It’s estimated that the 2008 presidential election process will exceed $1,000,000,000 when all is tallied up. NPR has a new set of specials “crunching the numbers with you over the next few months on public radio and on this website.” The specials, and the daily morning shows, which will start in early ’08 are “designed for an audience interested in real dialogue, up-to-the-minute news, global perspectives and engaging conversation on and off the air. I really enjoy the clips asking folks of all ages (including children) and levels of expertise (normal citizens and political scientists) how they would redesign the election process.
politics
Fearful Men
“The line between investigating and persecuting is a very fine one and the junior Senator from Wisconsin has stepped over it repeatedly. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep into our own history and our doctrine and remember that we are not descended from fearful men, not men who feared to write, to speak, to associate, and to defend causes which were for the moment unpopular. This is no time for men who oppose Senator McCarthty’s methods to keep silent. We can deny our heritage and our history, but we cannot escape responsibility for the result.”
Important words no matter the decade.
Lumps of Coal
Downhill Battle, a “non-profit organization working to end the major label monopoly and build a better, fairer music industry”, has set up a great campaign to raise funds for IPac, EFF and Public Knowledge. “For every $100 given to these groups in the month of December, Downhill Battle will send one lump of coal to the RIAA and MPAA.“
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.
IPac: Five of Six
Good news on the Intellectual Property front, as five of the six candidates supported by IPac won their races yesterday. The one exception was Brad Carson, who was contesting a tight Senate race in Oklahoma. While these six were the first, IPac is still quite young, and thus didn’t have the opportunity to have a large impact on the ’04 elections. The real focus is on preparing for the 2006 elections. Two years really isn’t all that long to achieve the goals on our list.
Reminder: IPac
The good folks at IPac have sent out their newsletter today, which reminded me that I need to remind everyone to check them out. If you aren’t familiar with the group, you may want to check out my earlier post about this important political action committee which is “dedicated to preserving individual freedom through balanced intellectual property policy”.