Monday, April 1, 2002

Glen Fisher came up with the best analogy of the SSSCA/CBDTPA I've seen, posted on Applelinks Something occurred to me today that I haven't seen mention of yet: the US has been through the whole SSSCA/CBDTPA issue before. The first time, however, it was called "Prohibition". For that's what the bill is attempting to do: prohibit an act that the great majority of the American public wants to be able to do. The first time, the Great Experiment failed, and, back then, it was at least prompted by noble--if naive--motives. This time around, it's prompted by nothing more than corporate greed. If it didn't work when it was grounded in real morality, why expect it to work now when it's prompted merely by base greed masquerading as morality (and a masquerade that few are fooled by). Yes, it will make the activity illegal, but the historical lesson is that people will simply turn to illegal means to get what they want. And the government will be seen as even more a farce than it is already, deserving of even less respect than it has now. Truly, "Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it" (George Santayana). 3:34:11 PM    Comments []

Cam also highlights Andy Oram's analogy If Copyright Infringement, Why Not Purse Snatching? "Let's say there was a rash of thieves riding by women on bicycles or scooters and snatching purses. So the federal government passes a law saying that no transportation device may be manufactured or sold unless it incorporates protection against purse snatching. That may sound ridiculous, because nobody knows how to design a bicycle or scooter that can foil purse snatching. But the situation is the same with computers under the CBDTPA. No secure protection scheme has yet been invented; all have been broken fairly quickly. What the CBDTPA would do is put enough barriers in the way to keep the average CD or DVD user from doing ordinary things like playing it on his computer, while not putting barriers in the way of the pirates who make a living off of copyright infringement. It gets worse, when you consider innovation. Using my hypothetical transporation analogy, someone with a substantially new idea--such as Dean Kamen with his Segway--would have to go before a Board of people who know very little about transportation (and don't really care about it) to prove that his device couldn't be used to snatch purses. The equivalent under the CBDTPA is a vaguely defined bureaucratic institution that the entertainment industry would set up under the guidance of the FCC. Clearly, innovation would move offshore until Congress wised up." [O'Reilly Network] I made a similar argument about cars being used to kill people. Why don't we legislate the manufacturing of cars that have embedded technology to prevent accidents? Because it's absurd, it would kill the auto industry, and it's impossible. The same holds true for the CBDTPA and tech industry. Of course, I can't find the cite for my previous post right now (my free Atomz search box doesn't work well since it capped at 500 pages a long time ago, and apparently Google doesn't index many of my back posts), but I'll post it as soon as I find it. I guess I'll have to figure out another search engine solution sooner than later. [The Shifted Librarian] 10:54:23 AM    Comments []

Big Raid May Be Near After Suicide Bombing Kills 14. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called Yasir Arafat "the enemy of the entire free world," as Israel tightened its ring of tanks and rifles around the Palestinian leader. By James Bennet. [New York Times: International] Someone needs to stop Israel now. This has gone way too far. The Arab countries were RIGHT THERE offering peace, and just because of one group of Palestinians whom they might not even be able to control attacks Israel is no excuse for this horror. This is complete bullshit. They're bringing it on themselves, and I don't understand how Israel can call Arafat "the enemy of the free world" and then do this to him and his people. Israel needs to fuck off and die. And in case you were wondering, I have absolutly nothing against Jews. I have something against Palestinians who belive strongly enough in freedom that they strap bombs to their bodies and blow themselves up. I have problems when Palestinians throw rocks and Israel throws rockets and bullets. This is one of the few things I've grown to belive passionately, and I'm tired of sitting by and watching it happen. [Jeremiah's Radio Weblog] Even though my family background is Jewish (I consider myself an Agnostic), I'm appalled by Israel's actions. They need to get rid of Sharon. He's a madman who wants war, not peace. He's the wrong person to be in charge now. They need a moderate who's willing to negotiate & accept a peace offer. The US needs to put much more pressure on them. They need Arafat's cooperation if they want peace - their attack on him will only make things much worse. 9:35:24 AM    Comments []