[sklyarov-chicago] Protest Organization

[Phillip J. Birmingham]

On 27 Jul 2001 12:49:00 -0700, jason pellerin wrote:
> Hello all,
> 
> Delurking to present a possibly dumb idea that just
> popped into my head:
> 
> > Remember, in leafletting/banner protest (without
> > walkabout), the goal is to engage the public in
> > discussion/conversation and give them a leaflet,
> > while
> > getting an agreement from them as to the injustice
> > of
> > the situation.
> 
> That makes me think of how awfully easy it is to
> violate the DMCA -- in fact, by passing out a leaflet
> that included the source of one of the perl decss
> scripts, I think you *would* be violating the DMCA.
> And so would the person who took the leaflet,
> especially if she showed it to someone else
> (trafficking in a circumvention device... )

	Here's a (possibly lame) idea I had: hand out books.

	Buy a few dozen from the quarter bin at the nearest used bookstore, and
offer people one.  Tell them (through a leaflet, good patter, telepathy,
whatever) that because of the first sale doctrine, since you paid for
thebook, you can give it away.  Point out that due to the DMCA,
publishers can set it up so that you can't give books away when you're
done with them, and it's illegal to take steps to exercise the right
they're trying to take away.

	This may be muddying the waters too much, and someone mentioned to me
that there's a danger of saying something just plain wrong unless you
get your message down just right.  I'm starting to think, though, that
it's important to show people what rights will be taken away, and what
annoyances will be inflicted on them with the DMCA's assistance, and I'm
looking for good ways to do that.

	What say ye?

	Regards,
	Phillip