The Worst Coders in Washington

Saw this article and felt it was appropriate for this site.

It seems that the American Open Technology Consortium has compiled a list of the worst internet lawes ever made. It made for very interesting reading.

Quote taken from the American Open Technology Consortium

Quote:

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The best code in the world can be foiled by a single bug. One careless line of code can crash an entire program.

Lawrence Lessig calls laws "East Coast Code," and it only takes a few buggy laws to strangle freedom and innovation in technology. Laws like the DMCA, the Hollings Bill, and the CDA threaten to put the American technology juggernaut up on blocks.

AOTC has researched the sponsors of eight bad Internet laws and compiled a list of their most prolific campaign contributors. These laws were written and sponsored by a tiny handful of lawmakers, backed by a tiny handful of wealthy financiers. These bad coders and their backers have done more damage to computing, the Internet and freedom than all the virus authors, spammers and crackers combined.

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Read more here to find out more about who and why these laws were written.

What do you all think about this? Do you agree with these laws? Do you think that they have made the internet a better place to be?

I fail to see how these laws have helped the internet... rather, completely screwed everything up!

It all seems rather rediculous to me.More like a tug o' war match than law making.I'm just trying to decide who proposes these laws(techies,poloticians that have never used a computer,or a mob of drunken chimps).Who knows.The fact remains,reguardless of laws and limitations,that as long as the people using the computers are smarter than the people making the laws they aren't going to do any good.I just don't think traditional polotics has any place in the technical world.The only thing the people that make these laws really know about computers is second hand from various technical advisors or something of that sort,therefore making it biased by that persons opinion.If there has to be laws concerning the use of computers they should be made by a comitee of techies appointed by vote from the people that use computers(IMHO).

Thats an easy question gghornet, its none of the above. it's the people who stand to profit from these laws and it certainly isn't 'we, the people'. if we were truley smarter than they, we wouldn't be letting this happen. we all know how the consequences of these actions will effect us. looking at the list of 'our representatives' that supported these crimes against the american people, i notice that their all either democrat or republican. theirs not an independant on the list. not one green party or libertarian member. its easy to see how im not voting today.

tebob1, i implore you. vote! even if you "throw your vote away" by voting independent! all the gubernatorial race needs is 5% of the votes to get federal funding next time. that gives them enough money to do their own advertising telling the masses the truth and hitting more homes. even if you feel your vote doesnt matter, vote. it is by voting that we will get these people to see that we, the people, mean business and our voice must be heard.

i vote libertarian whenever possible qwerty_smith, but if thers no independant to select ill select neither. libertarian is the third largest party in the country, they have more people in office every year. lp.org

tedob1 > understandable.
i just was worried lol! i'm such a geek.
it upsets me to hear that someone feels they dont matter in the long run, because that kind of attitude is what puts us in that state.
thanks for the clarification. no harm no foul, right? :D
libertarians have an excellent political ideal. i have to agree with many things they believe in.
i am absolutely for the breakdown of the two party system. the mudslinging in getting ridiculous.