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Push Underway For Languishing UCITA
mojotoad writes: "Efforts have currently be redoubled to push UCITA through up to 10 states by the end of the year, according to an article on law.com. Apparently, the bill has been "languishing" in state legistlatures. My favorite quote: 'There is a natural euphoria whenever you draft a bill like UCITA,' says Daniel Duncan, executive director of the Digital Commerce Coalition. 'We thought, "We'll take it to the states and they'll see the wisdom of our work."' Time to redouble your effort to thwart this beast. Contact your congressman."
"Pullen wants software companies to be held liable for damages for security breaks resulting from the backdoor technology -- as well as damages from known glitches in software."
People will think twice before putting out software now *cough* MS *cough*.
This should have been the bill that would put an end to a lot of this, but no:
while software companies should provide reliable goods, they shouldn't have to bear potentially enormous risks associated with the use of their products.
"How many companies are there who would undertake that risk?" Kupferschmid asks. "No one would. It's just too great."
So: The industry knows that its software can cause enormous problems, and yet does not want to take responsibility for them. If a building contractor were to say that, they would be slapped down!
Now instead of a law which would finally force companies to take responsibility for their software and actions, we have one which will instead give them more opportunity to prevent us from doing anything about it. How long before license agreements prevent the dicussion of bugs found in the program? It could be done!
Don't just contact your congressman or senator, contact your local legislative representatives. Local representatives respond (usually) to pressure from their constituents. The best thing to do is to write a letter. Followed by calling them up. And last (and least) drop them an email message. Find your local representatives at the Nationcal Conference of State Legislatures site. Or try one of these other two directories: here and here.
.plan.
Some day I hope to have a
Portable versions of Firefox, GIMP, LibreOffice, etc
At the risk of sounding like Katz...
It happens because America is a land of consumers, not citizens. Anything that doesn't specifically enable us to dole out more money for goods and services (to the benefit of corporate interests everywhere) is effectively deemed unnecessary, and anything (such as personal rights) that hinders market reach, share values, and profitability is a threat to be removed or otherwise addressed.
And it's not just that we're being forced into such a position - we're accepting it, settling into it nearly wholeheartedly. (A minority of eligible voters even bothered showing up to vote in the last presidential election, and it gets even worse during years when we're not voting on that office.)
Point and jeer all you want - we earned it.
Karma: Excellent, but still won't get you laid.
We were a lot more free in some ways in the past. Of course, there have always been stupid things going on, while white males were more free 150 years ago, women were considered 2nd class people, and native americans and black people were considered to be animals. We are also more free than some other countries right now. We are not being run over by tanks for protesting, our police don't kill us as often as the police in some other countries do, although it is getting worse here. And, for the most part we still have some of our rights given to us by the constitution, but that list is getting shorter.
The problem is that most Americans that think we are free do so because their heads are stuck in the past. They don't see what our government has become and how they are getting worse. They don't see that rather than having concerned citizens who are willing to protect the things important to them, we are mostly "consumers" who only care to get what we want to feel good or have fun for a little while. It's not that there are not good people out there, but that the majority only cares about themselves as an individual. That's why most parents are ok with having both the mother and father work 10 hours a day, then come home in time to ship their kids off to soccer practice so they don't have to deal with them. People don't care in the U.S. about anything other than getting more money and more things. We have been converted to a consumer country. Everything is about money, and nothing is about what is good or bad.
I am very fond of how this country was started, and that my life is not in danger as it would be if someone with my attitude were living in China, but that doesn't make the U.S. any less wrong than it is now. I don't know where it all went wrong, but as it currently is, I hate the U.S. but don't know any free place to move to.
Mas vale cholo, que mal acompañado.
I also am from Virginia. Yes, the UCITA legislation has passed. HoweverThere was also a resolution passed that the Joint Commission on Technology and Science would study the impact of the legislation and report back to the General Assembly by December 1, 2000. Furthermore, the UCITA legislation is not set to take effect until July 1, 2001.
It is not too late.
Write to your state senators and representatives (not your federal congressional representatives, but the ones that represent you in the state legislature - which you can find here - although it probably couldn't hurt to write to everyone in the state legislature if you are motivated to do so). Refer to the Uniform Computer Informations Transactions Act, or SB372 (from 2000 legistlative session) or CHAP996 (the actual additions to the Code of Virginia). Explain to them nicely, coherently, and concisely why UCITA is bad for Virginia, its citizens, and even its businesses. Point out how the other states have been unwilling to adopt UCITA and why.
UCITA can still be repealed in Virginia. Now is also the time to redouble our efforts towards that goal.
UCITA was passed by Virginia and Maryland last
year, but only Maryland has enacted the law.
Virginia is still holding hearings on UCITA,
which is scheduled to become law in July 2001.
The bill will be up for review this year in Delaware, Hawaii,
Illinois, Iowa, New Jersey, and Oklahoma.
Great links!
Try the enemeywww.ucitaonline.com
You can even sign up for e-mail updates!