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."

I wrote about this to CNN

[flyingace]

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

bite the hand that feeds you.

[Anonymous Coward]

fuck em. I'll just turn the damn thing off. 64 channels of pure bullshit, the movies suck. Even the cooking shows are turning stupid.

Slashdotters Untie! I mean, Unite!

[TheCamper]

Is Congress susceptible to the Slashdot effect?

Re:heh

[AKAImBatman]

Instead of a petition, what we really need is the ability to give the Presidential Office back line-item veto power. With that power, the President could happily strike out stupid attachments like these without being accused of holding back "important legislation".

Unfortunately, the Supreme Court decided that line-item veto power required an amendment (probably correct), so Clinton's strikeout were reversed. :-(

Re:I didn't think you could

[greg_barton]

Its against the rules of the Senate (rule XVI)

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

If I'm not mistaken....

[Kwirl]

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.

Shouldn't the headline change in real time?

[Fortyseven]

I mean, 12 hours from now it won't be true. Even right now it's not true anymore. Oh my god...time is slipping away from me...help...Calgon! *brrzzt-thud*

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

[Concerned Onlooker]

We're working on a patch for that.

Re:senators

[IntergalacticWalrus]

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

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

Re:Slashdotters Untie! I mean, Unite!

[Ingolfke]

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.)

When writing to your senators, please

[melted]

When writing to your senators, please use soft paper. Best of all, use bathroom tissue. This way you will make it comfortable for senators to "work" through your mails.

Re:senators

[SparafucileMan]

why do you hate America?

Re:Why do you still have riders?

[waynemcdougall]

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?

Another 48 Hours Killed the Broadcast Flag

[Ingolfke]

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."

Re:heh

[grub]

especially considering who's currently holding the pen.

s/pen/crayon/g

Re:senators

[ImaLamer]

I think you switched moderation with this guy [slashdot.org].

Re:senators

[CarrionBird]

Suppose it should have been 'informative'

Re:senators

[RickPartin]

He has to write a check for the overnight shipping of his letter. Only 48 hours left. What were you thinking?

Re:Legalese to english translation algorithm

[Ingolfke]

Couldn't someone write a program that you could feed the text of a bill into and it would simplify the language, making it easier to find stuff like this so it could be removed?

#include <stdio>
void main(void) {
printf("Screw over general populace.\n");
return;
}

Re:Why..

[Geek of Tech]

>>Republicans aren't really that conservative. Think about it, they for large spending.

And they for big grammar too.....

Re:senators

[SparafucileMan]

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

Re:Met a Bill I Like

[Anonymous Coward]

Dude, those don't really work. The vacuum just gives a small temporary illusion. Mostly they just chanfe your dick.

Purchase minimum cable!

[Oshkoshjohn]

I have been subscribing to ten-dollar minimum cable for some time. After deprogamming the Jesus channels and Home Shopping Network channels from the remote, I have ten channels left. I can surf my dial in under one minute and then shut the box off!

Re:heh

[Alsee]

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:I wrote about this to CNN

[geekee]

"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."

Yes, CNN sues people constantly for bootlegging old Larry King Live shows. Teens and college students just can't get enough of that show.

Re:We still can use our VCR

[glwtta]

I'm not ripping anybody off ... I'm just trying to record telvision shows when I'm not home ... I'm not harming anybody, I'm not not paying someone when I should, and so it should. not. be. illegal.

Oh? And what if when you get back home you watch that recorded show and skip the commercials? Or what about if you watch it TWICE and then DON'T watch it (or the commercials) when the station reruns the show? That's clearly not how the content providers would like you to watch those shows - how is that not stealing?

Re:senators

[failure-man]

Oh, right. One of those "joke" things I have so much trouble spotting on the internets.

Re:Don't think! Just do!!! NOW NOW NOW!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Hey fuckrod, got any arguments in favor of the broadcast flag? If not, please die of cancer at your earliest convenience. Thanks.

Re:Met a Bill I Like

[Archangel_Azazel]

I don't like the words "Law" and "execute" in the same post...especially when talking about *MY* government....

A.A

Re:Why do you still have riders?

[Anonymous Coward]

We're even past the 20th century.

Re:Beat them at their own game

[Anonymous Coward]

You'll have to, after the broadcast flag passes.

Re:64% voted *against* the UK government

[craash420]

73.46% of all statistics are made up on the spot.

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

[Anonymous Coward]

I was away in Sicily this weekend and one of the locals thought I was an American. Never been so insulted before - I'm going on a diet.