To: nylug-talk@nylug.org Subject: [nylug-talk] press coverage of the DMCA protest From: Jim Gleason <jgleason@electriclichen.com> Date: Thu, 4 May 2000 15:08:43 -0400 (EDT) Sender: owner-nylug-talk@electriclichen.com LINUX USERS TAKE TO THE STREETS OVER DMCA Rachel Chalmers GMT May 03, 2000, 10:50 AM | ET May 03, 2000, 05:50 AM | PT May 03, 2000, 02:50 AM Sectors:Convergence:News & Analysis Washington DC - Jim Gleason, president of the New York Linux Users Group, spent Tuesday protesting with 20 others on the steps of the Library of Congress. Inside the building, the US Copyright Office was holding a public hearing on a new provision in the controvers ial Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which prohibits any attempt to circumvent copy control mechanisms. Content owners want to ensure that no content is exempted from this prohibition. Critics of the DMCA say this provision will kill the public's right to fair use, and end the fruitful practice of reverse engineering. Gleason has a particular stake in the issue. He is gravely concerned for Norwegian teenager Jon Johansen, who was arrested for distributing DeCSS. This is a tool that unscra mbles the Content Scrambling System, which was designed to prevent piracy of DVDs. Its defenders say DeCSS was written to enable Linux users to play legitimately acquired DVDs on Linux systems, in the absence of commercial software. DeCSS opponents retort that commercial software now exists. Gleason also blames himself for a January preliminary injunction handed to three US websites that had linked to DeCSS which found that DeCSS was a circumvention under the DMCA and therefore illegal. He believes that t he Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) made it unreasonably hard for the defendants to say their piece in that hearing, partly by selecting New York as an appropriately conservative and distant venue. "These defendants did not have the o pportunity and the time to adequately represent themselves," Gleason claims. "They were representing themselves via videoconference against these well-prepared, sharp MPAA lawyers. The judge felt insulted. He said: 'What do you take me for?'" Gleason beli eves that if members of NYLUG had protested outside the courtroom, a view contrary to that of the MPAA might have had a chance to be heard. He fears that the injunction marks the beginnings of legal precedent in interpretation of the DMCA. Hence the demon stration. "We wanted to at least show pictures of Jon Johansen's face," he explained, "so the people who are reading through the reply comments would be moved to ask themselves, 'Is this law adequate? Should we rewrite it? It's very loosely written, and s o far, all the legal interpretations have been made in the interests of the MPAA." "There has to be a dialog," he insists. "The motion picture industry can spend a lot of money on lawyers and do these interesting legal tactics and arrest kids in foreign countries. Obviously, the free software industry cannot do this. Yet the toothpaste is out of the tube. The ability to quickly disseminate entertainment content over the Internet is a fact. I accept that copyright owners' rights need to be carried over, but at the same time, there's always been fair use models with all forms of copyright and reverse engineering. So far no judge has seen fit to interpret the DMCA in a way that enables us to play DVD movies on our Linux machines. But we've got to ha ve the ability to write new and innovative software. You can't expect anyone to put this toothpaste back in the tube." Inside the Library of Congress, the US Copyright Office was reviewing 129 reply comments on the DMCA and the circumvention prov ision. Those comments broke down along fairly predictable lines. Sony, Time Warner, the MPAA, RIAA, the Business Software Alliance, the Software and Information Industry Association and the DVD Copy Control Association all want to strengthen the DMCA by s eeing to it that no content is exempted from the circumvention provision. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, Open Source Initiative (OSI), Library of Congress, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR), NPR, PBS, the National Archives and R ecords Administration and Copyright Commons all call for a more balanced approach, which weighs the public interest in fair use and free speech against the exclusive title of copyright holders. "It is, of course, common ground that digitization offers great economic and social benefits," conceded Time Warner lawyer Bernard Sorkin, "but those benefits can be wiped out by the looming dangers of easy, cheap and perfect quality reproducti on, easy, cheap and perfect quality distribution and the ability to make changes in the digitized work be it text, audio or video." "We do not challenge the doctrine that copyright should apply to online works, just as it has applied to works in traditional media," responded Andrew Orem on behalf of CPSR. "Nor do we deny that widespread copying takes place, online as elsewhere. But we object to the misuse of copyright law to remove traditional consumer and research rights. If not reined in by the Copyright Office and other branches of government, the cases discussed in this comment could lead to a safe haven for exploitative hoarders of information and culture." "The DVDCCA lawsuit over DeCSS has demonstrated that provider cartels are qu ite willing to use the DMCA as a club with which to beat the open-source community," added a typically outspoken Eric Raymond, writing for the OSI. "If they succeed, they will dramatically reduce consumer choice and stifle the production of the valuable p ublic good that is open-source software." A second round of public hearings will be held on May 18-19 at Stanford University in California. It's safe to expect further protests from the politically active Linux user groups in that region. Post-he aring comments can be submitted until June 23, 2000. After consulting with the Department of Commerce, the Register of Copyrights will make a recommendation to the Librarian of Congress, who will make the final decision. Interestingly enough, the Library of Congress photographer was thrilled by Gleason's demonstration. No one has ever demonstrated on the steps of the Library before. As the Digital Millennium roars on, it seems likely to be ground zero for many such bitter battles over intellectual propert y.
To: nylug-talk@nylug.org Subject: [nylug-talk] more press about the DMCA protest From: Jim Gleason <jgleason@electriclichen.com> Date: Thu, 4 May 2000 20:51:17 -0400 (EDT) cc: przemek@tux.org, niemi@tux.org Reply-To: Jim Gleason <jgleason@electriclichen.com> Sender: owner-nylug-talk@electriclichen.com In addition to The Regiterand The Wall Street Journal, both The Nation and Linux Journal will be publishing articles. So please keep your eyes open and feel free post if you any coverage. The demonstration report is half way down the page: http://www2.linuxjournal.com/articles/rookery/01may00.html - Jim ---------------------------------------------------------------- Jim Gleason VA Linux Systems email: jim@valinux.com http://www.valinux.com phone: 212-858-7684 Pres. New York Linux Users Group fax: 212-858-7685 http://www.nylug.org ---------------------------------------------------------------- Taken from Linux Journal: Mr. Johansen Goes to Washington Well, not the actual DeCSS hacker himself, but about 20 open-source advocates including Eric Raymond, Jim Gleason, David Niemi, Przemek Klosowski and others from NYLUG and NOVALUG (the New York and Northern Virginia Linux User Groups, respectively) made it all the way to the U.S. Copyright Office at the Library of Congress for a protest today. The target of the protest is the infamous Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which puts severe restrictions on software and technological innovative procedures such as reverse engineering that are staples of the average hacker's methodology. Why protest today? A public hearing, "Rulemaking on Exemptions from Prohibition on Circumvention of Technological Measures that Control Access to Copyrighted Works" sponsored by the U.S. Copyright Office, has been scheduled for today and, as the long-winded title of the hearing suggests, is geared toward helping the Copyright Office decide how far "fair use" should be shoved aside for the provisions of the DMCA. The protesters handed out DeCSS shirts to interested passersby and student groups visiting the Library of Congress. For a peek into the "Rulemaking on Exemptions from Prohibition on Circumvention et. al.", visit the U.S. Copyright Office's web site here.
To: Jim Gleason <jgleason@electriclichen.com> Subject: Re: [nylug-talk] more press about the DMCA protest From: Jay Sulzberger <jays@panix.com> Date: Fri, 5 May 2000 01:45:19 -0400 (EDT) Cc: nylug-talk@nylug.org, przemek@tux.org, niemi@tux.org, Jay Sulzberger <jays@panix.com> In-Reply-To: <ine.LNX.3.96.1000504204312.29163O-100000@california.valinuxny.net> Sender: owner-nylug-talk@electriclichen.com All Cow-Orkers and Demon-Strators: Big Big Thanks! This propaganda assault is just one of many we will plan and commit in the months ahead. I missed the marching on this one, but my sandwich boards are cleaned and oiled, ready for the next! oo--JS. On Thu, 4 May 2000, Jim Gleason wrote: > In addition to The Regiterand The Wall Street Journal, both The Nation > and Linux Journal will be publishing articles. So please keep your eyes > open and feel free post if you any coverage. > > The demonstration report is half way down the page: > http://www2.linuxjournal.com/articles/rookery/01may00.html > > - Jim > > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > Jim Gleason VA Linux Systems > email: jim@valinux.com http://www.valinux.com > phone: 212-858-7684 Pres. New York Linux Users Group > fax: 212-858-7685 http://www.nylug.org > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > > > Taken from Linux Journal: > > Mr. Johansen Goes to Washington > > Well, not the actual DeCSS hacker himself, but about 20 open-source > advocates including Eric Raymond, Jim Gleason, David Niemi, Przemek > Klosowski and others from NYLUG and NOVALUG (the New York and Northern > Virginia Linux User Groups, respectively) made it all the way to the U.S. > Copyright Office at the Library of Congress for a protest today. The > target of the protest is the infamous Digital Millennium Copyright Act, > which puts severe restrictions on software and technological innovative > procedures such as reverse engineering that are staples of the average > hacker's methodology. Why protest today? A public hearing, "Rulemaking on > Exemptions from Prohibition on Circumvention of Technological Measures > that Control Access to Copyrighted Works" sponsored by the U.S. Copyright > Office, has been scheduled for today and, as the long-winded title of the > hearing suggests, is geared toward helping the Copyright Office decide how > far "fair use" should be shoved aside for the provisions of the DMCA. The > protesters handed out DeCSS shirts to interested passersby and student > groups visiting the Library of Congress. For a peek into the "Rulemaking > on Exemptions from Prohibition on Circumvention et. al.", visit the U.S. > Copyright Office's web site here. > >
To: Jim Gleason <jgleason@electriclichen.com> Subject: Re: [nylug-talk] more press about the DMCA protest From: Chris Maguire <Chris.Maguire@daiwausa.com> Date: Fri, 05 May 2000 15:47:06 -0400 CC: nylug-talk@nylug.org, przemek@tux.org, niemi@tux.org References: <Pine.LNX.3.96.1000504204312.29163O-100000@california.valinuxny.net> Sender: owner-nylug-talk@electriclichen.com Your protest was also mentioned today in 'The Register', an online British publication, which I read fairly often. http://www.theregister.co.uk/000505-000015.html Regards, Chris Jim Gleason wrote: > In addition to The Regiterand The Wall Street Journal, both The Nation > and Linux Journal will be publishing articles. So please keep your eyes > open and feel free post if you any coverage. > > The demonstration report is half way down the page: > http://www2.linuxjournal.com/articles/rookery/01may00.html > > - Jim > > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > Jim Gleason VA Linux Systems > email: jim@valinux.com http://www.valinux.com > phone: 212-858-7684 Pres. New York Linux Users Group > fax: 212-858-7685 http://www.nylug.org > ---------------------------------------------------------------- > > Taken from Linux Journal: > > Mr. Johansen Goes to Washington > > Well, not the actual DeCSS hacker himself, but about 20 open-source > advocates including Eric Raymond, Jim Gleason, David Niemi, Przemek > Klosowski and others from NYLUG and NOVALUG (the New York and Northern > Virginia Linux User Groups, respectively) made it all the way to the U.S. > Copyright Office at the Library of Congress for a protest today. The > target of the protest is the infamous Digital Millennium Copyright Act, > which puts severe restrictions on software and technological innovative > procedures such as reverse engineering that are staples of the average > hacker's methodology. Why protest today? A public hearing, "Rulemaking on > Exemptions from Prohibition on Circumvention of Technological Measures > that Control Access to Copyrighted Works" sponsored by the U.S. Copyright > Office, has been scheduled for today and, as the long-winded title of the > hearing suggests, is geared toward helping the Copyright Office decide how > far "fair use" should be shoved aside for the provisions of the DMCA. The > protesters handed out DeCSS shirts to interested passersby and student > groups visiting the Library of Congress. For a peek into the "Rulemaking > on Exemptions from Prohibition on Circumvention et. al.", visit the U.S. > Copyright Office's web site here. begin:vcard n:Maguire;Chris x-mozilla-html:TRUE adr:;;;;;; version:2.1 email;internet:Chris.Maguire@daiwausa.com x-mozilla-cpt:;0 fn:Chris Maguire end:vcard