[ale] Sample letter for CBDTPA (was SSSCA) opposition to Senators

[Chris Woodruff]

Here is some reading for this matter:

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,51245,00.html

http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/175389.html

http://www.eff.org/alerts/20020308_eff_sssca_alert.html



I have also given the two Georgia Senators contact information.  Please
write a letter and mail it and fax it.  Email does not give the same
impression as a letter.  If needed please change the letter's body to fit
your beliefs and opinions.



If you are from a state other than Georgia here is a link to find your
state's senators and contact information.  http://www.eff.org/congress.html



Thanks



Chris Woodruff



PS -- Below is the sample letter.



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[Your address here]



March 22, 2002



The Honorable Senator Max Cleland
461 Senate Dirksen Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone (202) 224-3521
Fax (202) 224-0072



The Honorable Senator Zell Miller

257 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-3643
Fax: (202) 228-2090



Honorable Senator xxxxxx,

On March 21, 2002, Honorable Senator Hollins presented a bill to the Senate
called the CBDTPA (the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion
Act) S.2048. This bill, if voted into law, would prohibit the sale of
certain types of electronic devices, unless the device had copy-protection
standards built-in as set by the federal government.

I am a strict privacy and consumer rights advocate. In the previous
election, many of my friends, clients, and colleagues considered my
recommendations before they cast their votes. This bill will quite possibly
be the most important vote you will cast in my consideration for voting to
continue your incumbency in your next election. I urge you to vote NO on
this bill, or any bills with similar intent.

As is consistent with the soft-money problems the Congress and Senate have
been facing, this bill has been created solely to protect the copyright
holders, and to prevent consumers from utilizing all the rights given to
them in the numerous copyright laws that have been passed in our nation's
history. I believe this bill is justly unconstitutional, and it would be
against your oath of office to vote such unconstitutional text into law.

I am a firm believer in a copyright holder's right to protect their works,
but no law should prevent copyright purchasers from exercising their rights.
The CBDTPA goes too far in condemning piracy -- it prevents MANY of the
rights given to the purchasers of a copyrighted material. Let the free
market offer better ways to protect the rights of the copyright holders,
such as better research into encryption technology, or let the software
manufacturers create their own hardware that will only play their products.
There are ways to totally lock the consumer out of their rights, without
resorting to laws that will infringe on those rights. Let the software
authors and publishers work them out themselves.



I sincerely hope that you take to heart the fact that the people introducing
this bill are putting the pleading of an industry above the country's
Constitutionally provided contract with its own people.  Thank you for your
time for reading my letter and hearing my opinion on this matter.


Your constituent,

[Your name]



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