The great Phil Leigh interviews Congressman Rick Boucher on the badly authored INDUCE ACT and Boucher's own legislation (HR 107) intended to fix the flaws of the DMCA.


Boucher reiterates the urgency that you call your Congressional Representative and say "NO TO INDUCE ACT!" Boucher states that only a handful of congressional representatives are qualified to study specialized computer networks, and that the only conclusion to be drawn is that the recording industry wishes to bypass the courts and overturn the Betamax decision.

Selected video highlights of the DMCRA Hearings May 12 are available at http://files.dmusic.com/video/newindex.html

*claps*

i'm unable to make out the emial address.

Don't forget, it's not only the INDUCE act that we need to be concerned about. We also have to spread the word and write to our congressmen to oppose the PDEA and PIRATE act which are just as draconian!!!!

It's ridiculous to even call it the INDUCE act...that sounds like it should apply to pregnant women whom they have to give a helping hand chemically to bring the baby to delivery.

PDEA, PIRATE,ACCOPS, INDUCE...to quote the late , great , Marlon Brando from APOCALYPSE NOW (which, considering the mental state of our "President" is quite appropriate)

"The horror....the horror"

yeah true, I always wondered where they got the name "Induce Act"

uh.. if you listen to the audio from this.. he says he thinks people should be prosecuted for filesharing, but that the laws already exist to do this.

Because of this i dont see him currently opposing the PDEA.

i'ts important to write him and call for a reasonable and constructive response to his concerns over p2p.

I sent mine off, but don't know what sort of effect it will have. We'll see....

Hatch's office is being overwhelmed with faxes, letters and email.

I hope Hatch can't get through his door by morning for all the faxes, letters and printed email piled up!

What is his fax number..

What Hatch needs is several dump trucks full of DMA laced cds on his home lawn. Something to show him the pain in the butt it is. Give him something to spend his money on he has been taking. lol

There are a ton of tech and science bills on the docket for the house tomorrow.

=(.. this is ominous..

Sherm: Washington D.C. office
Fax: (202) 224-6331

I just listened to his speech, and I heard him say once that he that he thinks people should be prosecuted for file sharing. I don't know if you should take that too literally. He may just be saying that so the thugs in the RIAA don't go nuts and start accusing him of promoting what they so call piracy with their ignorance and selfishness . I remember about how Rick Boucher opposed the the DOJ eductaing the public about copyright laws last Novemeber when some members in congress where proposing a bill about that. The PDEA basically does and PIRATE act basically do just that and they further strengthen enforcement and trample our privacy rights in mnay regards. If he is really a reasonable rep, I don't see how he would not oppose those acts as well. He sounds reasonable based on many of the things we've all covered about him on this site, but I guess you never no for sure do you!!! What do you think?

Thank you, Lachatte.

By the way, the RIAA is guilty of inducing people to download by forcing people to purchase their product several times over a period of several years because they can't decide on a medium.

How many faxes have been sent already?

Prideful-Chris19--I just listened to it, and how could you miss what he said? How can you downplay it? It's right there--he thinks they should be prosecuted. What's not to take literally????

awehr--Exactly where do you find the docket for tomorrow? I try to watch the Senate and the House every day to see what is going on, but I swear they put me to sleep talking about honoring this one and that one....what do they do--warm up in the morning and get down to business in the afternoon???

People probably should be prosecuted for downloading. There's no reason that a viable alternative can't be put in place first thought. As of now, downloading is completely justified in my book. He isn't going to say that though.

Bull--sharing is not stealing. You never taped a movie and kept it? You never loaned a friend a book, so he wouldn't have to buy it? All of those could be considered as having deprived the copyright owner of a purchase. That's what the RIAA is contending--and it's simply not true. If I want to hear a song from an album without having to buy it first, I should be able to. I never stole anything in my life, and I still buy CDs -- but not from them, not now. I want to buy music, not a "commodity." We need copyright reform -- now!!!!

ShadowMom: I watched cspan 2 this evening.

It said the majority of tomorrow would be dominated by bills that have to do with "technology and science"

and prideful may be right here.. he said people should probably be prosecuted, but he also said the current law was good enough to allow for that.

in other words. "im carrying the line but ill be damned if ill give them more laws"

its worrysome to me that they havent reconsidered the idea of collective license.

I've been in that state of mind.. you know.. when it's like youre wearing blinders.

It's important for everyone to write congress comparing the merits and relative difficulty of collective license in comparison with draconian and even insane restrictions on technology.

I kind of agree. I'm not real adamant on my stance for that. It's hard to put into perspective I think. You did kind of illustrate my point though. There's not a damn thing wrong with letting a friend borrow a CD or anything like that.

I don't think P2P could ever hurt the RIAA as long as they keep making music (unlike what they've been doing especially the last few years). So from that point of view, I don't care about downloading and never will. But at the same time, it is a way for people to get what they want without paying. The issues that come with settling that are the issues we are facing right now.

Like everyone else here, I believe that letting people download for free when it's questionable at best that it even hurts the RIAA is much better than the price we will pay to protect them.

If a reasonable line can be drawn, then I will support it (because it will be, by definition, reasonable). That would be my view before all this started anyway. I hate the RIAA now with a passion, as does everyone else here. They are protecting themselves wrongly, and that includes failing to conduct proper research to even reach the conclusion that P2P is a bad thing.

Just so I don't come off wrong - I will never buy a CD again until I can "legally" try every song either for free or a reasonable price (try 5 cents per song) and have those songs be 100% free of DRM. I won't buy while they are suing people for something that is their own fault (see my earlier statement that downloading on P2P now is more justified than ever). I won't buy if they keep producing fake garbage. They'll change or I'll boycott them. Once everything is in line and fair and reasonable (it never will be), then apply my earlier statement.

I'm not really sure why i said that at all. It requires a lot more explanation. I guess I took one thought out of many and just typed it and posted it. Nobody should be prosecuted until the RIAA can be viewed as consumer-friendly. We'll see what things are like then. I'm pretty tired - I hope I made sense.

I don't even know why I said that. My mind must have been somewhere else. They should have adapted when they had the chance.

they still "have the chance"

its called a p2p app.
Hire the best in the business with all your lobbying dollars and develop your own.

Make it better than kazaa.. make a mint in the same way kazaa, grokster, emule did... by selling ads in every client.. millions and millions of viewers for those ads.

billions and billions a year in revenue.

Listen up people. Boucher was all the way involved trying to stop the DMCA in 1998. Read Litman's book for a full accounting of Mitch Glazer's treachery. Boucher delayed the bill and watered it down by forcing a compromise with the other committee he is on, the commerce Committee. Look at what he's facing in the House Judiciary Committee, it's full of RIAA thugs. We have a problem here, which is that the Senate Judiciary and their couinterparts in the House can pass any law they want, for example, "the sky is green'" WITHOUT DEBATE, or prior public notice.

I would assume that you would listen to at least part of his interview.

If you can't do that, or whine about not using QuickTime, when it's a mp3 file, then I am at a loss to explain why you take the time from sniffing glue to even post your brain-dead conclusions about something of which you are clueless. Perhaps I should say "glueless."

Boucher has been in office for twenty years. Within limits he cannot come out and say certain things like, "Take away my hard drive or my gun from my cold lifeless hands." He has to work with other Congressmen.

You idiots have driven away George Z and Code Warrior.

The reason I take the time to answer this is one thing: Boucher is a friend of mine. If you listened to any part of this interview, he is asking you to contact OTHER CONGRESSMEN. You are welcome to contact him if you wish to provide some story to the next House Hearings on "how your business was bankrupted by onerous technology concerns" such as 321 Studios has endured onerous litigation. Or participate in Lessig and EFF's program to collect stories of how your artistic rights wqere stifled by ridiculous copyright measures.

Here's how you do that:

email Boucher at ninthnet@mail.house.gov

I am not promising you that someone will read your drivel nor answer it.

Here is what I am asking you: DO NOT FAX BOUCEHR'S NUMBER!

Can't you read?

I am now deleting the link to the audio clip on Dmusic's drives. I reee--all--y don't need you people faxing Boucher and saying you heard it from me.

Here's your task now kids. Go listen to at least part of Phil Leigh's interview at this link:

http://partners.real.com/phil_leigh/clip.html?id=1074&detect_real=yes

"You idiots have driven away George Z and Code Warrior."

Have you looked in the mirror lately? I'm not aware of the details surrounding the departure of George and Code Warrior, but addressing the users of the site as idiots certainly couldn't have helped. After reading this, I don't know that I want to come back to this site. There are other sources for news and information on p2p.

tomsong They do not see what really going on. They have eyes, but they do not see. They have ears, but they do not hear. They do have a mouth which seems to run on with there own lines. I only heard 1/4 of the audio link. But Boucher seems to be on the up and up.
It is a shame that George Z and Code Warrior left. But they have not given up the good fight. It is not just about the content cartel CD DVD to boycott . It is also about what they are doing in the government. The people have to do research on them and get it out. So they can not take away our rights. Gee now that I think about it, what rights do we have left anyway.

Thanks for the link, Tom.
I just listened to the interview. It was a good recap of what was said at the HR 107 hearing on May 12.
I've been searching for information for hours now on just how S. 2237 (the Pirate Act) was passed. http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c108:3:./temp/~c108j73D8S::

There have been various articles written about its "overwhelmingly approved" passage by "unanimous consent", but I can't find out who voted. Any ideas?

I may be wrong, it hasn't passed----but the discussion on the unanimous vote was misleading. The article you reference was vague, but it meant to say, "The PIRATE Act passed out of the subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee." And merely referred to the Senate for full vote. Hatch et al are trying to cram the law through before the summer recess.

I understand someone like Hatch and Leahy braying, "this is bipartisan support, after all no one would ever stand up and say something good about (pick one)--gambling, unsolicited phone calls during dinner, child molestation, sex slaves in Thailand, prison torture porno tapes, etc."

In effect, those congress critters are PREDICTING a unanimous vote, as in---"Washington is sweltering, let's get the f**k out of here and go home, pass this piece of shit, let the courts haggle it out."

Which is exactly how Congress passed the DMCA, through simple exhaustion. And we're still slugging it out in the courts lo these five years later.

This is the reason to say, Congress go slow. Corprations should use the laws already on the books for their purposes, but avoid laws with unintended consequences. The DMCA was never intended to cover garage door openers and printer cartridges.

awehr: there is something better then KaZaA it's called Gnucleus & Shareaza and the G2 network

You're right Lachatte. I should think first before posting-- You may want to look up the new legislation number S. 5723. What I was thinking last week upon reading the article was regarding the so-called unanimous consent, that is to be read as "an empty chamber with no objections raised." See this concluding bit of dialogue, which indicates that no Congressman thought it sufficient to show up and object. And please note that we can't find out HOW THEY VOTED because this method allows them anonymous voting! Read this:

Mr. FRIST. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read the third time and passed with no intervening action or debate and any statements relating to this measure be printed in the RECORD.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

The bill (S. 2237) was read the third time and passed, as follows: see Thomas.loc.gov for final text.

Boucher has been protesting strongly against granting the FBI further powers under the copyright laws. In one town meeting I attended, Boucher stated that the FBI had for decades been coming to Congress asking for expansion of powers and were repeatedly denied---UNITL----the fateful passage of the 9/11-inspired Patriot Act. Which is definitely going to expire under its Sunset Provisions.

Having said that, you will want to read Declan McCullough's interview with Boucher. He explains the torturous path that a bill must follow as it threads its way through both Houses, and his intention to derail both the Pirate Act and the INDUCE Act in his own Committees. He says it is UNHEARD OF for a Congressman to sponsor legislation that is not in their own Committee, and for this reason, he foresees defeat!

Don't forget this Pirate Bill must pass first the House Judiciary Committe and then the full House and then the signature of the President... If Boucher has his way, he will insist that the Pirate Act be marked up and considered by the House Commerce Committee and probably stalled in committee.

Thanks, Tom. So we will never know who did or didn't vote for it.
I wanted to know if Edwards voted for it. He's on the Judiciary Committee, right?

I called Senator Durbin's office. He wasn't in Washington at the time of the vote. I have to fax him about this.

Apparently using e-mail is a lost cause. Legislators respond to snail mail and faxes.

Problem has been all along that US Mail has not been accepted due to the anthrax scare. Pretty hard to get the people's business done, huh. I guess that has lifted somewhat because Boucher gave out his mail address in the interview.

carla......

I emailed him and got this response. You may want to try the new link he has in this email response.

Dear Friend:

Thank you for your e-mail message. I appreciate hearing from you. Starting August 1, 2004, I will be answering only those e-mails received through the contact form on my web site ( http://durbin.senate.gov/sitepages/contact.htm ), which will better enable me to provide timely responses to the high volume of e-mails my office receives each day. You may wish to bookmark this link for future use.

With regard to the e-mail you just sent, this message serves as an automated response to acknowledge receipt of your message and is not meant to be an answer to your e-mail. If you are from Illinois and have included your U.S. postal address in your e-mail, my staff is reviewing your message and you may receive a response either by e-mail or through the U.S. mail. If your postal address wasn’t in your e-mail and you would like me to respond, please use the link above to resend your e-mail message using the contact form.

SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES:

If you have contacted me regarding a specific problem you are having with a federal agency or to learn whether certain assistance programs might be available, you may want to visit the online help page on my web site at http://durbin.senate.gov/sitepages/Services/onlineassist.htm. If you need additional assistance or the matter is time sensitive, please feel free to call one of my state offices, and my staff will be happy to try to help you. The phone numbers are:

Chicago:
Ph. 312/353-4952
Fax 312/353-0150

Springfield:
Ph. 217/492-4062
Fax 217/492-4382

Marion:
Ph. 618/998-8812
Fax 618/997-0176

If you are a student from Illinois with questions about me or my positions, and you are on a deadline, you can check my web site at: http://durbin.senate.gov to see if the answers to your questions are already posted there. If not, please call my Washington office at 202/224-2152 for further assistance.

Thanks again for contacting my office.

Sincerely,

Richard J. Durbin
United States Senator

Seems what Hatch did was wait until all those Senators had left town that he knew would object to this. Gee...this guy is a Mormon, and Mormons typically believe that you should be honest in all your dealings....This guy definitely does not seem to be honest in all his dealings....does he?

The senate.gov website seems to be down right now....probably being overloaded with email going to Hatch.

I believe I used that e-mail contact for Durbin at least twice but never heard back. The guy in Durbin's Chicago office said they like to receive things in writing, because they like a "paper trail."

Is anyone following the "Class Action Fairness Act" debate in the Senate?

I listened to the Boucher interview. Bravo and thank you!

The grousing of some people with respect to Boucher's apparent equivocation on prosecuting copyright infringers, reminds me of the anger we in the women's movement felt when (30 years ago) legislative representatives and government officals frequently would qualify or downplay their support of abortion rights. We wanted them to say, "Abortion rights -- on demand and without apology." However, the leaders working within the system had to be pragmatic...keep the pressure on representatives to fight off attacks to repeal Roe v. Wade. Only now can most representatives feel free to unequivocally say that he/she supports a woman's right to choose.

What's worrisome is that, like Roe, even if the Supreme Court makes a ruling similar to the Betamax case, the RIAA et alia will continue to chip away at the decision, so that there will always be a constant struggle to maintain consumer rights.

tomsong
lets get one thing straight
its gonna take a hell of a lot more than
oh hes my friend to convince us
and no these people are not stupid
they are PISSED off that these traitors
have betrayed us
and telling us that our complaints are useless drivel??
well lets get real
George Z and Code Warrior
were not driven away by the same complaints they have
the were silenced and told if the were to aceess this site again they would be arrested(due to lawsuits from thempaa/riaa
i presume
so dont act like you know why they are gone


as for your friend
what the hell difference can he make
give him 200,000 dollars he'll fight for the riaa/mpaa too
so dont go off saying hes our savior becasue a politician is a politician
they support who ever gives the most money

i dont like youradditude
you probably work for the riaa or mpaa
so leave us alone

i know i soud pretty drastic but the way things have bbeen going

i seriously doubt things will work our way
we will be felons by the time summers out
the want to push this bill just before voting season
so they can felonize the whole population
so the can curb the votes into theyre favor
so dont expect support from your `` friend'' after that

Unless there is a check with a counting integer with about 8 zeros after it (and a dot followed by two more zeros,) with a dollar sign at the front of it all...and it is bankable...don't look for Orrin to lift a hand to help you.

looks like we were both wrong tomsong
at least codewarrior is still here

btw..if anyone knows why I am gone...(am I?)....it's Tomsong...
he's a very good friend of mine. One of the main reasons is I
just don't have the time for it anymore.

Since spelling, grammar and basic English elude you, I suggest you at least learn to use spellcheck.

You castigate someone who actually works hard to change things. Talk about attitude problems.

additude dood

dubbsakk - what the hell are you talking about?

Code, I hope you aren't gone. I feel responsible for you not coming around anymore. That was never my intention. Without dragging anything out here - I admire and respect you now just as I always have.

carla,

I believe I used that e-mail contact for Durbin at least twice but never heard back. The guy in Durbin's Chicago office said they like to receive things in writing, because they like a "paper trail."

Thats odd, cause I live in Michigan and emailed him. Really didn't expect a reply of any sort back. So they like a paper trail eh? Guess FAX would be quickest then, unless his office has run out of paper...which would explain why they can't "print" out your emails and accomplish the same paper trail. Oh well. I did, recently get a written reply from McCain regarding his low power radio legislation. Wasn't really expecting that either. Guess it just goes to show that you never know what these people will do.

By my accounts.. boucher is a good man... but in a world where there are nothing but extremes.. he can only do his best to feel for a middleground and try to represent sanity.

For him.. it is like searching for "up" and "down" in outer space.

Things must be done in steps.
Congress must be brought back around.. but if we rip upon our allies, and burn our bridges by encouraging people to vote him out of office, then there will be nobody to do this.

It is very important that level headed people like Boucher remain in office, even if they dont completely agree, because theyre the closest thing to agreeing parties we have.

Agreed. Boucher can't take an extreme anti-RIAA stance. He won't be taken seriously. It's the right way to do things. If he truely believes what he said, then we still must support him. He has a reasonable stance on the issue. He is merely admitting that copyright infringement is wrong. That doesn't mean he supports the same vague definition of it as RIAA and co.

A lot of people who write their senators etc write after reading things from this site. That said, we have a responsibility to not be insane. Don't bash Boucher. He's our best friend right now.

never utter the word best.. but he is one of the few who actually TRIES to balance public interests.

The Sherminator is right. We must not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. If Boucher's position is not everything we might hope for, it is the best one could expect in the current climate.

By the way, to listen to that interview, I'd have to install RealOne player.

That software is notoriously fierce about commandeering your system for all sorts of things you don't want it to do. I had the earlier versions of RealAudio players on other computers, but I'm not messing up my new computer by installing it.

Thanks for the kind words TheSherminator. Much appreciated.

You could use mplayer, xine, or media player classic, or real alternative, which support the realplayer 9 (realone) codecs without all the crap. Heck, mplayer/xine can even play realone files on linux as well as windows.

It looks like some of the files need quicktime, not real. Fortunately, mplayer, xine, and quicktime alternative support that format without having to mess around with quicktime.

We need more Rick Bouchers and less Orrin Hatches in government.