[FYI] (Fwd) Hollywood Aims To Crush Computing As We Know It

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

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From:           	Lee Davies <lee.davies@occam-dm.com>
To:             	ukcrypto@chiark.greenend.org.uk
Subject:        	Hollywood Aims To Crush Computing As We Know It
Date sent:      	Fri, 8 Mar 2002 09:16:09 -0000 
Send reply to:  	ukcrypto@chiark.greenend.org.uk


http://hardware.earthweb.com/prodop/article/0,,12099_985991,00.html

Hollywood Aims To Crush Computing As We Know It

Disney, Sony, and other record companies and movie studios want to
repeal the "fair use" rights enjoyed by generations of music lovers;
make music CDs unplayable in computer CD-ROM drives and legally
purchased digital content impossible to copy or transfer between
devices; and force the tech industry to cripple its products with
built-in copy protection that benefits Hollywood and harms consumers.
The tech industry is saying no, thanks, but the entertainment
industry's campaign contributions have gone a long way in the U.S.
Senate. The evidence is the Security Systems Standards and
Certification Act (SSSCA) drafted by Senate Commerce Committee chair
Fritz Hollings (D-S.C.), which hasn't been formally submitted yet but
hung over a committee hearing last week at which Intel Corp. executive
vice president Leslie Vadasz let go with both barrels. The outnumbered
Vadasz hit it right on the head when he declared that Hollywood wants
"to neuter the personal computer to be nothing more than a
videocassette recorder" or other media playback device. But Disney
tycoon Michael Eisner seemed to find more sympathy with senators when
he described the tech industry's position on piracy as "rip, mix,
burn" and said the only reason he could imagine, say, Michael Dell not
being eager to load his PCs with copy-protection hardware was that
Dell wants to sell systems to pirates. "When Congress sits idly by in
the face of these activities," agreed Hollings, "we essentially
sanction the Internet as a haven for thievery." 

Not Science, But Not Fiction

Basically, the SSSCA seeks to enforce rigorous rights controls on all
digital devices and their software -- to make it "unlawful to
manufacture, import, offer to the public, provide or otherwise traffic
in any interactive digital device that does not include" security
systems earning Hollywood's approval. To really see this in the proper
light, here's a quote from the draft legislation: 

The term "interactive digital device" means any machine, device,
product, software, or technology, whether or not included with or as
part of some other machine, device, product, software, or technology,
that is designed, marketed or used for the primary purpose of, and
that is capable of, storing, retrieving, processing, performing,
transmitting, receiving, or copying information in digital form. 

Well, that covers everything from my PC to the clock radio on my desk.
It also applies to every piece of a computer system and its software,
along with any digital office equipment and maybe a few household
appliances -- desktops, servers, hard disks, RAM, and anything that
even comes into contact with digital information is subject to the
SSSCA. To call this description all-encompassing would be the
understatement of the century. But more important, what could it mean
for business? 

One of the first byproducts would be unimaginably higher cost, as the
SSSCA would dictate an across-the-board replacement of offending
hardware and software, if not the entire infrastructure of computing
and the Internet. (There are certain concessions relating to timelines
and grandfathering, but these mostly permit you to own older devices
but not use them -- connecting an unprotected PC to a network could be
a felony.) 

Death To MP3 Evildoers

And the penalties aren't small potatoes: A first offense could net you
a $500,000 fine and up to five years in the slammer, with any
subsequent violations costing a million bucks and 10 years,
respectively -- not counting actual or statutory damages that could be
invoked above and beyond these penalties. In other words, the
entertainment industry doesn't want to pay the tab for protecting its
digital rights, so consumers and businesses will be forced to foot the
bill, or face the consequences. 

Think this insanity affects only DVD-R manufacturers? Think about how
the SSSCA could impact areas like building, upgrading, or repairing
PCs. It's hard to tell how far things could be taken, but it's
entirely conceivable that entire lines of tech employment could become
illegal or at least obsolete. As for programming, open-source software
such as Linux would by definition become illegal (even installing it
would be a felony), while other publishers would have to allow
development time for even the smallest piece of C++ code to be checked
for SSSCA compliance. 

Another side effect Hollings's donors don't mention is the competitive
position that U.S. companies would be in. Importing or exporting
non-SSSCA devices would be illegal, but the compliant products that
would be mandatory (though wildly unpopular) in the States would be
impossible to sell elsewhere -- why a European or Asian business would
choose to buy SSSCA hardware from a U.S. vendor, when standard-use
alternatives would still exist, is beyond me. Presumably, the
assumption is that if Micron were hypothetically forced to add copy
protection to its SDRAM modules, Samsung and other suppliers would
have to follow suit to be allowed into the U.S. market. That's
certainly true, but it doesn't work the other way around -- Micron
would see its overseas sales plunge to zero. Welcome to the Twilight
Zone

Clearly, Disney and Co. want to appropriate and exert overt control
over vital computer technology in whose creation they had no part,
including technology that almost no one uses for digital media
playback. Corporations use their PCs for core business tasks;
researchers crunch numbers; professors and students rely on them for
educational purposes. Sure, there are a few college kids playing
hacked movies in their dorms, but exactly how does that justify a
full-scale war against all digital devices in all fields of endeavor? 

For the entertainment industry to tell the incredibly large and
powerful tech sector what to do takes incredible gall, and ignores the
true free-enterprise profit mentality of American corporations. I
believe that in order to stop the SSSCA madness, companies and
institutions that rely on PCs must stand up and be counted. In the
real world, the technology sector dwarfs the entertainment business,
even without counting the millions of businesspeople who use
technology. It makes no sense to let a mouse, even one with deep
pockets, run the zoo. 

I know it's easy to dismiss this threat as an impossible Hollywood
fantasy; I ignored it for some time myself. But when I mention the
proposed legislation to friends and colleagues and get only shocked
replies ("There's no way they would do that") or stares of disbelief,
I'm tempted to quote Edmund Burke: "The only thing necessary for the
triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." 

March 5, 2002 	





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