Action Alert: Induce Act Hearing Rescheduled

[elektro80]

* Action Alert: Induce Act Hearing Rescheduled - Keep Up the Pressure!

The Senate Judiciary Committee has taken the Inducing Infringement
of Copyrights Act (Induce Act, S.2560) off the fast track,
scheduling a hearing on the bill next Thursday. This is good
news for the public, but the recording industry is going on the
offensive, turning up its rhetoric in an effort to scare common
sense out of the debate. In a letter sent to the Judiciary
Committee and all 100 senators, RIAA president Mitch Bainwol
insists that critics of the bill are missing the point, and
that the Induce Act is a "moral behavioral test that targets
the bad guys."

But the wording of the legislation itself doesn't support
Bainwol's claims. By making it illegal to "aid, abet, or
induce copyright infringement," the Induce Act could make
companies liable for violations committed by their customers.
This extends liability so far that it threatens both current
and future technologies. Under the Induce Act, creators
of the next iPod or VCR would be forced to subject
themselves to approval from every major copyright holder
before even getting to market. That's too high a price to pay
to satisfy the recording industry in its witch-hunt for
peer-to-peer file sharing.

More than 6,000 EFF supporters have already written to their
senators to stop the Induce Act from giving copyright
holders this kind of veto power over new technologies.
Now it's time to turn up the volume. Forward this message
to five of your friends, family members, or co-workers, and
ask them to support copyright balance, not copyright
bullies.

Send a letter to stop the Induce Act today:
<http://action.eff.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=2918>
* miniLinks
miniLinks features noteworthy news items from around the Internet.

~ Fair Use or "Fair and Balanced"
Lawrence Lessig's recent op-ed on the fair use argument for
using clips from Fox News to criticize its reporting:
<http://www.lessig.org/blog/archives/variety.pdf>

~ Understanding the Media Monopoly
A great introduction to the FCC's controversial media ownership
rules (or lack thereof). Required reading:
<http://www.sfbg.com/38/42/cover_freepress.html>

~ Big Content/Big Tech Form New DRM Consortium
The new conglomeration will focus on finding ways to jam
Hollywood-friendly restrictions into home networks:
<http://news.com.com/2100-1025_3-5268315.html>