Squeak will become illegal in the US under the CBDTPA?

Ned Konz ned at bike-nomad.com
Tue Mar 26 17:14:40 UTC 2002


The Hollings-Feinstein CBDTPA bill pending in the US will, AFAICT, make 
Squeak illegal unless we add approved "digital rights management" code to it.

This is probably not what was intended, but appears to be the case given the 
wording of the bill.

CBDTPA applies to "any hardware or software that reproduces
copyrighted works in digital form."  Which Squeak can do.

However, I think Squeak can be made legal if the new bill passes by:
* removing the ability to write files
* removing the network connectivity classes

Have I missed anything?

Those of you outside the US may think you're free of this interference, but 
the global entertainment industry is not likely to stop at the US.

Text of CBDTPA:
http://www.politechbot.com/docs/cbdtpa/

Politech archive on the CBDTPA:
http://www.politechbot.com/cgi-bin/politech.cgi?name=cbdtpa

-- 
Ned Konz
currently: Stanwood, WA
email:     ned at bike-nomad.com
homepage:  http://bike-nomad.com



More information about the Squeak-dev mailing list