[FYI] (Fwd) SSSCA is not dead/Valenti's Veiled Threat

["Axel H Horns" <horns@ipjur.com>]

------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent:      	Tue, 18 Dec 2001 09:10:53 -0500
Send reply to:  	Law & Policy of Computer Communications              <CYBERIA-L@LISTSERV.AOL.COM>
From:           	Richard Forno <rforno@INFOWARRIOR.ORG>
Organization:   	WWW.INFOWARRIOR.ORG
Subject:        	SSSCA is not dead/Valenti's Veiled Threat
To:             	CYBERIA-L@LISTSERV.AOL.COM

A Call to End Copyright Confusion
By Declan McCullagh and Ben Polen
2:00 a.m. Dec. 18, 2001 PST
http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,49201,00.html

WASHINGTON -- Jack Valenti predicts that Congress will require
copy-protection controls in nearly all consumer electronic devices and
PCs.

The lobbyist nonpareil for the Motion Picture Association of America
delivered a stark warning to technology firms on Monday: Move quickly
to choose standards for wrapping digital content in uncopyable layers
of encryption or the federal government will do it for you.

"If we don't sit down and talk, others will do this for us," Valenti
said, in a not-so-veiled reference to his allies on Capitol Hill.
"Unless you put a marker down for a deadline, nothing gets done."

<. snip. >

Hanging over the event was the specter of federal legislation to embed
digital rights management in any "interactive digital device," from
personal computers to wristwatches. Sen. Fritz Hollings (D-South
Carolina) has circulated drafts of his bill, the Security Systems
Standards and Certification Act (SSSCA), which is on hold until
Congress is done with spending measures and work related to Sept. 11.

< . snip. >

The SSSCA draft says that it is unlawful to create, sell or distribute
"any interactive digital device that does not include and utilize
certified security technologies" that are approved by the U.S.
Commerce Department. An interactive digital device is defined as any
hardware or software capable of "storing, retrieving, processing,
performing, transmitting, receiving or copying information in digital
form."

It also creates new federal felonies, punishable by five years in
prison and fines of up to $500,000. Anyone who distributes copyrighted
material with "security measures" disabled or has a network-attached
computer that disables copy protection would be covered.

< . snip .>


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