[vox] Fwd: New Bill attempts to regulate hardware, software development

[Shwaine <sMAPShwaine@malevolence.com>]

I saw this on Buqtraq the other day. I know this is somewhat old 
news to most everyone, but I though I'd pass it along since it appears 
they are trying to hide the bill by giving it a new name. Also, since 
Sen. Dianne Feinstein is on the bill, we can do our duty as concerned 
Californian voters (those of us in California at least) by contacting 
her and letting her know our objections to this bill. Her contact 
information is at:

http://www.senate.gov/~feinstein/contact.html

A combination of emails and actual letters would probably be most 
effective. Do try to remember to be polite and list why such a bill 
would negatively impact your professional and/or personal use of 
computers. Emphasis on the infeasibility of such a system being created 
within the timeframe might also be good. Propose alternatives that 
are less restrictive such as pouring more money into open standards 
security research which could develop a voluntary system of copyright 
protection that I am sure the entertainment industry would snatch 
right up. The upside of the bill was at least it insisted upon open 
standards, although that did bring another thought to mind. How would 
it interact with the DMCA? 

--------------- Begin Forward --------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2002 14:24:48 -0800
From: Jon O. <jono@networkcommand.com>
To: bugtraq@securityfocus.com
Subject: New Bill attempts to regulate hardware, software development


As we are all aware, bugtraq is not a forum to discuss
political issues or laws. However, with the continued
goverment pressure and attempts to reform and regulate
the hardware and software industries, bugtraq readers
should be informed and aware of these new laws which will
no doubt impact all of us.


Senator Hollings is attempting to regulate hardware and software
development. The bill can be reviewed here:
http://cryptome.org/broadbandits.htm

Concerned software developers can submit comments here:
http://judiciary.senate.gov/special/input_form.cfm?comments=1 

You can review other peoples comments here:
http://judiciary.senate.gov/special/input_form.cfm

The following senators also support this Bill:
Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), 
John Breaux (D-Louisana) and Dianne Feinstein (D-California). 

There is a mailing list discussing these issues here:
http://lists.microshaft.org/mailman/listinfo/dmca_discuss


----- Forwarded message from Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com> -----


As a bonus, here's a section-by-section summary of the bill:
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,51275,00.html

And a collection of info on the Consumer Broadband and Digital
Television Promotion Act (CBDTPA):
http://www.politechbot.com/docs/cbdtpa/

-Declan

---

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,51274,00.html

   Anti-Copy Bill Slams Coders
   By Declan McCullagh (declan@wired.com)

   1:25 p.m. March 22, 2002 PST
   WASHINGTON -- America's programmers, engineers and sundry bit-heads
   have not yet figured out how much a new copyright bill will affect
   their livelihood.
   
   When they do, watch for an angry Million Geek March to storm Capitol
   Hill.

   A bill introduced this week by Sen. Fritz Hollings (D-South Carolina)
   would roil the electronics industry by forcibly embedding copy
   protection into all digital devices, from MP3 players to cell phones,
   fax machines, digital cameras and personal computers.
   
   But the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act
   (CBDTPA) would also wreak havoc on programmers and software companies
   -- both those distributing code for free and those selling it.
   
   No more than two years and seven months after the bill becomes law,
   the only code programmers and software firms will be able to
   distribute must have embedded copy-protection schemes approved by the
   federal government.
   
   To put this in perspective: The CBDTPA would, if enacted in its
   current form, have the electrifying effect on computer professionals
   that the Supreme Court's decision in Bush v. Gore did to some
   Democratic Party members.
   
   Legal experts said on Friday that the CBDTPA regulates nearly any
   program, in source or object code, that runs on a PC or anything else
   with a microprocessor.
   
   That's not just Windows media players and their brethren, as you 
might
   expect. The CBDTPA's sweeping definition of "any hardware or software"
   includes word processors, spreadsheets, operating systems, compilers,
   programming languages -- all the way down to humble Unix utilities
   like "cp" and "cat."
   
   "The definition will cover just about anything that runs on your
   computer -- except maybe the clock," said Tom Bell, a professor at
   Chapman University School of Law who teaches intellectual property
   law.

   [...]



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----- End forwarded message -----

Shwaine the Wandering Arch of Malevolence
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