| Max ( @ 2007-08-03 11:43:00 |
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Unfortunately, there is a bill introduced in Congress that would radically alter the already draconian DMCA, so that even the perceived intent to violate copyright becomes a criminal offense punishable by jail time, massive fines and other such niceties.
Here are three things that can be done:
1. Let your Congress Critters know that you oppose this law. I personalized the letter, as that may carry a little more weight. I also changed the wording in the last paragraph from 'fans' to 'citizens', as it's more universal.
2. Email friends about this. No matter who they are, this law will affect them very badly. Whether we like it or not, no matter how hard we try not to, we all violate copyright laws (case in point: 'Happy Birthday To You' is still under copyright), and that will get worse under this proposal.
3. For those still on LJ at all, join LJ's fandom_action. It's a new community that is likely to have stuff on it that can help us to protect ourselves in certain concrete ways. It's not perfect, but it's a start, and may turn out to be a good place to 'meet' about some of the legal issues we face as fans. I might not have found that EFF site, had I not joined them and seen their post.