Just in the past few days we found out about this Bill they are trying to pass in the TN State Senate. SB3974, sponsored by Sen. Tim Burchett, forces any institution of “higher learning” to monitor all public university students and expel any who access copyrighted content. Since nearly everyone will access some kind of “copyrighted” content online - they will be forced to expel thousands of students from any public university!
Completely last minute - we organized a protest. Helped along by Boing Boing and all our COPYSHOP friends - we got to Nashville early this morning, made some noise - and caused them to delay the hearing for another week! Our big chance to help is next Wed (March 5). We have a chance to stop this!
Here’s the plan:
[1] Meet up with us next Wednesday (March 5th) to go to Nashville and protest! (5:00 AM - March 5th) we will have a bus - we will leave at 5AM in Knoxville (meet at COPYSHOP).
Gather at 8AM (if you can get there by yourself)
on the corner of 6th and Union St in Nashville!
[2] NOW Email the Senators:
sen.tim.burchett@legislature.state.tn.us
sen.jamie.woodson@legislature.state.tn.us
sen.rusty.crowe@legislature.state.tn.us
Subject: Objection to Bill SB3974 (no copyright law!)
Body: Senator,
I am concerned about an upcoming Bill: SB3974/HB3915
I understand that this Bill is up for your consideration, and that it “requires institutions of higher education to develop a policy prohibiting copyright infringement by persons using the school’s computer and network resources and take certain steps to prevent such infringement. - Amends TCA Title 49, Chapter 7″
It is remarkable that a proposal such as this one would move forward. The proposal degrades our institutions and prevents the greatest purpose of higher learning: the honest and unregulated exchange of knowledge. To demand that any College or University police the exchange of information among its students is shameful.
I understand that this Bill may be directed at the exchange of pirated “entertainment” (movies, music, etc.) but it has much broader implications. By enacting a Law such as this one you enforce a strange, abusive system and limit the possibilities for new advances in learning.
The RIAA would like to blame “file sharing” for its financial problems, but studies have shown that “file sharing” has little effect on record sales. In fact, some academic studies suggest that “file sharing” has boosted record sales (http://www.hno.harvard.edu/gazette/2004/04.15/09-filesharing.html).
I strongly encourage you to reconsider this Bill. It is not one that works in our interest.
Sincerely,
———
When we were at the hearing today we got video of Sen. Tim Burchett presenting the Bill. In this clip Sen. Tim Burchett jokes about the MPAA lobby, saying they have promised to cast Matthew Mcconaughey in a biopic about his life. Facts said here about record sales loss are completely false - see: http://www.hno.harvard.edu/gazette/2004/04.15/09-filesharing.html
To see the Bill go to: http://www.legislature.state.tn.us/bills/currentga/BILL/SB3974.pdf
Thank you Gavin Baker and Janet Hawtin for bringing this issue to our attention!
4 comments ↓
Sent the following letter to the leg and a couple of newspapers in Memphis:
I’m a doctoral student in education. In a few years, I’ll be considering where to apply for teaching positions. From what I’ve been able to gather about SB 3974, Tennessee will not be on my list. The reason is simple. The bill would require university networks not be used to “transmit copyrighted works”. Unfortunately, a large part of instruction today involves students accessing copyrighted material online. This material is licensed and paid for, but is still copyrighted. A simple example illustrates this. If a person at UT Memphis were to access an online article from the Memphis Commerical Appeal, the university would be in violation of the law because newspapers are protected by copyright. The same applies to library materials which are supplied online.
In short, this bill would make university computer networks illegal, to the detriment of students, the community and the companies which serve them. While it is unlikely that the bill would pass legal challenge (and indeed would be opposed by copyright holders such as textbook and journal publishers), the fact that such a confused piece of legislation has been introduced does not speak well for Tennessee’s educational system, at least so far as state legislators are concerned.
The bill’s author clearly fail to understand copyright law. It is legitimate and legal to purchase and/or lease copyrighted material. The music, film and publishing industries rest on the assumption that people can legally buy or access their content. It is not legitimate or legal to steal copies of copyrighted material. Unfortunately the authors of this legislation fail to grasp this fundamental distinction, to the detriment of higher education. The author of this bill should spend some time studying law before attempting to make it.
Those wishing to read the bill as it currently stands may access it at:
http://www.legislature.state.tn.us/bills/currentga/BILL/SB3974.pdf
I suggest you do so quickly, before it becomes illegal.
Nate McVaugh
Education Doctoral student
University of Texas at Austin
Have you considered contacting the Senators and Representatives (this bill is going through the House, too!) to try to make appointments to see them while you’re in town?
Senator Burchett: (615) 741-1766
Senator Woodson: (615) 741-1648
Senator Crowe: (615) 741- 2468
Senator Burchett would probably be the easiest one to meet with, as Senators Woodson and Crowe are both committee chairs.
Clearly, many of these Senators only have the information which the RIAA lobby has given them–if possible, you should send someone to *all* of the Senators’ offices with handouts about what’s at stake if this bill passes since all of them will be voting on it when it’s put on the Session calendar. LP is a public building; you have the right to enter and to see your legislators.
Good luck next week!
I’m excited to see that you’re campaigning against this nasty bill. I
would like to suggest one change in your proposed letter: don’t use
the word “piracy” to refer to forbidden sharing of published works.
The MPAA and its pet politicians use that term because it is
propaganda for their side. If you’re not on their side, you cede the
first battle if you grant their propaganda word legitimacy.
See http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html
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