I was reading a Mandrake newsletter and ran acroos this item----did anyone
hear about this proposed legislation???
Security Systems Standards and Certification Act.
A new proposal is being introduced by U.S. Senator Hollings that can
make it a civil offense to create or sell any type of computer
equipment that "does not include and utilize certified security
technologies" approved by the federal government.
As reported by Wired Magazine: "It also creates new federal felonies,
punishable by five years in prison and fines of up to $500,000. Anyone
who distributes copyrighted material with "security measures" disabled
or has a network-attached computer that disables copy protection is
covered."
The term "certified security technology" means a security technology
that is certified by the United States Secretary of Commerce. If this
law is passed, many Open Source applications could become illegal.
MandrakeSoft asks that all American Linux users please contact your
representative and let them know how you feel about this dangerous
proposal.
http://www.eff.org/congress.html
It's already illegal to view DVDs in Linux; it's another matter to
outlaw an entire operating system.
For additional information, please see:
http://lwn.net/2001/0913/
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/21830.html
Here is the permanent site for this page.
See also: last week's LWN.
If you thought the DMCA was bad... just wait until the SSSCA takes effect.
The Security Systems Standards and Certification Act is an impressive bit of
big-brotherism currently under consideration in the U.S. Senate. The core of
this proposed law is this text:
It is unlawful to manufacture, import, offer to the public, provide or
otherwise traffic in any interactive digital device that does not include and
utilize certified security technologies that adhere to the security systems
standards adopted under section 104.
The definition of a "digital device" is just as broad as it sounds -
essentially, anything - hardware or software - that is capable of moving and
storing bits.
In particular, a computer running Linux is certainly such a digital device,
as is Linux itself or any of a number of other free programs. The "security
standards" mentioned are to be developed in the future; one can, without too
much trouble, imagine that these standards to not specify "source available
so that the security systems can be changed."
In other words, this is a law that would ban free software. No
source-available system will ever be able to conform to the security
standards that the industry will come up with------------
Are they really trying to enact this sort of thing---it seems far fetched to
me but then again I dont really keep up on this sort of thing---would it
really put linux at risk of being illegal in the US?? seems like a stretch
does anyone have any info to clarify this for me. Maybe this should go to the
politics list but I dont suscribe and am only looking for some clarification
because I havent heard anything about this till now and dont really
understand the gist of it---just looking for some clarification
thanks,
AJ
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