Re: News Story ...(developers of VLC) consider themselves targeted...

de ... et al. 04/17/2006 06:19

Anonymous wrote:

> French bill casts chill on open-source
>
> Bill not yet a law, but developers are already feeling the squeeze
> News Analysis by Peter Sayer
>
> APRIL 14, 2006 (IDG NEWS SERVICE) - On May 4, the French Senate will
> debate a copyright bill that is widely expected to have a chilling
> effect on the development and distribution of open-source software for
> digital rights management (DRM) or P2P (peer-to-peer) file-sharing.
> That's because the bill's provisions include a penalty of up to three
> years in prison and a fine of $363,171 for publishing, distributing or
> promoting software in France that is "manifestly intended" for the
> unauthorized distribution of copyright works.
>
> The developers of the open-source multimedia player VLC, which can read
> DRM-protected DVDs, consider themselves targeted. But the legal
> uncertainty over the term manifestly intended makes the bill's coverage
> so broad that it could even cover the open-source Web server Apache,
> which hosts over 60% of Web sites, opponents of the bill say.

Q: But the legal uncertainty over the term /manifestly intended/ makes..

A: There's no way to rule innocent men.

The following qoute seems approprate;

"Did you really think we want those laws observed? We want them to be
broken. You'd better get it straight that it's not a bunch of boy
scouts you're up against. We're after power and we mean it."

"There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government
has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't
enough criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a
crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking
laws."

"Who wants a nation of law abiding citizens? What's there in that for
anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed
nor enforced or objectively interpreted and you create a nation of
law-breakers and then you cash in on guilt. Now that's the system,
that's the game and once you understand it you'll be much easier to
deal with."

-- Ayn Rand, "Atlas Shrugged" (1957)

--
Nah-ah. I'm staying out of this. ... Now, here's my opinion.

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