I am a bit tired to write about this, but please read the articles to the links provided, and let's have a good discussion about this.

Personally I have a bad feeling about this, so when there is a Million Geek March, I hope to see you in D.C. We'll have lunch.

Links to related articles:
- Wired.com - What Holling's Bill Will Do (http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,51275,00.html)
- Wired.com - Anti-Copy Bill Slams Coders (http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,51274,00.html)
- EFF "Intellectual Property- Security Systems Standards and Certification Act (SSSCA)" Archive (http://www.eff.org/IP/SSSCA_CBDTPA/)
- EFF Fair Use FAQ (http://www.eff.org/IP/eff_fair_use_faq.html)

:eek: I am surprised no one is interested in this bill, as it will affect everyone, especially all you coders out there.

snippet from wired.com (http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,51274,00.html) article:
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.

...

If the CBDTPA were to be enacted, American developers would be sharply restricted in their ability to collaborate with their counterparts overseas. In a worst-case interpretation, for instance, the CBDTPA means that only pre-ban versions of the Linux operating system could legally be sold inside U.S. borders.


When I find the time I will research this topic more thoroughly, and send a letter to Congress. The outlook looks pretty grim, though.

This (if passed) would have little effect on coders; it would only effect those poor consumers who live in the US.

But this is hardly the first time that dumb laws have been proposed. There is legislation before the UK government which would make it illegal for me to talk to my DPhil supervisor; under laws already in force, it would be illegal for me to take my laptop out of the country (unless I removed the hard drive). Do I care? Not particularly... they can pass all the dumb laws they like, and I'll just ignore them -- which is exactly what anyone using linux would do if this gets passed.

Personally, I hope this bill does pass. It would be nice to see companies relocate into Canada. ;)

Originally posted by Lain
:eek: I am surprised no one is interested in this bill

I think most people are interested, but it's hard to get excited over some senator's blind stupidity and grand standing. Even on the remote chance it gets passed, it's unworkable, and in most cases will cost the US money every time it's implimented through income or employment.

Canada stands to gain from it though :) When a law was passed in Australia allowing govt bodies to spy on people's computers without authorization, several companies moved to Canada taking millions of dollars of income with them.

Greg Moore

Oh, I see how it is! Canada's plan for world domination has finally come to fruition :D