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Congress' Tech Agenda
A reader writes: "Fox News is running a story on Congress' Tech Agenda. We have all been reading about plenty of legislation as each bill is introduced or considered, but it's nice to see a major news outlet picking up on the larger trend."
this sounds like a step in the right direction. Fair use and all that.
$ strings FTP.EXE | grep Copyright
@(#) Copyright (c) 1983 The Regents of the University of California.
2) The DMCRA
Is it just possible that they're getting a clue? As a coworker says, "dawn breaks on marble head..."
Stop by my site where I write about ERP systems & more
There's a bold heading in the link stating:
New Taxes Are Not on the List
He painted a unicorn in outer space. I'm askin' ya, what's it breathin'?
This seems to be on the agenda of mainstream news agencies as well. Media reposts tend to equate real-life security with online security bigtime. http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/stories/story/0,10 738,2909590,00.html
This article talks of Bill Gates and Sep11 in the beginning. Towards the end, there's mention of a "War Against The Bad Guys" as long as we use PCs and networks. Bears investigation.
If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
This seems to be on the agenda of mainstream news agencies as well. Media reposts tend to equate real-life security with online security bigtime./ story/0,10 738,2909590,00.html
http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/stories
This article talks of Bill Gates and Sep11 in the beginning. Towards the end, there's mention of a "War Against The Bad Guys" as long as we use PCs and networks. Bears investigation.
If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
A quote from the article:
"Government programs such as the Defense Department's Total Information Awareness Project, data-mining activities, biometric initiatives and various forms of tracking programs have already come under fire for privacy violations.
Congress, however, defunded TIA in the 2003 omnibus spending bill it passed Thursday night. In passing the rule, Congress said it wants a guarantee that the government's database program will not infringe on civil liberties before it approves its continuation."
-----
So this is far from dead and the demand by Congress that they "want a guarantee that the government's database program will not infringe on civil liberties" does not sound, to me, like an effective counterbalance for our freedoms over the long-term. What we should be pushing, lobbying (and fighting) for is EXTREMELY STRICT oversight of any project that involves collection of personal data for ANY reason. But only if we fail to stop the damned projects in the first place.
The reason that it can be true that 1+1 > 2 is that very peculiar nonzero value of the + operator
Why finance your own destruction, Amerika?
Didn't congress do more than enough with the dmca?! It's gonna take a dozen supreme court cases before it's invalidated, now they're about to start again.
:oP
I love the one about banning digital media devices that exclude government-approved copyright protection. Hopefully lobbyists for the personal electronics industry can keep this one off the books.
Damn the man!
For some reason, I found that reading this article gave me a warm, safe feeling as if it's all being taken care of by wise, kindly people. Sure, they may have their arguments but ultimately they're all working together for my benefit.
Looking closer, I found that the main debate is between 1) Keep the DMCA and enforce it better, and 2) Completely wacky measures like banning unprotected digital media.
But since that's kind of worrying, I think I'll just sink back into that warm, safe feeling now... mmm...
Whence? Hence. Whither? Thither.
ALL the points mentioned in the Fox News report have been covered by David Coursey of ZDNet in his unique style. It's an open secret that David is the Chief Microsoft Apologist at Anchordesk. What remains to be seen is whether the agenda is that of the govt. or Microsoft's. Links from the last few weeks at ZDNet:
t ory/0,10 738,2910920,00.html
s tory/0,10 738,2910207,00.html
/ story/0,10 738,2910015,00.html
s tory/0,10 738,2909517,00.html
s k/stories/story/0,10 738,2908975,00.html
1. Internet Tax: A lame troll by David.
http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/stories/s
2. Cell phone rights:
http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/stories/
3. DMCA, Lexmark and printer refills:
http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/stories
4. Hollywood, DVDs, DMCA Fair-use rights:
http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/stories/
5. Copying music, Boucher-Dooliitle:
http://www.zdnet.com/anchorde
Judging by the Talkback generated by David Coursey, it seems he's got the 'average-Joe' readers excited with his unique sensationalist style of journalism.
If you keep throwing chairs, one day you'll break windows....
Your elected officials get things half right? Or get half of what you want done. Example:
Backing the entertainment industry, Sen. Ernest Hollings, D-S.C., may reintroduce a bill to prohibit the making and distribution of "digital media devices" unless they include government-approved copy restriction technology.
Hollings has said that he really doesn't want the legislation, but some type of compromise is needed. Various tech industry groups and the Recording Industry Association of America recently promised to fight any such mandates and work out the piracy problem.
---
Hollings, along with Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., and Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., are also likely to introduce a comprehensive privacy bill to protect online surfers, who before Sept. 11 were pre-occupied with identity theft, but now must add government surveillance to their list of concerns.
I guess with all I've been seeing recently, half right is better than expected. But my frustration with our two party system grows. Too often I see two candidates who both agree with me on half the issues and disagree with me on the other half. I can't send a message by voting for either of them, other than "this set of my beliefs is more important than that set". Other than writing letters, or running for office myself, what really can be done to get the message across?
I'm assuming that the majority of Slashdot folk are in favor of keeping the Internet tax-free -- at least for the time being. (IMO, new regulations forced on the internet sector for online sales and Internet access would have a horrible affect on an already hard-hit portion of our economy... but then again, I'm biased... but aren't we all.)
As mentioned in the article, legislation has been introduced in both the House and the Senate that will extend the current moratorium on new taxes for Internet access and e-commerce activity.
Contact your members of Congress and voice your support for House Bill H.R. 49 and Senate Bill S.52
Contact Congress concerning H.R.49 Here
Contact Congress concerning S.52 Here
Polite emails (and/or snail-mailed letters, as they carry the most weight) simply stating your support for these bills will suffice.
Giving rights to their customers is a concern to the corporations now. I wonder what happened to the great so called ideology "customer is the king" that these companies pretend to practice.
My Aurora : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o91ZsGwJYyg
FB : https://www.facebook.com/TanveersPhotography
Fox News and Congress actually getting a clue about consumer rights and technology is like a politician vowing vote in the interest of thir constituents. It just doesn't happen in the long run.
Make lots of speeches crying that they are for the average person, but when the campaign donations start rolling in we all know what's going to happen.
If you don't believe me, just look at the DMCA, UCITA, and COPA. Whose interest are they really concerned with, those of thier biggest donors.
but it's nice to see a major news outlet picking up on the larger trend."
Now I just can't wait for a credible one to do so too...
If religous zealots don't believe in Evolution, then why are they so worried about bird flu?
"Cresanti said the concern is that lawmakers are putting in too much effort altering the DMCA -- which the industry says is in pretty good shape -- rather than enforcing the existing rules."
I thought the DMCA was used mainly to scare scientists and prevent crypto research, keep DVDs off Linux, hinder free enterprise and free trade, make toner cartridges more expensive, keep lists of store prices off the net, avoid having to obtain court orders to get access to private information, and other nifty things like that. Maybe it is "good shape" for the industry, but it certainly is "bad shape" for everyone else.
Companies should pay a 'tax' on electronic transactions envolving details of private persons.
the tax should be spent on keeping the infrastructure of the internet upto date, and reducing the cost of access to people.
This will help e-business, intuen reducing costs and overheads for everyone, and help make companies think before swapping private data.
This is easier than you would think, since a few companies hold most of the credit/consumer data.
thank God the internet isn't a human right.
*laugh*
You counted VB as a programming lanugage.
Rupert Murdoch, his News Corp, the Fox News subsidiary have just about the worst track record of sacrificing truth to profit.
For example, consider his relationship with the Chinese Gov't:
- Chris Patten, the last British governor or Hong Kong, wrote a book about Hong Kong's transistion to Chinese rule. It wasn't flattering to the Chinese gov't. They objected, so News Corp killed publication worldwide.
- The Chinese gov't didn't like BBC news being broadcast over a satellite owned by Murdoch/News Corp. As in many places, the BBC was the only reliable source of news available; it's even more valuable to people with totaliatrian gov'ts oppressing them. Murdoch removed the channel.
That's only a couple examples. I never watch Fox myself -- how do I know when it's the facts, and when it's Murdoch kissing someones a**?
For those who don't know: Murdoch owns News Corp. and everything named 'Fox' (well, maybe a few exceptions). News Corp. is one of those 5 large media companies that own nearly everything from movie studios to news outlets to music, the others being AOL-TW, Sony, Bertelsmann and Vivendi.
Nice to see the ad hominem fallacy is alive and well.
The examples you gave were business decisions by Murdoch for whatever reason he has for courting the Chinese, and nothing to do with Fox News content. Please state actual, confirmed examples of Fox News lying.
You're as bad as those that say they distrust CNN because they feel Ted Turner's hand is lurking editorially behind the scenes.
Remember, kids, just say no to ideology. It'll ruin your brain faster and more effectively than a 9mm shot to the head.
--- Ban humanity.
This article was written by Fox News, a part of News Corporation. News Corp is one of the companies who "encouraged" Master Hollings to write his SSSCA / CBDTPA bills.
Fox does a good job being balanced, and if they sometimes tend to lean a little to the right, that's OK, because it's nice to see news that hasn't been spun by some liberal spin doctor.
Plus, fox has Ann Coulter on, and she's hot.
Naturally, I don't trust these guys. They're politicians. Here's a few bits that, assuming are valid as news, I don't trust, and why.
First up is Robert Cresanti, vice president of the Business Software Alliance, trying to keep the DMCA unaltered. That's his job, but that anyone thinks the DMCA is reasonable is bogus.
More relevantly is the DMRCA, most particularly, this bit: Among them is the Digital Media Consumers Rights Act, introduced by Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., that gives consumers more fair-use rights for digital products and calls for copy-protected CDs to be clearly labeled if they include copy-proof technologies.
We all know there's no such thing as copy-*proof*. Copy-resistant, yes; but not copy-proof. If the bill in fact makes reference to copy-proof, then it really doesn't do anything but pay lip service to "consumer's rights."
Fritz rears his ugly head once more, but since he's not in charge of the tech committee at this point he's less of a threat. He still demonstrates his complete inability to understand computers, here: Backing the entertainment industry, Sen. Ernest Hollings, D-S.C., may reintroduce a bill to prohibit the making and distribution of "digital media devices" unless they include government-approved copy restriction technology.
Hollings has said that he really doesn't want the legislation, but some type of compromise is needed. Various tech industry groups and the Recording Industry Association of America recently promised to fight any such mandates and work out the piracy problem.
Yeah, "compromise." I recall reading here a while ago that if I want to cut both your legs off, you don't compromise by removing just the left one. The original deal was completely outrageous. Even halfway is far too far.
Curious is the last sentence, saying that the RIAA is intending to fight such mandates? Forgive me if I'm skeptical, but if they follow through with reasonable approaches, this would be a fair compromise. They protect their revenue using traditional copyright laws, everyone else can do what they like with their IP. However, I'm not holding my breath. I find pre-dawn, kick-in-the-door, 1 48x CD-burner = 24 CD-burners much more likely.
The MPAA is a bit more up-front: The Motion Picture Association of America's solution to rampant piracy is "to run to Congress and try to force a solution there that is a dangerous, ongoing process for us," said Cresanti, who argued the tech industry is too young to be more heavily regulated. Hardly surprising; however, why is Cresanti, the BSA representative, speaking on behalf of the MPAA?
There's a large bit about giving tax credits for broadband deployments, and *not* adding new taxes to e-commerce; so those businesses that exist only online would do well to move to Nevada or other state with no sales tax and no tax agreements with other states.
I also found this part interesting, The group recently released its Tech Environmental Quality Index, which shows that government is creating an increasingly hostile environment for innovation, competition and growth in the tech industry, but can't think of how to comment on that. Rep. Chrtopher Cox (R-CA) can speak for me, "Given the continued softness in the tech economy, this is hardly the time for new taxes on the Internet," Cox said in a statement. "Rather, providing long-term certainty about tax policy is one of the necessary ingredients for a tech rebound."
Finally, it looks like we're going to have an argument similar to "Are the X-Men humans or animals?" debates (an article a while back, which was caused by different taxation rates for toys representing humans, and toys representing animals, that I can't find in the time I have), based on this final bit: "This is a very thorny thing right now," Thierer said last week. "There are amazing battles going on about what's a granola bar."
Sigs are like bumper stickers.
These types of short sighted laws, e.g., DMCA, is the number 1 one reason why you should vote out any congress member over 45 years of age.
The older members come from a time when only the federal government could decide what entertainment/tech innovations made it in the marketplace.
Younger congressional members will be much more open to innovation.
We never want another thing like digital audio tape machines to be killed via industry lobbying and congressional stalling.
Vote out all of the obsolete older ones.
No, it's a step towards legitimizing the DMCA which should be repealed. Copyright law is so strong already that the Supreme Court's favorable opinion called it "unwise". DMCA outlaws technology instead of enforcing copyright. "Circumvention", making use of things you own, and reverse engineering, simply understanding how things work, should not be crimes. Do not support half measures so that you can be comfortable in your slavery and your children will think you are a criminal for being curious. Laws that make specific exceptions to the gross and unconstituional language of the DMCA are not good for anyone.
Wholesale redistribution, aka publication, of other people's content is wrong. It deprives artists and publishers of fair returns for their efforts. This is what copyright is all about.
Using your own media and recieving radio waves that pass through your house is not wrong. Sharing the media you enjoy with a few friends and playing for yourself when you feel like it is not republication and nothing is wrong with it. Decrypting radio waves passing through your house is not a republication. Outlawing your ability to do these things and share that information with your friends is what the DMCA is all about.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
Plus, fox has Ann Coulter on, and she's hot.
shudder... vomit...
She's a Nazi for god's sake...
Topic 1: Stopping our VCRs from blinking 12:00
Topic 2: Figuring out why Winders keeps 'crashing'.
Topic 3: Gettin' that there computer to say hello, like on that Independence Day movie.
Important tech discussion this session! Oh, I can't wait!
She worse than that, even....she's a neoconservative
"There will be numerous bills this year that will take a run at the DMCA that will raise concerns for us," Cresanti said. Among them is the Digital Media Consumers Rights Act, introduced by Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va., that gives consumers more fair-use rights for digital products and calls for copy-protected CDs to be clearly labeled if they include copy-proof technologies.
Err... Shouldn't this read "protects consumer's existing fair-use rights "
I mean our fair use rights were well established and protected before the introduction of DMCA. Boucher's bill simply "de-criminalizes" the act of exercising your fair use rights on media containing software to thwart those same rights.
If you disagree with any potential changes... please remember that congress is supposed to be representing us, the people. Contacting your congressman can be as easy as sending a fax to their office. One way you can do this for free without leaving a browser is by using faxpad.com You can also call their office and let them know your views. Office staff also review emails, although i'm not sure how much weight they carry.
Darn, I didn't know Fox had Ann Coulter on! Yeah, she's hot, but mostly she's a very smart woman. I don't watch television so I don't know who's got what on (other than South Park, once in a while), but I'd love to see her show. I admire her greatly for her respect for the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution. There's not enough of that around, these days. Btw, check out her web site... it's great! - Alph
That's why conservatives think she's hot.
That is all.
After reading the story, I sent the following to Fox, any comments?
Your argument is a textbook example of the "no true Scotsman" fallacy (i.e. inventing new definitions on the fly in order to arbitrarily exclude evidence against your claim).
/. If the government wants us to respect the law, it should set a better example.
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