[OT] Will the SSSCA outlaw Squeak?

Stephen Pair spair at advantive.com
Sun Sep 16 16:41:18 UTC 2001


These media giants are dinosaurs on the brink of extinction and they
know it.  Their survival instinct will kick in and they will stop at
nothing to survive, including legislating away our personal and economic
freedoms.

- Stephen

> -----Original Message-----
> From: squeak-dev-admin at lists.squeakfoundation.org 
> [mailto:squeak-dev-admin at lists.squeakfoundation.org] On 
> Behalf Of Ned Konz
> Sent: Sunday, September 16, 2001 11:33 AM
> To: squeak-dev at lists.squeakfoundation.org
> Subject: [OT] Will the SSSCA outlaw Squeak?
> 
> 
> The Walt Disney Company and other media giants are busy 
> lobbying legislators 
> to push the Security Systems Standards and Certification Act 
> through Congress.
> 
> This act will make it illegal to make a computer system that 
> doesn't include 
> the software required to implement some kind of Federally 
> mandated security 
> standard.
> 
> In other words, Squeak as it stands now would be illegal. As 
> would be most of 
> the operating systems out there.
> 
> The view of the backers of this bill is that of the Internet 
> as a global 
> TV/entertainment distribution channel, and computers as 
> appliances that can 
> play that entertainment. Forget about the grass-roots uses of 
> the Internet 
> outside of the media giants' world. And forget about people 
> designing and 
> building their own digital systems.
> 
> This bill will spend $450 million of taxpayer money on R&D, 
> $142 million on 
> training. So you will also see computer security software 
> companies pushing 
> for it (follow the money...).
> 
> From the bill's header (see http://cryptome.org/sssca.htm for 
> the text of the 
> bill):
> 
> It is unlawful to manufacture, import, offer to the public, 
> provide or 
> otherwise traffic in any interactive digital device that does 
> not include and 
> utilize certified security technologies that adhere to the 
> security systems 
> standards adopted under section 104. 
> 
> The bill defines "interactive digital device" as:
> 
> The term "interactive digital device" means 
> any machine, device, product, software, or technology, whether or not 
> included with or as part of some other machine, device, 
> product, software, or 
> technology, that is designed, marketed or used for the 
> primary purpose of, 
> and that is capable of, storing, retrieving, processing, performing, 
> transmitting, receiving, or copying information in digital form. 
> 
> In other words, all computers (in fact, this appears to include all 
> microprocessor-based systems).
> 
> There is an open letter to Michael Eisner at 
> http://www2.linuxjournal.com/articles/conversations/0034.html 
> that is worth 
> reading.
> 
> This bill deserves to be defeated. I don't want the 
> government telling me 
> what kind of computer or software system I can build, and I 
> hope you don't.
> 
> Please contact your legislators. Our freedom to create is 
> more important 
> than maximizing the entertainment conglomerates' profits.
> 
> -- 
> Ned Konz
> currently: Stanwood, WA
> email:     ned at bike-nomad.com
> homepage:  http://bike-nomad.com
> 
> 





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