The times they are a-changin’.
This post seems to be older than 18 years—a long time on the internet. It might be outdated.
Nothing pushes my buttons like idiots doing blatenly stupid things, except, perhaps, idiots with power doing blatenly stupid things. Such is the case of Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) who are the sponsers of the Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act (SB2560). What is so bad about this particular act? Well let’s start with everything. Yes, everything. There is nothing in this bill that should ever be allowed to see the light of day. The Act is designed “stop rampant copyright infringement on peer-to-peer networks.” (wired.com, New Induce Act Alarms Foes) However, the scope of the bill goes WAY beyond society defined peer-to-peer networks. The bill would literally end the development of any kind of data sharing programs becuase such a program could be used to illegally transfer music. You have got to be kidding me. I will again default to both the 1984 Betamax Decision and the more recent Federal P2P decision. The ’84 Betamax Decision “ruled that devices with ‘substantial non-infringing uses’ are legal.” (wired.com, Tech Groups Want Induce Hearings). While the August 19th P2P ruling upheld a district courts finding that Peer-to-peer services are legal. Judge Sydney Thomas, one of three judges on the panel overhearing the case noted, “History has shown that time and market forces often provide equilibrium in balancing interests, whether the new technology be a player piano, a copier, a tape recorder, a video recorder, a personal computer, a karaoke machine, or an MP3 player. Thus, it is prudent for courts to exercise caution before restructuring liability theories for the purpose of addressing specific market abuses, despite their apparent present magnitude.” Sounds like he get’s it. I vote Judge Thomas for Senate. Any seconds?
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