[vox] FWD: [alerts@action.eff.org: Sign our Petition to Stop the RIAA Lawsuits!]

[vox@lists.lugod.org]

On Fri 12 Sep 03,  5:26 PM, R. Douglas Barbieri <doug@dooglio.net> said:
> Many of you may already be signed up for EFF's Effector List, but if
> not, I feel it is my duty to pass this on to everyone in vox-land.
> 
> All they need is 10,000 signatures.

as a two year EFF member and advocate, i hate to say it, but i think the
petition is pointless.  don't get me wrong - i signed it months ago.
but i don't see why anybody would take such a petition seriously.  as if
dick army or john mccain are going to give two shits that a copyright
infringer had to fork over $2000.  it's called "justice".  congress is
what passes copyright law in the first place.  DOJ just enforces it.

the last paragraph of the petition is what matters (and is probably what
the EFF wanted to accomplish by that petition anyhow) -- to be allowed
into any future hearings about copyright law and fair use.  THAT is the
non-silly part of the petition.


now, if you *really* wanted to make a difference, what could you do?


1. join the eff.

   doesn't matter if you're out of work, a student, or whatever.

   if you order food after a lugod meeting
   if you buy yourself a new digital camera
   if you order pizza
   if you go out to eat at least once a week
   if you go to more than 4 movies a year

   you can afford to spend the $25/year to become an EFF member.



2. boycott artists whom the RIAA advocates.


   http://www.boycott-riaa.com/membership.php

   unfortunatly, it's mostly a list of record labels (i did see a few
   artists like elton john, string cheese incident and bon jovi).

   i'll volunteer one label/artist that i know off the top of my head:
   roadrunner records is the label for jerry cantrell.  too bad.

   and if you want to do a little civil disobedience, burn copies of
   their CDs and pass them around to everyone you know.  especially the
   new ones which are the real revenue generators.  passing around a new
   britney spears album is much more damaging than passing around a copy
   of elton john's greatest hits despite the obvious juxtaposition of
   their musical worth.


   if you DON'T want to do anything illegal, and don't believe in civil
   disobedience, then try to buy used CDs of RIAA represented artists
   and try NOT to buy used CDs of not-RIAA represented artists.  used
   CDs don't count for anything in the music biz.



3. buy indie music directly.  i've always been into alternative and
   seattle music.  my favorites are:

   http://netmusic.com/insightrecords/   <--- i love their artists
   http://www.subpop.com/                <--- nirvana's first label

   if you personally can vouch for other indie labels of different
   genres, i'd love to hear about them.


pete