i don't mean to derail the content of the vanagon mailing list in any way, i merely feel that this is important enough to take a moment and look at: http://www.stoppoliceware.org/ http://www.boycott-riaa.com/ it amazes me, continually, what they try to get away with behind our backs. sign the petition ,please. :( " WHAT IS THE SSSCA?
The SSSCA is a bill, pushed by the entertainment industry, to be proposed in Congress by Senators Fritz Hollings (D-SC) and Ted Stevens (R-Alaska). The acronym stands for "Security Systems Standards and Certification Act". "
WHAT WOULD THIS LAW DO?
The law would force all new personal computers and digital home entertainment devices sold in the United States to have government-approved "policeware" built-in. This policeware would restrict your use of copyrighted material on these devices -- including music files and CD's, video clips, DVD's, e-books, and more.
WHO COULD GO TO JAIL?
You, if you're one of the millions of Americans who uses your computers to burn music CD's, listen to MP3's, share video files, etc. You'd face up to five years in federal prison and a $500,000 fine. Think you'd be able to get around the law by removing the policeware from your personal computer? Think again -- anyone who defies the government by disabling or tampering with the policeware on their own computer, in the privacy of their own home or business, would also face five years in the slammer.
Since alternative operating systems like Linux and FreeBSD would most likely refuse to incorporate government policeware into their code, users of these open-source systems would also be eligible for hard time.
HOW CAN WE FIGHT THIS?
If we have any hope of keeping government policeware off of our personal computers and home entertainment devices, we must act quickly and decisively.
they've also tried to make hard drives 'copy protected' in the past. they have thankfully failed. the blind, shameless, unabashed greed of the RIAA is , to say the least, frightening.
http://www.stoppoliceware.org/
===== "Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy. " - H. L. Mencken "Insisting on perfect safety is for people who don't have the balls to live in the real world." -Mary Shafer, NASA Ames Dryden More Quotation fun @ http://nerddom.8m.com/quotes.html __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? NEW from Yahoo! GeoCities - quick and easy web site hosting, just $8.95/month. http://geocities.yahoo.com/ps/info1 |
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