[Fwd: AALL ACTION ALERT: Stop the INDUCE Act--Mark-up Sept. 30th]

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From: Michele McGinnis (mm@kk.org)
Date: Tue Sep 28 2004 - 10:28:09 PDT 

Message-Id: <a06110421bd7f4d82d14f@[192.168.0.2]>
Date: Tue, 28 Sep 2004 10:28:09 -0700
From: Michele McGinnis <mm@kk.org>
Subject: [Fwd: AALL ACTION ALERT:  Stop the INDUCE Act--Mark-up Sept. 30th]

Hey Ya'll,

I can't find on the SLA website where SLA is formally opposing the
Induce Act (I've emailed Doug Newcomb, the national Government
Relations Chair, to see), but I am passing this along in case you are
interested. This action alert is from the American Association of Law
Libraries.

Thanks, Michele

>
>
>PLEASE HELP US BY REDISTRIBUTING THIS ALERT TO OTHER LISTSERVS.
>
>AALL Action Alert
>September 28, 2004
>
>Stop INDUCE--Mark-up Sept. 30th
>Calls/Emails Urgently Needed NOW to Members of the Senate Judiciary
>Committee
>
>BACKGROUND:
>AALL has opposed S. 2560, the "Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act"
>(INDUCE Act) since it was introduced by Senate Judiciary Chairman Orrin
>Hatch and Ranking Member Patrick Leahy in June. The bill is strongly
>supported by Hollywood and the recording industry because of their
>concerns about peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing networks which they say
>are used mainly by consumers to illegally share copyrighted materials.
>
>If enacted, S. 2560 would make companies and other Internet service
>providers (ISPs) liable if their software or technology "induces" users
>to violate copyright laws. AALL is a member of a large, diverse
>coalition that opposes this bill because we believe strongly that the
>solution is not to ban technology simply because it can be used to
>"induce" consumers to make illegal copies. S. 2560 outlaws technology,
>not bad conduct, and P2P technology is in fact used for many important
>legal purposes. The bill is so broadly drafted that it has many
>unintended consequences far beyond targeting those who infringe copyright.
>
>ACTION NEEDED:
>S. 2560 has undergone many revisions, and a substitute bill will be
>marked-up this Thursday, Sept. 30th. Please contact your Senator
>immediately, by phone or email, if he's listed below as a member of the
>Judiciary Committee.
>
>Express your grave concerns about:
>
>1. THE PROCESS. There have been no hearings on what is now the fourth
>version of the INDUCE Act. Rushing a bill that implies a fundamental
>realignment of our intellectual property system through mark-up and to
>the Senate floor with no hearings is wrong.
>
>2. THE SUBSTANCE. If enacted, this bill could constitute the greatest
>threat to date to the innovation processes that the copyright and patent
>laws were intended to promote.
>
> * The proposed legislation defines "induces" as simply
>manufacturing a product or offering a service; therefore it wrongly
>targets commerce rather than conduct.
> * The narrow exceptions it provides to this extremely broad
>definition of inducement are full of loopholes; therefore it will not
>provide meaningful protection to legitimate businesses and services.
>
>
>MEMBERS OF THE SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
>
>Orrin G. Hatch, Chairman (R-UT)
>Charles E. Grassley (R-IA)
>Arlen Specter (R-PA)
>Jon Kyl (R-AZ)
>Mike DeWine (R-OH)
>Jeff Sessions (R-AL)
>Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
>Larry Craig (R-ID)
>Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)
>John Cornyn (R-TX)
>
>Patrick J. Leahy, Ranking Democratic Member (D-VT)
>Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA)
>Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE)
>Herbert Kohl (D-WI)
>Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
>Russell D. Feingold (D-WI)
>Charles E. Schumer (D-NY)
>Richard J. Durbin (D-IL)
>John Edwards (D-NC
>
>If your Senator is listed as a member of the Judiciary Committee, you'll
>find a link to his email
>address at:
> http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
>
>If you prefer to call your Senator's office, the U.S. Capitol
>Switchboard is: 202-224-3121
>
>Thank you very much!
>Mary Alice Baish
>
>==============================
>
>Mary Alice Baish
>Associate Washington Affairs Representative
>American Association of Law Libraries
>E.B. Williams Law Library
>Georgetown University Law Center
>111 G Street, NW
>Washington, DC 20001-1417
>PH: 202-662-9200
>FAX: 202-662-9202
>EMAIL: baish@law.georgetown.edu
>www.ll.georgetown.edu/aallwash 

-- 
Michele McGinnis, MSIS
Research Librarian to Kevin Kelly

149 Amapola
Pacifica, CA 94044
650-355-7676
650-359-9701 fax

mm@kk.org
www.kk.org

"They are subversive. You think they're just sitting there at the 
desk, all quiet and everything. They're like plotting the revolution, 
man." --Michael Moore on librarians

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can 
change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
   --   Margaret Mead

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