----------------------------Original message----------------------------
The information below is posted on behalf of the Public Policy Committee. If
you are concerned, please act!
Hinda F. Sklar & Katy Poole
Co-Chairs
ARLIS/NA Public Policy Committee
********************************************************************
URGENT MESSAGE:
> YOUR IMMEDIATE FAXES AND CALLS TO CONGRESS NEEDED TO
> SLOW IMMINENT ACTION ON BADLY FLAWED COPYRIGHT BILL
>
> Congressional contacts urgently needed NO LATER THAN Tuesday,
> May 14..................
>
>
> Wednesday, May 15, the House Judiciary Committee's Intellectual
> Property Subcommittee is scheduled to consider amendments to, and
> vote on approval of HR 2441, the 'National Information Infrastructure
> Act of 1995.' Such approval, if given, would give an important boost to
> passage of a legislative package heavily backed by -- and tilted in favor
> of -- the movie, recording, and publishing industries (and other large
> "content providers"). If passed in its current form, the bill would:
>
> *** make it a copyright violation to simply browse the Net without a
> license from copyright owners;
>
> *** subject computer system operators -- such as on-line services and
> networks at schools and libraries -- to potentially crippling liability for
the
> copyright violations of their users, even if the operator;
>
> *** cripple 'distance education' efforts especially vital to rural
> communities and the disabled; and
>
> *** make it illegal to manufacture, import or distribute devices and
> software (including computers and VCRs) needed by industry, schools
> and libraries to make 'fair use' of encrypted information by overruling
> long-standing Supreme Court precedent.
>
> WRITE AND CALL MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE JUDICIARY INTELLECTUAL
> SUBCOMMITTEE AND KEY FULL COMMITTEE MEMBERS NOW (list and
> information below)!!! There is the text of a letter after the list of
members.
>
> For more information about the bill, the dangers it poses and the
> constructive solutions offered, please see the DIGITAL FUTURE
> COALITION Website at http://www.ari.net/dfc.
>
> Please get your faxes and calls to the following members of Congress,
> especially those Members who represent you, NO LATER THAN
> Tuesday, May 14:
>
> (all letters go to the address + Washington, DC 20515)
> NOTE: RHOB=Rayburn House Office Building
CHOB=Cannon House Office Building
LHOB=Longworth House Office Building
Member home city address phone fax
>
> Carlos Moorhead Glendale, CA 2346
> RHOB (202) 225-4176; fax (202) 226-1279
> F. James Sensenbrenner Brookfield, WI 2332
> RHOB (202) 225-5101; fax (202) 225-3190
> George Gekas Harrisburg, PA 2410
> RHOB (202) 225-4315; fax (202) 225-8440
> Howard Coble Asheboro, NC 403
> CHOB (202) 225-3065; fax (202) 225-8611
> Elton Gallegly Oxnard, CA 2441
> RHOB (202) 225-5811; fax (202) 225-1100
> Charles Canady Lakeland, FL 1222
> LHOB (202) 225-1252; fax (202) 225-2279
> Bob Goodlatte Roanoke, NC 123
> CHOB (202) 225-5431; fax (202) 225-9681
> Martin Hoke Fariview Park, OH 212
> CHOB (202) 225-5871; fax (202) 226-0994
> Sonny Bono Palm Springs, CA 512
> CHOB (202) 225-5330; fax (202) 225-2961
> John Conyers, Jr. Detroit, MI 2426
> RHOB (202) 225-5126; fax (202) 225-0072
> Patricia Schroeder Denver, CO 2307
> RHOB (202) 225-4431; fax (202) 225-5842
> Howard Berman Mission Hills, CA 2231
> RHOB (202) 225-4695; fax (202) 225-5279
> Rick Boucher Abingdon, VA 2245
> RHOB (202) 225-3861; fax (202) 225-0442
> Jerry Nadler New York, NY 109
> CHOB (202) 225-5635; fax (202) 225-6923
> Xavier Becerra Los Angeles, CA 1119
> LHOB (202) 225-6235; fax (202) 225-2202
>
************************Suggested Letter******************************
[DATE]
The Honorable {name}
United States House of Representative
__#__ ____ Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Representative__________:
I am writing today to ask that you do everything in your power to assure
that no action is taken by the House Subcommittee on Intellectual Property on
the "NII Copyright Protection Act of 1995" (HR 2441) until a broad consensus
can be reached on how to resolve a number of issues of critical importance to
me and, in my view, the future of the Internet. As I understand it, this bill
in its current form, would seriously undermine the ability of businesses,
inventors, schools and libraries to make full use of the Internet's great
potential. Specifically, H.R. 2441 would :
* make it a copyright violation to simply browse the Net without a license
from copyright owners;
* subject computer system operators -- such as on-line services and networks
at schools and libraries -- to potentially crippling liability for the
copyright violations of their users, even if the operator has no knowledge of
such violations;
* thwart "distance education" efforts especially vital to rural communities
and the disabled; and
* make it illegal to manufacture, import or distribute devices and software
(including computers and VCRs) needed by industry, schools and libraries to
make "fair use" of encrypted information by overruling long-standing Supreme
Court precedent.
Please don't allow the fears of major copyright owning industries to
cripple the Internet for the rest of America. I urge you and other members of
the House Judiciary Committee to take the time necessary to understand and
thoroughly debate all of the proposed amendments to H.R. 2441, including those
proposed by the Digital Future Coalition.
Thank you very much for helping make the most of new technology and the
Internet to bring the benefits of information technology to all Americans, and
especially those in [INSERT THE NAME OF THE DISTRICT/CITY].
Sincerely,
