|
From: | William Abernathy |
Subject: | [DMCA-Activists] Re: Taiwan Rejects U.S. Copyright Demands |
Date: | Sat, 12 Oct 2002 22:07:57 -0700 |
User-agent: | Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.0.0) Gecko/20020529 |
Richard Stallman wrote:
I wonder if there is some way we can protest the US policy of pressuring other countries into copyright extension or express our support to the Tainwanese government in rejecting it.
This depends on the tack you want to take. I hate to be depressing, but copyright is by no means the only area in which we bully foreign nations. In order to gain Most Favored Nation trading status, for example, a nation must jump through a number of hoops, among them ensuring a certain per-capita purchase of American cigarettes. And no, the Honorable Senator from North Carolina does not give a tinker's damn that it may be bad for the health of your citizens. Buy smokes, or count yourself among the rogue states. Care for a light?
As nerds focusing on the issues that make a difference to us, we often miss the larger picture. The DMCA, for instance, is a component of the World Trade Organization treaties/WIPA. We pass this for ourselves (maybe), then shove it down the rest of the world's throat. We can protest the US policy directly, and enjoy whatever success that might bring us, or we might want to reach out, and perhaps even join forces with other, larger, anti-globalization organizations. If they have talent at organizing mass rallies, then that's more bodies than we can put in the street over copyright, to be sure. If they have the ability to lobby effectively, that will probably be a great way to get our message across in the Capitol. Odds are, they need a hand with their computers.
--William Abernathy
[Prev in Thread] | Current Thread | [Next in Thread] |