CD users may feel heat from anti-burning bill Associated Press SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Compiling your favorite tunes or a photo slide show on a compact disc could no longer be possible if the backers of a proposed federal copy-control bill prevail. The draft legislation would require nearly all digital electronic devices from PCs to digital camcorders to contain a lock of sorts that restricts the copying of music or movies. The goal, say proponents led by the entertainment industry, would be to block piracy and the Napsterlike ability to make unlimited copies of digital content. The effect, others say, would be a loss of freedom for consumers, a stifling of innovation in the technology industry and a violation of the "fair use" provision traditionally enjoyed under federal copyright law. "It would in essence turn your PC into only a VCR playback machine, and you wouldn't have the capabilities to move digital content around like you do today, like burning a CD, e-mailing a digital picture or saving a trailer clip of a movie," said P.J. McNealy, research director for the Gartner G2 firm. "It's a Draconian bill that would grind digital distribution to a near-halt." The bill, sponsored by Sen. Ernest "Fritz" Hollings, D-S.C., could be introduced within a month. Under the proposal, dubbed the Security Systems Standards and Certification Act, any "interactive digital device" sold in the United States would have to include a technology that prevents users from making multiple copies of copyright material. Violators and anyone who tampers with the copy protections in the devices could face fines or prison. The proposed bill would give private sector groups a year or two to agree on copy-protection standards, which the government would then turn into regulation. If the deadline isn't met, the government would determine the standard. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a technology civil liberties group, notes that the entertainment industry repeatedly fought new technologies in the past -- from the phonograph to the VCR -- only to discover later that the technologies helped create new revenue. That argument is supported by House Majority Leader Dick Armey, a Texas Republican and free-market advocate who opposes Hollings' proposal. --
Actually, this is only the tip of the iceberg with this CORPORATE SPONSORED legislation. If it passes, it could become illegal to even open your computer, and Open Source software (Linux, Apache, etc.) could be outlawed. If it is passed, I will pursue the prospect of moving to somewhere that lets me run Linux.
