Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Your rights to own personal property...may be none

Act Now: Don't Let Copyright Holders Steal Our Property Rights! From Demand Progress:

Do you really own the smartphone you’re using to read this email? If you sold your computer, would you be breaking the law? A federal court in New York says you would be.

It's unbelievable, but trademark and copyright holders really are trying to take away your right to sell things that you own: Please add your name at right to fight back.

The First-Sale Doctrine gives us the right to sell most property we own. But if the Supreme Court supports the lower court’s decision, we won't really “own” anything if it's from a different country. We expect them to issue a ruling later this year.

The President can urge the Court to side with consumers; then Congress will probably weigh in on the issue, no matter how the Court rules.

If we lose this fight, anybody who wants to resell foreign products, from Macbooks and iPhones to our clothing and textbooks, will have to ask copyright holders for permission first. And they'll have the right to deny it!

It's bad for so many reasons: It'll undermine Craigslist and Ebay, hurt the environment, increase incentives for manufacturers to move jobs off-shore, and effectively ban the traditional American yard sale.


To sign petition: click here

Sounds like you are renting rather than owning. This is a example of copyright lawsuits gone astray. The judge needs to do the right thing and rein in these out of control control freaks who like to mess up people's lives.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've read other precious time to read this. Those who studied law, they wasted they time once and forever, so we dont repeat this. Those who studied guns have an advantage though.

hemocyl reviews said...

would you be breaking the law? A federal court in New York says you would be.