manchicken here…

Howdy folks. I’m a little pissed here. So two days ago I got my EFFector newsletter which brought the Department of Justice’s new Intellectual Property Protection Act of 2006 to my attention. Naturally, like all good citizens, I contacted my senator to try and determine how I am being represented in Washington. I got this long-winded horsecrap back as a response…

Dear Mr. Stemle:

Thank you for contacting me about the Intellectual Property Protection Act of 2006. I appreciate hearing from you.

The draft version of this measure, which has yet to be introduced, would change federal copyright law in several significant ways. It would, among other things, increase the allowed civil remedies for infringement and authorize criminal penalties for attempted infringement. It would also prohibit the making or transferring of copyright circumvention measures, including instances involving academics, security professionals, or other experts.

The ongoing debate about the legal and technological means to protect copyrights in the digital age has significant long-term implications for the future of digital content. New technologies enable the delivery of voice, video, and data to billions of users worldwide. Those technologies are changing the way we communicate with each other and conduct business.

Any proposal must include appropriate limitations and safeguards regarding the fair use of copyrighted material. Consumers should have the ability to make fair use of content for which they have paid. Copyright holders should be able to enforce their rights to protect their works. The proper balancing of these goals will help provide an appropriate incentive to create more works in the future.

The goal should be the development of a robust content delivery market in which consumers have multiple choices and sufficient information, and in which issues relating to public affairs content and privacy are fairly addressed. Most importantly, solutions should respect the choices of consumers and the rights of creators without unduly burdening law-abiding users with restrictive and cumbersome digital copyright protection regimes.

I will keep your thoughts in mind in case this or a similar measure reaches the Senate floor. Thank you again for writing. Please feel free to keep in touch.

Dick Durbin, I totally get that you’re a busy guy… and I respect that… but that is no excuse to send me such an ambiguously worded stock letter response. At the very least your lackies could get off their duffs long enough to convey a real answer to the question “what’s your stance on the issue” but no. I get this crap.

Why am I pissed you may ask, “don’t all politicians do this?” I suppose they might… but most politicians aren’t representing me. Dick Durbin is. Dick Durbin is supposed to be the guy looking out for me and my fellow residents of the state of Illinois in the US Senate. So when I ask him and/or his lackies what his position on an issue is, I at least expect the words “my position on this issue is [ANSWER HERE DAMNIT]” to be in the reply… somewhere.

Senator Durbin, I’ve left my phone number with your staffers, and if you were to email me at «manchicken at notsosoft dot net» I would give you my phone number. We could talk and you could set the record straight. Matter of fact, if you call me, I’ll even post a retraction to this post.

Everybody other than Senator Durbin, I’ve tried to get ahold of senator Durbin before. He is 100% unreachable. He only lets you talk to his staffers who only dodge questions rather than answer them. Until he prooves me otherwise, I view the man as a coward and urge folks to seek a representative who will be more transparent than this. I really hope Senator Durbin prooves me wrong and gives me a call.

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This entry was posted on Friday, May 25th, 2007 at 12:17 and is filed under Politics, Ranting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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