I’ve been watching the debate on the WIPO Broadcast Treaty with the same attitude I have about most politics — sheer apathy. I freely admit it. Politics just seems to go over the same stuff I don’t care about over and over.
But this time I’m scared. And I give a serious amount of shit about the issues at hand. And I need you to help.
The US delegates have brought back some horrible segements to this bill which directly apply to what all of us are doing here in the podosphere. Now I’m no lawyer and I certainly am no international trade delgate. But the conclusions drawn by some people who are much smarter than me have piqued my interest and caused me to take action.
Here’s what I need you to do:
- Read the EFF statement about the nasty-bad-juju from this treaty
- Take two minutes to send this form to your representitive.
If you don’t live in the states, please find out what you can do to help. This is a world-wide piece of legislation and not only will it probably make it a crime for you to fast forward through the commercials if you Tivo a show, it might sound the death knell for podcasting.
Sorry for the alarmist behavior and the hijacking of the more light nature of this show. But this shit sucks. Please help with the two links above.
Does this also affect Voip Such as Skype?
Holy mother of God and all her wacky nephews…
D’you have any more specific advice for how people not living in the States can help? ‘Cause I’m spitting chips at the moment and want to do something.
That’s horrible. It’s all motivated purely by the greed of TV companies. But it’ll never stick. It’s just gonna encourage piracy even more…
And I thought it was bad enough that SAG/AFTRA now wants to include in their negotiations/regulations actors and voice talent in what is called “new media” with podcasting conveniently falling under that umbrella. I was going to oppose this new article at a Washington DC SAG/AFTRA meeting…
…and then I found out the LA chapters (where SAG Headquarters are located) already met and debated this matter. Oh, and did I mention I received notice on this meeting the day before it was supposed to happen? I frakkin’ love SAG.
However, I’ve notified my reps on Capitol Hill. Kinda makes you wonder what is making the Broadcasting Big Cats so afraid of podcasting. Internet streaming has been around for years, and they didn’t blink. Now, suddenly, podcasting is making them pay attention to the Net…
Just speculating outloud.
Tee, people don’t like to discover that they’re obsolete anymore, I imagine.
Youve gotta be kidding me…
And I thought depleted uranium was a war crime…
Bob is right: they have to know that all this is going to do is encourage more piracy.
Messages sent to congressmen. Thanks Evo for passing this along to us!
The more general problem is the part where we stopped being referred to as /citizens/ and got morphed into mere /consumers/. /Citizens/ have Rights and Responsiblities. /Consumers/ merely spend and consume mindlessly–like zombies with cash.
It’s time to remind our congress-persons that we are citizens, not sheep.
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Furry cows moo and decompress.
From my perspective, podcasts are already replacing radio in my ways by providing content that you can’t get over the airwaves. It won’t be long and this will probably be kicked up a notch with video podcasts, providing audio and video content that you can’t get from network, cable, or satellite TV.
That has got to make all of the big broadcasters nervous. Instead of having to worry about competing for viewers and ratings from a reasonably small number of stations (a few hundred), they could have to compete with a few thousand. Yes, they have the big money to make high budget shows, but are they always better quality? As podcasts have shown, many people are willing to pay to keep things they like going, and to make them better.
This reminds me a bit of a TV show from a few years back about a world with lots of TV stations. Some run by big corporations and some by people out of trailers. All trying to get viewers and ratings, so that they can be the most powerful. Max Headroom, anyone?
[...] Evo wants you to fight the WIPO Broadcast Treaty. [...]
[...] Help Evo fight the WIPO Broadcast Treaty. [...]
[...] The blog for the “Michael and Evo’s Wingin’ It” podcast had just posted this entry: WIPO Broadcast Treaty is a bad idea — Michael and Evo’s Wingin’ It! [...]
[...] http://www.michaelandevo.com/2006/09/09/wipo-broadcast-treaty-is-a-bad-idea-2 [...]
I passed the information on to everyone I know. Stuff like this makes me so mad. There is a time a place for restrictions to put in place…. but honestly, this is like saying that a artist doesn’t have the rights to his paintings because the store supplied him with the paint!
Why don’t they worry about more important things… handguns in gang;s hands, drug dealers pushing on first graders, getting world peace.. heck… there are so many more important issues that need to be addressed I could make a list longer than the entire treastise itself!!!
Sigh.. well this is our constitutional rights and obligations right?? My senaators and congressman have been contacted!!
Toodles and everyone keep their fingers crossed that something positive occurs!