Two articles from News.com about oppressive laws which should be overturned:
“We have heard over and over again that there have been no abuses as a result of the Patriot Act,” Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Democrat from Vermont, said during a hearing Tuesday. “But it is difficult, if not impossible, to verify that claim when some of the most controversial surveillance powers in the Patriot Act operate under a cloak of secrecy.”
So it was that Congress bowed to the copyright industry’s demands and created a marvelously one-sided document. By making it illegal to circumvent technology used by the copyright industries to protect digital content, legislators took care of a key constituency. But they also created an invitation to trouble.
With no clear boundaries and very little legal precedent, the predictable result has been a messy conflict between the public and the moneyed interests. And that’s where we are now with the specter of the DMCA, like Marley’s Ghost, rising up to chill the spirit of free inquiry when it comes to encryption and computer security research.
Reminder: Your senators are there to serve you (supposedly). Complain to your senator today!
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