Check In 6 February

[tanaqui]

This month's round-up and check-in post kicks off with a reminder that fandomtrumpshate's 2022 round is now open for signups.

Here are the posts since the last check in:

Scam - Covid Testing Sites Run By The Center For Covid Control
You Can Now Order Free At-Home Covid-19 Tests
Initiative For AFC (NYState)
Blocking The EARN IT Act
(Donate) National Butterfly Center Closing Indefinitely After Attacks From Right-Wing

And the usual reminder to not be shy of making your own posts about any issues and actions you think the comm should know about, or dropping some information into a comment to our sticky post if you'd like the mods to do it.

Please also let us know of anything you think should be added to our roundup of election resources (or anything that needs to be removed).

You can always use our tags to check for any ongoing actions or resources relevant to the issues you care about. (And a quick shout out to redbird for all the tagging work that keeps the comm running smoothly.)

Finally, here's our poll (behind the cut) for you to tell us what you've been doing in the last few weeks. And do let us know in comments what you plan to do next.

( Poll behind the cut )

Prevent Content ID from infecting the whole Internet

[chestnut_pod]

Regarding proposed new online copyright regulations, quoting from the Electronic Frontier Foundation:

"Right now, the U.S. Copyright Office is collecting information on the use of "standard technical measures" to address copyright infringement, as part of a longer effort that, we fear, will lead to filtering mandates."

That is, the state is considering expanding something like Content ID to mandatory use across the Internet, making it way harder to engage in art and community online without facing steep fines and possibly even jail time for work deemed copyright-infringing. You can see the full EFF statement here.

They need people to submit formal comments to the USCO, a process which does not take much time but does require a little more care than the usual email to your reps. This is the form, and please note the two links immediately under the header: "Read Agency Guidelines | Commenter's Checklist." Please be very sure to follow those requirements! Even so, a short comment is better than no comment.

Please also note that the form asks you for your phone # and address -- these are not required, and they may be posted publicly if you include them. I would recommend adding only your name and, if you like, your state, and leaving it at that.

--

This is the comment I left; please feel free to use it as a (loose! so it doesn't get thrown out!) template.

"Copyright enforcement should be relaxed, not tightened. Expanding Content ID-type filters across the whole of the Internet will stymie creativity and ensure that corporate interests control what content is possible to make and share on the Internet. I would be very sad to see communities of artists, fans, critics, and performers disappear due to draconian and anti-artist rules. As a fan of classical music, I know that these automated content filters often remove perfectly valid performances by classical musicians on Facebook, restricting their ability to share their art and my ability to enjoy it, because they do not understand context or nuanced interpretations. They will make it harder for individual musicians, new musicians, and marginalized musicians to share their art, because those people simply cannot compete with copyright holders on the scale of YouTube. Though that very scale may make those companies seem like the primary victims of copyright infringement, the people who are hurt most, and most unfairly, are individuals simply trying to share their art without receiving fines or even jail time due to the misunderstandings of a piece of code. I strongly urge you to foster creativity and art among the public, rather than fostering ever-tighter corporate control of the arts."