(Fwd) FC: Essay on CBDTPA: "Hollings, Valenti, and the American Techniban"

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

------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent:      	Wed, 27 Mar 2002 01:32:49 -0500
To:             	politech@politechbot.com
From:           	Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
Subject:        	FC: Essay on CBDTPA: "Hollings, Valenti, and the American
 	Techniban"
Send reply to:  	declan@well.com

Politech archive on CBDTPA:
http://www.politechbot.com/docs/cbdtpa/

---

Date: Tue, 26 Mar 2002 07:59:58 -0500
Subject: Hollings, Valenti, and the American Techniban
From: Richard Forno <rforno@infowarrior.org>
To: <declan@well.com>

Morning, Declan - FYI.

The full version with hyperlinked references is available at
http://www.infowarrior.org/articles/2002-03.html, if you're
interested.

rf

----------
Hollings, Valenti, and the American Techniban
Richard Forno
25 March 2002
rforno@infowarrior.org

(c) 2002 by Author. Permission is granted to quote, reprint or
redistribute provided the text is not altered, and appropriate credit
is given.

Summary: Discussion of the latest (and controversial) piece of
entertainment-industry legislation designed to screw the law-abiding
citizens of the Net.

The United States is engaged in a war against oppressive regimes run
by ignorant fanatics barely able to comprehend the intricacies of
modern society. Through actions favoring the ruling class, secret
midnight deals, and restricting public distribution of information,
citizens in these societies are unable to evolve and live as
productive members of the international community. In Afghanistan,
this was evidenced by the philosophy and practices of the now-defunct
Taliban. Unfortunately, this fanaticism has spread to the United
States and evidenced by the rise of the American Techniban.

The American Techniban are led by Senator Ernest "Fritz" Hollings
(D-SC) who serves as the duly-appointed Congressional mouthpiece and
elected puppet of the entertainment industry cartels, having received
nearly $300,000 in campaign funding from Hollywood since 1997. Known
in some circles as the 'Senator From Disney,' Hollings also bears a
striking resemblance to a younger Jack  Valenti. (Valenti, for those
unaware, is CEO of the movie industry's lobby group and the founder of
America's Techniban movement.) Brainwashed by the Gospel of Valenti,
the American Techniban's goal is simple. Under the guise of
'preserving America's intellectual capital' and supported by the
funding of the entertainment industry cartels, they seek to sustain
the entertainment industry's Industrial Age business model (and
monopolies) in the modern Information Age - where such models are
rendered obsolete by emerging technology.

According to Techniban Leader Senator Hollings, the lack of
'ubiquitous protections' has led to a 'lack of [high-quality] digital
content on the Internet - apparently he doesn't believe that consumers
are interested in any 'high-quality digital content' outside of what
is produced by the major entertainment industries. Forget the garage
band in Miami or the two teenagers producing an hour-long movie
describing adolescent depression shot with Dad's camcorder during
Spring Break, or WashingtonPost.Com. Hollings' interpretation of the
Gospel of Valenti is that if a digital content didn't come from an
entity supporting the entertainment industry cartels it must not be a
worthwhile product.  Unfortunately, many folks are of the belief that
since we don't require such 'security' measures for handguns
(something that can kill people) so why have such measures on
electronic media which educates and entertains them?

Last week, despite significant protest from the Internet populations
and on-the-record promises to delay any formal Senate action on the
matter, Hollings introduced the controversial and draconian
legislative proposal entitled the Consumer Broadband and Digital
Television Promotion Act (CBDTPA). This proposal is essentially a
renamed version of Hollings' original Security Systems Standards and
Certification Act (SSSCA) from early 2001.  (bill summary and full
text) It should also be noted that with the exception of one executive
from Intel, every person invited to testify on the proposed CBDTPA was
from the entertainment industry....there were no artists, musicians,
producers, or consumers invited. So much for this being a
'consumer-friendly' bill.

Conspiracy theorists argue that the 'short name' for the bill was done
to confuse the public and other legislators...after all, it's
difficult to argue against something neither you nor your audience can
pronounce. Political analysts believe Hollings' introduction of CBDTPA
was done in a grumpy response to his counterparts in the US House
recently passing the Tauzin-Dingel bill on telecommunications industry
reform, several portions of which Hollings vehemently disagrees with.

Simply put, CBDTPA outlaws the sale or distribution of nearly any
electronic device and computer operating system unless it includes
government-mandated copy-prevention restrictions. Think of it as the
federal government mandating how, where, when, and for how long you
can own or read a book at the time you purchase it at Barnes and Noble
or check it out of your local library.

This is the latest episode in a two decade-old argument made by the
entertainment industry. From the early days of the VCR, to cassette
tape recorders, floppy disks, computers, and now the Internet, the
Hollywood moguls continually belief that emerging technology spells
doom for their profits and ability to deliver 'quality content' to the
American public. According to some reports, in 2001, videocassette
rental and sales totaled about $11 billion and exceeded box office
receipts by over $2 billion. Ironically, the VCR is the same device
once referred to by Jack Valenti as the 'Boston Strangler' that would
decimate the film industry. Funny that both he and the American film
industry are still around and profiting beyond the Dreams of Avarice.

Under the unpronounceable CBDTPA, anything that can record or store
digital information must be equipped with copy-prevention technology.
Thus, under CBDTPA, nearly all existing electronic devices such as
personal computers, mainframes, camcorders, servers, MP3 players, home
stereos, VCRs, car stereos, pocket calculators, wristwatches, cellular
phones, microwave ovens, CB radios, cameras, electronic thermostats,
CD recorders, photocopiers, fax machines, televisions, and rectal
thermometers - would become illegal. Got a computerized pacemaker?
Better have it switched out for a Techniban-compliant one and pray
your HMO will cover the costs as non-elective surgery.

One can only drool at the prospects of dealing with the black market
in such uncontrolled technologies...if it's a question of looking out
for terrorists and drug dealers or smugglers of unrestricted hard
drives and MP3 players, where do you think US Customs will focus its
efforts? Will blank hard disks become a prohibited import item like
Cuban cigars?

The most striking aspect of CBDTPA (and its cousin, the
still-controversial Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998) is that
both automatically outlaw what might be done by someone, and not what
actually is done. Both initiatives presume the citizen guilty until
proven guiltier, not in the eyes of the court, but by the pre-emptive
whims and desires of corporations seeking to maintain control over
consumers and their crumbling Industrial Age business models. In
essence, they pre-emptively criminalize what MIGHT happen, as opposed
to what DOES happen.  (e.g., Knowing how to kill someone is not by
itself illegal; but committing murder is, and being proven to have
done so carries harsh penalties.)

Such a concept is not hard to belief. Reportedly, Microsoft is working
with Intel and AMD to create a new feature for future processors that
will work with Microsoft operating systems to enforce corporate
copyright interests, something partially-completed in Windows XP's
Media Player.  Should this be completed, Microsoft would be in a
position of considerable power - more than today - over the majority
of electronic content processed by electronic devices and computers.
It should be noted that Microsoft already holds a patent on a computer
operating system that incorporates the copy-prevention technologies
that the entertainment industry so desparately wants to inflict on
Information Age citizen-consumers. Securing their software? Looks like
the only thing Microsoft wants to secure are its corporate profits by
aligning with Hollywood.

According to some reports, America's domestic spending on computing
technology is over $600 billion a year, while Hollywood generates a
measly $35 billion to the national economy. CBDTPA would effectively
compell a huge, dynamic industry - comprised of large and small
companies, individuals, and academic researchers - to redefine itself
simply to preserve the obsolete business models of the American
entertainment industry.

Unfortunately for Americans and the people of the world embracing the
digital environment for any and all lawful purposes, the goals of the
American Techniban - brainwashed by the Gospel of Valenti - run
contrary to everything the Internet stands for. CBDTPA and the
American Techniban represent a fundamental threat to the future of
modern information society; their goals are to effect electronic
martial law on all information resources and implement draconian
measures on today's information society for no other reason than to
satisfy the profiteering desires of the entertainment moguls
desperately trying to save their crumbling Industrial Age business
models.

It's high time that the entertainment companies learn that if they
treat their customers as criminals, they'll not only have fewer
customers, but many more criminals to contend with. How's that for
economic growth?

Further Reading:

Forno - National Security and Digital Freedoms: How DMCA Threatens
Both (#2001-05 from July 2001)

Anti-DMCA.Org

EFF: Congress Calls For Public Participation on Digital Music Issues

MPAA 2001 US Economic Review (Adobe PDF) showing upward trends for
revenue across the board

DigitalConsumer.Org Online Petition - Stop CBDTPA




----------------------------------------------------------------------
--- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing
list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this
notice. Declan McCullagh's photographs are at
http://www.mccullagh.org/ To subscribe to Politech:
http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is
archived at http://www.politechbot.com/
----------------------------------------------------------------------
--- Politech dinner in SF on 4/16:
http://www.politechbot.com/events/cfp2002/
----------------------------------------------------------------------
---

------- End of forwarded message -------


-- 
To unsubscribe, e-mail: debate-unsubscribe@lists.fitug.de
For additional commands, e-mail: debate-help@lists.fitug.de