FITUG e.V. Förderverein Informationstechnik und Gesellschaft

SSSCA is not dead/Valenti's Veiled Threat

------- 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."

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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.

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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.

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