The new IPac Blog is a great resource for those interested in intellectual property and copyright laws, and the need to change both for the better.
Law & Government
IPac in Wired
Check out the Wired News story titled Battling the Copyright Big Boys, which provides a great introduction to what we, at IPac are building, and the goals we aim to accomplish. There is a lot to do, so if you have some time, and care about copyright and intellectual property issues (including whether or not you can record your favorite TV show), then stop by the IPac site, and sign up!
Donna Wentworth makes a great point concerning how to help us fight bad law. In her post about the story she recommends that people “give up today’s (and/or tomorrow’s) wildly over-priced Starbucks latte and make a donation to IPac.”
Chris Rush Cohen of the INDUCE Act Blog has also provided coverage and kind words regarding the IPac story. It’s great to see the word spreading!
30,000,000 Newspaper Pages
The Associated Press reports that the U.S. government plans to place 30 million pages from historical newspapers online, beginning in 2006. The papers will date from 1836 through 1922. This will be an amazing resource for students, teachers, historians, researchers, and… well anyone who wants to see what life was like during that period. At the moment, if you wanted to find an old paper, you would have to “pore through many thousands of microfilm reels at the Library of Congress, regional libraries and newspaper offices.” The Library of Congress has posted a sample of what is to come: The Stars and Stripes: The American Soldiers’ Newspaper of World War I, 1918-1919
One interesting side note… Notice that the end date is 1922. Want to guess why? Copyright. Anything printed in 1923 or after will not be available due to the various copyright extensions passed by Congress over the last few decades. So, sadly we will not have the same access to materials concerning World War II (having ended 59 years ago) or the Korean War (ended 51 years ago). Yet again, the American public is affected by poor copyright laws. While I applaud the efforts of the Library of Congress, and cannot wait to browse through the available pages, I think it is important for we, as citizens, to see what it could be were we to (re)adopt fair copyright practices.
Link via Creative Commons
DeLaying Tactics
As CNN is reporting, House Republicans are trying to protect Representative Tom DeLay (R. TX):
> The House Republican Conference, composed of all GOP members in the chamber, planned to vote Wednesday to modify a requirement that would force DeLay to step aside if charged with a felony requiring at least a two-year prison term.
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> Party rules require leaders to relinquish their posts after a felony indictment, but the change would eliminate the requirement for non-federal indictments.
It appears that the Republican Party has given up any pretense of ethics within its leadership. This is truly sad as it casts a very poor light on other, reputable members of the GOP and chips away at the faith and trust we, as citizens of this great democracy, have placed in our elected representatives.
The changes to the rule were proposed by Representative Henry Bonilla, a fellow Texas Republican, who, oddly enough benefited from the Texas redistricting efforts railroaded by DeLay. Surprised? No, I didn’t think so.
Now, if DeLay isn’t indicted, then I see no reason for him to have to step down, but if he is brought up on charges, he should step down until the case is resolved. But, as he probably has an insane amount of pull, this is unlikely without a sizable public outcry, the odds of which, I expect are pretty low. The populace is rather weary after a grueling election cycle. Sigh.
Ultimately I find it depressing to think of the fact that one of our two major parties has decided to change the ethical requirements that they set because one of their leaders can’t meet the rules. In most organizations, this would indicate that the ‘leader’ should step, or be forced aside to allow more capable/ethical members to step up and lead.
The Senate Ponders Bad IP Laws
Wired News reports that the Senate may try to pass a hellish cornucopia of copyright and IP laws during the current lame duck session:
The Senate might vote on HR2391, the Intellectual Property Protection Act, a comprehensive bill that opponents charge could make many users of peer-to-peer networks, digital-music players and other products criminally liable for copyright infringement. The bill would also undo centuries of “fair use” — the principle that gives Americans the right to use small samples of the works of others without having to ask permission or pay.
This is a key example of why I have committed much of my free time to IPac. If you aren’t familiar with IP, here is some more information from the site:
IPac is a nonpartisan group dedicated to preserving individual freedom through balanced intellectual property policy.
We believe that technological innovation and individual creativity are vital to the future of this country. We believe that a prosperous and democratic society depends on freedom for all individuals to pursue scientific invention and artistic expression. Unfortunately, new intellectual property laws threaten to stifle these freedoms and restrict public participation in science, art, and political discourse.
Ultimately, the only way that we, as consumers and citizens can guarantee that we are allowed to use our purchases the way we want (and the way that we have been able to historically), is to speak up to the politicians who routinely trade our rights for campaign donations from large media groups. If you want to retain the right to use your purchased media in the same ways that you did 20 years ago, it is time you stand up and lend a hand.
Christian Exodus
Apparently some on the extreme right have decided that the “U.S. Constitution has been abandoned under our current federal system”, and thus it is time to ” re-introduce the Christian principles once so predominant in America to a sovereign State like South Carolina”. The full posting is located at: Christian Exodus :: Come Out of Her, My People (note, that is their page title, I didn’t make it up – look at the top of your browser window while visiting the site to verify this). Another interesting quote from the page:
> ChristianExodus.org is orchestrating the move of thousands of Christians to reacquire our Constitutional rights and, if necessary to attain these rights, dissolve our State’s bond with the union. Click on our Plan of Action page to find out how we can experience God-honoring governance once again.
So, if I read this correctly, the fact that the right had larger turnout in the last election than they have experienced in decades, thus re-electing an Evangelical Christian to the Presidency, and solidifying a conservative Republican hold on the Legislative branch wasn’t enough. So, they are threatening to take over a state and quite possibly secede from the Union. Boy, that’s a novel concept. I’m sure it will have just as much success as the last time South Carolina seceded from the rest of the country.
This is why I don’t like extremists (no matter which way they lean) – they think up ideas, that, while they are amusing, ultimately make me shudder at their utter lack of awareness and understanding of the world.