The classic computing hobby aside, The CBDTPA is stupid on a number of
levels. Most electronics manufacturers are against it, for example. They say
it will discourage innovation and slow the development of new products.
Civil libertarians oppose it for potential privacy issues and its likelihood
of impeding the free flow of information.
By all means, contact your Congress critter if you want to express your
opposition. I suggest, however, that you bring up some of the more high
profile arguments against the bill as well as its impact on the hobby.
The CBDTPA is not a done deal. Powerful forces are lined up on both sides,
and strong public opinion against the bill could well kill it.
--Mike
Michael Nadeau
Editor/Publisher
Classic Tech, the Vintage Computing Resource
www.classictechpub.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Douglas H. Quebbeman" <dougq_at_iglou.com>
To: <classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org>
Sent: Friday, March 29, 2002 11:52 AM
Subject: The Future End of Classic Computing
> The End of Classic Computing, and in fact, the end
> of Computing as a hobby for almost all of us, is on
> the table in the U.S. Congress in the form of The
> Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion
> Act (CBDTPA). This insidious bill would strike at
> the very heart of this community, the software that
> keeps our ClassicComputers running, unless we or
> someone incorporates anti-pirating measures.
>
> Now, if that sounded inflammatory, it should. It's
> not quite accurate either. The bill will cover only
> software created from the time of the bill's passage
> and on into the future. The stuff we play with now
> would therefore be exempt.
>
> There appears to be a loophole for stuff you do that
> you never distribute. There also appears to be a loophole
> for computers that do not contain microprocessors.
>
> But there would be a horizon coming soon. If the bill
> is passed, computers and software being developed now,
> once 10 years old, might be on-topic, but you'd be
> breaking federal law to share software.
>
> Sponsored by someone who must surely be certifiably
> insane, one Senator Fritz Hollings of South Carolina,
> if you want more information, see:
>
> http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,51274,00.html
>
> This will require lots of work to defeat, I think, as
> the politicians have bought into the fantasy that a
> pirated copy of something conctitutes a lost sale.
>
> A true emperor's fine new clothes scneario...
>
> Regards,
> -dq
>
> --
> -Douglas Hurst Quebbeman (dougq_at_iglou.com) [Call me "Doug"]
> "The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away." -Tom Waits
>
>
Received on Fri Mar 29 2002 - 11:40:59 GMT