Brazilian PLC 89/03 (was: Re: [Team] [hfml@brfree.com.br: AP to Charge for 5 Word Quotations])

[Alexandre Oliva]

[Adding prensa at fsfla.org, where we should be drafting this kind of
stuff, and discusion at fsfla.org, to get wider attention]

On Jul  4, 2008, Alexandre Oliva <lxoliva at fsfla.org> wrote:

> On Jul  3, 2008, "Luis Alberto" <l.guzman.g at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> I need permission from the board to post this as an FSFLA announcement
>>> or press release at fsfla.org (other than in my blog).

http://www.fsfla.org/pipermail/prensa/2008-July/000080.html

>> Will it be translated it, into the different languages?

> Probably not that bit, but I'm trying to write an actual press release
> now.

> It would be nice to have quotes from activists to add to it, so please
> send them my way.

> The bill features:

> - surveillance: network service providers are mandated to retain logs
> about customers' connections, required to relay reports of suspected
> crimes committed by its customers to authorities, and to share logs
> with the authorities.

> - pedophily: criminalization of reception and possession of images,
> pictures or scenes depicting pornography or explicit sex, involving
> children or adolescents (sub-18).  Other activities involving these
> images (selling, producing, etc) are already crimes.

> - malware: inserting or *propagating* it in computer networks becomes
> a crime; if it grants unauthorized access to computer systems, it
> becomes more serious; destroying data or publishing private
> information are crimes already, but if malware does these things, it's
> even more serious.

> - cracking: accessing computer systems without required permission,
> and obtaining or transmitting data without required permission, become
> crimes on their own.  Whether this actually overlaps with copyright
> law and conflicts with fair use is unclear ("required" by whom?), but
> it is certainly going to be abused by copyright holders to scare
> people away from enjoying or fighting for fair use.

It occurred to me that the provisions against cracking may also be
used to enforce DRM, because of the way they're worded.  I've just
blogged about it (in Portuguese), but I'll mention it in the PR
http://fsfla.org/svnwiki/blogs/lxo/2008-07-04-novos-crimes-absurdos

FWIW, the word I'm getting is that there's wide agreement that the
situation in the Senate is hopeless, there's a general agreement to
push it through.  It's probably going to be voted and approved there
next week, unless some miracle happens and some unlikely plenary
amendments are presented in the last minute (the period for
pre-plenary amendments ended yesterday).

If it's approved, it then goes on to the house of representatives
(câmara dos deputados), so we've already started working with people
there to try to veto it (some sources say amending it would no longer
be possible).

Given that banks and copyright intermediaries are behind this
proposal, there's a very strong push, but we have some voices in there
that might be willing and able to stop it.  Failing that, there's
still the possibility of a presidential veto, and given how absurd
this is, this is not entirely out of the question.

Anyhow...  One step at a time.  We need to get the press and the
population to pay attention to this.  So far, within the major
non-specialized press, AFAIK only Folha de S. Paulo gave coverage to
the project, and although it showed a lot of criticism, the last word
went to the proponent of the project, who claimed it was widely
discussed, and the president of the Senate commission that last
approved the project, where many hoped it could have been fixed or
blocked, cast some doubts on the criticism raised by the team of
lawyers that leads Creative Commons efforts in Brazil.
http://a2kbrasil.org.br/Folha-de-SP-Baixar-arquivo-na

-- 
Alexandre Oliva         http://www.lsd.ic.unicamp.br/~oliva/
Free Software Evangelist  oliva@{lsd.ic.unicamp.br, gnu.org}
FSFLA Board Member       ¡Sé Libre! => http://www.fsfla.org/
Red Hat Compiler Engineer   aoliva@{redhat.com, gcc.gnu.org}