[OT] Will the SSSCA outlaw Squeak?

Andrew C. Greenberg werdna at mucow.com
Tue Sep 18 10:41:07 UTC 2001


> So, even without high tech in place, I think that IP law benefits large
> companies more than small inventors, which is bad for competition, free 
> flow
> of information, etcetera. So my (political) conclusion is that it hurts 
> more
> than it benefits, ergo: do away with it.

All evidence to the contrary.

In operating systems, for example, where you can find the only 
significant monopolist in this business, Microsoft has been the big net 
loser in its IP battles, and to small and independent inventors as well 
as the big honchos.  STAC v. Microsoft, the only significant software 
arts patent infringement action to date cost Microsoft a net judgment in 
excess of $100M.  Microsoft lost, indeed got slam-dunked, in its 
copyright action against Sun regarding Java.  Microsoft's abuses of IP 
in its licensing?  That's the charge that survived appeal in the 
antitrust case!

Both inside and outside the crypto arena, there has never before been 
more free flow of information.  Indeed, the massive joke about the DeCSS 
case is precisely this: anyone who wants a copy of DeCSS need only go 
hunting for it -- its available to anyone who wants to see it.

No doubt DMCA and the proposed new law threaten greatly the nation's IP 
regime, to its detriment.  I found it quite interesting to observe that 
the year prior to the 9th circuit Napster decision and DMCA, the music 
industry, pleading how desperately it needed these results "to survive" 
had its best year in history.  Now, RIAA has won Napster, and DMCA is 
the law, and the entertainment industry is in the tank.




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