ĵǿŋ.čΦм
le texte et l'image

26.4.2006, 00:24
copyWRONG

Congress prepares the equivalent of the Patriot Act for the Internet
[image]

This draft legislation is seeking to set back the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, and push the digital world into more chaos. "...created by the Bush administration and backed by Rep. Lamar Smith, it already enjoys the support of large copyright holders such as the Recording Industry Association of America. Smith, a Texas Republican, is the chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee that oversees intellectual-property law."

As one critic of the ambiguity of the wording of the current legislation put it
Reader post by: Xalorous
Story: Congress readies new digital copyright bill

"Under current law, Section 1201 of the law generally prohibits distributing or trafficking in any software or hardware that can be used to bypass copy-protection devices."

Products which would assist or allow you to reverse engineer or otherwise break copyright protection:

Pencil
Paper
ruler
camera
copier
printer
scanner
computer
programming software
debugging software
scanner software
cd reader software
cd burner software
digital media (all kinds)
etc, etc, ad nauseum

Get real. No way this could be equally enforced.

I will write a haiku, publish it to my website, with a "do not copy" disclaimer, and then sue anyone who has/sells/makes any of the above products on the grounds that they could be used to overcome my copy protection.
So basically, the government would have free reign to wire-tap anyone (through a newly created Copyright unit of the FBI) seize any of the materials associated with the "crime" and could instate 10 year minimum rides to the federal funhouse for absolutely non-violent offenses, which could seemingly be enforced on a whim. So a future scenario: say something bad on the internet--and they could lock you away for a minimum of 10 years for owning a CD burner--if they wanted to. And with a whole new branch of the FBI dedicated to protecting the income of a few multimedia conglomerates--they'll have the time and manpower to enforce it.

Full text of the article.

PDF of Digital Millenium Copyright Act of 1998

ps: better get rid of those copy machines and scanners around the office in the meantime. who knows what kind of havoc one could wreak with those--if one was so inclined. and don't even think about using any images on your blogs that you don't own the copyright to...

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Category: Political Mumbo Jumbo

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