The Future End of Classic Computing - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

29 Mar 2002

On Fri, 29 Mar 2002 11:52:46 -0500 (EST) "Douglas H. Quebbeman"
&lt;dougq(a)iglou.com&gt; writes:
...
  The End of Classic Computing, and in fact, the end
 of Computing as a hobby for almost all of us, is on
 the table in the U.S. Congress in the form of The
 Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion
 Act (CBDTPA). This insidious bill would strike at
 the very heart of this community, the software that
 keeps our ClassicComputers running, unless we or
 someone incorporates anti-pirating measures. 
I say fuck 'em.  Any software that complies with
this probably won't be worth using anyway.  History
has proven time and again that 'anti-piracy' measures
don't work.  If the 'protections' are too cumbersome,
no one will use the product.  Conversely, it is also
possible to implement 'protections' that don't pose
a serious obstacle.
...
  Now, if that sounded inflammatory, it should. It's
 not quite accurate either. The bill will cover only
 software created from the time of the bill's passage
 and on into the future. The stuff we play with now
 would therefore be exempt. 
Yeah, it looks like it's written to cover all of the
M$ crap.  Don't need it. Don't want it.
...
  There appears to be a loophole for stuff you do that
 you never distribute. There also appears to be a loophole
 for computers that do not contain microprocessors. 
RIght.  'We'll never distribute this version of Linux'
(wink, wink).  It will just ram a whole bunch of
creative people underground (but maybe we'll see a
rebirth of CPUs implemented in discrete logic :^).
...
  But there would be a horizon coming soon. If the bill
 is passed, computers and software being developed now,
 once 10 years old, might be on-topic, but you'd be
 breaking federal law to share software. 
Like I said, fuck 'em.  If they come after one guy,
you know they'll have to come for about 1,000,000
other guys who are doing the same thing.  There ain't
gonna be no budget for this . . .
...
  Sponsored by someone who must surely be certifiably
 insane, one Senator Fritz Hollings of South Carolina,
 if you want more information, see: 
Certifiably insane?  I don't think that's open to
debate:  It's a job requirement, and has been for decades.
...
  This will require lots of work to defeat, I think, as
 the politicians have bought into the fantasy that a
 pirated copy of something conctitutes a lost sale. 
Even if it does pass, there's nothing *anyone* can do
about it.  Everyone (who matters) will ignore it.
My $0.02
Jeff
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