[IP] Gads I agree with them djf Conservative group savages anti-P2P bill
Begin forwarded message:
From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: September 24, 2004 8:08:11 PM EDT
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <dewayne-net@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Conservative group savages anti-P2P bill
Reply-To: dewayne@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Conservative group savages anti-P2P bill
By Declan McCullagh
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
<http://news.com.com/Conservative+group+savages+anti-P2P+bill/2100
-1028_3-5381593.html>
Story last modified September 24, 2004, 3:24 PM PDT
The nation's oldest conservative group has become the latest and most
vocal critic of an anti-file-swapping bill that foes say could target
products like Apple Computer's iPod.
The American Conservative Union (ACU), which holds influential
Republican activists and former senators on its board of directors, is
running newspaper and magazine advertisements that take a humorous jab
at the so-called Induce Act--and slams some conservative politicians
for supporting it.
"This is the Hollywood liberals trying to crush innovation," said ACU
deputy director Stacie Rumenap. "What's sad is that they've got
Republicans on their side." A Senate committee vote on the bill is
scheduled for Thursday.
The original version of the Induce Act said that anyone who induces any
violation of copyright law could be legally responsible, a phrase that
has alarmed Silicon Valley manufacturers and led Sen. Orrin Hatch,
R-Utah, to say he would consider less sweeping alternatives. A version
that Hatch's office privately circulated on Friday afternoon, seen by
CNET News.com, clarifies that a company must engage in "conscious and
deliberate affirmative acts" of inducement to be found liable.
But technology companies were skeptical that it would eliminate their
concerns. "The problem is that it doesn't look like they're willing to
preserve the Sony Betamax standard for the cause of action of
inducement," said Markham Erickson, associate general counsel for
NetCoalition, which represents companies including Google, Yahoo, and
CNET Networks, publisher of News.com.
In the 1984 Supreme Court decision referred to as the Betamax ruling,
the court said VCRs were legal to sell because they were "capable of
substantial noninfringing uses." Technology companies worry that by
targeting operators of peer-to-peer networks, the Induce Act could
erode the legal protections that shield other hardware and software
makers from legal liability.
Mitch Glazier, the chief lobbyist for the Recording Industry
Association of America, said in a recent interview that the concerns
about the iPod being imperiled were unfounded: "The original Induce Act
focused on the totality of the circumstances. There's no way that a
company that produces great digital rights management for a licensed
product is ever going to be shown to want to profit from piracy."
The ACU's advertisement claims the Induce Act "attacks consumers'
right to use technologies" and enriches "Hollywood fat cats." It is
running in conservative-leaning publications including the Weekly
Standard, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Times and National
Review.
On Monday, it will be joined by an ad from NetCoalition that says
"Don't Let Congress Make Him Your Next Portable Music Player" alongside
a photograph of a traveling musician outfitted with an absurd amount of
musical gear. It will run in the political publication Roll Call and
then local newspapers.
Republican supporters of the Induce Act include Hatch and Tennessee
Sens. Bill Frist and Lamar Alexander.
Archives at: <http://Wireless.Com/Dewayne-Net>
Weblog at: <http://weblog.warpspeed.com>
-------------------------------------
You are subscribed as roessler@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To manage your subscription, go to
http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip
Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/