Help us fight for a union campaign to stop YouTube and others from profiting off the mass infringement of our rights! Reform the "Safe Harbors" clause of Digital Millennium Copyright Act!
Come to the next meeting of the ARTIST RIGHTS CAUCUS!
When: Monday, Sept. 17 from 4:30pm to 6:30pm
IMPORTANT! SUGGESTED BACKGROUND READING FROM MARC RIBOT AND THE ARTIST RIGHTS CAUCUS:
This excellent article by Neil Turkewitz shows two things:
1. The Silicon Valley corporate powers that be are scared to death that the recent changes in section 230 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act mean that the public is finally outraged enough at misleading news reports, invasion of privacy, child pornography, and other digital corporate irresponsibility, that they will support reforming section 512 of the DMCA to limit the corporate "Safe Harbors" which have allowed Google, YouTube, et al to profit from the mass ripoff of musicians.
2. The tech corporate lobbyists don't want that, so they are trying to cut Safe Harbor reform off at the pass. It's an old trick: If you want to make sure a law can't be changed, just get it hardwired into an international trade agreement. Then Congress' hands are tied: they can't change the law without unraveling other laws and treaties, destroying business agreements affecting millions, and maybe even subjecting the U.S. to punitive fines. That's why these corporate clowns are suddenly so fond of getting the DMCA status quo hardwired into the re-negotiated NAFTA.
We want to share this article as widely as possible: expose the hypocrisy of the tech corporate lobby and their political apologists (Senator Ron Wyden) and front organizations Fight For the Future, Electronic Frontier Foundation and Public Knowledge. We need to keep the legislative door open for the 512 Safe Harbor reforms. This is our best (and maybe only) hope for restoring a fair market for our work and preserving our rights in the digital domain.
-- Marc Ribot and the Artist Rights Caucus
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