
The best patent troll-killing bill yet - beauzero
https://action.eff.org/o/9042/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=9416
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davidw
Oh, cool - DeFazio (one of the sponsors) is my representative. I guess that
saves me from having to call him. Anyone know if they tally calls for people
calling to say thanks or good job or whatever?

~~~
chimeracoder
> Anyone know if they tally calls for people calling to say thanks or good job
> or whatever?

A number of my friends work in the policy-and-politics sphere - I can assure
you they definitely do tally those, and it _does_ make a huge difference, even
if your Congressman is one of the sponsors of the bill.

Aside from the official counts that they have to keep whenever constituents
call them, the main thing to remember is that these offices are small - even
the main offices for senators like Schumer or Gillibrand (who represent big
states) in DC are only staffed by a few people at a time. If they're flooded
with calls from any particular group, what do you think they're going to be
talking about over lunch, or at the (figurative) water-cooler, etc.?

A friend of mine worked for Senator Clinton around 2007, and she loves to tell
the story of how they got flooded with fake "Valentines" from the Association
for Heart Disease[0] the week of February 14th, in support of some bill. It
was a pretty uncontroversial bill and passed with wide support, but just
fielding those letters and calls took up so much of their time that week that
she _still_ remembers it, years later.

In short, please do call them - they'll remember it the next time they
consider sticking their neck out for something that they believe is the right
thing to do but may be politically risky.

[0] I don't know the name - you get the idea

~~~
fsck--off
If it was 2007, then it was probably the Heart Disease Education, Analysis and
Research, and Treatment for Women Act (acronym HEART). The bill died in the
House. Identical bills were passed by the House in 2008 and 2009 but were not
voted upon by the Senate.

[https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/110/s573](https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/110/s573)

~~~
chimeracoder
Thanks for looking this up.

I thought I was fairly certain that my friend was working for a senator at the
time, not a congressman, but I should check with her. And now that I think
about it, I actually don't remember whether the _final_ bill passed, but I do
remember that it had the support of the relevant senator/congressman.

It also may have been in support of a committee vote, not a final vote. Again,
I'd have to ask my friend.

~~~
aliakbarkhan
> I thought I was fairly certain that my friend was working for a senator at
> the time, not a congressman

Not to be too pedantic, but a senator is a member of Congress.

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larrik
I still think the idea that customers of an infringing product can be liable
is completely bonkers.

~~~
dminor
Devil's advocate: I want to use your technology so I create another company to
develop an infringing product and sell it to me cheap.

~~~
nickff
A court can pull back the corporate veil, and penalize the shareholder(s) or
director(s) of any company if these individuals are deemed to have been using
the company's separate legal personality for the purpose of wrongdoing.

~~~
scott_s
This is a point that I think technical people miss: the law does not execute
like code. Humans are in the loop, and are allowed to apply their own
judgement.

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ColinWright
Discussed extensively here:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6602902](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6602902)

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snarfy
I'm having a hard time pulling my jaw from the floor after reading Lamar Smith
in the name of sponsors.

~~~
somethingnew
Yeah, I am shocked to say the least after he authored SOPA.

~~~
antoko
Why? its not that he hates technology people - he didnt propose SOPA just to
piss you off. He's bought and paid for by the content lobby, that's a
copyright issue and not at all related to patents. Patent trolls and Hollywood
aren't the same entity - lots of us in technology feel the same way about both
groups but that's because of our unique perspective. To Lamar Smith and many
others this can be viewed as a bill to help the (innovation) economy, his
position on SOPA can likewise be viewed as a way to protect (one slice of) the
economy. His position is basically a pro-business position - you just happen
hate some of the business he supports and love other business he supports.
From his perspective your views seem contradictory - why are you pro-business
and anti-business?

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shmerl
By the way, what happened to another important bill to repeal the wicked DMCA
1201 (by Reps. Zoe Lofgren and others)?

[http://lofgren.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=a...](http://lofgren.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=797:reps-
zoe-lofgren-thomas-massie-anna-eshoo-a-jared-polis-introduce-bipartisan-bill-
to-enable-cell-phone-a-wireless-device-unlocking&catid=22:112th-
news&Itemid=161)

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tallbrian
Regarding "fee shifting" if the loser can be made to pay the winner fees,
couldn't that be an even scarier proposition for a troll target?

