Let them pass it, they won't be able to enforce it. I won't let my Linux
kernel become 'tainted' by closed binary drivers and I will really
actively get involved in defeating such measures in Linux kernel
modules.
Shawn.
On Fri, 2002-03-01 at 14:46, Paul G. Allen wrote:
> Before anyone remarks about this being Off Topic for the various mailing
> lists I've sent this to, please think about the effects this could have
> to Linux. In addition, even though many of you may not be US citizens,
> the recent happenings with international laws against cybercrime, copy
> protection and the like could make this US law relevant to you as well,
> not to mention the impact to your company should you not be able to do
> business in the US because of such a law. Therefore, it really IS on
> topic, and the time to think about and act on such things is _BEFORE_
> they are written in stone, not after.
>
> In case you haven't heard, the SSSCA is before the Senate Commerce
> Committee, with a hearing earlier today
> (http://slashdot.org/articles/02/03/01/1423248.shtml?tid=103 for the
> story and several links, including a draft of the bill). The SSSCA, if
> passed, would basically require that all interactive digital devices,
> including your PC, have copy protection built in. This protection would
> not allow digital media from being viewed, copied, transferred, or
> downloaded if the device is not authorized to do so. The bill also makes
> it a crime to circumvent the protection, including manufacturing or
> trafficking in anything that does not include the protection or that
> would circumvent it.
>
> Even if there is no SSSCA, the entertainment industry as well as the IT
> industry both agree: we must have copy protection of some kind. While I
> do not disagree that many movies, songs, and other media are distributed
> illegally without their owners consent, and that copyright owners need
> some sort of protection, this is not the way to fight the problem, and
> doing so can, and probably will, have drastic and far reaching
> consequences for not only the IT industry, but the entertainment
> industry and the consumer as well.
>
> Many of us have become increasingly involved with, and dependent upon,
> Free Software (as in GNU GPL or similar), especially the Linux operating
> system. This type of software is distributed with the source code,
> allowing anyone to modify it as they choose and need. Linux has become
> popular to the point that many companies, especially those that provide
> some kind of service on or for the Internet, rely upon it heavily.
> Because of the free nature of Linux, and other Free Software, it is
> extremely difficult to place actual numbers on how many systems are out
> there employing such software. Some of you, like me, can approximate the
> number of such systems in your own company or realm of knowledge. So how
> does this relate to the SSSCA?
>
> As any programmer worth his/her salt will attest, given the resources,
> anything that can be programmed into a computer can be programmed out,
> or worked around. In the case of copy protection such as the SSSCA would
> require, the resources needed for circumventing it is simply the source
> code for the operating system of the computer, and/or other source code
> for applications used on the computer (such as one of the many free
> video/audio players available). Now given the wording of the SSSCA,
> along with the DMCA and other supporting laws, it stands to reason that
> such Free Software would suddenly become a target for legislation. Such
> legislation logically may require such software to be judged illegal.
> Such a decision may have serious consequences to the IT industry as well
> as the entertainment industry and the consumer as well. Little may the
> consumer or entertainment industry know, but much of the technology they
> rely upon today is provided at low cost by Free Software. Take that
> software away, and suddenly doing business costs a lot more, and
> eventually the consumer just will not be willing to pay for it.
>
> Now aside from the consequences to Free Software, what about the
> consequences to those who do not use such software. Imagine that home
> movie you shot last weekend on vacation. Now you wish to send that home
> movie to a relative, friend, whoever, over the Internet, or place it on
> your web site for all to download. Well, with many of the protection
> technologies suggested, this would not be possible, or would be
> extremely difficult. Some of these technologies require digital
> watermarks to be placed in the media, for one example. CD burners,
> digital cameras, etc. can not make these watermarks. The copy protection
> works by checking for such a watermark, and if it does not exist, the
> system either will not allow the media to be played, or will not allow
> it to be transmitted over the Internet as the case may be. So much for
> sending your cousin your latest home movie, or allowing your whole
> family to see it from your web site. An additional problem is all
> current media, including CDs and DVDs, you may currently legally own
> would not work on proposed new CD and DVD players with copy protection
> hardware. You would not be able to copy CDs, tapes, or anything else
> that you legally own in order to exercise your right to fair use, so as
> to listen to that CD on the cassette deck in your car.
>
> I could go on, but I think this is long enough and has given some food
> for thought. Besides, I have work to do. Election time is near, so think
> about what that person you are voting for represents. Think about
> actually writing a letter to a congressman or other legislator, to a
> magazine (I actually had one published once, so it's not beyond the
> realms of possibility), newpaper, etc. Many people have the attitude
> that they can do nothing and make no difference. Well, I say to them
> they are right, because there are so many people with that attitude,
> that none of them do anything and they make no difference in doing so.
> The once that make the difference, are the ones taking a stance, and the
> ones taking the stance are the ones that are causing these rediculous
> laws to be passed. Guess who those people are?...
>
> Welcome to The United Corporations of America.
>
> PGA
> --
> Paul G. Allen
> Owner, Sr. Engineer, Security Specialist
> Random Logic/Dream Park
> www.randomlogic.com
> -
> To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in
> the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org
> More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
> Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/
>
-
To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in
the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org
More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/