GETTING THE WORD OUT TO
THE POLITICOS

Many of us have, in the past, bombarded Congress.org,
with letters to senators and representatives via e-mail. I believe that most of
us would agree, that regardless of whom you support, that we need to get the
message to those candidates, that there are LOTS of people out here, who are
vitally interested in issues such as Digital Privacy, who are pro filesharing,
who are for protection of our digital rights, and who are very concerned about
the increased digital surveillance.

I wanted to get your ideas about how we can best get
these candidates to understand that there are significant numbers of voters, for
whom these kinds of issues, which are generally NOT being addressed , will be a
critical issue in deciding whom to vote for.

1) Should we do a physical letter writing
campaign?

2) Should we go digital e-mail ?

3) Should we call our senators and
representatives?

4) Should we develop a standard letter for those
to use who hate to write, or develop several versions of this letter ?

I honestly believe we need to get moving on this as soon
as possible if we hope to have

any chance of influencing things for the better.

Thanks for your attention !



~CodeWarrior

I personally would do #1 and #4. Its good to get something physical on the desks of polictians. Make it a two pronged attack that even the lazy will take part of. When they get done having aides read the letter and not even give it a thought, boom they get hundreds of the same email. Maybe it'll get the message across.... hopefully...

oh thats assuiming #4 is an email thing so i guess its a combo of #2 and #4

1, 3, and 4. 1 is good because it's there for them to see personally. 2 isn't good since we all know about those standard replies (I do, at least). 3 on the off chance that we'll be able to speak with them (let's hope someone does). And 4 because there might be some who get writer's block and can't exactly get the words out. Then, if they choose, they can alter it any way they please.

I hate to rain on this parade, but just what exactly makes anyone think that any of the politicians running for office...

a) give a shit?
b) would actually do anything?
c) are not already owned by the global megacorporate entertainment comglomerate?
d) aren't lying?

Congress has already shown us that they have no clue, as illustrated by the DMCA. They also have no control over what happens on the Internet, as much a they would like to make you believe they do.

If they had control, there would be no spam, there would be no porn, there would be no free music, there would be no letters from Nigeria.

They control nothing. And if a miracle happens and they actually do turn out to be good guys, the glacial speed at whioch Congress moves would indicate they can get this all under control as early as, maybe, 2006.

By that time, p2p will be a completely different animal, if not an entire species. And the music police will be back to square one.

I agree with George. I'm a pessimist when it comes to government. Look what happened during vietnam. there were mass protests for years, riots, boycotts and the dessent was covered by the mainstream press for years. only then did the government vow to do something and it took them four or five years to finally do the publics will and then it was a fiasco. Nothing has changed.

agree with gdZ, although letters would not hurt.

It would still be nice if we could get issues like 'legal payola' and absurd copyright laws discussed more in the popular media. Perhaps the lobbying group P2P United can spearhead some sort of media campaign to win more hearts and minds within the U.S. public.

I often think of politics much like some bizarro elementary school playground. If you seem friendless, are small, and seem different, you get picked on by bullies, because they believe they can attack you with impugnity. Politicians, as JazzMary2U says...do care about getting re-elected. I've watched a lot (not all) of the Democratic debates, and things like Digital Privacy, and filesharing, are just not seriously debated. Most politicos , when you e-mail them on the issue....use the same boilerplate lingo...like the need to protect intellectual property rights , yada yada.

The problems we have now, are based on a-holes passing the DMCA without reading it, because they were convinced there really was no danger in voting for it...there was no clout on the other side of the issue.

If we just sit back and stay silent, people like Hatch will be empowered to keep it up, and smelling all that PAC money from groups like the RIAA, some DEMOS will take up the cause (already people like John Conyers have).

I've found that people who are doing wrong, and are trying to repress people, don't want a lot of information about it getting out to the public.

One reason why investigative journalism works, is that it informs and motivates people to start raising a ruckuss to the political powers that be.

I agree with you George, except for people like Rick Boucher, Congress has no clue...that's why they need to be educated.

I also agree that P2P is bound to evolve, but congress can write language using terms like "technology now employed, or technology developed after passage of this bill" and other general crap, to trap people in a broad umbrella. You can use terms like "the sharing of copyrighted files" and such, in a way that, no matter HOW the technology evolves, users will get trapped.

To answer the questions :
a) give a shit?
Yes...if they think that election or re-election depends on their stand on this issue and that 65 million people will target them for taking unpopular stands.

b) would actually do anything?
There are some, granted few, who are trying to do something, like Rick Boucher. The "bad" ones...are already doing a lot against us legislatively...see :
http://www.tombarger.com/leflaw/legislation.html (big thanks to Tom for this chart)
If we don't show we are not the scrawny kid with no friends, we will get bullied legislatively with more and more of this crap~!

c) are not already owned by the global megacorporate entertainment comglomerate(sic) ?
I agree...this is a real problem. That's why I am stressing this during election periods. If we can target those who seem to be in the pocket of the RIAA, we can TRY to vote them out.

d) aren't lying?
Granted...the saying "How do you know when a politician is lying?"...Answer, His or Her mouth is moving...has a lot of truth.

LAWS DON'T GET REPEALED A LOT
I'm afraid that if we avoid activism with regard to the political process,
we get a default government, in which all the points you raised (great points) will continue to be the status quo...i.e. bought and paid for politicos who don't give a shit, who lie, and are owned by the megacorporate entertainment conglomerate.

I'm like you George. I have gotten very cynical. And, I tend toward the New World Order conspiracy notion as well, which is extremely cynical, but, even these folks support trying to effect change, as do I.

I look at the bigger picture, not just RIAA v. P2P, but the larger,
Big Brother v. Everyman problem, where our rights are slowly eroded,
including the 1974 right to privacy act.

I believe in fighting the powers of darkness. I believe that David did kill Goliath, even though the odds were stacked against him...and I guess, there is a little of the "Man of La Mancha", Don Quixote in me, that just has a yen for tilting at windmills.

~CW

Paraphrasing....
~All it takes for evil to triumph, is for good men to do nothing.~
~Code

and, if things continue as they are now...I pray for us all, because we are headed down a broad, dark road toward a REAL fascist government which embraces and codifies things like DRM, "Trusted Computing Architecture",
FTAA, WIPO guidelines, and anything else that Cary and company would dream of having mandatory by law. I don't want to live in a dark 21st century which mirrors the works of William Gibson, where everyone has to become the uber hacker just to run your programs and use your computer as you should anyway,i.e. without the fetters of control overlys from technological digital media controls, and application profiles.

I didn't say to do nothing. I just happen to think that in this particular issue politics will have nothing to do with the solution.

In fact, it depends entirely on our actions, our continuation of the process of educating the public, the media and the RIAA that we're not going to buy DRM-infested music from extortionist monopolies.

It doesn't matter who gets elected. All that matters is that sales continue to decline for the RIAA labels.

From gdZ's post above: " ... process of educating the public, the media, ..."

This must be done first before there can be much hope that the politicians will listen.

George I see your point and have pondered it a lot myself. But the fact is that we can have an affect on these politicians because if we cant we're all screwed. So we are going to have an affect. However, I'm not convinced that persuing the copyright issues directly are the best way. No I'm not saying we shouldn't just that I think it is about the hardest battle we can pick. The RIAA and related have their fingures in pretty deep and instead of trying to rip them out I think we need to cut the hand off... If one shares such a visual representation.

To sum up I agree with bufo and think we need to work on the payola issues. The RIAA would not have such a bad influence over our government if they were not allowed to buy it. The day I see a politician walk in a room and side with the RIAA without the reciept of any benefit on the politician part will be a good day. It would be unfortunate that the RIAA's side was taken but atleast an unprogrammed decision would have been made by the politician.... Anyway I don't think we will get very far until we can stop the payola of all forms. Politician should not be paid by citizens or corporations in any way. Money trails should be followed to their orginating paths and politicians should be secure in their position and their saleries so that the temptation for illegal payoffs (and even legal ones) is minimized.

Anyway we have a hard battle ahead of us if we are to bring reason and concern for society back to our political system. So In conclusion I think we need to do 1 2 3 and 4 and we should also expand our horizons and give more attention to the factors of our problems such as payola because those factors are the root of our problems and until they are dealt with our problems will only get worse.

Code, maybe we should focus much attention on getting the information out to the main stream press and/or public. Letters to congress certinly doesn't hurt and shown by some of the statements from congress in a thread posted the other day, that they are getting noticed.

We need to break the spell the industry has on the press and public so they don't walk around like zombies chanting "Imotep, Imotep"

From gdZ's post above: " ... process of educating the public, the media, ..."

This must be done first before there can be much hope that the politicians will listen.

Action can incur education as well. Perhaps if we get enough momentum for this, even the media would pick up on it. I don't think we should limit our venues of education, and I still think despite being liars, backstabbers, corporate puppets and so on, we can get some individuals to listen to us.

Even if our affects are dismal at best, I think this is a process we should start sooner rather then later, so when opportunity does present itself, we can take full advantage of it.

I was looking at the senate seats up for election in 2004, and there are four senators who won't be running for reelection. Those being Ernest Hollings, Zell Miller, Bob Graham, and John Edwards(he is currently running for president and has announced that he will not run for reelection in the senate, instead he is going to focus all his efforts on the presidency). Senator Sam Brownback who introduced S.1621 Consumers, Schools, and Libraries Digital Rights Management Awareness Act of 2003, which repeal the DMCA subpoena power, prevents interference with resale of digital works, prohibits the FCC from recognizing any particular copyright regime, and requires a label on copy-protected media. It was later stated that Brownback's bill was more of a threat towards the RIAA, to watch where they tred.

Right there seems to be a lot of potential for influence, to get Brownback to talk about digital privacy further or risk his seat. We could also encourage the politicians vying for the vacancies to make digital privacy an issue in their campaign, which would set them apart from their adversary and perhaps help them get elected.

Another idea that occured to me is developing a list that would include senators/representatives who have introduced bills or support the RIAA and then list their opponent(s) for reelection. Influencing that opponent to discuss digital privacy may cause the incumbent to lose some votes, potentially the seat.

A lot of these may be many years in the making, but we need to educate on all fronts, not just the media and the populace. If congressman think its a non-issue then they won't have to worry about doing anything about it, or making the situation worse. If they know it is an issue, they may tred considerably more lightly.

First off, I agree with Suikiogiaz .

My idea is not that we do an "either or"...of course we should continue to educate the public and try to educate the mass media...in addition to what I said...but, ironically...I think it is damn near impossible to educate the mass media as in ABC 20/20 . I would say that, in my opinion...they don't give a shit. George and I both have had considerable experience dealing with the print media. I've been interviewed (not about this movement, but on other topics) on television at various stations and various cities in my "real life".

I've always been bothered by the way the interview was edited...it eviscerated the points I was trying to get across.

To a certain extent, the news is done like a gag in a movie...it has to be quick , flashy, and have sound bytes and image bytes...it's more about the sizzle than the steak, more about appearance than substance. I hold NO hope of influencing the popular news media at all, and no hope of educating them....they don't want to be "educated"....

Believe me, after contacting newspapers, TV networks, etc., about the issues we discuss here, you find, they just want to use the memes already out there....not "get things right".

The reason I think it is important to make this an issue for candidates and inclumbents is very simple. These guys pass the laws. If something is made illegal...like filesharing...it doesn't matter
how much you educate the public, how much you boycott...making an act illegal...or conversely, mandating implementation of things like DRM on ALL software or hardware, will make all those engaging in the criminalized activity, CRIMINALS.

If you are in a business, and you have a competitor, let's call him Competitor A, who performs a similar service to yours, but just a little different, and you get a law passed by a friendly legislator, that makes Competitor A's process illegal, and yours remains legal, you win, no matter how much cheaper or better his service was...because now, he loses the legal ability to market and sell that service.

The ability to make laws, renders those who make the laws, little kings and queens. They can then bring the full power of the State...law enforcement, courts, etc., against you.

So, I am not for just using letters to senators, or faxes or calls...but all the legal and appropriate means of getting our word out....but honestly, if we are locked out of the ability to influence the legislators....I am afraid we will lose in the long term.

I usually agree with you george, but "I just happen to think that in this particular issue politics will have nothing to do with the solution" is incorrect.

It's congress who has the power to enact laws. It's congress who let the copyright issue get out of hand. Most of what we're fighting against is sanctioned by current copyright laws passed by congress.

I've interviewed two intellectual property attorneys and they both agree that the source of the problems we are experiencing today come from actions of congress in the recent past. Influence what congress passes, they told me, and we could avoid messes like what is happening today.

Politics has just about everything to do with what we're doing. I look forward to an "RIAA boycotters guide to the 2004 election" soon.

One of our main problems is bad publicity.

I am a daily listener/viewer of the following...
National Public Radio
CNN
NBC nightly news
FOX news
...in that order. Every single one of these broadcasters repeatedly refers to downloading as "PIRACY" and I am sick of it. I have personally sent emails to all of the above, stating that I object to their terms. Not one has replied.

It is so obvious that the media has a big hold and influence on this whole thing. As long as they continue to characterize us in terms that typically say "piracy" or "illegally downloading" or "internet theivery" then no one will know that perhaps that is not the only view.

There has to be a way for some equal time for this movement in a big way. Media bias is huge. I think you should consider adding this to your list, and I am confident someone has some ideas.

Code. thank you, thank you thank you THANK YOU. I dedicate this election year to changing one-third of congress. I am organizing teams to hit neighborhoods with literature, getting people to register to vote, and getting folks offa their big to change things THIS YEAR!!! I am not alone in this, and I will not accept my fate sitting down in cynacism. Cynacism elected Hitler.. Cynacism allowed this DMCA garbage to pass in the first place. You cannot run garbage by an informed, focused, active electorate. www.moveon.org, 1.7 million strong, is an example of what motivated folks can do, not to mention many other internet-based political sites that are springing up!! So how about it folks?!! Lets get offa our collective butts and MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!

BOYCOTT. EDUCATE. REGISTER. VOTE.
ARE YOU REGISTERED AND READY?

Lemme give, if I may, another exampe. This morning I heard on NPR a story about the Iowa debates. To paraphrase, there will be less people at these caucases than attend an IOWA FOOTBALL GAME! Now THAT's POWER. Why? Because they are positioned to make a difference in the election. So the media latches on the the "horse race" there and blows it up. That is less than 100,000 people.. and I KNOW we got more than that.. our tent is wide, our group diverse, and our purpose can be solid. It is ALL politics, that is why they are doing everything in their power to ignore you.. so hit 'em over the head with the VOTING STICK!!

The fact that the media makes such a big thing about the Iowa ["I Oughta Went Around"] caucuses is hilarious to me. It's like the fastest shrinking state in the country, stuck in another time period.

Iowa is a "crucial test" for the candidates, they say. Why?

How about a real test for the candidates? Like math, geography, polygraph...

I think we should do all 4 that Code mentions above....as well as start writing letters to as much media as we can....editorials etc. Eventually maybe we could start getting some people interviewed by radio/tv media and start getting OUR message out. It may not be an easy thing to do...but it CAN be done.

I do not know the answers, to who to vote for here in MO.. But they will have to show me. During an election year they will say anything they think you want to hear. But when people of the sixties got fed up with the government and the war. Which they were doing nothing about it. We went to the colleges and to the front lawn of Washington to get our voices heard. Yes it will always take a long time to get it though their thick skulls, But it can be done. Let begin by using P2P to get the word around. Then colleges,then maybe we will have to go to Washington's front lawn. If it's not news, none of the new papers will report on it. You can write all you want to those idiots in washington. It's only going to go in file 13. Then a form letter back to you if you get one.

WELL here's an IDEA How many of you Live in an area where you have local TALK shows on the RADIO. LOCAL not some guy like Rush or others on but sometime during the day a LOCAL talk show guy is on the AIR????? During the election time frame Congressmen or senators will show up to talk with voters about the issues.CALL in and bring up the subject of repealing the DMCA. Most if not all will not know what the DMCA is but thats OK because it will give you a chance to discuss all the crappy laws P2p filesharing RIAA lawsuits and very important Boycott RIAA web site!!!!! TRY IT I DID !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I say ALL of this can be solved by 1 simple rule regarding how we handle elections.

ABSOLUTELY NO MONEY shall be used to fund the campaigns of someone running for office. You are not allowed to advertise that you are running. No Billboards, no lawn signs, no flyer's, no TV ads, no radio broadcasts, no NOTHING.

Then, we have a series of open debates between all the people running for office and we vote by where they stand on the issues.

It would eliminate so many problems. No more big business influencing politics.

One problem with talk DJs is that they work on the "Answer the question they wish you asked principle." Ususally, they semi ignore what you say, and start commenting on something on their own agenda...so the listener ends up concentrating on what the DJ said instead of the topic you tried to introduce. Either that, or they call you a "wacko" and ask you how many black helicopters and little grey men you've seen today.