The worst bill you’ve never heard of

IPACtion.org
Jun. 06, 2006

This will be a busy week in the House -- Congress goes into summer recess Friday, but not before considering the Section 115 Reform Act of 2006 (SIRA). Never heard of SIRA? That’s the way Big Copyright and their lackey’s want it, and it's bad news for you.

Simply put, SIRA fundamentally redefines copyright and fair use in the digital world. It would require all incidental copies of music to be licensed separately from the originating copy. Even copies of songs that are cached in your computer's memory or buffered over a network would need yet another license. Once again, Big Copyright is looking for a way to double-dip into your wallet, extracting payment for the same content at multiple levels.

Today, so-called "incidental" copies don't need to be licensed; they're made in the process of doing *other* things, like listening to your MP3 library or plugging into a Net radio station. If you paid for the MP3 and the radio station is up-to-date with its bookkeeping, nobody should have to pay again, right? Not if SIRA becomes law. Out of the blue, copyright holders would have created an entire new market to charge for -- and sue over. Good for them. Bad for us.

Don't let Big Copyright legalize double dipping. Fight SIRA today.

~~The House is going into recess for the summer at the end of this week, so you have a unique opportunity to kill this legislation.~~ EDIT: I got my calendars confused, the House is not going into recess until July, but it's still important to stall this legislation now. If we can stall SIRA now it would effectively kill it for the reminder of the year, giving us more time to prepare an offensive.

Please call the Members of the Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property and voice your opposition to this legislation.

Republicans:

Honorable Lamar S. Smith
2184 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-4236

Honorable Henry J. Hyde
2110 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-4561

Honorable Elton Gallegly
2427 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-0523
(202) 225-5811

Honorable Bob Goodlatte
2240 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-5431

Honorable William L. Jenkins
1207 Longworth Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-6356

Honorable Spencer Bachus
442 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
202 225-4921

Hon. Robert Inglis
330 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-6030

Honorable Ric Keller
419 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-2176

Hon. Darrell Issa
211 Cannon House Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20515

Honorable Chris Cannon
2436 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-7751

Honorable Mike Pence
426 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-3021

Honorable J. Randy Forbes
307 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-6365

Democrats:

Honorable Howard L. Berman
2221 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
(202) 225-4695

Honorable John Conyers, Jr.
2426 Rayburn Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-5126

Honorable Rick Boucher
2187 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-3861

Honorable Zoe Lofgren
102 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-3072

Honorable Maxine Waters
2344 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-2201

Honorable Martin T. Meehan
2229 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-3411

Honorable Robert Wexler
213 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-3001

Honorable Anthony Weiner
1122 Longworth House Office Building
Washington DC 20515
(202) 225-6616

Honorable Adam Schiff
326 Cannon House Office Building
Washington D.C. 20515
(202) 225-4176

Honorable Linda T. Sanchez
1007 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-6676