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Sen. Hatch to Introduce Wide-ranging Copyright Bill
The Importance of writes "C|Net News is reporting that a new copyright bill, to be introduced next week by Sen. Orrin Hatch, will likely overturn the Betamax decision (which held that VCRs were legal) and threaten all sorts of innovation. EFF broke the story and Copyfight has been all over it. Don't miss the comments of law professor Susan Crawford who says, 'This is amazing. Now we're waaaaaay beyond contributory and vicarious theories of liability, which are court-created and pretty darn broad on their own.' Text of the bill here and PDF."
Sigh. Is anyone actually surprised anymore by yet another attempt to remove more freedoms? I thought progress was being made with the bill to remove the more dangerous elements of the DMCA, and now a new "Free Speech Killer"... The world's going to hell in a handbasket.
I don't think it stands a snowball's chance in hell, but as it might, we'd better make sure to make our side of the case clear. Hatch may want to blow up our computers, but I hope there are some senators who realize that "He took away your VCR" won't go well on the campaign trail.
"Your Rights Online: Sen. Hatch to Introduce Wide-ranging Slashdot Execution Bill"
/. know about these bills.. someone has to do something, the general public needs to know whats going on.. having flamewars on /. isn't going to stop this.. Doesnt ANYONE have the ability to get this in major news outlets? No one from CNN or something reads slashdot?
/. about how our rights are being taken away and then no one else i know offline knows anything is happenning. FUCK!!!
Might as well, since it seems only people on
I'm so sick of reading on
It would be fine it the length of copyright was also reduced to say 7 years instead of the infinite lifespan copyrights have now. Not really infinite, but anything copyrighted right now will remain so long after I die.
And why do the Utahans keep voting for him?
Only by offending consumers and performing in-house raids to confiscate VCR's and arrest their owners, is it possible to get the public outraged. Non-slashdot-readers don't hear about bad laws until they're passed. Outrage from the general public will wait until this passes.
I'm probably at the karma cap. Mod up a funny troll instead, it lightens the mood
Why doesn't he find a new cause?
Campaign donations. I guess he gets paid just to bring this stuff up, irrespective of whether it passes or not. Just making the right noises to please his masters.
#!/usr/bin/english
Child Exploitation? Child Exploitation? This has about as much to do with child exploitation as it does with farming subsidies or strategic national defense. The only reason this has "Child Exploitation" in the title is so that Hatch et al. can demonize anybody who opposes this as "having voted against protecting children from exploitation".
This is not about protecting America's children against exploitation; this is about protecting the revenue stream of a powerful business lobby.
Senator, you're a schmuck and a tool. The afterlife, if it exists, will most likely be a very unpleasant place for you.
Obliteracy: Words with explosions
If P2P software makers are in danger, can copiers and scanners be far behind?!?! No stupider than their arguments.
Next thing you know people will sue cigarette manufacturers when they die from lung cancer that has been warned about for years...
LETS DECOMPOSE & ENJOY ASSEMBLING
...to vote Libertarian. Question for conservatives: What the hell do you see in Republicans these days? They've become a bunch of right-wing socialists at this point.
My reading of the bill is that the law would not overturn Betamax so much as explicitly prevent Betamax from being applied to digital media. Betamax and VHS were both analog formats with cumulative degradation, that is, a copy of a copy was degraded, and at enough generations the quality would be unusable. Perfect digital copies, however, do not have this limitation, and it is merely common sense that they should be covered by a different law. Betamax was a Supreme Court decision, and it cannot be overturned by an Act of Congress unless Congress retracts the right of Judicial Review. Rather, this law extends stronger protections to the more powerful (and therefore dangerous) process of digital copying.
Screaming and histrionics aside, I don't know how else you could prevent digital theft. For years, Democrats have argued that to stop gun crime, we must outlaw guns. This is common sense. Why now do we reverse our logic? To stop digital copying crimes, we must outlaw digital copying.
If guns kill people, then CmdrTaco's keyboard misspells words.
you try to take our guns and now we can even save our necks, let alone yours, thanks.
I know I'm feeding a troll here... but, um, last time I checked it was still legal to carry guns in America, even assault weapons if you don't conceal them. The hippy leftist scum tried to disarm you and failed.
The reason you can't get your freedom back with bullets is that bullets don't do much to stop tanks and air-to-ground missiles. And it's not the hippy leftist scum who've been increasing military funding all this time, and it's not the hippy leftist scum who've been giving the army urban combat experience and special training against militiamen patriots with light assault weapons like yourselves...
Duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-duh-BWWAAAAANGGG!
... All hail Putin! God save the King!
Welcome. Welcome, to the New World Order.
America is now what the Soviets used to be
This would pretty clearly target the telcos, if you couldn't move the packets, nobody would be able to pirate this stuff.
This would pretty clearly target the network equipment manufacturers, if you couldn't move the packets, nobody would be able to pirate this stuff.
This would pretty clearly target Intel/AMD/Motorola and any other manufacturer of microprocessor that can be used to convert this pirated media into something visual/audible.
The list goes on and on.
Casca
There is just something wrong about advocating PRISON TIME for someone commiting a nonviolent offense WITH NO PROFIT MOTIVE. Unlike the previous boogeyman of drug laws, nobody is even being hurt here - hence the whole idea of fair use. There's just something fundamentally wrong here. These proposed bills are getting crazier and crazier.
Legislators in Canada (I am not an American. YMMV) looked at this and while recognizing a problem, rejected the notion of stiff criminal penalties for this kind of thing. This concerned me here enough to write a detailed letter to the committee reviewing these laws in Canada.
Control over media devices has another impact to - it's about control over the PRODUCTION OF MEDIA. With so much news and speech regulated THROUGH the media, this is tremendously important for the future of free speech in the USA.
Sigh, sometimes I think the world went mad while I wasn't looking. You just don't put people in PRISON for sharing a SONG with NO PROFIT. There is this thing called CIVIL law. Sue him into the ground, sure. Prison is where you put murderers and rapists - not copyright infringers. I wonder how many politicians in the USA would see the irony if they looked back at the treatment of international patents over historical timescales.
Arrgh! Please, get involved in this process and get organized. DO SOMETHING.
1. Find people to research "political contributions" to Orrin Hatch from the Record Industry.
2. Find more people to research the reaffirmations of Copyright Restrictions by Orrin Hatch.
3. Match up the dates of the contributions and the dates of the introduction of Copyright Restricting Legislation.
4. $$$ Profit $$$ (Sorry, I see this often.)
4. Actual next step. Orrin Hatch is revealed to be nothing more than a political mouthpiece for hire.
Doh! That was obvious... [BACKSPACE][BACKSPACE][BACKSPACE]
This post encoded with ROT26. If you can read it, you've violated the DMCA. Handcuffs please, sergeant.
"Inducement Devolves into Unlawful Child Exploitation Act of 2004."
What!!???
Using peoples' fear of child exploitation as a tool to push through draconian copyright measures to help BigCorp Inc. is despicable.
Surely this _is_ child exploitation.
It's bad enough that there are sickos in society preying on children for their bodies without someone to then abusing that exploitation to steal their legal rights.
Fascist Alert.
Has anyone out there noted that he is not sponsoring legislation to make sure that computer programmers get copyrights and royalties for their work just like musical writers and performers do? I think that if he gave one rats rump about realy copyrights he would start with the people who are being ripped off of their rights the most.
Never Politically Correct ~ I prefer the facts If you don't like what I say, get a life, or comment yourself.
"I'm so sick of reading on /. about how our rights are being taken away and then no one else i know offline knows anything is happenning."
Why don't you do something about that? Spread the awareness.
Proletariat of the world, unite to kill corrupt politicians
In Soviet Russia, I ruled you
Just making the right noises to please his masters.
Or (and this is probably closer to a tin-foil-hat type theory, but that doesn't make it false), he is taking the extreme so much farther out that the merely ridiculous looks sane by comparison.
People's desire to believe they are right is much stronger than their desire to be right.
...I would recommend that you do the same. Looks like a full court press while the Republicans control everything...too good an opportunity for the greedheads to pass up.....
Not intentionally trolling, but is it any wonder why other countries don't accept our way of governing with open arms.
US Ambassador sales pitch on democracy:
"So look, get get all this freedom in a 'democracy', but the trick, and you'll love this, is that you have the freedom to take away freedom. Now don't do it right away, give them 100 or so years and then start doing it slowly so that no one notices til it's too late. It also helps to get in bed with big business cuase oil or not, cash is king."
"Look Lois, the two symbols of the Republican Party: an elephant, and a fat white guy who is threatened by change."
Since they "aid" and "abet" copyright infringement, normal CD Burners would also be illegal under this law. It's as if Sony Music wants Sony Electronics to stop making devices that are obviously designed solely to pirate their copyrighted works.
Excuse me--and I don't mean to sound trollish--but do you work for SCO?
> Oddly enough, by the same logic he's using in this legislation prescription drugs should be illegal because they can be used to kill as well as heal
That's why prescription drugs are heavily regulated, you cannot take drugs prescribed to somebody else, etc.
These congressman are paid hitmen and are all corrupt because the system is about lobbying(which needs to be outlawed). Lobbying = Corruption. This should not be a lobbyocracy but a democratic republic.
The issue is that a lot of legislators now days do not understand technology before they start to regulate it. Not understanding the good and the bad and weighing them against each other before outlawing it causes major problems later down the line.
Take the Roman Empire for example, they started outlawing all kinds of technolgy and that later lead to a static society there by leading to their downfall. Evolution is key to any society surviving, but lately it seems that politicians would have otherwise.
Interesting that the government thinks it owns my body. ugh. I guess they can't risk me dying. They need the tax revenue.
Here we have another debate about copyright.
What do you think? Will we settle it this time? Will we have copyright anarchy or copyright enforcement? If we're too permissive, we'll have no information economy!
What a false dillemma.
Have you really seen how strict we're thinking of making our copyright rules?
Freedom and privacy are in themselves valuable. And strict enforcement of copyright is simply incompatible with freedom and privacy.
But, actually, neither freedom nor privacy are the most important reason to avoid becoming "too strict" about copyright.
Our _economy_ requires us not to be too strict.
Remember, our whole world is, and has always been, engaged in massive, systematic violations of copyright law. So let's look at why that is, and what purpose it serves, before we rock the boat too quickly.
For a minute, let's set aside mix tapes, and libraries, and the VCR, half your childhood singalongs in school and around the campfire - all of which are illegal, and might not have happened under a "strict" copyright regime.
Lets head to the everyday world of the home and office, where almost every other computer has some illegally duplicated software or media on it. Sooner or later somebody brought a CD or some music from home, or installed WinZIP without paying for it. Only WinZIP is the tip of the iceberg. Many of the most copied software titles are "programs for work." Microsoft's Office, or Windows. Visual C++. Macromedia's Flash or Director.
It gets copied because it's very expensive, and the people who want to use these tools can't always afford them.
This stolen software is used to do work. It writes school papers. It creates art projects. It produces other software, from desktop applications to web sites to video games (even some really big titles you've all bought in the store). It is used by the attorneys of companies suing other companies for copyright infringement, and certainly by the children of everyone concerned. "Stolen" media is present all around you, like air and water, in virtually every workplace, and in every home, used for writing love letters, wiling away hours in hospital beds, researching cancer, and even fighting crime and educating our children. (Yes, even police and schools have been prosecuted by the "BSA" - the software industry's copyright enforcement arm.)
Perfect enforcement of copyright has never been possible, or even close - so only egregious violations of it are prosecuted (big companies that could afford it, but chose not to pay, or stalls on the street - actually trying to sell the stolen goods). The rest pass by, unremarked, uncredited - often even without our noticing.
This stolen softare, present in everywhere, from the halls of giants like EA, Microsoft, and IBM (despite their own best efforts to stop it) to little companies all over the country, has been used to do work that made billions of dollars in the marketplace.
Copying, whatever its costs, has enormous benefits. It's like a magic lubricant, empowering our business and creative activities and enriching our lives - subtracting the mythical "last 5%" from the copyright holder, while adding 500% to the society as a result.
Imagine if a poor person could magically borrow a wealthy man's house. He could shower, eat in the kitchen, he could read the wealthy man's books, change into the wealthy man's clothes, and when walking out the door, get a better job.
Now what if millions of poor men could all live in the rich man's house at the same time as its owner did, without anyone ever meeting each other? What if the kitchen was always full no matter how many people it fed?
This is the magical world of "intellectual property" - where the very term "property" makes us want to protect our ideas as though only one person could possess them at a time. Yet we all know that's not true. Ideas have a different set of rules. As has been observed many times already, "Intellectual Property" many not be
Want to Know How to Cheat the GPL? Read On!
Sure, and regulating is one thing; but as I understand the legislation, a *potential* for abuse becomes equal to a crime in the case of P2P networks/devices that "encourage the abuse".
I was just making the point--prescription drugs have the potential to be abused also, but that does not make them bad per se.
Sigs cause cancer.
Does anyone know who opposes this in the Senate? They deserve a cookie.
they dont deserve cookies they deserve votes and letters to them from you stating that you will vote for them because of their actions.
too many times we only bitch... we never EVER freely give praise and rewards to those that do good.
you want the senators to do good things? when they do something good, send them a check, and a letter stating "good boy!"
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Senator Hatch has a powerful incentive in attacking P2P networks
Not to mention his son's little lawfirm is on SCO's payola, which drastically needs immediate changes in copyright law if it's going to have a snowball's chance in hell of stealing Linux and killing off open source.
Clever... Hatch & Son. Buy one, get one free! Oh wait... that phrase is copyrighted!
> In any case, if you live in MA, like I do, you
> already have a Mormon overlord.
I just moved back to MA. Romney frustrates me...I'm glad he is attempting to rein in spending, but sometimes he just seems like pure evil.
And I moved from CO...at first, I visited Moab, which on any given day probably has more out of state visitors than full-time residents. It wasn't 'til I visited Park City, which is still pretty "liberal" and watched the local news that I realized how much the LDS controls gov't. "This bill was sponsored by xxx, a LDS member," etc. "Something blew up in a foreign country, now for a long piece on a polygamist colony in southern Utah!"
You have to remember that most of those goodies arrive after a lawmaker leaves office, in the form of cushy consulting jobs, or positions on corporate boards that require little if any actual work.
Stop by my site where I write about ERP systems & more
Actually, it's the conservative that is most likely to object to this kind of thing, being opposed to big governement intrusion into individual freedoms, etc.
And last I heard, you didn't need to be a mormon or live in Utah to be an ass -- and I know enough mormons and utahns to know that neither one of those things automatically makes you an ass. But a penchant for overgeneralizing might automatically qualify one as an ass . . .
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. But when life gives you crap, please don't make a beverage out of it.
The perfect time (in the government's eyes) for you to die is at age 6x and 1/2 when you retire - you've spent 40 or more years paying into social security, but haven't yet started drawing from it.
A fine is a tax you pay for doing wrong and a tax is a fine you pay for doing all right.
How far could this go? Could they charge my stationer for selling me a notebook and pen which I could conceivably use to copy out chunks of the latest Harry Potter novel?
Sufficient for intentional inducement? I don't know.
but you can stop him from getting votes.
All that needs to be done is for the voters in his state to be made aware of what he is doing. People don't have a clue where this copyright legislation is going. Someone needs to start a campaign in Utah saying something like "Sen Hatch doesn't trust you. He thinks you are a criminal at heart. If he had his way it would be illegal for you to video tape your childrens Christmas pageant at school and church." and then show what is between the lines of his bills.
'Same speed C but faster'
There's nothing quite as disenfranchising to a voter as living in a state where the vast majority of the electorate consistently, almost numbly, votes the opposite of you...
he's really gone off the deep end the past few years, it's time for him to retire and surround himself with his little tin Nazi soldier toys. he is not of this nation any more with his actions.
if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
I am Mormon, and I am disgusted by this bill.
And I'm also disgusted by the constant Mormon bashing that takes place anytime a Mormon tries to do anything, no matter how unrelated. Senator Hatch is acting for Senator Hatch's interests here...religion has nothing to do with this.
I don't think writers or performers get royalties if the work is produced as work for hire.
-Peter
I'm also pretty sure that he's got himself covered in regards to any possible charges of being bribed by lobbyists, PAC's, etc. He's probably too smart for that.
However, I can't but help feel that he is a traitor. He is un-American, and I hope that he loses re-election. The 1st Amendment is 1st because of its importance to America, and the 1st Amendment is America.
You attack the 1st Amendment, you attack America.
So, Mr. Hatch: ES&D.
They say the first thing to go is your penis. Well, it's either that or your brain. I forget which...
Well, if you thought the DeCSS lawsuits were frivolous, you're in for a new type. This would effectively ban the LAME-type projects that are source-only in order to avoid copyright infringement. Yep - you're 'inducing' violations by providing a means to distribute illegal copies of copyright materials. What about audio rippers? Well, if they can be inducing violations, they're infringing. Forget about fair use. All you need to ban some product is an example of its use for copyright infringement and a benevolent judge that would accept some broader definition for 'intentional'.
Also, this will be a generalized ban for any devices non-compliant with future equivalents of the broadcast flag in other fields. Maybe even selling the old non-compliant devices, as they're sure to be used for an infringing purpose.
I hope I'm wrong, but remember, if the wording of the law allows it, sooner or later someone WILL use it.
Unless I am mistaken, doesn't this make computers illegal, too? They can be used for file sharing etc.
What is he going to do, take away all the computers in the world? I doubt this bill is going to go very far...
I still can't believe that *anyone* who cares at *all* about civil liberties would *ever* vote Republican. I mean, seriously, everyone. Yeah, you can say, "well, most Democrats voted for the Patriot Act!" (right after September 11th, where most would have been voted out of office if they didn't vote for that single bill, and where Republicans voted in even more full force), or "Gore supported the V-chip!" (despite the fact that the V-chip is one of the most minor of these sorts of issues, and that the Republicans supported it more).
But seriously - look at the voting records as a whole on issues of copyright and personal freedoms. There is a *Massive*, *Stark* rift between the voting records of the two parties when it comes to civil liberties. Why vote to take away your freedoms?
You know when it's okay to shout fire in a crowded theatre? When it's on fire.
It seems that Sen. Hatch is behind many of these attempts to impose draconian copyright laws. Can we not collectively help defeat his next re-election bid? It would send a powerful message.
Both parties have axes to grind. Most of the Dems would have our guns if they thought they could get them. I'm a registered Republican, but I vote for candidates, not parties. I think both this bill and Mr. Hatch suck dick.
"The problem with internet quotations is that many are not genuine" -Abraham Lincoln
Writers and performers can get paid salary but they also can get paid royalties based upon some pretty strongly defended copy protection rights under law. The FBI enforces these.
How many programmers do you know who get offered the chance to write for retained royalty pay? Do you think you are likely to get offered such rights which currently do not exist under law? [NOT NO...^*!! NO!] Please get with reality here. Computer programmers are more likely to have their work last longer than movie actors and screen writers who most often get royalties for use.
My objection to SCO and others is not that they should get paid for their work, rather that they stole the work they are demanding to get paid for!
Never Politically Correct ~ I prefer the facts If you don't like what I say, get a life, or comment yourself.
...its stuff like this that makes me believe more and more that the next revolution(or civil war, coupe, or whaterver term you prefer) is going to be fought over the govenment so restricting the rights of citizens with legistation like this that people are going to have to march on the congress to regain our freedoms and stop living under the oppressive thumbs of the corporations which have seized control of our government. I'm not advocating such an uprising (no wars for me thanks) however this is jeust getting insane. I've said it before the first rule of law making should be for the legistators to ask "is this law good for the average citizen, will it be of benefit to them" if the answer is no the law should never be written or passed.
Power Corrupts,Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely, leaving one person(group)in charge is absolutely corrupt.
You think CNN cares? They're owned by Time-Warner, one of Hatch's bigger contributors.
This is the problem, and the agenda behind Republican media deregulation. If your content producers and your media are the same thing, and have a government-granted monopoly, you control the culture. Instant police state.
This bill is one small step in Hatch's plan to destroy the Internet.
But seriously - look at the voting records as a whole on issues of copyright and personal freedoms. There is a *Massive*, *Stark* rift between the voting records of the two parties when it comes to civil liberties.
Yeah, I remember the principled opposition to the Patriot Act by Democrats...um, wait. But they did try to stop Republican Bill Clinton from passing the DMCA...hmm. Well, at least they stood up against Carnivore, Echelon, Clipper, CALEA and encryption export controls. Actually no, that never happened either. (In fact, John Ashcroft was a leading opponent of export controls).
It is increasingly obvious that neither major party gives a s**t about civil liberties; unfortunately the Libertarian Party consists mainly of nutjobs and there's no alternative for those of us who value both personal and economic freedom.
How to solve most of our problems: 1.Lots of nuclear plants. 2.Cure aging.
You could introduce this proposal as the "Full disclosure in government" law. Since this is pretty much how it happens, and there's little that can be done to prevent it, might as well make it official.
The Induce Act stands for "Inducement Devolves into Unlawful Child Exploitation"
I heard the "Act" part stands for "...And Creates Terrorism".
Sigh.
W
-------------------
This is my SIG. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
Why is are the copyright monopolies still so mad about the Betamax decision? Because of that decision the VHS industry was created. The video rental industry was created. And DVD industry was created. All of these industries have helped save the movie industry's asses for the last couple of decades.
Anyone with a brain knows that the Betamax decision made Hollywood richer, so what's the f$&%ing deal?!
If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.
perhaps this is a bit off-topic, but I've about had it up to here with copyright.
Let my put it this way, in the good old days of the middle ages if you wanted a book, say the bible, you would aquire a transcription: not a copy. Some monk or whatnot would actually create the article by hand, painstakingly.
Therefore the idea of illegal copies was nonexistent - because it would take forever to make such a copy. you were essentially paying for the transcription service, not really the intellectual property contained within the work - if you were paying at all, that is.
then came the gutenberg press, a great creation, and fun to say too. Copies could be made in a much more effecient manner, but the consumer was still paying for the service more than the copies; after all the bible was the first thing printed - and unless you consider tithe a type of royalty - no money was payed for the creators. I think tithe is more like a membership charge.
Still, the concept of the consumer making thier own copies was unheard of - unless that consumer had a press and the expertise to use it.
Up until the 60's consumers didn't really have any good methods for making cheap copies of any intellectual works; books, music, movies. But then the xerox, and then the magnetic cassete tape.
Basically i'm saying that the current methods of copy protection are a backwards technology. you see, because the freaking consumer now has the ability to create documents that have all the quality expected. The gutenberg press is in every household in the form of HP and Memorex.
Copy protection, IMO is tantamount to sabatoge. It impedes the capability of the consumer to utilize thier equipment to it's full extent - in effect decreasing the functionality.
Money is a great example of this; it is vital that cash be as difficult as possible to copy. But, it is a chasing of the tail. you see, the money of the 20's can probably be duplicated fairly accurately via consumer-level hardware. Money is a type of proof saying "hey, this paper says what i'm worth, you must trust me because george washington says so"; but the physical document (dollar bill) can be duplicated - Gold, not so easy; goods and services likewise. In other words, the value contained within the bill is an illusion. (all value arguably is, but the value of a doctor in times of emergency is not so etheral - service and goods my friends; the only real values).
Eventually, if the hardware manufactures are smart enough, and industrious enough, consumer-level will match corporate-level in every aspect.
Already, consumer-level music is oft-times better than corporate-level; likewise with movies; and likewise with software (read: consumers created linux).
Copy protection should be illegal.
Same as grandparent.
I'm a registered R. and I'm finding it really hard to vote Republican this coming election.
Bush isn't an idiot, he just comes across as one (which is just as bad). The big problem with Bush is that his focus isn't centered on the problems in the country, and rather on fame/fortune/etc. It's so obvious he's not a good president.
Now this Hackjob Hachet comes around and really pisses me off. Ugh.
Hollywood stuffs huge quantities of $$$ into the pockets of Democrats, who then pass laws like the DMCA
All theory is gray
Indeed. Imagine if Libertarians had the ability to elect just one or maybe two senators, in the current razors edge environment in the senate they would be quite powerful. Instead they try to run for the Presidency every four year for what a few percentage points. Focus on freedom...
Onward to the Aether Sphere!
It is worth noting that Senator Hatch has a long history of supporting legislation that tramples upon constitutional rights and civil liberties, this man is definitley an enemy of your rights and the constitution, anyone in Utah really needs to remember to vote and get this bastard out of Office. He has waged war on the Bill of Rights long enough. M
During my parents & grandparents generations, our "elected" officials were referred to as representatives.
Somehow during my generation, these "elected" officials became leaders.
When did this happen? Why did this happen?
I DO NOT to be led, however I DO want to be represnted in my national government.
"...the shortest distance between two points may be straight line, but it is by no means the most interesting."
Dude, some software lasts a long, long time.
The media has whored for ratings for decades, it's just that most of us were not watching the nightly news or reading the paper in a daily basis in the 70s.
Most people don't care until it directly impacts them today. The media knows this, and they only report on what is impacting people that day. Agreed, it erodes journalistic integrity and it is not a good thing, but there is a reason.
The average person concentrates more on what affects them today than what will affect them next year. Weather, traffic, daily stocks, crime. These warrant attention, but we need to look ahead as well. That way, a year from now you can continue to concern yourself with humdrum daily problems, like the daily commute and if you should wear a coat today. Instead of worrying about how you're going to eat or pay the rent, or if you can speak your mind anymore.
It's not new. Even the most recent example of massive protests in the US, those against Vietnam, didn't get big until the draft was enacted. When was the last time you saw something like that for something that wasn't happening yet? What if those same people had protested the (then coming) war just as loudly in 1961?
There is a reason for everything. Sometimes that reason just sucks.
It makes it clear that the purpose is to promote the advance of useful arts and science and give creators a limited time monopoly over their work. These laws seek to corrupt that, and hence are unconstitutional.
From that same link, wouldn't it be quite detrimental to Novell (pretty high up there on his contributer's list ?) for this law to be passed ? A LOT of reverse engineering goes on to make Suse work nicely with Windows and other proprietary programs doesn't it ? -A
What the First Ammendment actually says:
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Perhaps they just need it explicitly pointed out that a "lobby" is just a peacable assembly of people who have appointed an individual or group of individuals to petition the government on their behalf?
Or perhaps pointing out that freedom of speech works for everyone or it works for no one is now flamebait?
KFG
"If you make a product that has dual uses, infringing and not infringing, and you know there's infringement, you're liable." Wouldn't this automatically make all copy machines illegal? IANAL, but they seem to fall precisely into the same category as the VCR. I don't see anything that restricts this bill to digital media. I'm sure there are more ripple effects as well, but that one certainly jumped out at me. KeS
Oh, give me a break. The Dems in the house voted for the Patriot Act at 72.6%, while the Republicans were near universal (that took *real* guts to vote against it just after 9/11). You want to talk about the eight worst internet laws? 18 of the 93 worst offenders were Democrats, and only two were in the top 25. Echelon? Kerry is currently being bashed by Bush for trying to cut intelligence programs like that. Furthermore....
http://scorecard.aclu.org/archival.html
For 2001, the ACLU's overall rankings were 74% for Democrats and 14% for Republicans. *Of Course* you can pick out cases from the 26%. But it is horribly misleading.
Don't trust the ACLU? Look at EFF archives. Same sort of thing.
BTW, if you're one of the "both parties are the same" people, give it a rest and visit >A HREF="http://vote-smart.com">Project Vote Smart, a voting record site. Notice in the summaries that of the 107 different ratings, 93 of them had the parties almost completely stratified on the issue. Now, you can claim that you have a *mix* of alignment with the parties, but to claim that they're the same is just not correct.
Look, I know what it's like. I was raised a Republican. My uncle was even in the House of Representatives. I really, truly believed that they stood for civil liberties. But the voting records don't lie: when it comes to civil liberties, on everything but guns, they're just awful.
You know when it's okay to shout fire in a crowded theatre? When it's on fire.
Well then, next we should be banning:
1. Cameras - they can be used to take pictures of infringing or unlawful material.
2. Tape Recorders - they can be used to produce an audio copy of infringing or unlawful material.
3. Cell Phones - they can transmit infringing or unlawful material.
4. Magazines - in case anybody prints infringing or unlawful material.
5. Books - see point 4.
6. The internet as a whole - transmission of infringing or unlawful material.
...
I know I'm exagerating a bit, but it seems to me this law is like trying to kill a fly with a nuclear bomb - you'll get the desired effect, but totaly blow away things you did not intend to do. I feel innovation will be stifled because companies will be afraid of "possible infringement" and don't want to be liable.
I only hope that Congress wakes up and sees the impact of this law ... but I'm not holding my breath.
It is not our abilities that show what we truly are... it is our choices.
"Well, this spending we are proposing will cost xxx and since the total taxable income is yyy, that means your tax rate will increase by xxx/yyy % to support it."
If people start to see that government money isn't "free", the frivolous spending would stop really quick. As it is now, a 80 billion dollar spending spree means very little... Because nobody knows exactly how it impacts their taxes. ;-)
Murphy was an optimist.
> Glad I'm canadian, we'll probably invade you when you are back to sticks and stones...
Be afraid instead.
The next step will be to use the full political, economical and, if necessary, military might of "the land of the free" to bring other countries "in line".
Which is why we'd be a lot better off with the Constitutional Party.
You're joking, right?[0][1][2][3][4]
[0] The pre-born child, whose life begins at fertilization, is a human being created in God's image.
[1] Under no circumstances should the federal government continue to subsidize activities which have the effect of encouraging perverted or promiscuous sexual conduct.
[2] We favor the right of states and localities to execute criminals
[3] The Constitution Party will uphold the right of states and localities to restrict access to drugs and to enforce such restrictions in appropriate cases with application of the death penalty.
[4] All teaching is related to basic assumptions about God and man. Education as a whole, therefore, cannot be separated from religious faith.
All that and I'm barely into the 'E's on their alphabetical list of issues. I could go on but my copy/paste fingers are cramping up.
And you call the Libertarian party over-the-top?
I like my women like my coffee... pale and bitter.
When Otto von Bismarck invented the concept of public pensions in the late 1800s, the retirement age of 65 was chosen -- and life expectancy was 45.
When Social Security went into effect in the 30s, with a retirement age of 65 based on the German system, life expectancy was 63.
I don't think you understand the term "life expectancy" and what it means. Life expectancy is the amount of years lived divided by the number of people born. In humans, the age of highest mortality is infanthood and youth, and old age.
Ergo, if many infants died, the average life expectancy was low. The main gain in life expectancy in recent history was the reduction of infant mortality.
Now, if you looked at the average life expectancy for 20-year olds, you could derive some meaning from your statistics. As it stands, your statistics are meaningless.
Infant mortality lowered life expectancy in the late 1800's and in the 1930's. However, the infants who died never lived long enough to contribute money into public pensions. Ergo, flawed conclusion with your statistics.
"The Digital Millenium Copyright Act was passed under a Democratic president. Please stop trying to pretend either party is terribly interested in giving you all the "fair use rights" you want for copyrighted works."
This is not a partisan issue, it's an american issue. Any freedom conscious american should be aware of how his/her senator is planning to vote on this bill. Is your representative voting to protect media lobbyists or the average american? This bill is a threat to freedom, a threat to free speech, a threat to the right to share information, and it cannot be allowed to take root in a country that values these things.
Please do whatever you can to stop this bill, it is the result of misguided FUD from the likes of the RIAA and the MPAA. Our congressmen and women deserve a chance to hear both sides of this issue. They cannot be faulted for neglegence if we don't perform our civic duty and make clear how damaging this bill is to you and me. How many of you have grudgingly gone to jury duty for a day or two? Is this issue any less important? Is there any public issue more deserving of your time?
Please don't sit on your hands on this one. If you have a phone, if you have stamps, if you have access to e-mail you can make a difference. Please contact your representatives and do your part to help preserve our digital democracy.
"All that is required for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."
The government has a defect: it's potentially democratic. Corporations have no defect: they're pure tyrannies. -Chomsky
"An artist creates something and is focused on creating something for the thing's own sake, or as a means of expression.
A craftsman (including engineers and scientists) creates something for a purpose--to do something, or prove something, or learn something."
I don't see it as being that clear cut, sorry. I'm both an "artist" (musician/songwriter) and a "craftsman" (electronics engineering tech/designer..design/build my own guitar amps among many other things), and in order for someone to excel at "craftsmanship", one needs creativity and artistry. Also, to excel at creativity/artistry, good craftsmanship is necessary. They are not separate things, but sides of the same coin, each dependent upon the other. As an aside, I don't see where the previous post you replied to used an ad hominem attack, it merely questioned your breadth of knowledge of the subject based on your statement.
Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
Wow. The state of Utah must have something in the air. Mormons, "cold fusion", SCO, and now Hatch too. Might as well be called An Open Air Museum of Stupidity.