dan touretzky interview on salon about judge kaplans decision, blah blah blah.
The judge decided to invent a new category of speech that does not enjoy First Amendment protection. Besides the old standards (libel, fraud, obscenity, incitement to riot and copyright infringement), the court’s new category is, essentially, “anything that potentially threatens the profits of Time Warner and Disney.”
That ought to scare the hell out of everyone. If the government can suppress information that is true fact — as opposed to speech that has a direct effect like inciting people to riot — then we’re all in trouble.
oh, in case you missed it, touretzky has a decss gallery with some rather clever decss distribution methods. i have yet to make mine, but i have some good ideas (which i’ll probably never get around to doing).
The real battle for freedom on the Net is just beginning. We’ve seen some clues about what’s coming: processor chips with embedded serial numbers (Intel has already done this), word processors that secretly store their software license number in every document they touch (Microsoft Word did this until they got caught), attacks on anonymous re-mailers, the FBI reading your e-mail (Carnivore), and so on. It’s going to get a lot nastier in the next few years. And with every step, we’ll be told that this is necessary to “protect consumers” — the exact words Jack Valenti is using today to justify the DeCSS lawsuits.
my personal view is that my consumer rights aren’t being protected if my civil rights are being taken away for the “public good” (read: corporate good). same way with the war on drugs.