Stompy, the political argument is that the INDUCE Act wouldn't "really" make iPods, etc illegal. However, when you ask people in the industry and other concerned experts who have actually read the bill, as opposed to politicians, you get a very different answer. But, where do most people get their info? Politicians. So, no, there wouldn't be much of a public outcry, and there would be even less so because the effects of the bill would be slowly integrated as opposed to an immediate confiscating of iPods, etc, since that clearly WOULD create a public outcry.
Anyway, here's an e-mail I received at the end of the day yesterday:
Hi everyone,
The Save Betamax call-in day was a huge success. Not only did we send a loud
message to Congress that the INDUCE Act needs to be stopped, but we're in a really
good position to stay on top of this bill for the fall. If the bill makes it out of
committee in the Senate, you'll get an emergency alert from us, so watch for that.
With over 5,000 participants making roughly 15,000 phone calls, you just put Senate
and House leaders on notice: not only do advocacy groups, hardware manufacturers,
and giant internet businesses not like this bill, but voters don't like it either.
That's a force that can tip the scales.
From some of the comments we've received, it sounds like this was a real
educational experience for the staffers at the offices you spoke with. We didn't
give out any canned talking points. But people have been following this bill so
closely that most callers probably knew more about what the INDUCE Act really means
than the lawmakers you called. And if you want to learn more, these two blogs are
essential reading:
http://www.corante.com/importance/
http://www.corante.com/copyfight/
Unfortunately, everyone still has to be very vigilant; we've heard that Hatch is
extremely committed to getting this bill passed. Within the next two weeks, one of
two things is likely to happen: a new draft of the bill will justify a new hearing
in the Senate Judiciary committee, or Hatch will push the bill through to the Senate
floor. The moment either happens, Senators will need to hear from all of you. And
we'll let you know.
Have a look at our most recent blog post. We posted some of the feedback we
received throughout the day and it's great:
http://downhillbattle.org/
And for all day Tuesday, the lead story on Wired.com was about Save Betamax. Check
it out:
http://wired.com/news/politics/0,128...w=wn_tophead_1
Finally, thank you everyone for the great effort you put in.
Sincerely,
Holmes Wilson
Tiffiniy Cheng
Rebecca Laurie
Nicholas Reville
Downhill Battle Team