RE: there is a new battlefield folks


Subject: RE: there is a new battlefield folks
From: William F. Fulton (fulton@gci.net)
Date: Thu Mar 21 2002 - 23:27:07 AKST


-----Original Message-----
From: aklug-bounce@aklug.org [mailto:aklug-bounce@aklug.org]On Behalf Of
James Zuelow
Sent: Thursday, March 21, 2002 11:23 PM
To: William F. Fulton
Cc: aklug@aklug.org
Subject: Re: there is a new battlefield folks

On Thu, 21 Mar 2002, William F. Fulton wrote:

>
> Well they did it SEN. Stevens along with his partner in crime from SC have
> officialy introduced the SSSCA under a new name the Consumer Broadband and
> Digital Television Promotion Act (CBDTPA)bill (S.2048): This is bad very
bad
> It will make Linux and other open source software as we know it illegal
same
> with building your own box at home or using non government approved parts
or
> software on any network. If I'm starting to sound a little freaked out its
> because I am come on guys/gals we need to pull together on this call Sen
> Stevens E-mail him make noise make lots and lots of noise heres some links
> for more info
>
One thing I find interesting in the Wired article (find from /.) is that
it will be illegal to move non-compliant hardware *ACROSS STATE LINES.*
So your old computer will still be legal for you to own, but you'll never
find parts for it unless they're already in Alaska.

Of course, parts will be hard to find anyway under the current definition.
The copyright protection will have to be built into every digital device,
and that crazy definition they're using will include things like memory
DIMMs & hard drives. Think about the cost of implementing copy protection
for each individual hard drive, DIMM, or stuff like Smart-Media.

They'll at least have to rationalize the definition of "digital
interactive device" a little more than it is now, or we will be unable to
ship any car made after 1980 across state lines. (No copyright protection
built into the car's computer...)

Sigh.

Slightly Off Topic:
I wonder why Stevens is the only Republican to co-sign this bill.
It seems like a big-government kind of thing that would normally be
flame-bait for Republican politicians. There's a story there somewhere.
This will be interesting to watch in debate. (Although I notice that
Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, supports the bill - but he didn't co-sign.)

Bright Note:
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,50784,00.html

As long as the House maintains this course, nothing to worry about.

Cheers,

James

We may be able to use our old computers but not on a network by the wording
of the bill that would be a crime



This archive was generated by hypermail 2a23 : Thu Mar 21 2002 - 23:29:27 AKST