EFF: 48 Hours to Stop the Broadcast Flag

The Importance of writes "Think the Broadcast Flag is dead? EFF is warning that Hollywood is trying to sneak the broadcast flag into law as an amendment to a massive appropriations bill. 'If what we hear is true, the provision will be introduced before a subcommittee tomorrow and before the full appropriations committee on Thursday. That gives us 48 hours to stop it.' Action Alert here. List of Senator's phone numbers here."

senators

[SparafucileMan (544171)]

i'd write my senators, but i can't find my checkbook.

Re:senators

[IntergalacticWalrus (720648)]

"i'd write my senators, but i can't find my checkbook."

Gotta love how this was modded 'insightful'...

Re:senators

[CarrionBird (589738)]

Suppose it should have been 'informative'

Re:senators

[failure-man (870605)]

Why do you people always seem to think "hating the regime == hating America"?

If we actually hated America we'd be happy to let our so-called leaders destroy the hell out of it. We're fighting them. The proper conclusion should be obvious to anyone whose brain is not made of sour cream.

Re:senators

[SparafucileMan (544171)]

i'm reporting you to the feds. you no better than a terrorist.

BroadCast Flag

[Canadian_Daemon (642176)]

With the new CRIA law in Canada, and now the broadcast flag in America, it looks like the recording industry 'winning'. It's looks pretty bad for those fighting for digital rights.

Re:BroadCast Flag

[barc0001 (173002)]

The CRIA thing was only introduced as a bill, it's not law yet. Contact your MP. I have.

I wrote about this to CNN

[flyingace (162593)]

Dont know if my news tip will get picked up. These things should not be sneaked in.

Re:I wrote about this to CNN

[Umbral Blot (737704)]

Dont know if my news tip will get picked up. These things should not be sneaked in.

I hope you mean that humerously. CNN, being part of a media conglomerate has a vested intest in seeing the broadcast flag go through. I don't think that they are going to bring it to the publics attention against their own best interests.

Re:I wrote about this to CNN

[Fittysix (191672)]

CNN may be part of the problem, but in the end they're journalists, they're ALWAYS looking for some kind of news that can raise public intrest. The CNN news room could care less about wether it goes through or not, AOL/TW might have something to say on the matter but the only thing they care about from CNN is the ratings, not the content.

Why..

[Sloppy (14984)]

Why don't I ever hear stories about conservatives/libertarians sneaking laissez-faire clauses into appropriations bills? Someone should have sneakily repealed DMCA by now.

Is playing dirty somehow beneath the good guys? Oh, that's what makes them the good guys...

Re:Why..

[pete6677 (681676)]

It can't really be done. One of the big responsibilities of paid industry lobbyists is looking through the details of laws to insert terms that are favorable to them and try to remove those that aren't. As soon as some music customer rights are inserted into an appropriations bill, the RIAA lobbyists will notice and make a big stink out of it, ensuring that the reps who are on their payroll will immediately remove the offending items. It is a nice thought, however.

Re:Why..

[The Analog Kid (565327)]

Ron Paul (L-TX, well should be anyway, stupid ballot access laws), trys to recind big government laws but they always get shot down.

voting system is to blame

[ChristTrekker (91442)]

You're right, Duverger's Law (spoiler effect) is a feature (bug!) of the system itself, not any inherent flaw in the platforms of the minor parties. If we used Condorcet voting (not the same as IRV), every party could stand on its own merit. There would be no advantage inherent in being an incumbent party, or having the perception of being one of the most popular.

Of course, if everybody voted honestly instead of strategically there wouldn't be a problem either. But since that's awfully hard to do when the system encourages strategic thinking, we ought to change the system so that it encourages honesty. I don't know how we can have truly representative government if the people don't vote how they really think.

Politics isn't one-dimensional, so why do we think two parties can accurately reflect all political views? Politics is n-dimensional, for the n different issues that have become political. A strong multi-party system where everybody has a representative voice would be a big help.

48 hours? More like 0 hours.

[PipianJ (574459)]

As soon as it's a rider on an appropriations bill like this, the broadcast flag is a foregone conclusion. The committee probably won't even know what they're doing.

The broadcast flag is here to stay, regardless of the EFF's "48 hours" claim.

Re:48 hours? More like 0 hours.

[ntk (974)]

The rider isn't there yet. We've got a strong rumour that it's going to be proposed, but if you kick up enough of a stink at this stage, it can be quietly withdrawn with no-one having to take a stand.

Tell you what, why don't you call your Senator anyway, even if you think this is true? What have you got to lose? If the law goes through, you can tell everyone that you were right. And if it doesn't, you get to say you helped stop the flag against all the odds.

Believe me, I love cynicism as much as the next person, but when it stops you from taking the one tiny step, the single principled stand that might have prevented disaster, you're not a cynic. You're a statistic. And a predictable one at that.

Met a Bill I Like

[Doc Ruby (173196)]

Why don't all the "special interests" who hate special interests sneaking arbitrary laws into bills get together to outlaw them?

Every bill must have a scope. It must apply to a single budget, or a single government organization, or their subsidiaries. Or it must be a "metabill", which specifies only a collection of bills related in an explicit policy, the exact relationship stated in the metabill.

Of course, Congressmembers should be voting against these big bills, with arbitrary attachments, on the principle of government manageability. But they obviously don't - they're all codependent on letting each other's attachments pass, often regardless of consequences, in exchange for the same favor later on. So we need to force them to stop doing it. Because the mass of laws, their inner complexity and scale, is killing the ability of anyone to participate in our democracy beyond any significant confrontation with the law. When only the lawyers win, we all lose.

Re:Met a Bill I Like

[bwalling (195998)]

Every bill must have a scope. It must apply to a single budget, or a single government organization, or their subsidiaries. Or it must be a "metabill", which specifies only a collection of bills related in an explicit policy, the exact relationship stated in the metabill.

Please. Did you see what happened to the Interstate Commerce clause? They can relate any two things easier than you can tie it to Kevin Bacon.

Re:Met a Bill I Like

[Doc Ruby (173196)]

I think the US has been afflicted with our lawyer-centric modern culture in no small part due to TV. The 46-minute TV drama (plus 17 commercial minutes) is very well suited to glorifying charicatures of lawyers, but not other professions, like engineers, doctors, scientists, teachers. While the Web is better suited for more documentary, even "mockumentary" media presentation, in which lawyers look more boring and contrived than these other jobs. Just like newspapers were a medium more sympathetic to the fiery oratory of a preacher or muckraking politician.

OTOH, the evolving Web, especially decentralized social networks, might turn out to best feature pornopop idols like Paris Hilton. I think the next few years, especially as mobile multimedia networks defined by people's contact lists begin to dominate, are the defining moment for the next few (human) generations of mass media. It's up to us to take the spotlight back from lawyers, and feature more real people.

Re:Revolution anyone?

[Doc Ruby (173196)]

Yap yap revolution yap yap. How about running for Congress, on a legitimate reform platform, or backing someone who will? Most of the Constitution has articles, and a "bill" of rights, to institutionalize "revolution", without opening the door to anarchy, mob rule, or - most likely today - corporate fascism without its mediagenic face. The entire House of Representatives, and 1/3 of the Senate are up for grabs in only 18 months. Unless you're willing to throw constitutional representative democracy itself on the line, why don't you just use the revolutionary institutions we've got, to throw out the tyrants? It
s because you sound so much cooler talking about revolution than talking about campaigning for election, right? Actually putting liberty, to say nothing of your life, on the line, has nothing to do with your tough talk.

Re:Revolution anyone?

[russotto (537200)]

The system _is_ truly stable. It has adapted to every method for changing it by making those methods ineffective. After 220+ years, it has settled down to stasis; there is no longer any usable mechanism for change for the better.

Voting doesn't help; you're voting for one member of the existing system, or another of the same, or you're voting for someone who can't win.

Worse, if you DO manage to vote out the incumbent, the rules of the House and Senate assure he has no real influence until he's been around for a while and therefore has fully aligned his interests with those of the system.

Letter-writing doesn't work -- such campaigns are often ignored, and those who prefer the status quo can and do mobilize their own campaigns.

Demonstrations don't work. If they're peaceful, they're ignored. If they're violent, the side opposing the status quo gets blamed. If they're peaceful and too big to be ignored, agents provocateur ensure they become violent, thus discrediting them.

Civil disobedience doesn't work; the penalties are too high, and once you've been convicted of a felony you've forfeited your political viability within the system -- as well as your chances of even making a decent living. Nobody cares if you're rotting in jail for violating an unjust law; you're just a criminal.

Even bribery (legalized or otherwise) won't work. Those supporting the status quo have more money. And the campaign finance laws are set up (not coincidentally) to help out the incumbents; those who have the most to gain by maintaining the status quo.

Re:Post-Reading Test

[Phroggy (441)]

Why that won't solve anything:

"I actually voted for the $87 billion, before I voted against it." - John Kerry

Bush used that quote to accuse Kerry of flip-flopping on issues, but Kerry didn't actually change his mind - the version of the bill he voted for, Bush threatened to veto because Bush wasn't happy with where the money was going to come from. The bill was changed so the money would come from somewhere else, and Kerry voted against it, not because he opposed the whole bill, but because he opposed one part of it.

Most bills that go through Congress have so much unrelated crap tacked onto them that no matter which way you vote, you're almost guaranteed to be voting for or against something people like and something people dislike at the same time, and whichever part of that was unpopular, your opponent will use against you during your reelection campaign. Of course, since you're the incumbent and they're not, you can't use the same trick against them, because they weren't in office at the time!

I didn't think you could

[krbvroc1 (725200)]

I didn't think you could legislate on an appropriation bill? Is this for real? Its against the rules of the Senate (rule XVI) http://rules.senate.gov/senaterules/rule16.htm [senate.gov]

Re:I didn't think you could

[Animats (122034)]

The Appropriations Committee can put general legislation in an appropriations bill, and this is going through that route.

Re:I didn't think you could

[krbvroc1 (725200)]

So the rule must be that Senators cannot offer admendments once the appropriations bill is on the floor for a vote but are free to do so in committee.

Re:I didn't think you could

[Duncan3 (10537)]

That's so naive it's cute. This is America, congress does what it's paid to do.

You're thinking of one of those axis of evil countries where people can vote and they hold government accountable, like England or something.

Re:I didn't think you could

[greg_barton (5551)]

Its against the rules of the Senate (rule XVI)

I seem to recall the words of our honerable Senate president: "Go fuck yourself!"

Damnit!

[rogabean (741411)]

Only residents of Alabama, Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, or Wisconsin can sign this.

I'm gonna post this over on the various MythTV communities as well... try to get more support drummed up.

Why do you still have riders?

[QuantumG (50515)]

I'm an Australian so when I first heard about rider bills I honestly didn't beleive it. Then I discovered that Australia also had the problem of rider bills at some stage. We recognised them as a problem and we fixed them. We no longer have rider bills. Does any other democracy on earth still have them? Is it impossible for americans to recognise a problem and fix it without ballsing it up? It just seems you have all these parasites gaming your political process and you do nothing about it. You know how everyone knows that US congressmen take bribes? Well, here in Australia, it's illegal for politicians to take bribes. It's like that in the rest of the world too right? So why can't americans recognise something that's so straight forward and simple (politicans should not be permitted to take bribes) and do something about it?

Re:Why do you still have riders?

[Ryosen (234440)]

You know how everyone knows that US congressmen take bribes? Well, here in Australia, it's illegal for politicians to take bribes.

It's illegal here in the US, too....It's just condoned.

Re:Why do you still have riders?

[QuantumG (50515)]

Yeah, compaign donations are illegal in Australia too. The conversation went something like this:

Police: "Ok, bribes are illegal, don't take bribes."
Politicians: "This isn't a bribe, it's a campaign contribution."
Police: "No, it's a bribe, and if you take it I'll arrest you."
Politicians: "Oh, ok, sorry."

Whereas in the US the conversation goes something like this:

Police: "Hey guys, 'bribes' are apparently illegal now, looks like we're gunna have to be honest and do our jobs for a change."
Politicians: "Don't be silly, we'll just call them campaign contributions."
Police: "Uhhh, look, I'm not sure you can get away with that."
Politicians: "Really? Here's a contribution to the campaign to help you see things my way."
Police: "Heh, ok, I get ya, it's not like anyone is minding the store anyway."

And no-one was.

Re:Why do you still have riders?

[QuantumG (50515)]

I'll tell you the same thing I told the last moron who said the US isn't a democracy because it's a republic, the two are not mutually exclusive. You can have a republic that is democratic in nature, or you can have a republic that is not. You can have a democracy that is constrained by a constitution and is seperated into different levels or you can have a democracy that isn't. Of course, when you actually look at what your country is instead of what it claims to be it is neither a democracy nor a republic, it's a totalatarian plutocracy with a buttload of sugar on top so the fat lazy occupants think they're getting a good deal.

Re:Why do you still have riders?

[ajs (35943)]

"For the record, the US is NOT a democracy."

Hi, welcome to the 20th century... well, you're a bit late, but that's OK.

Here in 20th-land we call any form of government where the people elect leaders, and where any citizen (with minimal restrictions, usually based on age, nation of origin, etc.) can campaign for those offices, a "democracy".

Yes, this does NOT fit the classical definition, but since no one has founded a democracy in a VERY long time (arguably never), it's not going to be very confusing as we continue to use the new definition.

If you're going to stamp your feet and hold your breath over it, you're really going to be unhappy, since most of the world started using the new definition [answers.com] (also, check out Wikipedia's excellent article on the topic of the modern usage of the word "democracy" [wikipedia.org]) at some point last century.

Re:Why do you still have riders?

[waynemcdougall (631415)]

Why else would Cheney quite his super high paying job and sell his Haliburton stock if he wasn't going to make out any better than the relatively small VP salary.

Ummm, to serve his country?

To promote world peace?

To change the country (and the world) for the better?

To share his wisdom and experience for the betterment of humanity?

To meet interns?

EFF has a site that will fax your senator for free

[Shonufftheshogun (620824)]

You can fax and email appropriation committee members for free at the EFF's action center [eff.org].

If I'm not mistaken....

[Kwirl (877607)]

By the time this story is an accepted submission, it will be 36+ hours past the deadline. All slashdotters should therefore direct their attention to criticizing the outcome pre-emptively in order to maintain an effective schedule.

Email is counterproductive

[drwho (4190)]

Email is routinely ignored by congressional staffers. Signing a paper petition is a little more useful. A phone call is better still. A written letter is far superiour. Saying what you think in person is better still. The reason for these classifications is that elected officials are getting spammed and information overloaded like everyone else. If you spend more effort getting your particular issue heard, they also feel you will be more likely to remember them on election day. It's fairly valid.

I am highly critical of these online petitions, because people believe that they have done something, and therefore will not follow up their web form tick-off with something more substantive like the communications mentioned above.

I know it's a bit too late to dash of a handwritten letter to your rep in this occasion. But a phone call may be appropriate.

Re:Email is counterproductive

[hacker (14635)]

"I know it's a bit too late to dash of a handwritten letter to your rep in this occasion. But a phone call may be appropriate."

And at 200 calls per-hour, they'll just stop answering the phones. Seriously, do you think they're going to listen?

Going down there in person is a hit-or-miss chance of actually speaking to someone with the power to change anything... or you'll end up in jail for "stalking" your senator.

The reason they probably slid this through on a rider so fast, was likely so people could NOT write to their senators in time.

I love my government more and more every day, don't you?

Orwell just rolled over in his grave

[hacker (14635)]

Ok, so here we have the FCC mandating that we have to all convert our "old analog" television sets to digital television sets by 2007 or something...

Then we have the "Broadcast Flag" being driven through on a rider, shh... nobody will notice.

And now they can basically control what you can record via your "Dish DVR" or "TiVo" or TV tuner card or whatever other device you want to use, because of Hollywood pressure.

We already see DVDs where you can't bypass the intro commercials to get to the navigational menus, even for DVDs which we bought, which should have paid for the removal of those commercials.

Next, we'll see television sets being sent a signal that ignores the remote control's "channel" buttons during commercials. You just won't be able to switch away during commercials... you'll be forced to watch them (or power off your TV).

How far are we from a Telescreen here, really? I mean... all they need is a way to peer back in, and a way to stop you from turning off the TV or the volume...

Orwell would be proud.

Another 48 Hours Killed the Broadcast Flag

[Ingolfke (515826)]

In a major media blunder the US Government and major media corporations are denying the resuscitation of the broadcast flag. Despite wide reports, Doug Herzog, President of SpikeTV [spiketv.com] (the First Network for Men) has confirmed that he along with other media executives have decided to abandon all attempts to push the broadcast flag through congress. In a press release Herzong noted,

"After looking at our summer lineup of movies, and previewing 48 Hours [imdb.com], starring Eddie Murphey and Nick Nolte, it was pretty clear that we wouldn't need a broadcast flag to keep people from recording our programming. I and a few others, hoping to promote our July 4th weekend of 48 Hours of 48 Hours, only on Spike TV also watched Another 48 Hours [imdb.com]. After we finished the film, we were confident that we had done the right thing to abandon the broadcast flag and honestly were considering abandoning television altogether."

This is what I wrote my Senator

[fname (199759)]

The so-called Broadcast Flag is an abomination and needs to be rejected by the Senate. It will do nothing to stop large-scale piracy, and will only serve to limit the fair-use rights of American citizens to time shift television programs, save them for later viewing or view tv program's at a family members house. Authorizing the broadcast flag will force innovative consumer electronics companies to ask for Hollywood permission before introducing new products.

Media oligarchies, led by the RIAA & MPAA, tried to sue the VCR out of existence. They sued the first makers of MP3 players. They sued ReplayTV into bankruptcy because they dared to introduce an innovative product without the MPAA's permission. If the broadcast flag and similar legislative tools had been around for the last 25 years, we wouldn't have the VCR, iPods, TiVos or computer DVD recorders. These tools have helped democratize content creation, distribution & consumption by putting citizens/customers in charge of their home-made movies, music, and photographs.

Vote against the Broadcast Flag. It is simply a power grab by media oligopolies intended to criminalize the fair-use of media of Americans of all stripes.

Best Strategy: Boycott and Donate

[craXORjack (726120)]

80% of you gush over every shitty movie that Hollywood releases and tell everyone how many times you will pay to see it [slashdot.org] or how you will wait in a line at midnight to buy the DVD. Then after stuffing the MPAA's pockets with your hard earned cash, you are outraged when they use a tiny fraction of that money to limit your freedoms by bribing congressmen with campaign contributions and junkets. Did you really need to see Spiderman II? Or Star Wars III? Or Weekend at Bernies IV? Boycott their crap and find healthier ways to entertain yourself than vegging out in front of a boob tube. The money you gave to the MPAA lawyers even by buying Ishtar from the bargain bin is more than 99% of you have ever given to the EFF [eff.org] or ACLU [aclu.org].

If you haven't figured it out yet, every time you buy a product you are voting with your dollars.

Campaign update.

[ntk (974)]

I thought everybody should know that you may have just slashdotted the United States Senate Appropriations Committee.

As of 10PM PST, six hours after news first leaked out, we've reached over 4550 messages sent to the 26 senators on the appropriations committee. The median number of emails and faxes per senator is 64; the average is 150.

Patty Murray (D-WA) received over 300 from her constituents on the Broadcast Flag. Kay Hutchison (R-TX) has received over 500 mails warning her of the controversial rider. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) has over a thousand faxes sitting in her inbox telling her not to accept any Broadcast Flag amendment.

And that's not including the telephone calls, which are still continuing.

Hollywood's first chance to slip in an amendment will be at 2PM EST Tuesday, in the Commerce, Justice and Science. Their next opportunity will be the full committeee mark-up [senate.gov] at 2PM EST Thursday.

We need to keep the pressure up, but I think it's fair to say that so far this rider is not slipping by unnoticed through the halls of Congress.

If you're in the states below, please call your senator.

COMMERCE, JUSTICE AND SCIENCE SUB-COMMITTEE AND FULL COMMITTEE MEMBERS

ALABAMA Senator Richard Shelby [phone]
ALASKA Senator Ted Stevens [phone]
HAWAII Senator Daniel Inouye [phone]
IOWA Senator Tom Harkin [phone]
KANSAS Senator Sam Brownback [phone]
KENTUCKY Senator Mitch McConnell [phone]
MARYLAND Senator Barbara Mikulski [phone]
MISSOURI Senator Christopher Bond [phone]
NEW HAMPSHIRE Senator Judd Gregg [phone]
NEW MEXICO Senator Pete Domenici [phone]
NORTH DAKOTA Senator Byron Dorgan [phone]
TEXAS Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison [phone]
VERMONT Senator Patrick Leahy [phone]
WASHINGTON Senator Patty Murray [phone]
WISCONSIN Senator Herb Kohl [phone]

FULL COMMITTEE MEMBERS

MISSISSIPPI Thad Cochran [phone]
PENNSYLVANIA Arlen Specter [phone]
MONTANA Conrad Burns [phone]
UTAH Robert F. Bennett [phone]
IDAHO Larry Craig [phone]
OHIO Mike DeWine [phone]
COLORADO Wayne Allard [phone]
WEST VIRGINIA Robert C. Byrd [phone]
NEVADA Harry Reid [phone]
CALIFORNIA Dianne Feinstein [phone]
ILLINOIS Richard J. Durbin [phone]
SOUTH DAKOTA Tim Johnson [phone]
LOUISIANA Mary L. Landrieu [phone]

A TYPICAL CALL

"Hello, Senator _________'s office"

"Hi, I'm a constituent. I'm registering my opposition to
the broadcast flag amendment being introduced in the
Senate Commerce Justice and Science Appropriations
subcommittee mark-up on Tuesday, and in full committee on
Thursday."

(*** You can give your own reasons for opposing the flag
here. Here's a sample: ***)

"The Broadcast Flag cripples any device capable of
receiving over-the-air digital broadcasts. It give
Hollywood movie studios a permanent veto over how members
of the American public use our televisions. It forces
American innovators to beg the FCC for permission before
adding new features to TV. "

"This is an important issue which will affect all
Americans, and should not be inserted at the last moment,
with almost no debate."

"Please oppose the broadcast flag amendment. My name and
address are ___________________."

"Thank you for your time."

Did it ever occure to you yanks...

[by Anonymous Coward]

That your system of goverment is one of the most corrupt in the world?

How about spreading some democracy in your own back-yard before trying to take over the world.

Re:Did it ever occure to you yanks...

[Concerned Onlooker (473481)]

We're working on a patch for that.

Re:Slashdotters Untie! I mean, Unite!

[Ingolfke (515826)]

See the senators flee in terror as hundreds of thousands of /.'ers email "In Soviet Russia the bill rides you".

(Note... many are confused as they believe this may be a reference to the previous administration.)

Re:heh

[InfiniteWisdom (530090)]

line-item veto has very real risks

1. Party X proposes legislation, concerns raised by party Y.
2. Safeguards added to legislation to satisfy party Y
3. Congress passes legislation
4. Party X president snips out safeguards and passes the rest
5. ???
6. Police state!!!!

Re:heh

[Alsee (515537)]

what we really need is the ability to give the Presidential Office back line-item veto power

Score:3, Insightful

This should be Score:5, Funny! I absolutely burst out laughing when I read it. It took me a full minute before I could manage focus enough to read beyond that first sentence.

Bush veto the broadcast flag? Woohoo! I guess that would be right between vetoing a Defense of Marriage item and trimming troubling new police powers out of Patriot Act II Revenge of the Sith.

-

Re:heh

[grub (11606)]

especially considering who's currently holding the pen.

s/pen/crayon/g

Re:We still can use our VCR

[BillyBlaze (746775)]

I'll spare you the poem people usually post in response to "this injustice doesn't affect me, so I don't mind." It's ironic that you call "the people" shallow so soon after exposing your own lack of depth. Not that they aren't shallow, sadly.

As for utilizing the analog hole, yes, that remains possible, but there are serious drawbacks - remember that we're talking about HDTV here - I'm pretty sure all the ways that that actually gets transmitted over the wire transmits the flag.

Now, obviously from a technological standpoint, this means nothing - there will be firmware hacks, instructions on how to assemble a flag stripper from $0.47's worth of parts from Radio Shack, and of course eBay. It will end up being slightly easier than disabling Macrovision, slightly harder than making your DVD-player region free. But the important thing is, it will be illegal!

Call me old-fashioned, but I'm fucking tired of everything I do being made technically illegal, even if it has no tangible effect. I'm not ripping anybody off, I'm not sharing with millions of my closest friends, I'm just trying to record telvision shows when I'm not home, and sometimes watch my DVDs or store my CDs on my computer. I'm not harming anybody, I'm not not paying someone when I should, and so it should. not. be. illegal.