Tag: Technology and Freedom
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Intent Requirements in the State Super-DMCA Bills
Several readers point out that the state super-DMCA bills contain language requiring an “intent to harm or defraud a communications service”, and they suggest that such a requirement makes the bills less harmful than I had said yesterday. I disagree, for two reasons. First, although some of the offenses created by the bills do require…
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MPAA Lobbying for State Super-DMCA Bills
The MPAA has reportedly been lobbying in favor of the overreaching state super-DMCA bills I discussed yesterday. Apparently, the MPAA has been circulating this one-pager in support of the bills. The one-pager refers to “proposed model state legislation”, which explains the similarities between the various states’ bills. But it doesn’t say who is circulating the…
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Use a Firewall, Go to Jail
The states of Massachusetts and Texas are preparing to consider bills that apparently are intended to extend the national Digital Millennium Copyright Act. (TX bill; MA bill) The bills are obviously related to each other somehow, since they are textually similar. Here is one example of the far-reaching harmful effects of these bills. Both bills…
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Reader Replies on Congestion and the Commons
Thanks to all of the readers who responded to my query about why the Internet’s congestion control mechanisms aren’t destroyed by selfish noncompliance. Due to the volume of responses, I can’t do all of you credit here, but I’ll do my best to summarize. Jordan Lampe, Grant Henninger, and David Spalding point out that “Internet…
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Congestion Control and the Tragedy of the Commons
I have been puzzling lately over why the Internet’s congestion control mechanisms work. They are a brilliant bit of engineering, but they fail utterly to account for the incentives of the Internet’s users. By any rational analysis, they ought to fail spectacularly, causing the Net to grind to a halt. And yet, for some unfathomable…
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Keeping Honest People Honest
At today’s House committee hearing on the broadcast flag, Fritz Attaway of the MPAA used a popular (and revealing) argument: the purpose of the broadcast flag is “to keep honest people honest.” This phrase is one of my pet peeves, since it reflects sloppy thinking about security. The first problem with “keeping honest people honest”…
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Lexmark Opinion Available
The Court’s opinion in the Lexmark case is now available. Here’s a summary. (Caveat: I’m inferring some of the technical details, since all I have is the Court’s summary of what the expert witnesses said; but I’m fairly confident that my inferences are correct.) Toner cartridges for certain Lexmark printers contain small computer programs that…
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Static Control Countersues Lexmark
Static Control, a maker of replacement toner cartridge supplies for Lexmark-brand printers, has added antitrust claims to a lawsuit against Lexmark, reports an AP story by Paul Nowell. Lexmark had sued Static Control for copyright infringement and DMCA violations, after Static Control sold chips that allow non-Lexmark toner cartridges to work in Lexmark printers. Recently…
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Broadcast Flag Blues
The FCC recently accepted reply comments on its broadcast flag proposal. I submitted a written comment, pointing out that some technical claims made by the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) in their comments were spectacularly wrong. [Background: The FCC, which regulates television broadcasting, asked for public comments on whether to issue “broadcast flag” regulations.…
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Berman Bill May Not Return
According to an article by Jon Healey in Friday’s Los Angeles Times, Rep. Howard Berman may not reintroduce his “peer-to-peer hacking” bill in the new Congress. The bill, you may recall, would authorize copyright owners to launch some types of targeted denial of service attacks against people who are offering infringing files via peer-to-peer systems…