Burn CD's and $500,000 fine...(Police-ware on your PC)
has anyone on here seen this yet? I haven't seen a thread dedicated to it, so I figured I would start one.
What I'm talking about is this:
The SSSCA.
Don't know what that is?
SSSCA = Security Systems Standards and Certification Act
WHAT IS THE SSSCA?
The SSSCA is a bill, pushed by the entertainment industry, to be proposed in Congress by Senators Fritz Hollings (D-SC) and Ted Stevens (R-Alaska). The acronym stands for "Security Systems Standards and Certification Act".
WHAT WOULD THIS LAW DO?
The law would force all new personal computers and digital home entertainment devices sold in the United States to have government-approved "policeware" built-in.
This policeware would restrict your use of copyrighted material on these devices -- including music files and CD's, video clips, DVD's, e-books, and more.
WHO COULD GO TO JAIL?
You, if you're one of the millions of Americans who uses your computers to burn music CD's, listen to MP3's, share video files, etc. You'd face up to five years in federal prison and a $500,000 fine.
Think you'd be able to get around the law by removing the policeware from your personal computer? Think again -- anyone who defies the government by disabling or tampering with the policeware on their own computer, in the privacy of their own home or business, would also face five years in the slammer.
Since alternative operating systems like Linux and FreeBSD would most likely refuse to incorporate government policeware into their code, users of these open-source systems would also be eligible for hard time.
for more indepth information go here.
Also, if you wish to oppose this then go sign the petition here. There are 39904 signatures alrelady.
I should note that I am not too sure as to how up-to-date this info is. I have seen stuff from September, and back, but it's difficult to find any new stuff. I have not been able to find anything about the death of this bill, so that leads me to believe that it's still around. Take this information with a grain of salt because the majority of this was taken from the web, and we all know what the web is like :)
el