I wrote Orrin Hatch, being that he is my state senator, a letter regarding my disapproval of the Induce Act. Here is his response:

Dear [Whiplash81],

Thank you for contacting me to express your concerns about the Inducting Infringement of Copyrights Act of 2004 (S. 2560). I appreciate your comments and apologize for the delay in my response.

The media have widely broadcast misconceptions about the intent and purpose of this bill, spreading concerns that S. 2560 would outlaw Google, eBay, iPods, VCRs, TiVos, computers, CD burners, recordable DVDs, and a litany other multiple-use devices and Internet service providers. Let me be clear: This legislation was not designed to have ANY effect on these or future technological innovations, and I will work to ensure the final bill that is considered by Congress meets those criteria.

S. 2560 has one goal -- to crack down on those whose intended purpose and SOLE business model is to induce children, teenagers, and others to illegally download copyrighted music and movies from the Internet for free. Without the illegal copying, these filesharing companies would be out of business, yet they amass huge profits while their customers are being forced to pay thousands of dollars in damages to the copyright owners. This bill is merely an attempt to close the safe-harbor loophole that these companies are using to knowingly lure their victims into this illegal activity and make them face legal liability for their actions.

From the beginning, I have worked with the technology industries to craft S. 2560 so it targets only a small group of bad actors without affecting legitimate technology interests, and I will continue to work with them to ensure that we find the best way to achieve this goal. I certainly welcome any proposed improvements or alternatives to the approach taken in S. 2560.

Again, thank you for writing.

Sincerely,

Orrin G. Hatch
United States Senator

Who made Hatch judge, jury, and executioner of how I get a movie?

Especially if it's a foreign movie that none of the other big companies would touch much less bring to an American market?

Get outta the way, Hatch! YOU'RE bad for business!

"The media have widely broadcast misconceptions about the intent and purpose of this bill,"

Ha! after all his minipulation of the press he bitches? I've heard the press report Hatches side just as much (or more) than ours.

"From the beginning, I have worked with the technology industries to craft S. 2560 so it targets only a small group of bad actors without affecting legitimate technology interests,"

Bad actors?? that's the whole purpose of previewing movies before buying them. and since when did he ever work with the tech industry? Maybe HP and Microsoft

"...yet they amass huge profits while their customers are being forced to pay thousands of dollars in damages to the copyright owners"

Profits? Where does this come in other than one, maybe two p2ps? You can see where he has his mind made and who from this statement.

As far as the misconceptions go, the bill is overlybroad. It is so vague that those very things he says won't be affected, fit the very qualifing criteria as the proposed law states. When it gets out to a court room, the judge isn't going to see what was meant, so much as what the law states. Orin Hatch won't be there to be asked what he or anyone else that crafted this bill nor those that passed the bill what they meant. It is in black and white on paper what is meant and the wording of the law is everything.

Oh, now I feel better. Hatch in 2008!

"From the beginning, I have worked with the technology industries to craft S. 2560 so it targets only a small group of bad actors..."

Hey Hatch, what did Sal Mineo ever do to you?

"Thank you for contacting me to express your concerns about the Inducting Infringement of Copyrights Act of 2004 (S. 2560). I appreciate your comments and apologize for the delay in my response."

The next line SHOULD have read..."and the delay was due to the inordinately long time it took to count all those two dollar bills I received in "donations" from the staff at the RIAA"...
====================SNIP================
".....as a two dollar bill" is the humorous reference in that one.

Sal Mineo?

EEeeew! You got a letter from Oral! I hope you washed your hands after you opened it.

I mean, okay, he probably didn't handle it, but someone in his office handled it, and they probably touched him, and you know how these things can spread from person to person.

I think you should used the same procedures handling his letters as the post office does for letters containing anthrax.

Sherminator, he's up for reelection in just two more years... He seriously needs ousting!

He knows absolutely nothing about the economy, he listens only to a corporation that funds his expensive yacht... Hell, what has he done that WASN'T anti-consumer in some way? If he could at least explain the supposed "bad actors" that were duping money from "legitimate" businesses, or even for that fact EXPLAIN HOW they're taking money without the argument turning into Swiss cheese, maybe I'd be more lenient with him.

As it stands, he's nothing more than an idiot that should've been put to pasture a loooong time ago. (My feeling on people is call them as I see them. If I were to ever face Hatch and have to call him honorable, most likely I'd have to spit on the floor to hold onto my disgust in a civilized manner)

I see they have a lot of hot air up that way, too. I don't think the "intent" of the bill would give the RIAA or the MPAA the slightest pause once it became law. "Bad actors" would undoubtedly use it in ways in which it was not "intended."

maybe we should hope that tropical storm Frances doesn't get into Washington ShadowMom. all that hot air over the Patomac will strengthen it back to a catetory 5 storm.

And it will rain for seven days and seven nights.....how's your mom? I saw Tampa on the local news and they had quite a bit of flooding. But I know when the news people say we have flooding, they're usually standing in the gutter to show you. Still a lot of people without electricity tonight, and I heard that a sinkhole opened up on I-95 and that delayed the crews up at the state line even more.

Hatch's newest statement about the bill he 'hatched':
"The media have widely broadcast misconceptions about the intent and purpose of this bill."

Ever noticed how some politicians who find it expedient to backpeddle come across? They tend to lament how they were 'misunderstood' or 'misinterpreted' or, uh-huh, there was a 'misconception'. Yeah, right.
That's just a sham to cover up the fact that they goofed.
(In this case, making a mistake in having the wording be too broad.)

Decent people admit errors.
Politicians don't have to admit errors if they aren't decent people. (Hatch being one of the worst of the lot.)

Mom's fine. talked with her tonight. her place is ok, just some roads flooded. she's just going to che k her food situation and move it if her power is out.

What I don't understand is this....why use such a big hammer for a little nail.

Of the 60 million or so filesharers, what percentage are pumping out CD after CD after CD and selling them on street corners, back alleys or flea markets? I would have to guess because in all the statistics that the RIAA/MPAA float, there never seems to be any mention of any actual illegal sales only loss of revenue based on potentially "lost" sales.

I figure it wouldn't be that hard for local law enforcement to shut down illegal physical sales of CDs by raiding these venues and by confiscating the CD burning equipment. I mean you stakeout the places and bust them in the act.

Is it because sharing on the internet makes it easier for crooks in foreign countries to mass produce CDs? Not really..all they need to do is buy or steal one CD and they can easily make millions of copies without even going near kazaa. So the law is useless against these criminals because they were burning illegal copies of CDs long before p2p was a gleam in some programmer's eye.

It makes no sense for the US Government and the RIAA/MPAA to attack citizens(voters) and consumers for individually exercising their fair use rights. Especially when :

1. The real crooks are out there burning and selling illegal CDs. Tangible products, not potential products from p2p networks.

2. The Big Four are raking in record profits despite wailing on about how much money they are potentially losing to p2p networks. By the way, where's the big hearty thank you to the consumers for the sales figures? Or are we destined to be continually given the back of the hand even while we bail their asses out of bankruptcy again and again.

Some good news, shadowmom and for your mom, comp...It's still early but the latest track for Ivan is south and away from Florida. It may even come this way, across the Yucatan to Brownsville. I don't mind, we'll take our share of the burden of hurricane season if it means no more hurricanes this year for Florida.

Somebody should do a thorough analysis of the letter with additional questions and then post it back to Oral.

(Apologies for off topic comment)

Shadowmum, I know what its like to sit through a tropical cyclone (hurricane), I sat through one of the worst in history namely Cyclone Tracey with destructive winds reaching over 220 kilometers per hour (~140mph) , which devasted and virtually destroyed a city called Darwin in the Northern Territory. I hope the family is ok. Best wishes from down under.

Pinemikey, the points you made are what could make it easier for people to see that what the RIAA and their contributory lackeys like Hatch are really all about: POWER and CONTROL over people. And since the government wants that, too, they are in collusion.
I say "should" because it probably won't happen, since the news media are part of the problem too.

what an idiot
orrin hatch is a fucking retard
he says it wont out law these devices
but old drunka ss asswipes like him never use tech on a daily basis
to him dvd means dumb vid dick

he says onetrhing and another happens
if they dont out law these devices it makes frivilous lawsuits even easier to allow and ahrder to fight
dont believe a damn word he says

btw
the internet induces copying on a grand and global scale copy wrightr or not
ithe intternet is inducing people to act
thast like saying
i predict that osama bin laden is gonna convert to kaballah

how the hell can induceing be a crime
thats like that movie with tom cruise
()(( IF YOURE GUILTY OF A PRE CRIME YOUR A CRIMINAL))
heh their gonna need alot of shrinks and psycics to fighure o utthe state of mind of an inducer

what a waste of fucking taxpayers dollars
as if the patriot actr wasnt enough
they wanna not just take our freedoms
but sell them to greedy ass people

ORRIN HATCH JUST SHOOT YOURSELF

"'The media have widely broadcast misconceptions about the intent and purpose of this bill,'

Ha! after all his minipulation of the press he bitches? I've heard the press report Hatches side just as much (or more) than ours."

Well, if you think about it for a second, the whole idea of this bill is to "protect" the "intellectual property" of those very media companies that tell us the way things are. I'm sure PBS would be very upset if people started distributing copies of BoomBAH episodes on P2P without being paid for it (what about those gay telethons they have every other week to raise money?)

"Hey Hatch, what did Sal Mineo ever do to you?"
ROFLMFAO!!


"Of the 60 million or so filesharers, what percentage are pumping out CD after CD after CD and selling them on street corners, back alleys or flea markets?"

This is how I feel. I don't see how it can be copyrighted when you're not making a profit. I agree that copying something and then selling the copy is wrong, but not "giving" someone a copy, or making a copy as a backup for yourself.
BTW - what ever happened to the laws regarding making profit from victims of a crime? Wasn't the RIAA and it's associates convicted of federal price gouging and price fixing? How can they sue the very people they were convicted of committing a crime against. What next? Is the guy who raped some woman going to be able to sue her because he had to go to jail and that created a loss of income for him and his family?

Why spit on the ground when you could spit on the senator himself?

comp/pinemikey, Ivan will VERY LIKELY be much much worse than Frances.. and it may very well be worse than Charley. All signs point to a nasty storm. And don't be misled, the latest track has it more south and west, but still tracking northerly after it passes western Cuba, meaning anywhere from Baton Rouge to Talahassee may be in for it.

If we're lucky, Ivan continues to go west, but after many years in Florida I know never to trust a hurricane. It damn well goes wherever it pleases. And this one has several days and several obstacles in its path. Hopefully it just dies a graceful death. Btw, two more disturbances have rolled off the coast of Africa that the hurricane center will also watch....my nephew may be right, it might be a good idea to consider moving to another state. Not!!!!

If this Induce act passes and there suddenly becomes a frenzy of lawsuits against technology companies, I think a flood of responses with copies of this letter he sent out would be appropriate with a comment that says "I thought you reassured the American public that this wouldn't happen" and a PS to read "you'd better fix it quick buddy"!

I think only the grace of god himself will be enough to keep Ivan from completely devastating a part of the gulf coast (or the Yukitan). Bad news.

Orrin's a dirty liar. I almost shit when I read this. What a load... We'll see what the law will "allow" when it's passed. When the "stuff" starts to fly, it'll confirm what we all know already.. liar liar.

How money did the RIAA and the MPAA contribute to Sen. Hatch within the last year?

The government is just as guilty for inducing us Americans in paying high and rediculous taxes for everthing.

But you know, if the induce act goes south, they can get around it by imposing taxes or use something like a VAT tax. Don't be surprised is the U.S one day passes a VAT tax act.

If I were to write a reply to Mr. Hatch, what should I say? Can someone come up with a good letter? Although I'm not sure what good it would do, and probably be more effective towards writing the House...

Oh, and by the way, I sent my letter to both my state senators, and reps. This was back in July. To my surprise, I actually got a phone call from my state rep, Rob Bishop, directly from Washington. He had told me he (at the time) was not aware of this bill, but it did raise concerns with him and he would look further into it.