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Super DMCA Bill In Tennessee
fowlerserpent writes "Middle Tennessee State University's student newspaper Sidelines reports the Super DMCA bill is the hot topic in the state legislature. After a fierce debate the bill has been amended to take the edge off. The Tennessee Digital Freedom Network caught the telecom lobby in the state offguard last year when they put up fierce opposition to the legislation. The original bill would have even made firewall illegal in your home or to be sold in the state, so some of the opponents say."
Do they have any idea what such restictive nastiness does to legitimate businesses? They had to amend that bill so that they wouldn't suffer severe economic damage as companies were forced to connect every computer individually to the internet, and throw their arms open for the now firewall-uninhibited hackers in states OTHER than Tenn. How do they get elected?
------- "A true friend stabs you in the front." -Eliot
A truly dangerous trend is that large corporations are using their lobbying power to get their rules turned into laws.
When a corporation makes a draconian and/or stupid rule, there are usually pretty finite limits to the penalties they can impose. If a cable company wants to make a rule that NAT is not allowed on their network, the maximum penalty they can usually impose is the loss of service. Also, their draconian rule becomes a competitive disadvantage for them, especially as people become more educated. Corporate rules can also be changed easily if they realize the rectal-cranial inversion.
Making this rule into a law, however, expands the penalties drastically, removes the competitive disadvantage and leaves something lying around in the law books that is almost impossible to get rid of. This is a trend that really needs to be noticed and stopped.
If it's too much trouble to provide a clear list of rights and responsibilities, then the answer is easy. Make everything illegal. Selectively prosecute those at a) are breaking the law, or b) give you too much of a headache. Recommended reading http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html - Richard Stallman