Other Tech the Senate Would Have Banned

An anonymous reader writes "A few weeks ago, Senators Patrick Leahy and Orrin Hatch introduced the 'Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act' (COICA) bill, which was discussed here on Slashdot. The main part of the bill would allow the Justice Department to shut down websites that it deems are 'dedicated to infringing activities,' without a trial (due process is so old fashioned). Of course, in reviewing the bill, it's important to note that pretty much every new technology in the entertainment industry over the last century was deemed 'dedicated to infringing activities,' so here's a list of all of the technologies COICA would have banned in the past, including Hollywood itself, radio, cable television, the photocopier, the iPod and more."

Comments

What about Voting?

[CohibaVancouver]

I asked this question in another thread a while back and got modded a troll, but what the hell, I'm a sucker for punishment and I'll ask it again.

What about voting?

Why does the conservative right in the USA pander to evangelicals who think stem cells are people, Fred Flintstone lived alongside T-Rex and that it's just coincidental that chimps and humans share DNA? Because those evangelicals VOTE and vote strongly in numbers... Does campaign financing count for a lot? Sure - But ultimately it comes down to voters, and your representatives pander to those people who go out and put an "X" in the box next to their name.

Re:An amendment would fix this

[commodore64_love]

Nah. The SCOTUS has already nullified previous attempts by Congress to redefine basic english words.

Well except for the "commerce among states" clause which somehow got twisted to include commerce inside states, but then the Justices had just been threatened by the President, so it's understandable why they felt pressured to let the unconstitutional law stand & appease FDR. (They were well aware what happened when the courts tried to stand against Mussolini.)