on Mon, Sep 24, 2001 at 11:34:51PM +0100, Lee Elliott (leee@overthetop.freeserve.co.uk) wrote:
> Just read this.
>
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/21830.html
I *STRONGLY* encourage the use of descriptive subject lines and/or
appropriate context when posting naked links.
The story is Dan Berke's syndicated Newsforge essay on the SSSCA, The
Security Systems Standards and Certification Act. This is a Senate bill
authored jointly by Ernest "Fritz" Hollings (D-SC) and Ted Stevens
(R-AK), now with a House sponsor.
The bill would effectively render free software illegal. It would
effectively render most hardware illegal. As drafted (and it's possible
the language would change) it applies to any software, and any
digitally-capable hardware.
17 USC 1201 makes illegal circumvention of copy prevention systems. The
SSSCA makes it illegal "to manufacture, import, off to the public,
provide, or otherwise traffic in" any digital hardware or software which
does not contain copy prevention systems.
Michael Tiemann of RedHat (good people, never mind the distro ;-) has
been actively soliciting input on how to best address this threat. His
own response:
Based on numerous suggestions from people who've contacted me, and
my own scientific sampling mething (walking the halls at Red Hat),
I've concluded that the really right way to address the SSSCA is to
rally an effort under the EFF's umbrella.
While the events of Sept 11 have claimed the top of the EFF's
priority list, the SSSCA sits at spot #2:
http://www.eff.org/alerts/20010921_eff_sssca_alert.html . That's no
small deal, because as you can see, the EFF has all sorts of great
infrastructure for helping people (1) do their part, and (2)
providing a good user interface for helping others you direct to
their site.
There's about 20 people on this list--pretty minimal, considering
the number of people I believe to be subscribed to FSB that are
eligible US voters--so I think we cannot underestimate the
importance of getting other people involved in this issue.
My call to action is as follows:
1. If you're not a member of the EFF, join now, and donate what you
can reasonably afford ($100 or more would be good).
2. Follow the EFF's advice and draft a letter you can send to your
senate and congresscritters. Even though this bill is not yet
before either house, it would not be a bad thing to give your
elected representatives fair warning about your opinions. The EFF
has web-based forms that make it easy to find your elected
representatives--use that to fill out the physical envelopes you
will need.
3. Tell 10 friends that (1) you're a member of the EFF, (2) you've
sent your letters, and (3) you think they should do the same.
There's a great line in the movie "Diner" where Kevin Bacon says
"I'll hit you so hard it will kill your whole family". Let's hit
the SSSCA so hard that congress feels it right in the DMCA.
Peace.
--
Karsten M. Self <kmself@ix.netcom.com> http://kmself.home.netcom.com/
What part of "Gestalt" don't you understand? Home of the brave
http://gestalt-system.sourceforge.net/ Land of the free
Free Dmitry! Boycott Adobe! Repeal the DMCA! http://www.freesklyarov.org
Geek for Hire http://kmself.home.netcom.com/resume.html
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