[DMCA-Activists] NY Arena: 8/28 Broadcast Flag Outreach Results

[Seth Johnson]

On Saturday, August 28, two NY Fair Use volunteers spent an hour
doing street outreach on Union Street in Brooklyn, NY, between
6th and 7th Avenue, recruiting volunteers to help build the
strength of the information freedom struggle.

We approached approximately 30 passers-by with a pitch to call
Congress to review the FCC's broadcast flag ruling.  Out of these
approaches, 6 people volunteered for various volunteer roles. 
That gives us a parity rate of 20%. This is roughly in line with
the general rate of about 18% which we have found in outreach on
various information freedom issues.  4 of these contacts
volunteered for Press Outreach, where we brainstorm and search
for constituencies online and pitch them to join in the action.

We set up the following action page:
> http://www.nyfairuse.org/action/fcc.flag/tell-congress.xhtml

We reused our street pitch for the broadcast flag NPRM, adapted
to reflect the shift in focus to Congress and the litigation at:
> http://www.publicknowledge.org/content/cases/broadcast-flag-challenge/

The text of the action page follows.


Seth Johnson

---

> http://www.nyfairuse.org/action/fcc.flag/tell-congress.xhtml


Tell Your Representative to Review the FCC's Broadcast Flag
Ruling 

Mobilize to Oppose the "Broadcast Flag" 


Please forward this notice to any other concerned parties you
might know. 

Please click here to let your representatives know your rights
are at stake:
> http://www.nyfairuse.org/action/fcc.flag/tell-congress.xhtml


What's Going On: 

The FCC has declared that digital TV devices must be designed to
fail when they encounter a special marker assigned to digital
television broadcasts. They issued this ruling despite the
landslide of more than 7,000 public comments that they received
in response to this proposal, adamantly opposed to their ruling
that all devices must be built in such a manner that users may
only exercise the rights that Hollywood allows to them. 

Hollywood and leading technology players have convinced the FCC
to issue a ruling in the area of copyright over which they have
no jurisdiction. Under this rule, only certain "professionals"
will have the right to own fully-functional devices for working
with digital broadcast materials.

Hollywood and content producers must not be allowed to determine
the rights of the public to use flexible information technology.
The idea of the broadcast flag is to implement universal content
control and abolish the right of free citizens to own effective
tools for employing digital content in useful ways.  The
broadcast flag is theft.

Please tell your representatives that copyright law is the job of
Congress, not the FCC:

     Congress shall have power . . . To promote the Progress
     of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times
     to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their
     respective Writings and Discoveries

             U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 8, clause 8

Only lawmakers directly accountable to those they represent may
address and articulate the correct exclusive rights policy for
the digital era.

In the ongoing fight with old world content industries, the most
essential rights and interests in a free society are those of the
public.  Free citizens are not mere consumers; they are not a
separate group from so-called "professionals." The stakeholders
in a truly just information policy in a free society are the
public, not those who would reserve special rights to control
public uses of information technology.

Please go to our form and let your representatives know that your
rights are at stake:

http://www.nyfairuse.org/action/fcc.flag/tell-congress.xhtml.


See the following links for more information:

Cory Doctorow on the Broadcast Flag:
http://www.g4techtv.com/screensavers/features/39462/Understanding_the_Broadcast_Flag.html

New Yorkers for Fair Use Reply Comment on the broadcast Flag:
http://www.nyfairuse.org/bfpc/extdoc/NPRM%2002-231%20Reply%20Comments.pdf

EFF Blog on the Broadcast Flag: http://bpdg.blogs.eff.org/

Public Comments Pointers: http://www.nyfairuse.org/bfpc/

The FCC Broadcast Flag Ruling:
http://www.eff.org/IP/Video/HDTV/20031104_fcc_order.pdf

Court Case Against the FCC's Ruling:
http://www.publicknowledge.org/content/cases/broadcast-flag-challenge

Mirror of the FCC's Public Comments Record:
http://www.nyfairuse.org/nprm02-230/