1 Apr
2002
1 Apr
'02
2:48 p.m.
On Mon, 1 Apr 2002, Douglas H. Quebbeman wrote:
Doc, I have a fever, and the unsend key isn't working. Sorry!
It was Joe Rigdon's comment to which I was replying...
Doc's response seems to be typical- it sounds
so outrageous
that there's no way it could happen.
Excuse me? My response was that if we don't mobilize en masse, and
quickly, it _will_ happen. The Digital Millenium Copyright Act was no less
ridiculous, and is now
Federal law. In the many times that law has been invoked, not one case
has involved the mass distribution pirates its proponents claimed to
target. Most have been people like Dmitri Slyarov, who simply dared to
speak out, and to demonstrate that ownership of an idea is moot.
Agreed... now if they'd grabbed Martha Stewart, there'd be some action.
The Uniform Computer Information Transaction Act -
UCITA bill - is
even more ludicrous, and is now law in two states. A roaring
grass-roots campaign against UCITA was credited with stopping it in
Texas.
Whew!
All three bills, proposed or passed, have in common
that they are
unenforceable, that they target and penalize the consumer in favor of
specialized corporate interests, that they are blatantly
unconstitutional in spirit if not in their letters, and that most of
their opponents do not take them seriously enough to act.
The other thing these bills all have in common is that the special
interest groups who buy their introduction into our legislative system
will continue to pay for their reintroduction until their puppets are
censured in a way that matters. In cash, and in criminal prosecution.
Around here, we'd tar, feather, then run them out of town on a rail.
Douglas, I expect that the mis-attribution was a
benign mistake, so I
want to make it clear that I'm not jumping down your throat.
Ok! But I wasn't putting Joe down, either... only pointing out that
we're preachin' to the choir here, folks...
But I WILL NOT be misunderstood in this. The very
possibility of a
travesty like the CBDTPA becoming the law of the land is my worst
nightmare come to life. It has nothing to do with my computers,
my music recordings, or my movies. It has everything to do with the
idea that any coalition with enough cash and lawyers can today buy
any oppression of the people that they desire, with impunity, and
without any need to even disguise their actions.
This is the Tyranny of the Majority that Publius warned us of.
Again, sorry, I spent too much time in the mold den this weekend
recovering old moldy Prime manuals. That deadly black mold you
hear about...
-dq