At Last... Real People have a Champion in the Fight for Internet Rights
5 MORE U.S. REPRESENTATIVES
JOIN THE FIGHT
mp3.com Launches the "MILLION E-MAIL MARCH"
Legislation is Introduced to Allow Internet Storage and streaming of mp3's
UPDATED October 8, 2000 (originally filed September 26, 2000)
Representatives Rich Boucher (D-Virginia), Richard Burr (R- North Carolina), Ray LaHood (R-Illinois) and Fred Upton (R-Michigan) were joined last week by five additional Congress Members in sponsoring legislation Monday that would make it legal upload, store and they play legally purchased music on the Internet. The bill would also allow the creation of a database of sound recordings for the sole purpose of transmitting those recordings to individuals who had previously purchased music.
The new additional sponsors are Lynn Rivers (D-MI), William "Mac" Thornberry (R-TX), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), and Ted Strickland (D-OH).
The Boucher Legislation would undo the terrible damage to consumer rights in the recent court rulings against mp3.com. That lawsuit resulted in MP3.com paying 20 to 25 million in fees to four of the major record companies, then getting clobbered with a $100 million dollar plus judgment by the lone holdout (Universal). Read the complete story here..
"Simply stated, a consumer who lawfully owns a work of music, such as a CD, will be able to store it on the Internet and then downstream it for personal use at a time and place of his choosing," Boucher said.
"After the consumer shows proof of ownership of the music, he will be able to listen to it streamed to him over the Internet from any place that he has Internet access. Consumers would not be able to transfer music to someone else or use the music for commercial purposes under the provisions of our legislation."
The WIZARD compliments the clear thinking and logical approach that Boucher and his bill's co-sponsors have shown on this issue. The RIAA clearly hopes to "double dip" by making a legal purchaser also pay a fee every time he or she down-streams a song for his personal enjoyment.
Boucher's bill would remove a major hurdle for streaming services, as none would have to obtain the licensing agreements that MP3.com accepted as part of its settlement.
MP3.com agreed to pay 1.5 cents for every song it included in it's lockers, and one-third of a cent each time a song was down streamed to a local computer.
An individual would be forced to pay these charges plus a profit to the storage service. Or the service would be forced to absorb the charges and off-set them with advertising or flat monthly fees. Either way, without Boucher's bill, consumers will be forced to pay twice!!
This new legislation would make the creation of such a database legal, and immune from copyright violation issues.
MP3.com hastily put together an e-mail program to show congress the grass roots support this legislation has through the Internet. The WIZARD has written to each of these Congresspersons and urges you to do the same. Click here to go to the MILLION E-MAIL MARCH WEBSITE.
Look for the RIAA to mount a full attack on this legislation. And you can bet the contributions are "streaming" right now into the coffers of the opponents of these four fine representatives.
We urge all Internet citizens to offer support and financial aid to these congressmen. Write or contact them (use the links at left). You also might want to consider making contributions to their campaigns. Make sure they know the reason for your support!
If you work, play or live in Cyberspace, these people are your genuine representatives!!
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