Tomorrow night is our February general meeting. At 6pm we’ll be showing the documentary Steal This Film, Part II. It covers the technological and cultural aspects of the copyright wars, and the implications of the internet for copying. Come out to Little Hall and participate in freely distributed media with us!
When: Monday Feb. 11, 6:00pm
Where: Little Hall, rm. 239
It’s once again time for Free Your PC and we would like to invite students, staff, faculty and also everybody who doesn’t fit into any of those categories to come by next week and have their computers “freed”. If you stop by we will tell you what great software is out there and how to get, where to find legal free music, and more! If you bring your computer we’ll install some applications you can choose from a list right there and if you have a valid student ID you can even get free anti-virus software!
When: Wed. Feb 6th & Thu. Feb 7th, 11am—3pm
Where: Reitz Union Collonade
At our general meeting this Monday at 6.30pm we will be showing the documentary Good Copy Bad Copy which talks about the “the current state of copyright and culture.” It is a series of interviews, an hour in total, that shows you what these subjects are to the various parties involved, from DJ Danger Mouse to the RIAA, to Girl Talk and Russian cammers to Lawrence Lessig and Tecno Braga.
Where: Reitz Union, rm. 286
When: Monday, November 19th, 6.30pm
Florida Media Project and Florida PIRG’s Brad Ashwell are planning a statewide media-reform conference to take place in Sarasota on October 6-7. Possible topics could include Net neutrality, community wireless, and more. If you’re interested in attending, please contact Mark Kmetzko, mark@floridamediaproject.org.
For the full notice, see this post to the FFC discussion list.
Bill Kaczor, “Gov. Crist signs cable TV bill but asks for tighter enforcement,” South-Florida Sun Sentinel (via Associated Press), May 18, 2007.
Gov. Crist signed the video franchise bill that was passed during the legislative session. Several public interest and consumer organizations had asked Crist to veto the bill.
An update on our earlier coverage of freedom of information in the 2007 legislative session:
Michael C. Bender, “Bills aim to thwart ID theft,” Palm Beach Post, May 13, 2007.
The article has a summary of the bills relating to public records that passed the legislature this session. The legislature passed 25 bills relating to public records — 24 of which passed unanimously — three of which strengthen the state’s Sunshine Laws, and the rest of which contain various exemptions. The First Amendment Foundation, the state’s freedom of information watchdog group, characterized the exemptions as “pretty justifiable”. Several of the new exemptions are for personal information, such as Social Security numbers.
We previously wrote about the video franchise legislation considered in this year’s session in Tallahassee. Well, the bill passed, with provisions that weren’t good, so now public interest groups are asking Gov. Crist to veto the bill.
John Kennedy, “Consumer Groups Want Plug Pulled on Cable Bill,” Orlando Sentinel blog: Central Florida Political Pulse, May 8, 2007.
The groups behind the veto effort are Florida PIRG, Tampa Bay Community Network, Free Press, and Consumer’s Union. Here’s the press release from Free Press.
Gov. Crist has until May 18 to sign or veto the bill, or it will pass into law without his signature.
Update: There’s also an AP story which has been picked up by outlets across Florida (here it is in the Gainesville Sun). The Political Whore at Creative Loafing Tampa also has a post.
Update 2: The Palm Beach Post has an editorial urging a veto.
Update: The St. Petersburg Times is also calling for a veto.
Competition is only a smoke screen to rationalize the industry’s mad dash to win the most lucrative markets. … This is a terrible bill, and the governor should veto it.
Update: Florida Consumer Action Network is now urging a veto. The Consumer Federation of the Southeast, Consumer Federation of America, and ACORN have also joined the bandwagon since the initial post.
Update: Henry Troxler at the St. Petersburg Times has a column in which he hopes Gov. Crist will veto the bill.
Update: The Florida Media Project, the Alliance for Community Media, and The Education Channel are all supporting a veto, as are the Florida League of Cities and the Florida Chapter of the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisers. The U.S. Department of Justice, on the other hand, is supporting the bill, as part of the department’s “competition advocacy” (relating to antitrust law). The Orlando Sentinel has an editorial endorsing a veto.
In totally unrelated news, BellSouth spent more on lobbying than anyone else during the legislative session, more than $1 million — and that doesn’t even include the last month of the session, for which data are not yet available. The Miami Herald article calls the cable bill “the biggest special-interest food fight” of the session.
Florida Free Culture is a student group at the University of Florida. Our mission is:
We are named for Lawrence Lessig's book, Free Culture, and are a chapter of FreeCulture.org.
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