Help Save Betamax

I am affiliated with a group called Downhill Battle.
Downhill Battle's main focus to actively fight to protect fair use laws in the United States and believes the survival of Peer To Peer file (P2P) sharing networks like Kazaa and Shareaza are vital to the future of the internet.
For a little background, Fair Use laws determine what you can and cannot do with things like CD's, DVD's and video games once you purchase them from the store.

For example, having the ability to buy a music CD, rip it to your computer's hard drive and then transfer the ripped files to portable MP3 players or burn them to a CD-r for personal use is considered legal in most countries including here in Canada.

In the United States having the right to do this was due in large part to a 1983 court battle between movie studio Universal and Sony.

Universal was battling to have a little device called the Betamax removed from the marketplace.

Betamax was the predecessor of the VHS VCR, and Sony eventually won what has become known as the Betamax Decision.

The Supreme Court ruled that while it was possible that VCR's could infringe on the copyright protections of movie studios, the devices also had legitimate applications and because of these applications, fair use laws would then take effect, thus allowing Sony to make and sell Betamax.

Flash ahead 20 or so years and Betamax is long dead, replaced by VCR's and organizations like the RIAA and record labels are lobbying congress in the Unites States to amend the Betamax decision to allow them to fight against or control any new technology that has the potential to copy audio or video files.

In short these groups want to take over the distribution of CD and DVD burners, TiVo's, PVR's and I-Pod's as a way of controlling how consumers listen and use copyrighted material that are purchased for their own personal use.

In an effort to quash this potentially new legislation Downhill Battle has organized a phone-in campaign for September 14, and I encourage any American who wants to continue to have decent fair use laws to visit SaveBetamax.org and sign-up and join the fight.

Fair Use laws are already more stringent in the US than any other country, and if congress successfully passes this legistlation, groups like the RIAA will yield more power than the companies who are actually developing the technology.

Please visit SaveBetamax.org and do your part.

Update September 13 - I have been notified by Downhill Battle that over 2000 people have signed up for their call in campaign - thank-you.