Door-to-Door for DMCA Reform

Last May, a few members of New York's
Free Software community broke off from the technology-focused
groups that have surrounded the GNU/Linux mania of the last few
years and began to focus more on the pressing issues of fair use
that the Free Software movement depends upon. Over the last decade,
technophiles have focused on building free software systems and
making them available to the public, giving only reactionary
responses to the ongoing infringement of the public's rights with
regard to digital media. We protested the DMCA, and we protested
when Jon Johansen was arrested over the DeCSS hack that provided
access to commercial DVDs on free OSes. It became apparent,
however, when we analyzed how the Free Software community was
responding to these threats and considered the results of these
efforts, that something new needed to be tried. Therefore, we
founded NY Fair Use in May of 2001 to pick up the slack and to be
more aggressive in campaigning for fair use and sane copyright
law.The encroachment of copyright legislation has begun to impede
the common uses of information needed by the public to conduct its
business. This was most clearly demonstrated when the American
Association of Publishers began to attack public education and
libraries in the name of copyright control. The high point came
when Judith Platt of the American Association of Publishers accused
librarians of being like terrorists. It was cemented when the Vital
Books corporation gained an exclusive contract with NYU Dental
School that forced students to purchase all of their text books on
DVD. As if that wasn't enough, the DVD would turn itself off at the
end of the school year, requiring students to purchase the books
again.In response to the growing threat of digital rights
management systems and legal extortion that threatened our public
libraries, and public school system, a few of us joined together
last May for the first meeting of NY Fair Use at the Killarny Rose
in downtown NYC. Through that summer and through the most difficult
fall anyone could ever imagine, NY Fair Use has been a beacon for
freedom, individual rights and political action, and it continues
on. Every week we knock on doors in targeted congressional
districts, fighting to save libraries from the AAP and collecting
signatures. After the destruction of the World Trade Center, we
continued to hit the streets every week, even knocking on the door
of Senator Schumer, himself.Our fliers and petitions focused on a list of points relating
to digital media and libraries, quoting Pat Schoeder and Judith
Platt. We addressed our petitions to Congressman Anthony Weiner,
who is appointed to the Intellectual Property subcommittee in the
House Judiciary Committee. We set a goal for the number of doors to
knock on, how many people to speak to and precisely what actions we
were asking people to take. We tried to support the door-knocking
with "Save the Libraries" buttons and by handing out fliers in the
main business district of Park Slope, Brooklyn, the neighborhood we
targeted. Every week we totaled our results so that we were armed
with a summary for the Congressman when we made it down to
Washington. We also brought groups of people to the community
office and tracked down the Congressman at speaking engagements,
putting a "Save the Libraries" button in his hand. In the end, he
had his office call us to make the trip to Washington and discuss
the issue.This winter, when everyone was afraid to go to Washington,
eight
of us visited Washington DC for six hours of meetings with
the staff of
Representative Anthony
Weiner. We noticed a TiVo system in the office and pointed
it out to Representative Weiner's Chief of Staff, Kevin A. Ryan,
who said, "The Congressman loves the TiVo." We underscored that
TiVo is exactly the kind of fair use device threatened by proposed
copyright laws and the DMCA.There is still much more to do. Come join NY Fair Use as we
plan our next phase of protecting digital property rights, as we
press Congress for protection from copyright abuse in the home and
in business and as we press for a new Fair Use bill (currently
being written by Jean Thewell). The objectives of this bill will be
to give power back to artists and writers, to prevent wiretapping
our computers and to protect fair competition in the digital device
market by defining copyright more tightly as an exception to free
speech and fair use. The bill will be a tough fight, but if we take
it to the districts of key members of congress, we will be heard.
The bill will cover every important point threatening free software
and a free society today.For more information on DMCA reform, see
the Legislative
Agenda section of the NY for Fair Use web site.Remember that, as former House Speaker Tip O'Neill said, all
politics is local.Ruben Safir is a
Brooklyn-based free software consultant and founder of New Yorkers
for Fair Use.

email: ruben@mrbrklyn.com