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National Security and Individual Freedoms: How the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) Threatens Both

http://www.infowarrior.org/articles/2001-05.html

"In Germany, they first came for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the homosexuals, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a homosexual. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, but by that time there was no one left to speak up."

--- Martin Niemoller, Dachau, 1945

We must remain vigilant of similar 'creeping restrictions' in today's Information Age -- the threat is not from a dictatorship, but clever corporations and ignorant lawmakers and people. With deepest respect to Holocaust victims and survivors reflected in Niemoller's original quote, this following adaptation appropriately reflects the path our information society is moving closer to reality...

"In America, they first came for the hackers, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a hacker. Then they came for DeCSS, and I didn't speak up because I didn't watch DVDs. Then they came for Napster and MP3, and I didn't speak up because I didn't listen to MP3s. Then they came for the cryptographers and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a cryptographer. Then they came for the researchers and the curious, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a researcher and didn't question things. Then they came for me, but by that time there was no one left to speak up." --- Richard Forno, Washington, DC 2001

National Security and Individual Freedoms: How the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) Threatens Both

Richard Forno rforno@infowarrior.org 18 July 2001

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