So what's the plan? It's this: We want you to send us your junk.

Not just any old junk, obviously. What we want is for people to send us broken leisure media. Whether they be movies, albums, or games, on floppy disc, CD, tape, DVD or cartridge, if you've got something that doesn't work any more, we want you to send it to us. We don't care how old it is, we don't care if the publisher is no longer in business, we don't care about anything other than whether it works or not. If it doesn't, we want it, whether it's a scratched disc, a worn-out tape, or a cartridge with a dead save battery. Then, on your behalf, we'll go into action.


FOUR STEPS TO JUSTICE

1. When we've accumulated a suitably large collection of non-working media, we'll present them en masse to the publishers, or whoever owns the rights now. We'll politely demand that in accordance with our statutory consumer rights, every single one be replaced with a working copy, or the original purchase price refunded (at the publisher's option).

2. We'll offer, on your behalf, to pay the legitimate costs of the media and postage, but not the extortionate "handling" charges of £10 or more that most publishers attempt to levy for replacement copies. (After all, why should consumers pay an extra 30% on top of the original purchase price just because the companies sold us shoddy merchandise unfit to uphold the licence period we were sold it for?)

3. When (rather than if) the companies are unwilling or unable to do this, we'll present the huge stack of useless media to the relevant government bodies as prima facie evidence that consumers are being denied their legal rights, and are therefore being effectively robbed of millions of pounds.

4. We will then demand that, as companies have demonstrably failed in their duty to uphold the terms of the licences, consumers must have the legally-exercisable right of backup restored to them. In practice, the only feasible way to achieve this will be to either repeal the changes to the law made by the DMCA and EUCD, or to outlaw copy protection, whether in hardware or software. Since the latter is unlikely to be popular with publishers or hardware manufacturers, the former will be the only option.
 

This plan has the ability to succeed where lobbying and rational persuasion has failed. Because laws which are demonstrably unjust and contradictory, when challenged, can never survive for long.

We will, if necessary, challenge the law to the extent of taking court action. Previous protests in this area have faltered for the lack of a test case, enabling the government to simply ignore them, but should we get to court, there are no legal avenues by which a judge can find against us. Publishers DO sell a licence without limit of time. Media DO degrade naturally, even if looked after properly. It therefore clearly IS necessary for consumers to have recourse to either replacement copies or backups, and in practice only the ability to make backups satisfies the requirements of our statutory rights.

If you care about the erosion of your civil rights, if you care about the seemingly-unstoppable progress of draconian laws enacted at the expense of consumers for the sole benefit of corporate profit, (or if you just want to play your old copy of Zero The Kamikaze Squirrel again) then help us.

All we're asking you for is something that's broken and useless anyway. What have you got to lose?

What to send us, and where >>