Thread: Anti-Copy Bill Slams Coders

  1. #1
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    Exclamation Anti-Copy Bill Slams Coders

    Read and weap people:

    http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,51274,00.html

    I'm still shaking in terror. Please give your comments.

  2. #2
    His posts are far and few Esparno's Avatar
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    AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


    *crawls into the corner, curls up into a fetal position, starts crying softly and under his breath keeps muttering, "its all over, its all over, its all over..."*
    Signature is optional, I didnt opt for one.

  3. #3
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    "But the Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act (CBDTPA) would also wreak havoc on programmers and software companies -- both those distributing code for free and those selling it. "

    does that mean that "Open Source" Will become *illegal*?!NOOOOOO!

  4. #4
    Just because ygfperson's Avatar
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    here's another article about it:
    http://news.dmusic.com/article/4630

    i liked this quote:
    Sources in DC tell me the bill doesn''t have a snowballs chance in hell, but then again we thought the same thing about the DMCA didn't we? Now is the time to let your Senators know that this bill must not and can not pass.
    how many of you will mail a letter or e-mail to your senators? (of course i'm talking to americans only)

    //edit: i've just e-mailed my senators
    Last edited by ygfperson; 03-25-2002 at 03:29 PM.

  5. #5
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    but i live in canada, so it wont effect me...

  6. #6
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    Originally posted by Unregistered
    but i live in canada, so it wont effect me...
    Well, you might have to stay in Canada. Remember that Russian programmer who came to a convention here and was arrested because the Russian company he worked for made a legal in Russia program to copy Adobe files.

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    For those who don't live in the US (including me) it might have implications aswell. Especially Europe has a lot of treaties with America thru wich the US could enforce these laws beyond its boundaries.

    Besides that it will also slowdown the rate of development inside the US wich will also effect people from abroad.

  8. #8
    left crog... back when? incognito's Avatar
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    [EDIT] Ok I was blowing some steam there, well I don't like it and I think is unfair, it kinda makes you want to move to another country [/EDIT]
    Last edited by incognito; 03-25-2002 at 04:46 PM.
    There are some real morons in this world please do not become one of them, do not become a victim of moronitis. PROGRAMMING IS THE FUTURE...THE FUTURE IS NOW!!!!!!!!!

    "...The only real game I thank in the world is baseball..." --Babe Ruth

    "Life is beautiful"-Don Corleone right before he died.

    "The expert on anything was once a beginner" -Baseball poster I own.


    Left cprog on 1-3-2005. Don't know when I am coming back. Thanks to those who helped me over the years.

  9. #9
    Registered User VBprogrammer's Avatar
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    In the words of many a glasgow ned "Ha.. Check ye!"

    There having a laught right. The whole point in open source is you dont care who copies it. By god you americans are weird.
    (no offence intended). If they think everyone who makes a "hello world" program and sends it to their friend will write a whole copy protection routine, they got another thing coming. I've no doupt there will be segnificant changes to this before it becomes law (as in the case of a bill in america which, the way it was worded, would have ment every vintage military aircraft would have to be destroyed). I wouldn't panic if i where you!
    VC++ 6

  10. #10
    Registered User biosx's Avatar
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    I read this earlier and didn't think twice about it. It's very dumb and doesn't seem like it would work. Two of the scenarios on this thread show why it wont:

    First (by Unregistered): The idea of Open Source. If this bill goes through, either Open Source will be considered illegal (in US) or there will be a wave of people supporting Open Source.

    Second (by VBprogrammer): A person writes a small program (whether it's a Hello World or a simple program that does something useful). That person posts it online or sends it to his/her buddies. Very innocent, but still considered illegal.

    I don't think we have anything to worry about, but just in case start sending out emails.

  11. #11
    l'Anziano DavidP's Avatar
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    Stupid government...

    This bill, like others have said, would pretty much end open source in America.

    Just think about it...no more programming books, unless they had that proper copyright thingymajigger, could be sold, because they all have open source in them. Linux would be illegal to download. In schools, students couldn't share code they are working on and "new" discoveries they have just found with their friends.

    In a sense it would even be illegal to write code on a chalk board, but I doubt the government would get that anal about it.

    But how can they define code? Everything on a computer is just an arrangment of bits, and can be interpreted in different ways. The programs we have interpret those bits in certain ways, but what if a new OS came out that used the exact same format of an MP3 file, but for a totally different purpose, like a text document. It's all just arrangment of bits. So how can you determine what is code? You can always easily change the format of files. You could easily create a new programming language that is so complex it resembles pure English. Would English be considered code then? Of most of that would never happen...but still...the realm of computers is undefined...

    Stupid government...
    My Website

    "Circular logic is good because it is."

  12. #12
    Aran
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    THis anti-open source movement is such a load of bullcrap.

    Why is open source bad? give me one reason (not breaking the liscence agreements). I think it betters us all as programmers to have it legal and working. THe government doesn't know what the hell it's doing and it should keep its hand in its own pants. sheesh.

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    what about html? almost every browser has the ability to view html source code. does this mean the web will become illegal!?!

    copyright protection is given to all original works, published or unpublished! I believe that this law would directly violate my personal rights.
    http://www.loc.gov/copyright/circs/circ1.html#wci
    Section 106 of the 1976 Copyright Act generally gives the owner of copyright the exclusive right to do and to authorize others...To distribute copies...To display the copyrighted work publicly...
    it says EXCLUSIVE!

  14. #14
    Mayor of Awesometown Govtcheez's Avatar
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    > what about html? almost every browser has the ability to view html source code. does this mean the web will become illegal!?!

    No - a web page isn't a program.

  15. #15
    Just because ygfperson's Avatar
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    a snowball's chance in hell pretty much sums it up

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