If I may quote the great FZ from "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing":
Re:No one's listening. (Score:4, Insightful)
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Re:No one's listening. (Score:4, Insightful)
The problem is the facts are the facts. Check out opensecrets.org [opensecrets.org], put in your Rep's name or any of the backers of the DMCA or INDUCE and look where their money comes from. Until real campaign finance reform is passed, like only voters can contribute (No PACs, unions or churches) I feel the system will never be fixed.
What can I say but "Prove me wrong!" (To quote Seymour Skinner).
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The Subversives (Score:3, Interesting)
Look at the history of our first revolution. Here is the scary part noone are thinking about. If you keep makeing stupid laws and by extention keep makeing averge joes who were once well behaived citizen criminals and subversives then you only have criminals and subversives. People don't like to feel that way about themselves forever. Eventually that emotional stage starts to work really good for revolutionary reasoning. Then you get a revolution. I am not saying its gonna be a bloody revolution or anything, but sooner or later people are gonna toss out the current power brokers, they simply will not play ball any more. People are gonna say, forigen policy be damned I don't think think my neighbor Ted is really fit to lead this nation on the national stage but if I elect him at least I will be able to live my life like I used to for awhile I am gonna do it. I think the future is bright domesticly but its gonna ruin our place in the world when it happens, and its all because the current powers that be are two blind to stike a ballance.
How far would they go? (Score:3, Insightful)
Wrong! (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:Obligiatory Simpsons Quote (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:RTFA and blurb (Score:3, Insightful)
Yes, it would be madness. But Hollywood doesn't care.
Now it is possible for them to sell read-only playback devices (such as the DVD) and if they ban all DVD-R, CD-R (+/-RW etc etc) then it won't affect their bottom line in the least. They can still profit from home videos that people can still play, but no one can record anything, except the organized criminal
Re:Coral cache (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Is there an expert in International Law (Score:4, Interesting)
Just look at the sordid history of the EUCD (European Union Copyright Directive). You will see that the entertainment industry will meet up with some European Commisioners, have lunch, and presto! two months later the relevant committee comes up with a new EU directive implementing the latest draconian US copyright law into an EU Directive.
I am not hopeful. And I live in one of the countries that generally implement EU directives in the most liberal way possible.
MartParent