Legal

I have heard this phrase time and time again from people in the industry. When talking about the government, people inevitably say, “I want to stay under the radar.” While I do believe it is a really bad idea to get into the government’s face as Rob Black did with his public statement, “Come and get me,” the industry is shooting itself in the foot through its absence of presence. We are staying so far under the radar that the government is literally walking all over us.

In their released proposed regulations of July 12, 2007, the DOJ stated that the cost of industry compliance for 2257 is negligible. We know that’s not true, but it is up to us to convince them otherwise. If we can demonstrate that the cost of compliance is a significant burden to the industry, then the regulations must go through significantly more scrutiny. If the industry responds en force, we will send a powerful message. Even if the DOJ ignores our comments, a strong voice of opposition from the industry during this comment period will give us a much stronger position if we have to fight the battle in court.

People have written and asked me if I can guarantee them that the government will not retaliate against them. I respond that I can’t guarantee it, but that there has been no retaliation against the plaintiffs in our 2257 case who took a MUCH bigger stance and risk than writing a public comment. Then I tell them that I CAN guarantee that the government will continue to chip away at the industry and our personal freedoms unless we take a stand.

The time to act is now. Go to FSC’s website, www.freespeechcoalition.com and follow the instructions in the Guide for Public Comment section. The deadline for comments is September 10, 2007, so please submit your comments today.

If you would like to comment on this or any other FSC blog or issue, send your comments to blog@freespeechcoalition.com.

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