INDUCE Vomiting

Declan McCullagh reports on a draconian sounding bill that could effectively ban p2p file sharing networks and gut the Betamax decision, which protected the makers of products which could be used to infringe copyrights, provided there were other, non-infringing uses.

Comments

[Evan Williams]

[...]and gut the Betamax decision, which protected the makers of products which could be used to infringe copyrights, provided there were other, non-infringing uses.

Oh, really? Well, then, folks, let's go ahead and list a few of those products, shall we?

-Ink pens; could be used to plagiarize a literary work

-Ink printers; see above

-Typewriters; see above

-Paper; see above

-Computers; can be used to plagiarize works, in conjunction with printers, or can be used to copy files or CD's

-CD-R drives; see above

-Cameras; can be used to photograph works of art, which could then be reproduced

-Paint; see above

-Paintbrushes; see above

-Audio recorders; could be used to record music or spoken word, which could then be reproduced

-Video recorders; could be used to record performances or cinema, which could then be reproduced

-VCR's; could be used to record programs, which could then be reproduced

Uh-oh. This should be fun. Can't wait till the black suits break down my door to confiscate my pens, pencils, paper, printer, computer, CD-R, VCR, etc.

[kmw]

Once again, I guess we're just expected to take it.. Because it's for the children!

Damnit people, think of the children!

(BTW, this is an unenforceable law if there ever was one. It has extremely narrow selective prosecution written all over it.)

[meep]

It's unenforceable in current form, but They don't expect it to pass as such. They'll negotiate it down to a "reasonable" level, collect their checks from Big Media, and continue to live in blissful ignorance.

The fact that Sen. Hatch is still alive makes me doubt the existence of a benign deity.

[rst]

What the hell does a copyright have to do with unlawful child exploitation? Is that in some kind of contrast to lawful child exploitation?

The fact that Sen. Hatch is still alive makes me doubt the existence of a benign deity.

or reaffirms your belief in a malevolent demon...

[tsr]

Where have you been rst? Don't you know the mantra being uttered in Congress to push for this legislation? P2P technology is being used primarily to spread kiddie porn! That's their justification for crafting this bill so vaguely.

So guess what? In the eyes of Congress, anyone who has Morpheus, KaZaa, WinMX, Bearshare... or for that matter AIM, Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger, ICQ, and Trillian... are guilty until proven innocent of spreading kiddie porn!

Has that gotten your attention yet?

[Warren]

The fact that Sen. Hatch is still alive makes me doubt the existence of a benign deity.

And yet we have Orrin to thank for keeping the FDA out of herbal supplements. Just goes to show ya. Freedom from onerous government regulation can be bought for a price. Sort of a free market of liberty, how lovely.

[kmw]

I was just pondering this subject some more, and realized that all this crying ?for the children? might have the opposite intended effect in the end. Just like the story of crying wolf too many times, perhaps the general public might get so fed up with the ?for the children? tagline that anything that has CHILDREN in the title or text would automatically be dismissed.

Starting with the COPA, on through to what is around the corner next, people are becoming more and more suspicious of anything that claims to be for protecting children.

One other thing to note: Tech companies have at least as much, if not more, lawyer money than the Hollywood and Recording industries. DMCA passed because it benefited both Tech and Studio alike. P2P legislation is extremely one-sided. In an iron cage deathmatch, I don?t think the RIAA/MPAA would win.

[moonbiter]

This just made me go out, download, and install WinMx. I've never felt the need before, but I wanted to contribute to a network just to spite those who would make such laws. Petty, sure, but it felt good.

[Jason Ligon]

Interesting that one side is pushing for the repeal of DMCA while the other is trying to extend its powers. Looks like we might get a iron cage deathmatch afterall. Popcorn, anyone?

[Shawn Smith (in Las Vegas)]

And it's not just owning the devices that could illegally copy creative works that would be a problem. The text that was released before Senate introduction says that anyone who, "... aids, abets, induces, counsels, or procures ... shall be liable as an infringer." It seems to me that some aggressive prosecutor could equate linking to a website which contains instructions on how to defeat copyright protection and someone who used that method to make thousands of copies of The Lord of the Rings and sell them for $5.00 a pop in front of New Line Cinema's corporate offices.

I swear, I'm really beginning to think that Orrin Hatch needs to get out more. Several years ago he wanted to pass a bill that would make it illegal to have a casino within 10,000 feet (almost 2 miles) of a school. That would have shut down the casinos in Las Vegas. Yes, there are people who work, live, and raise families here. Quite a few of them are Mormons, too.

[Sandy]

Because, you know, there are no penalties against child molestation. But if they have to get software that is itself illegal to share illegal kiddie porn, boy, THAT'll stop 'em!

[rst]

Don't you know the mantra being uttered in Congress to push for this legislation?

Yeah, but this one is a bit out there. I enjoy cracking copy protection. I've written serial generators and reverse engineered dlls to yank ouy registration stuff mostly. It's fun. And now some old fuck who should be in a nursing home is telling me that in order to stop child exploitation, anyone who writes a serial generator is a felon. Like I need *another* reason? All this shit I like to do for fun all of the sudden are crimes against humanity, #2 on the hit parade right after al Qaeda. Why, because the RIAA isn't swimming in enough money?

It's the "exploitation" routine that bugs me. It was bad enough when they came out with that drugs-fund-terrorism bit...I felt maybe, maybe not, depending on the drug of choice, but I know that my taxes fund terrorism, so I'm not going to care too much about the grand or so per year that might get spent on drugs. It all comes out in the wash.

But cracking and child exploitation? Come on. Catholic Church donations funded altar boy rape for a while, maybe they still do. So maybe donating money to Catholic churches should be illegal as well, because ya know, we gotta save those kids.

End of rant.

[jc]

The allusion to Naziism in this copyright/bootlegging story was kind of disconcerting.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2026&e=1&u=/latimests/20040618/ts_latimes/studioscuttothechase

[rst]

From the article

In the U.S., admissions dropped 4%

and

Although industry officials point to the box-office decline as an immediate concern...

and from Jack Valenti's mouth:

At the annual ShoWest convention, Jack
Valenti, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Motion Picture Association of
America (MPAA), reported that 2003 was a ?good year.? Noting that box office totaled
$9.5 billion, he said it was ?the second largest total in the history of the movie industry.
To maintain that ascendant level of box office takings is a creative and marketing feat on a
heroic scale.?

Make up your mind.

[Bo]

You know what's sad? This headline was the first I'd heard of "INDUCE", and I somehow knew it would be a draconian package of laws with a bad acronym... the way they had to title it makes me cringe. This is worse than MATRIX.

[Kevin Carson]

You know what's really instrumental to viewing and listening to copyrighted material? Your eyes and ears.

Senator Hatch Introduces Bill to Burn People's Eyes Out

[a peer among many]

WinMX is cool; Soulseek is cooler.

http://www.slsknet.org/