Industry Divided Over SSSCA 368
CBravo writes: "The EE Times has a story that talks about the SSSCA and how it divides the industry. Short part:'If approved, the law would be enforceable under federal regulations and could dramatically alter the way system OEMs design and develop PCs, TVs, set-tops or other digital appliances with embedded microprocessors, according to industry sources familiar with the Hollings proposal. The motion-picture industry, with the Disney and Fox studios in the lead, backs the legislation.'" If you thought the DMCA was bad, look out -- the SSSCA would inject far more control into a wide range of electronic devices.
Don't forget to sign the petitions.. (Score:2, Informative)
(20..19..18..17...)
United we stand... (Score:2, Informative)
Write Your Representative [house.gov]
Write Your Senator [senate.gov]
Keep our rights alive!
Re:The Sky is Falling.... (Score:5, Informative)
Actual Information (Score:3, Informative)
Microsoft's dream come true!! (Score:4, Informative)
Don't let free software get destroyed by this clause, which seems obviously bought and paid for by Microsoft!
Easy (Score:4, Informative)
Hi, mom.
Congress is considering a law that will make copying anything illegal. Taping shows from TV, copying songs to your Sony Minidisc, burning CDs, making backups of software, moving eBooks from your PC to your PDA, and a whole lot more won't be illegal but will be impossible because all computers and devices that will be made once the law is passed will explicitly ban it. Welcome to my nightmare.
Re:Someone needs to right an advocacy howto on thi (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Someone needs to right an advocacy howto on thi (Score:5, Informative)
I don't see how you can put this without it sounding a little alarmist. Disney wants you to purchase a new TV, DVD, VCR/TiVo and cable decoder... that they will then control.
Every time you place a DVD or VCR that you own or have rented in the devices that you bought, Disney will decide whether you are allowed to watch it, and how many times. Disney will decide whether you may tape shows to watch later, and how many times you can watch them, or when they will become unwatchable, or even if you can watch them at all.
They will assume that you are a thief, and they will stop you from watching anything that you cannot absolutely prove that you have paid for. If there is any doubt, your screen will go blank, and you will have no right of reply, or opportunity to prove your innocence.
And the best part is that they will make you pay for the new hardware that will enable this.
Another reminder to write (physical mail) (Score:5, Informative)
Find your congressman and senators, write them letters, and mail them. Mail your own representatives. As a voter in their district you matter most to them. (Email is much less effective. They know about spam just like you do.) Whenever this issue moves into another stage (e.g., draft, committee, floor) write another.
If you want handbooks, check out Congressional Quarterly. The book Lobbying Congress, How the system works is quite relevant, although perhaps disturbing to some. It was written by lobbyists for lobbyists. You will also get other relevant hits with a "lobbying congress" query on Amazon.
Support the EFF, write your Congresscritters (Score:4, Informative)
We can stand around all day and yammer, but the more of us who write *and* call our Congressfolks, the more our voices are heard.
Anti-SSSCA task force (Score:4, Informative)
Suggestion: Clarify DMCA vs Sonny Bono Extension (Score:1, Informative)
On the other hand, the DMCA does not make adequate protection for copyright expiration. Buried into the bowels of the thing, there should be provisions for some sort of time-based revocation of access protection. AFAIK, there is no expiry in place for any content-protected media. Apparently, by the omission the DMCA in no way protects the concept of public domain.