On Mon, 1 Apr 2002, Douglas H. Quebbeman wrote: 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.