New Copyright Bill Heading to DC
By Declan McCullagh (declan@wired.com)
4:19 p.m. Sep. 7, 2001 PDT
WASHINGTON -- Music and record industry lobbyists are quietly readying
an all-out assault on Congress this fall in hopes of dramatically
rewriting copyright laws.
With the help of Fritz Hollings (D-S.C.), the powerful chairman of the
Senate Commerce committee, they hope to embed copy-protection controls
in nearly all consumer electronic devices and PCs. All types of
digital content, including music, video and e-books, are covered.
The Security Systems Standards and Certification Act (SSSCA),
scheduled to be introduced by Hollings, backs up this requirement with
teeth: It would be a civil offense to create or sell any kind of
computer equipment that "does not include and utilize certified
security technologies" approved by the federal government.
It also creates new federal felonies, punishable by five years in
prison and fines of up to $500,000. Anyone who distributes copyrighted
material with "security measures" disabled or has a network-attached
computer that disables copy protection is covered.
Hollings' draft bill, which Wired News obtained on Friday, represents
the next round of the ongoing legal tussle between content holders and
their opponents, including librarians, programmers and open-source
advocates.
From: "James Love" <james.love@cptech.org>
To: <declan@well.com>, <politech@politechbot.com>
Subject: Re: DMCA hoedown! Copyright fans party on Capitol Hill on Thursday
Date: Tue, 14 May 2002 07:53:22 -0400
Declan, If you look at the list of countries, it is pretty clear that the US
just went out and told a number of developing countries to sign the treaty,
so it would not disappear. Burkina Faso, Ecuador, El Salvador, Gabon,
Honduras, Mali, Saint Lucia, Senegal and several other countries did not
decide on their own that they needed this treaty, it was the heavy hand of
the USTR and the US Department of State and other US governemnt (or US
governemnt controlled bodies) that forced this issue. Look who has not
signed (Germany, France, the UK, Australia, etc), and who has signed. jl
who has signed..
Argentina
Belarus.............................................
Bulgaria...........................................
Burkina Faso..................................
Chile...............................................
Colombia........................................
Costa Rica......................................
Croatia............................................
Czech Republic..............................
Ecuador...........................................
El Salvador......................................
Gabon.............................................
Georgia...........................................
Guinea............................................
Honduras........................................
Hungary..........................................
Indonesia........................................
Jamaica...........................................
Japan..............................................
Kyrgyzstan....................................
Latvia..............................................
Lithuania.........................................
Mali................................................
Mexico............................................
Panama...........................................
Paraguay.........................................
Peru................................................
Republic of Moldova.....................
Romania..........................................
Saint Lucia......................................
Senegal............................................
Slovakia..........................................
Slovenia..........................................
Ukraine...........................................
United States of America...............
---
Date: Tue, 14 May 2002 14:48:38 +1000
From: Nathan Cochrane <ncochrane@theage.fairfax.com.au>
Organization: The Age newspaper
To: declan@well.com
Subject: Re: FC: DMCA hoedown! Copyright fans party on Capitol Hill on Thursday
Goodo, Declan. I found this hysterically funny, although I don't know if
that was your purpose. Certainly, I would expect to see a protest of some
sort outside.
But what really got me was the entry of the USA into the ranks of
third-world, poverty-stricken countries judging by the ambassadors that are
attending. If that's the sort of crowd a pat-back fest for the DMCA draws,
then sadly I think the writing is on the wall.
cheers
Nathan
Posted on Jul 19, 2002, 5:12 PM from IP address 209.201.75.65