Follow The Money: Pro-RIAA Congressmen And Their Cash Haul

[JackSpratts]

Who are the “Statesmen” in DC trying to reshape the Internet into a cash machine for mostly foreign media companies? How much have they earned in return?

That Side –

Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-SC): He proposed the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act, a bill to outlaw the sale of PCs or consumer electronics devices lacking copy protection.

Money trail: $282,534 from TV/music/movie contributors since 1997--his second-biggest supporting industry (after lawyers and law firms, who gave $1,213,475).

Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-CA): The Berman P2P bill gives copyright holders legal immunity to attack P2P networks to hinder file-sharing, if the U.S. Attorney General has been notified. Files on users' PCs can't be damaged.

Money trail: $570,000 from TV/music/movie donors since 1993. Berman is the leading recipient of entertainment industry money in the House.

Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC): Coble was the original sponsor of the 1998 DMCA and is cosponsoring Berman's proposed P2P bill.

Money trail: $151,021 from TV/movie/music donors since 1993. Since 2000, law firms are his top contributors, with the entertainment industry a close second. He is the number two recipient of music industry funds in the House.

This Side –

Finally there’s good guy Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA): Boucher has been an outspoken critic of the DMCA since its passage in 1998. He has been trying to rally support within Congress to amend the DMCA to explicitly affirm fair use.

Money trail: a paltry $26,125 from computer industry donors in the current election cycle. That’s less than 5% of what Howard Berman got from Hollywood. Even "bigger contributors" to his war chest, however, are utilities ($57,902) and law firms ($31,250) but there’s not much Internet interest there. Boucher really is one of the few good guys in Washinton on this issue.

Source: PCWorld.com

- js.