A Mickey Mouse Bill

A Mickey Mouse Bill
David Banisar, 2002-04-01

The Hollings copyright bill would shoehorn absurd copy-blocking technology into everything from your Palm Pilot to your digital camera. Is this progress?

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A Mickey Mouse Bill 2002-04-01
Anonymous (3 replies)

If the IT field is unified against this bill, where is the evidence? You would think that companies like Intel, Microsoft, Apple, HP/Compaq, Dell, Gateway, and many others, with a combined market cap in the high hundreds of billions (if not trillions) would be banging at the gates of Congress with ...

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A Mickey Mouse Bill 2002-04-04
Anonymous

You haven't seen evidence of IT fighting back because they really don't have to. They consider this a joke, and it is. Assume for a moment that this bill actually does pass. It won't, but lets assume that it does. Do you really think that major powers like Intel and MS will actually abide by it?...

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A Mickey Mouse Bill 2002-04-05
Education Drone

One thing occurs to me, which is that Congress is getting tired of the media giants complaining about copying, and is saying, "Okay, get together and find a way to stop it, or we'll get someone to do it for you."

Unfortunately, the means to enforce this is an all-encompassing requirement for prot...

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A Mickey Mouse Bill 2002-04-08
Anonymous

Actually, Intel MS and other IT company execs have already appeared in Congressional Subcomittee hearings regarding this issue. This was well over 2 months ago. Unfortunately this article is a wee bit late. The legislation has been in the preperation stages since 1999.
If you've actually read the b...

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A Mickey Mouse Bill 2002-04-01
Anonymous (1 replies)

And it is this soft of foolishness that makes me believe the following:

(1) Congress is indeed the opposite of Progress;
(2) Term limits are a good idea and need to be implimented;
(3) There isn't one Congressperson who understands even the most basic of technology issues, what's more, they're...

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A Mickey Mouse Bill 2002-04-09
Anonymous

The idea of a QUALIFIED technology subcommittee is silly. Why would a bunch of political whores (our congress) want technically qualified advice? Don't forget, it was a congressional (state?) body that tried to legislate Pi to be equal to three. Things haven't changed much since that one, whoever pa...

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A Mickey Mouse Bill 2002-04-01
Steve (2 replies)

If this bill ever gets close to being signed into law, I'll be buying up as many "pre-ban" PCs as I can, because Napster, software piracy, and drug smuggling will all be inconsequential blips in comparison to the scope of the black market for "unregulated" PCs and software....

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A Mickey Mouse Bill 2002-04-02
Joost de Heer (1 replies)

Or move outside the US. I highly doubt the US Congress could force governments outside the US to accept this bill as a law. The US may think they're all powerful, but they're not -this- powerful. I hope....

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A Mickey Mouse Bill 2002-04-04
Anonymous (1 replies)

I think it'll be a cold day in hell before this thing actually gets passed, but if it did I think we'd be seeing a lot of IT companys moving their headquarters to the UK.
You have companys like Intel seriousely thinking about leaving the US and you can bet your ass the government will start payin...

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A Mickey Mouse Bill 2002-04-09
Anonymous

Stop giving the UK as an example of where anyone would move to get away from oppressive IT (and other) legislation. Other than just being the wagging tail on the US dog, the UK is also the country with a draconian law that compels anyone to incriminate themselves by being forced under penalty of a l...

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A Mickey Mouse Bill 2002-04-08
Anonymous

You mean those old 386 boxes in my basement might be worth something after all?...

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A Mickey Mouse Bill 2002-04-01
Anonymous

maybe a nation wide boycott of all music, movies and entertainment by the bills sponsors over an extended period of time even if only a few weeks may make them sit up and take notice. ...

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A Mickey Mouse Bill 2002-04-01
Anonymous

I wonder which senario would be more devasting: Mickey Media and friends closing their doors from financial 'destruction' by piracy, or IT closing their doors because of ridiculous Media witch hunts.

Personally the only markets I can think that the Media Whores have created in the last ten years...

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A Mickey Mouse Bill 2002-04-02
Anonymous

Commoners will find a way around this, just like DVD zones really doesn't matter, and just like Gestapo never could get their hands on everyone they wanted. No matter how they tried.

And what about countries outside North America? Not all nations have copyright rules like those in the US. Look wh...

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A Mickey Mouse Bill 2002-04-02
Anonymous

I drive a hot-rod. Although the official details list the car as being made in 1966 the only original part of the car that remains is the roof; all the other metal, chassis, engine and such having been replaced in the name of restoration. I am also exempt from emissions regulations, here in the UK f...

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A Mickey Mouse Bill 2002-04-02
Anonymous

I can say even if this goes through and we all get a big black box on or broadband connections, I'm quiet sure the box will be chipped within a few days, we have proven that no copy protection is worth its weight....a few million people working on the same project always makes anything hard to prot...

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Sandra Day O'Conner once stated that copyright law exists to benefit society, not to guard the rights of authors. The idea is that it protects the incentive to create works.

In the music world that has become a joke. A miniscule percentage of musicians receive significant royalty payments. By ...

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A Mickey Mouse Bill 2002-04-02
Anonymous

My answer to all this is here :

slashdot.org , Saturday 30th of March ,
threshold = 0 ,
"Geeks of the world unite"

The Pigs want war, give it to them !!!...

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A Mickey Mouse Bill 2002-04-04
ninjan

Anyways "if", this notice would turn into prints, there will still be ways of hackin' and crackin' because obviously what has been made digital, has been made to bust up... don't worry about it and keep on "pirating" like I know u like 2 do.......

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A Mickey Mouse Bill 2002-04-04
ninjan (1 replies)

A Mickey Mouse Bill 2002-04-08
Anonymous

I agree with the previously suggested boycot of everything that comes out of hollywood. Since they have clearly delivered a firm slap in the face to every consumer who has ever purchased a CD or movie, it seems like the only option left. Its unfortunate to see them biting the hands that feed the ind...

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problems for xerox 2002-04-11
Stephen

This would be a major piece of difficult to implement law, if it wasnt an April Fool joke.

i.e. - what about existing systems? The definition makes it illegal to move a computer or printer until retrofitted. Retrospective legislation is not feasible in the UK, is the US not the same?

The defin...

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A Mickey Mouse Bill 2002-04-16
Anonymous

'reproduces copyrighted works in digital form'?

...Makes every scanner illegal, too....

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A Mickey Mouse Bill < The Big Picture DEFINED 2002-04-18
well imformed

So under this new law if I make a program at my business and sell it without a goverment copyright I can do time in Federal prison and fines in the six figures range. Can you honestly tell me that the US Corporate Entities envolved are not going crazy ? maybe not,let me explain it in broader terms
...

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A Mickey Mouse Bill 2002-04-18
"lovepampers"melissa

Make a bill!...

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