Tomorrow the Senate Commerce Committee continues its markup of Senator Ted Stevens’ omnibus communications bill. It’s a lengthy and complicated piece of legislation, but hidden deep within are the broadcast and audio flags. Both represent the latest and perhaps most desperate attempts by the Hollywood cartels to control innovation, roll back fair use, and disrupt the free market.

The bill mandates a government technology committee that would approve or reject devices based on their functionality, just like Hollywood wants. For example, new personal video recorders could be blocked from the market for having too much functionality, allowing users to tweak their settings, or interfacing with non-approved devices in your entertainment system. This kind of silly bottleneck would be laughable if it wasn’t so close to becoming law.

Now is the time to let our representatives know how the flags would decimate the consumer electronics industry while erasing our fair use rights.

Please call the Senators on the Commerce Committee and let your voicebe heard.

Ted Stevens - Alaska
1 (202) 224-3004

John McCain - Arizona
1 (202) 224-2235

Conrad Burns - Montana
1 (202) 224-2644

Trent Lott - Mississippi
1 (202) 224-6253

Kay Bailey Hutchison - Texas
1 (202) 224-5922

Olympia Snowe - Maine
1 (202) 224-5344

Gordon Smith - Oregon
1 (202) 224-3753

John Ensign - Nevada
1 (202) 224-6244

George Allen - Virginia
1 (202) 224-4024

John Sununu - New Hampshire
1 (202) 224-2841

Jim DeMint - South Carolina
1 (202) 224-6121

David Vitter - Louisiana
1 (202) 224-4623

Daniel K. Inouye - Hawaii
1 (202) 224-3934

John D. Rockefeller IV - West Virginia
1 (202) 224-6472

John F. Kerry - Massachussetts
1 (202) 224-2742

Byron L. Dorgan - North Dakota
1 (202) 224-2551

Barbara Boxer - California
1 (202) 224-3553

Bill Nelson - Florida
1 (202) 224-5274

Maria Cantwell - Washington
1 (202) 224-3441

Frank Lautenberg - New Jersey
1 (202) 224-3224

E. Benjamin Nelson - Nebraska
1 (202) 224-6551

Mark Pryor - Arkansas
1 (202) 224-2353

Technorati Tags: Communications Bill, Senate Commerce Committee, Ted Steven, Maria Cantwell, iPac