EFFector Vol. 11, No. 14 Sep. 29, 1998 editor@eff.org
A Publication of the Electronic Frontier Foundation ISSN 1062-9424
See http://www.eff.org for more information on EFF activities & alerts!
September 28, 1998 EFF/DFC ALERT
Tentative Deadline: Oct. 2 (Please do not redistribute after Oct. 10.)
On September 24, 1998, Congress held the first of several meetings, to reconcile the House and Senate versions of the "Digital Millennium Copyright Act" (DMCA). These meetings could be completed by the end of this week!
The DMCA makes significant changes to American copyright law in the name of implementing recent World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) copyright treaties. Unfortunately, some of the proposed changes could upset the uniquely American balance between the users and creators of copyrighted works. The Senate bill lacks adequate protections for fair use, encryption research, and personal privacy. It could also limit the availability of future consumer electronics and computer products. On the other hand, the House version contains many extraneous provisions that have little or nothing to do with implementing the important WIPO treaties. These provisions in the House bill would overturn three consumer-oriented Supreme Court decisions. The Justice department has concluded that one of these provisions, Title V, which creates sweeping new anti-fair-use rights in databases and other collections of information, may well be unconstitutional. (This Title V was previously a separate bill, the "Collections of Information Antipiracy Act.") Now is the time to speak up because these meetings will determine the final form of this legislation as it goes to the President's desk to be signed into law.
If you care about the future of the Internet, you should let your
Senators and Representatives know, as soon as possible, how important
it is to preserve the essential provisions of the House DMCA, which
protects fair use, personal privacy, the availability of consumer
products and encryption research - while rejecting its harmful
extraneous provisions. A letter to the Senate detailing public
interest concerns with both pieces of legislation is available at the
Digital Future Coalition web site:
http://www.dfc.org
All privacy, encryption, fair use, and security supporters, especially
supporters from states represented on the Conference Committee, are
asked to IMMEDIATELY fax, call or e-mail your Senators and
Representatives now and ask them to contact the members of the
"Digital Millennium Copyright Act" Conference Committee and urge them
to keep the protections for information consumers embodied in the core
of the House version of the DMCA and to remove provisions such as
Title V, the "Collections of Information Antipiracy Act", which have
no relation to WIPO implementation. A sample letter and more
information is available at the Digital Future Coalition web site:
http://www.dfc.org
To reach your legislator you may call the US Capitol Switchboard at
202-224-3121 locally or toll-free 1-800-962-3524 nationally. If you
are unsure who your legislators are or want more info on how to
contact them, see the EFF Congress Contact Factsheet at:
http://www.eff.org/congress.html
Next contact the key Conference Committee legislators below and urge them to:
The following Representatives and Senators are on the "Digital Millennium Copyright Act" Conference Committee:
================================================================ Party Senator Phone Fax State ---------------------------------------------------------------- R UT Hatch, Orrin G. 1-202-224-5251 1-202-224-6331 D VT Leahy, Patrick J. 1-202-224-4242 1-202-224-3595 R SC Thurmond, Strom 1-202-224-5972 1-202-224-1300 ================================================================ Pty Dist Representative Phone Fax State ---------------------------------------------------------------- R IL 06 Hyde, Henry 1-202-225-4561 1-202-225-1166 R NC 06 Coble, Howard 1-202-225-3065 1-202-225-8611 R VA 06 Goodlatte, Bob 1-202-225-5431 1-202-225-9681 D CA 26 Berman, Howard 1-202-225-4695 1-202-225-5279 D MI 14 Conyers, John 1-202-225-5126 1-202-225-0072 D MI 16 John D. Dingell 1-202-225-4071 1-202-226-0371 R VA 07 Tom Bliley 1-202-225-2815 1-202-225-0011 R LA 03 W.J. "Billy" Tauzin 1-202-225-4031 1-202-225-0563 ================================================================
IF YOU ARE A CONSTITUENT (i.e., you live in the same district as the Rep. you are contacting) make sure to say so. For example "I am a constituent, and I'm calling/writing because...."
IF YOU REPRESENT A COMPANY OR ORGANIZATION, say so: "I'm Jane Person from Personal Technologies Inc. of Austin. I'm calling on behalf of Personal Technologies to ask the Representative to...." Business interests carry a lot of weight with many legislators, especially if they are in the legislator's home district. Legislators also generally heed organizational voices over individual ones.
The Digital Future Coalition (DFC), of which EFF is a member, is 42 non-profit and for-profit entities that are committed to fighting for balanced intellectual property law (copyright) in the digital era.
This alert is based on a DFC alert.
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