If you are a Senator who has received thousands of campaign dollars from the entertainment industry (including the RIAA) and then you are given an iPod by a non-profit organization highlighting the need to change legislation that could affect technology forever, what do you do with the iPod?
Apparently, you send it back.
The people over at IPAC, whose tagline reads, “Defending the public intrest where culture and politics meet,” recently sent a number of iPods to various senators and congressman for the purpose of encouraging these public servants to take a serious look at technology and see how congress can better serve it’s people through new or improved legislation.
The letter that was enclosed with each iPod explained further the reason behind the gift:
Why did IPAC send my campain an iPod?
Though iPods are best known for playing music, they can also be used to assist your campaign. You can use the device to store contact information for donors or manage your busy calendar. You can archive footage of your public speaking engagements or view recorded television and radio interviews on the road. We hope you find other uses for the device as well.
The iPod is also a useful illustration for many complicated copyright and technology issues. In fact, pending legislation in the Senate will make some of your iPod’s uses illegal. For example, if Senator Gordon Smith’s “Digital Content Protection Act” becomes law, it could prohibit the transfer of digital broadcast content to personal media players and stifle American technical innovation. We believe that hands-on experience with the same devices that your constituents use can provide a new perspective on these topics.
Other legislation would make this device more useful. For example, the House has been considering Representative Rick Boucher’s “Digital Media Consumers’ Rights Act”
(DMCRA, HR 1201), which would amend our copyright law to protect American consumers and technological leadership.
What is on my iPod?
Your iPod has been pre-loaded with video, music, images, and text that is in the public domain or released under permissive terms like those provided by Creative Commons licenses. This means that everything on your iPod is free.
But that does not mean it isn’t valuable.
Far from it. In the “Notes” section, you’ll find the complete works of Shakespeare, the Constitution of the United States, and other important literarature. The audio content includes music by David Byrne, the Beastie Boys, and scores of independent artists. We also included a slideshow with 101 photos selected from the millions in flickr.com’s Creative Commons image pool. Under “Videos,” you’ll find a special presentation from Stanford Law Professor Lawrence Lessig on the importance of balancing copyright law with technical innovation and the rights of the public. A full list of your iPod’s contents is available here:
https://ipaction.org/campaigns/ipod/content.html
If you are pleased by the richness you see and hear, we also hope that you are troubled by what you do not. In the public domain texts there are very few female and non-European authors. That is because in America, the public domain was essentially frozen in 1923, when our national chorus was only open to certain voices. The public domain has become an island, cut off from our cultural mainland and populated by ghosts.
Copyright policy shouldn’t only be concerned with expanding copyright – it should focus on calibrating these policies to support artists, the public, and access to our common heritage. We look forward to working with you and your campaign in the future to ensure American innovation continues.
Apparently, these issues are not high on Senator Conrad Burns’ priority list. IPAC recieved the iPod back with a note that read, “Thank you, but we cannot accept this gift.” There was no leagal reason for Burns to send the gift back because IPAC followed the law regarding donations to a T. So why send this small gift back? According to IPAC, Burns’ campaign spokesperson said that the iPod, “is the first time (Burns’ campaign) has received something technological” as a donation, adding that ‘it’s just not a donation that we want’ and confirming that while Burns does not presently own an iPod, ‘if he wants an iPod, he’ll buy one.'”
The concerns that IPAC raise seem pretty important and I think that sending these iPods to our nations leaders was a wonderful, creative, out-side-the-box approach to change. I think the next step for IPAC should be to send these iPods to consumers thus educating the people who vote for these elected officials.
IPAC, you can reach me a kickingattthedarkness(at)gmail.com. I’ll send you my address. I’m ready to be educated.
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Scott, this one’s for you buddy!