SSSCA Squirms Forward Again Thursday

An anonymous reader writes: "Here we go! Only temporarily tripped up by Sept. 11th (and of course journalists and webmasters calling his office), Fritz Hollings is starting hearings on embedding copy protection in all digital devices and making the removal or circumvention of these protections a crime. Hurrah for freedom!"

HDTV Copy Protection Schemes

[shrhoads]

Here is a good avsforum [avsforum.com] that talks about copy protection on DTV. It seems that DVI (Digital Video Interface) may be the future and may render current HTDV's obsolete. DVI is one of the copy protection schemes for HDTV (along with a firewire one).

Re:Seriously...

[Masem]

The SSSCA bill, at least the draft that was out in the open, has a grandfather clause that any computer hardware/software made before 2 years after the bill passes are exempt. The 2 years is the amount of time that the bill requires the content and computer industries to decide on a format; else Congress steps in and standardizes the formats.

MPAA want DRM by law

[Cally]

Jack ("The VCR is to the American public as
the Boston strangler to single women") Valenti of the MPAA wrote a depressing editorial at The Washington Post [theregister.co.uk], calling for DRM-enabled OSes to be the (presumably, legally mandated) standard, in order to save Hollywood from the same
terrible fate [slashdot.org] that befell the music industry while Napster was operating. Depressing because, although his case has more holes than Internet Explorer, it smells of a ploy to get more bad laws [google.com] passed. Three guesses what would happen to non-compliant (read: Free) OSes once this terrible law goes through...
The Register [theregister.co.uk]
has a good scathing response.

When Free software is against the law, only outlaws will have Free software...

The Letter Fritz sent me when I asked about SSSCA

[vtechpilot]

Last October I wrote Senator Hollings a letter asking about the SSSCA. I suppose since I am a South Carolina resident he took the time to reply. In a letter dated November 13, 2001 from the senator:

Dear Mr. Sattler

Thank you for your recent communication regarding legislation that address copyright protection on the internet.

I believe that any proposed legislation must meet consumers' expectations while protecting intellectual property. Ideally, the private sector will work to solve these problems. While I am considering legislation in this area, I am not intoducing a bill at this time.

You can be certain that if legislation is developed, I will take your concerns into consideration in order to ensure the rights of consumers as well as those of the creators of Internet material.

With kindest regards, I am

Sincerely,

Ernest F. Hollings

So basically he denied that the SSSCA existed at the time. What a blatant lie.

Re:err wtf..

[thesolo]

i live in south carolina so this fucker is supposedly representing me. last time i checked digital encryption was not on my to do list... south carolina is still 49th in education, the little shit needs his priorities adjusted... all in favor of removing him from office say i. (south carolina high school student skipping school today)

Unfortunately, Senator Hollings has been bought out by corporate interests for some time now. He is basically now the elected Disney representative. He has received almost $300,000 since 1995 in "donations" from large corporations, including AOL/TW, Disney, News Corp (Fox), Viacom (CBS), and NBC. Check out this article on The Register [theregister.co.uk] for more info.

If you are a resident of South Carolina, then you are a constituent of Sen. Hollings. PLEASE, contact a rep at any of his offices [senate.gov], and tell them you are a constituent who is AGAINST the SSSCA. Be polite, be firm, give your address, make sure they know you are a citizen & a voter. Only activism by us geeks is going to get these types of things stopped.

Re:Last thing we need

[Aexia]

Being forced to implement copy-protection in their hardware would NOT be compatible with their business interests.

I think it's less
"We don't think government-mandated technology solutions are in the best interests of consumers or anyone else,"

and more
"We think Intel-mandated technology solutions are in the best interests of Intel and anyone else."

Re:Post-Enron

[thesolo]

Should we be looking at the motives of politicians who sponsor bills?

Yes, we absolutely should. Especially when the politician in question has received almost $300,000 in corporate donations [theregister.co.uk] from the worlds largest media companies.

Re:Seriously...

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, they've invited several to the hearing, so presumably they'll be weighing in all at the same time. Note the obvious lack of anyone representing the actual citizens of the country. (from http://www.politechbot.com/docs/hollings.sssca.hea ring.022602.html):

Chairman Announces Hearing on Digital Content
Copyright Protection, Broadband, and Digital TV Transition

WASHINGTON, D.C. =96 U.S. Senator Fritz Hollings (D-SC), Chairman of the =
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation announced today a full=
committee hearing on digital content copyright protection, the promotion=
of broadband services, and the digital television transition on Thursday=
, February 28, 2002, in Room 253 of the Russell Senate Office Building. S=
enator Hollings will preside. The witness list and hearing details are in=
cluded below.*

Digital Content Copyright =96 Full Committee Hearing
Date: Thursday, February =
28, 2002
Time: 9:30 AM
Location: 253 Russell Senate Office Building
Hearing Notes: Senator Hollings will preside.
Panel I
Mr. Michael D. Eisner, Chairman and CEO, The Walt Disney Company, 500 S. =
Buena Vista Street, Burbank, CA 91521
Mr. Peter Chernin, President and Chief Operating Officer, News Corporatio=
n, 1211 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036
Mr. Leslie L. Vadasz, Executive Vice President, Intel Corporation, 2200 M=
ission College Boulevard, Santa Clara, CA 95052

Panel II
Mr. Andreas Bechtolsheim, General Manager/Vice President of the Gigabit S=
ystems Business Unit, Cisco Systems Inc., 250 West Tasman Drive, San Jose=
, CA 95134
Mr. James E. Meyer, Special Advisor to the Chairman and formerly Senior V=
ice President and Chief Operating Officer, Thomson Multimedia, 10330 Nort=
h Meridian Street, Indianapolis, IN 46290
Mr. Robert Perry, Vice President, Marketing, Mitsubishi Digital Electroni=
cs America, Inc., 9351 Jeronimo Road, Irvine, CA 92618
Mr. Jack Valenti, President and CEO, The Motion Picture Association of Am=
erica, 15503 Ventura Boulevard, Encino, CA 91436

*Not necessarily in order of appearance.

Re:Seriously...

[Anonymous Coward]

Also here's a link to the committee itself Commerce Committee [senate.gov]. That has names and addresses (including email) for senators who should be at the hearing.

Slashdot Contributors Should Consider...

[Greyfox]

When contributing to slashdot you should consider including an opensecrets link when talking about anything any specific congressperson is doing. Like so: Ernest F. Hollings. [opensecrets.org]

Of most interest on that page? Top Industries and Top contributors on the left hand side. And yes, big media companies are giving him a lot of cash. And yes, I'd say he's probably just returning the favor.

Hmm. Perhaps it's time to send a couple of hundred dollars to the South Carolina Republican party in the hopes that they can defeat him in the next election cycle.

Re:Post-Enron

[mr.nicholas]

And in that vein, here's some quotes:

http://www.publicampaign.org/press_releases/pr6_29 _99.html

This past May, Senator Hollings cast a most unusual vote, as the only Democrat to support the Financial Modernization Act (FMA) of 1999, S. 900. Hollings' vote regarding this bill is difficult to explain, given his pro-consumer voting record. But when considered in the context of the over $250,000 the Senator received from industries that would most benefit from the legislation, additional light is shed on his decision.

The Golden Leash Award is a modern incarnation of former Senator William Proxmire's legendary Golden Fleece, which highlighted government waste and abuse.

"Senator Hollings' vote is an ideal example of how campaign contributions appear to influence strongly the way a Senator votes. What else would explain his puzzling anti-consumer position on this important bill from a senator who has a long history of pro-consumer stands?" said Ellen Miller, executive director of Public Campaign.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/archive/21830 .html

As the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, one of the most important committee chairs on Capitol Hill, Hollings has attracted quite a stable of high-profile donors over the years. According to Federal Election Commission data presented by campaign contribution watchdog Open Secrets, there are five major media and entertainment companies in the top 20 list of Hollings' most generous campaign donors. They include AOL Time Warner ($33,500), the Murdoch-owned News Corporation ($28,224), Viacom's CBS ($16,632), the National Association of Broadcasters ($22,000), and Walt Disney Co. ($18,500).

The individual donors from those companies include a flock of high-ranking executives from various News Corp/Fox subsidiaries, Viacom CEO Sumner Redstone, and Ted Turner from AOL Time Warner. Since 1995, employees from companies producing television, movies, music, and other media content have sent Hollings $287,534, making the entertainment industry his second most generous supporters. Those individual donations look like small potatoes, especially when you find out that they cover the past five to six years of campaign contributions.

There are more; just do a google search on "Fritz Hollings campaign contributions" and see what you get.

It's not too late

[Oates]

If you are a constiuent and a voter, call today to register your opposition to this proposed bill. Don't wait--the committee is scheduled to meet on this tomorrow.

You can find this list at http://www.senate.gov/~commerce/members.htm

202-224-5115
508 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510-6125

Democrats Phone Number Fax Number
Ernest F. Hollings, SC [phone] [phone]
Daniel K. Inouye, Hawaii [phone] [phone]
John D. Rockefeller IV, WV [phone] [phone]
John F. Kerry, Massachusetts [phone] [phone]
John B. Breaux, Louisiana [phone] [phone]
Byron L. Dorgan, North Dakota [phone] [phone]
Ron Wyden, Oregon [phone] [phone]
Max Cleland, Georgia [phone] [phone]
Barbara Boxer, California [phone] [phone]
John Edwards, North Carolina [phone] [phone]
Jean Carnahan, Missouri [phone] [phone]
Bill Nelson, Florida [phone] [phone]

Republicans Phone Number Fax Number
John McCain, Arizona [phone] [phone]
Ted Stevens, Alaska [phone] [phone]
Conrad Burns, Montana [phone] [phone]
Trent Lott, Mississippi [phone] [phone]
Kay Bailey Hutchison,Texas [phone] [phone]
Olympia J. Snowe, Maine [phone] [phone]
Sam Brownback, Kansas [phone] [phone]
Gordon Smith, Oregon [phone] [phone]
Peter G. Fitzgerald, Illinois [phone] [phone]
John Ensign, Nevada [phone] [phone]
George Allen, Virginia [phone] [phone]

Note to all Microsoft Users

[9632]

You are to blame for this too. Microsoft has a patient on a DRM OS and will bow down to the MPAA/RIAA on this issue. You are to blame for this too.

Re:The money to be made

[Anonymous Coward]

And we all know that the video game industry is much more profitable than the music/movie industries.

No, no we don't. Because it's not.

It's worse than you think: SSSCA and Microsoft

[Melantha_Bacchae]

The first round for SSSCA ended in October of 2001 with it being postponed indefinately. Microsoft actually came out (mildly) against it. On December 11, 2001, Microsoft was granted patent 6,330,670 for the "Digital rights management operating system". (Microsoft also has 19 other patents on the subject of DRM.)

One of the initial concerns over SSSCA had to do with the fact that Windows XP already had DRM built in, and so the law would give it an unfair advantage. "Unfair advantage" has now become a gross understatement. Microsoft has patented what the SSSCA would require of every OS. This leaves Apple, Linux, etc. with only three options:

1) Try to license DRMOS from Microsoft, and MS refuses: your OS is history.

2) Try to license DRMOS from Microsoft, and MS lets you. Be prepared to pay through the nose. Also, realize that MS is going to throw all kinds of things into the agreement, from IE to .Net and everything in between.

3) Try to break their patent. Good luck.

I would strongly suggest fighting SSSCA tooth and nail, now while we still can. Give Apple and the various corporate allies of Linux a heads-up, they can help. Raise the alarm in the world outside Slashdot.

If we don't stop this, Microsoft (and the MPAA and RIAA) will have their Millenium (thousand year rule).

Come on, Tok Wira, these sharks have got to pay!
New Kirk calling Mothra: "We need you today!"

Re: Democrats

[Hrothgar The Great]

> Sorry, you mispelled communist.

Not at all! To be "liberal" in the simplest sense means that you want to change the way the system works. (this is why it is opposed to "conservatism") The Green Party is not actually even a real political party if you examine them - they are just a conglomeration of extremely loosely affiliated smaller groups of people whose only common thread is that they have SOME problem with the way things work. ("the MAN"). Their arguments for why things aren't working and what should be done about it tend to be not at all well thought out, since none of them can agree on these things, since they are all pursuing separate agendas. If you read their official party platform (there are actually 2, good luck there!), however, it would appear that their goals are clear and well-defined. But make no mistake, despite their poor organization, they are the only real liberal party in this country. And a happy medium between their ideas and the Libertarians' would be a lot more easily definable and appealing than trying to do the same thing with the Republicrats and Demoblicans.

Re:Writing might be better than calling

[__aapbgd5977]

Having worked in a member's office, they are swamped with mail and usually won't read the letter except to categorize it as "SSSCA - No". This is the same treatment given when people call in and say "I'm a state/district resident, and I oppose the SSSCA. Can I please get a written reply from your office?"

Getting the written reply ensures that your opinion will be recorded. We often kept tabs on an issue based on the number of yes replys and the number of no replys we sent out.