Open Source to be made illegal!?

[gerbick]

originally from Business Week
Forget about Bill Gates, folks. The biggest enemy of free software may be Senator Ernest F. Hollings. Legislation introduced in March, 2002, by the South Carolina Democrat to require that copyright-protection software be embedded in PCs, handheld computers, CD players -- and anything else that can play, record, or manipulate data -- could make open-source software such as the Linux operating system illegal.

this is a worthy read. And to imagine... I live in the same state as this person. I'm a recent transplant, but I'm gonna help fight this one.

what do you guys think?

[OddDog]

bang goes the USA it industry if this goes through.

thats why it wont.

[kornp]

I personally don't think it will ever happen. The open source movement is too big right now to come crashing down any time soon. Even if it's illegal I think it'll still be going strong. Company's like RedHat / Slackware / Mandrake make their living from linux, I don't think they'd go down without a fight even if it did happen.

[gerbick]

well, I don't know about you, but honestly... who are these misguided senators getting their information from? Seriously?

The basis of this law, and other restricted laws, is the financial income that flows from narrow-interest groups - such as the RIAA, Hollywood, or Microsoft - that want to protect their share from this "open source monster" that threatens their lazy and complacent way of living. it's these types of people that are bankrolling these senators.

moral of the story: be even more careful of who you vote for.

[TallGuyLittleCar]

In engines of creation Erik Drexler takes a chapter to talk about the U.S. Goverment and how it is NOT prepared for changes in technology. He highlights the ratio of representatives with techno backgrounds to those with legal backgrounds.

engines of creation being a ground breaking book on nanotechnology. Of with Erik Drexler is a pioneer, in case you didn't know