Or at least they're trying to. Senator Orrin Hatch has introduced a bill to the Senate which is worded in such a way that it would not only make Kazaa illegal, but also TiVo, the CD burner in your computer, and even VCRs and cassette recorders illegal.
News.com reports that:
The proposal, called the Induce Act, says "whoever intentionally induces any violation" of copyright law would be legally liable for those violations, a prohibition that would effectively ban file-swapping networks like Kazaa and Morpheus. In the draft bill seen by CNET News.com, inducement is defined as "aids, abets, induces, counsels, or procures" and can be punished with civil fines and, in some circumstances, lengthy prison terms.
"Induce" stands for "Inducement Devolves into Unlawful Child Exploitation," making this yet another example of cloaking wildly restrictive legistation in the mantle of "save the children!". Because of course, it's all about keeping kids away from porn. Never mind that adults would have to throw away every recording device in their homes to make it work.
The good news? Even if this lame excuse for a bill were to actually pass both houses and be signed into law, I doubt it would stand, becasue the Supreme Court said in 1984 that VCRs are legal devices. But still, it's annoying to have to fight the same battles over and over again.
Comments (1)
Well, keep in mind that the Supreme Court said in its VCR ruling that if a similar case were to be brought in the future, that there would be the possibility that the previous ruling could be overturned. But I doubt that every single cop in America will break into homes looking for CD burners, VCRs, and computers with Kazaa...unless that's the real reason they have those FEMA concentration camps all across the country.
Posted by me | June 27, 2004 9:23 PM