in-duced
A couple of times over the past week or so this news item has poked into portion of the newsphere I pay attention to Mac News: News: Copyright Bill Poses Threat to iPod's Future, There was a similar piece in the register on tuesday Hatch's Induce Act comes under fire | The Register, as well as a piece in PCWorld PCWorld.com - Tech.gov: Copy Crime and Punishment which was the best of the lot.
What all the fuss is about is a Bill S.2560 in the senate which contains language allowing civil lawsuits (presumably by our good buddies at the RIAA and MPAA) against corporations that Intentionally induce copyright infringement. All those involved are quick to say its meant to target unfiltered P2P networks, that its narrowly designed and narrowly intended. A phrase like intentially induce covers a lot of ground potentially and if released into the wild with no natural native predators, most of whom were killed off in the great hunt to Protect Intellectual Rights Against Theft and Expropriation, will cover that ground pretty fast. Applicability and precedence aside once a concept like this is out there its what an individual judge will buy in a given case and what the people will allow. Each round of RIAA lawsuits is larger than the last as the RIAA gauges the reaction and continues on.
I still remember the "hometaping is killing music/movies" campaign" and am aware the same people who are pushing this didn't want the public to have VHS or audio cassettes either. They'll be damned if they are going to let digital recording technology be released. Since it is already mostly out they are going to effect a rollback if it means they have to sue everyone out there who builds a device that stores electrons in a readable state. Yes, that probably does mean Apple, the iPod, and Steve Jobs; mostly for having the temerity to have ever suggested its your music in the first place. Do you suppose Pop music would make a sound if it were to fall over in an empty forest? What about if it fell over at Fort Reno park?
The Senators behind this grovelling at the feet of this corporate property rights management are Orrin Hatch and Patrick Leahy. Leahy... hmm. I guess VP Cheney could have been on to something.
11:39:18 PM  ;;
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