DFC Alert
 

Suggested Text for a letter to your representative
regarding the "NII Copyright Act".

[DATE]

The Honorable {name}
United States House of Representatives
__#__ ____ Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Representative__________:

I am writing today to ask that you do everything in your power to assure that no action is taken by the House Subcommittee on Intellectual Property on the "NII Copyright Protection Act of 1995" (HR 2441) until a broad consensus can be reached on how to resolve a number of issues of critical mportance to me and, in my view, the future of the Internet. As I understand it, this bill in its current form would seriously undermine the ability of businesses, inventors, schools and libraries to make full use of the Internet's great potential. Specifically, H.R. 2441 would :

• make it a copyright violation to simply browse the Net without a license from copyright owners;
• subject computer system operators -- such as on-line services and networks at schools and libraries -- to potentially crippling liability for the copyright violations of their users, even if the operator has no knowledge of such violations;
• thwart "distance education" efforts especially vital to rural communities and the disabled; and
• make it illegal to manufacture, import or distribute devices and software (including computers and VCRs) needed by industry, schools and libraries to make "fair use" of encrypted information by overruling long-standing Supreme Court precedent.

Please don't allow the fears of major copyright owning industries to cripple the Internet for the rest of America. I urge you and other members of the House Judiciary Committee to take the time necessary to understand and thoroughly debate all of the proposed amendments to H.R. 2441, including those proposed by the Digital Future Coalition.

Thank you very much for helping make the most of new technology and the Internet to bring the benefits of information technology to all Americans, and especially those in [INSERT THE NAME OF THE DISTRICT/CITY].

Sincerely,



(Click here for a text file of the letter to download.)

 

Contact Information: House Judiciary Committee

U.S. Congress: House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual Property

U.S. Congress: House Judiciary Committee (non-Subcommittee members)

If you are not sure of your Representative, look it up by your zip code.