, 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
Steve (2 replies)
Steve (2 replies)
Anyone that knows anything about this bill realizes that Congress is flirting with gutting an industry with revenues 100x that of the entertainment industry. Why? Because the entertainment industry pays their congresspeople better. Bill Gates by himself could outspend the entertainment lobby if he wanted. For some reason, however, I've seen no evidence of much counter-lobbying, beyond a letter or two from some of the aforementioned companies.
To me, this situation is akin to a group of naive kids (computer industry) trying to muscle in on the Mafia (entertainment). The entertainment industry has been perfecting their strongarm techniques for almost a century, while the computer industry has only been around (in it's current incarnation) for a couple of decades. It's like the computer industry is in over its head in this situation. They need to throw some money at some experienced lobbyists to protect their very existence. Microsoft has skirted closely at becoming an extension of the federal goverment (or at least be wholly controlled by federal regulators), and it seems that the entire IT industry is sitting back and waiting for someone else to fight their fight.
Looks like to me that the way this is going to go down is:
1.) SCCCA/SSSCA/Whatevever is going to pass
2.) Someone like the EFF will take it to court to challenge its Constitutionality and it will be struck down
Unfortunately, this cycle will likely serve to make it easier for a similar bill to pass later and stick. God forbid if that happens. If it does, the entire computer industry will degenerate into manufacturing 'applicances' that will only run AOL.
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Link to this comment: http://www.securityfocus.com/comments/columns/71/11535#11535