iPods for Senators [LWN.net]

After seeing how getting an iPod from his daughter made U.S. Senator Stevens more aware of fair use rights, the folks at IPac came up with an idea: give each Senator an iPod. "Plus, we're going to pre-load each one with examples of the cultural richness made possible by sharing and collaboration - public domain content, Creative Commons content, and audio messages about the importance of balanced copyright policy. It will be engraved with the words 'listen to the people.'" Needless to say, they are looking for donations to make this happen.

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Which senators will get it first?

Posted Feb 1, 2006 2:45 UTC (Wed) by proski (guest, #104) [Link] (1 responses)

It's unfortunate that I cannot choose which senator will get my contribution. I would not mind giving 1/16th of an iPod to Senator Specter, but I cringe when I think that Senator Santorum will get in instead. It's would be a complete waste of money - he's up for reelection with little to no chances, and I doubt he'll ever figure out how to use an iPod :-)

Which senators will get it first?

Posted Feb 1, 2006 18:34 UTC (Wed) by Max.Hyre (subscriber, #1054) [Link]

They've all got to be given at once.

This is PR stunt, one of the best ways to get noticed. All at once is the only way that makes sense.

iPods for Senators

Posted Feb 1, 2006 4:08 UTC (Wed) by rompel (guest, #4512) [Link]

Before people get too carried away, somebody ought to look into the legality of this. IIRC, there's a $50 limit on gifts, which will probably be lowered real soon now (in the wake of the Abramoff scandal).

a waste in any case

Posted Feb 1, 2006 5:47 UTC (Wed) by b7j0c (guest, #27559) [Link] (6 responses)

these would be immediately tossed to some junior staffer or to a family member who would immediately remove the creative commons music and replace it with their own, presuming of course that these people don't already own ipods.

a waste in any case

Posted Feb 1, 2006 6:05 UTC (Wed) by cventers (guest, #31465) [Link] (5 responses)

May I ask what makes you think that?

I figure that at the least, Senators would be interested in playing with
their new toys that they've heard so much about before deciding to toss
them off to some subordinate.

a waste in any case

Posted Feb 1, 2006 14:02 UTC (Wed) by jhardin (guest, #3297) [Link] (1 responses)

> May I ask what makes you think that?

I agree, and what makes me think that is the following:

1) the iPod won't be a gift from a close family member.

2) the iPod will be received as part of a broad, planned lobbying (yes, it *is* lobbying) effort.

That reduces the "purity" of it, and destroys the subtlety of the strategy.

If you want to do this, then get together a group of people from *your own district*, buy it yourself, load it with music (perhaps the project might publish a suggested playlist), and give it to your senator/representative *directly*. *Then* they might pay attention to it the way you want and it might have some positive impact, and it will be a little less likely to be dismissed as some fringe group trying to buy political favor.

It's the press, not the present

Posted Feb 1, 2006 18:30 UTC (Wed) by Max.Hyre (subscriber, #1054) [Link]

We want it to be exactly as proposed.

Yes, the gifts might be rejected for being over-limit, but, IIRC, the President can keep stuff (and it can be pretty impressive stuff when given by another head of state) by accepting it for the American People, and leaving it behind when leaving office.

Yes it might be given to a staffer.

Yes, a couple of dozen may already have come from other directions.

Yes, we could give them to our individual congresscritters.

But, all that is immaterial. It's being done by a cute little organization of copyright geeks (sorry, that's how the media will see us), and it's notably original---not a trip to Hawaii or something. That means we can get onto the press's radar screen, even if only for a thirty-second sound bite, and that's a Good Thing.

If that bite is snappy enough, one which might arouse some folks curiosity, we're way, waaay ahead of the game.

Don't kill it by the death of a thousand cuts; either donate or at least don't discourage others. This is precisely the sort of thing that gets people noticed, and heaven knows we need to be noticed.

a waste in any case

Posted Feb 1, 2006 17:59 UTC (Wed) by b7j0c (guest, #27559) [Link] (2 responses)

> May I ask what makes you think that?

every representative and senator has probably been gifted five ipods already. they are cheap enough to get under the radar and are ubiquitous enough in the press for potential gift-givers to think its something everyone would like.

if you want to implement change in our society you have to see government as an obstacle, not an ally. i'd rather donate money to DVDjohn.

a waste in any case

Posted Feb 1, 2006 18:44 UTC (Wed) by elanthis (guest, #6227) [Link] (1 responses)

"you have to see government as an obstacle,"

... and do what about it?

Take up arms and revolt? Shoot people? Because we can't download music and share it?

The government is not an obstacle, it's simply a problem. Obstacles, you avoid. Problems, you fix. The government needs to be convinced that we are right. There is no other viable solution. None.

(Western) Government exists for the people. It was founded by the people. In order to serve the people. The US government wasn't founded so our fore fathers could control us, it was founded because any sufficiently large group of people require governence in order to coexist and work together, just like an Open Source project needs a maintainer. Our government as, in some (but only some) areas, strayed. Ignoring it will not fix any problem. Only by realigning the government with the interests of the people it was founded to serve will improve the state of affairs.

Anything else is unenlightened anarchy.

a waste in any case

Posted Feb 2, 2006 7:10 UTC (Thu) by b7j0c (guest, #27559) [Link]

>> The government needs to be convinced that we are right. There is no other viable solution. None.

convinced you are right about what? that free music is neat? i doubt you would find one lawmaker who would find issue with your desire to freely copy media if that is what the original author authorizes.

you have two choices in govt - one branch of the property party or the other, to paraphrase gore vidal.

iPods for Senators

Posted Feb 1, 2006 5:54 UTC (Wed) by cventers (guest, #31465) [Link]

I just made a donation. Freedom is important enough that I'm willing to
pay for even tiny rips in the content producer's unfair domination over
law lately.

iPods for Senators

Posted Feb 1, 2006 7:39 UTC (Wed) by fwenzel (guest, #33783) [Link] (1 responses)

I wonder why they don't give them iPod nanos instead. Getting contributions is certainly complicated enough even with less money...

iPods for Senators

Posted Feb 1, 2006 21:48 UTC (Wed) by mtaht (guest, #11087) [Link]

Yes, my counter argument is that you can load up a lot of low bandwidth (think 8khz) lectures and podcasts on a sub 50 dollar (wholesale) mp3 player - and get them to more senators AND congresscritters besides.

Giving away a player with DRM is a bad idea too.

Too bad that there are few or no american makers of DRM free players. For those, you have to go overseas.

I like my samsung

iPods for Senators

Posted Feb 1, 2006 13:58 UTC (Wed) by cantsin (guest, #4420) [Link]

As a non-US citizen, I might not be familiar enough with the political issue at stake. But why give iPods as gifts? After all, they only play patent-encumbered audio formats (not supporting Ogg Vorbis). In addition, they are the devices that brought the breakthrough of DRM in consumer electronics...

iPods for Senators

Posted Feb 1, 2006 14:28 UTC (Wed) by bk (guest, #25617) [Link]

Something bothers me about giving yet more money/gifts to fatcat politicians. I've been listening to lectures about ancient Rome lately and the similarity to their old patron/client system is striking.

I think the money would be better spent as a donation to your favorite organization or charity (EFF, FSF, Wikipedia, homeless shelter, et al).

Who are these folks?

Posted Feb 1, 2006 18:05 UTC (Wed) by Max.Hyre (subscriber, #1054) [Link]

Not to be too paranoid, but can people point me to somewhere other than their website? I've spent some time lately looking into the bona fides of charity organizations, and it's not as easy as you might think. Despite my fervent support for their stated mission, I'd like to know a bit more.

I trust folks I know about, and whose actions I've followed for a while, but am wary about organizations which are new to me. I'd love to see information about them from someone who's already in my web of trust.

Thanks.

iPods for Senators

Posted Feb 1, 2006 18:15 UTC (Wed) by tjw.org (guest, #20716) [Link]

I think many of you are missing the point of this. It's foolish to assume that a US Senator is going to be influenced in any way by such a foolish gesture. It's like believing that a letter you write to one of these figures will be read by him/her. OK, there's a chance of it, but only if it's been read/approved by several staffers and has worked it's way up the chain.

No, this action is not meant to have any influence at all on such a microscopic scale. It's being done with the slim hope that the story will be picked up by the mainstream press. If such a thing were to happen, it may help to spark intrest in the general public or even educate the masses about the issue. Until it makes the mainstream press, don't expect any Senator to even acknowledge the issue, let alone accept the gift.

iPods for Senators

Posted Feb 1, 2006 21:09 UTC (Wed) by s_cargo (guest, #10473) [Link]

Yeah, great PR - attempting to buy influence.

iPods for Senators

Posted Feb 1, 2006 21:42 UTC (Wed) by job (guest, #670) [Link]

Ah, brilliant. So by giving them DRM-infected players free, they must
surely learn ... Oh, what was that lesson again?