Hollywood has convinced 20 congressjerks to sneak the Broadcast Flag into another, unrelated bill as way of getting their pet law passed without any democratic debate or scrutiny. Lots of us have been writing to our own lawmakers to tell them to stop this assault on transparency and accountability in government.
Lawmakers are listening.
On Copyfight, this note from Terry Frazier, whose email to Senator Saxby Chambliss prompted a personal phone-call back from a staffer who vowed to fight the flag:
Today I got a surprise telephone call – I mean a real surprise – from Heather Riley in Senator Saxby Chambliss’ office. On Wednesday I sent an e-mail to my Congressman and both Senators regarding the Broadcast Flag issue I saw on Copy Fight…Heather called to tell me that Senator Chambliss received my e-mail, that they are aware of the Broadcast Flag amendment in a reconciliation bill coming up for consideration, and that the Senator will try to have the amendment removed when they take up the bill after recess. According to Heather the Senator agrees with consumers – this bill needs to be debated on its own merit, not slipped in under the radar attached to some unrelated matter.
Thank you Senator Chambliss. I routinely complain about my representatives voting for big business and against consumers. It’s nice to be surprised.
The Broadcast Flag turns the FCC into a PC regulator: under the proposal the Commission would have to vet every new piece of technology to make sure that it didn’t disrupt the entertainment industry’s cushy business-model. This is a real “Anti-Mammal Dinosaur Protection Act” and it needs to die, die, die.
Write to your lawmakers today and tell them that elected reps who break their constituents’ televisions don’t get re-elected.