Scarey New US Legislation.

[swestrup]

If someone wanted to publish a blog that just talked about Scary New US Legislation, one would have plenty of subject matter to write about, but this one in particular seems pernicious and evil on a number of levels. To put it simply, some Senator has (with RIAA backing, no doubt) tabled a bill that would make it illegal to use old technology or information in new ways. They keep noticing that there are new ways to use digital versions of analogue data, and they want to make that illegal.

Article is here.

Comments

[sps.livejournal.com]

The point we should take away from this is that it has become absolutely vital for the rest of the world to dissociate itself from the US. Canada should in particular be persuing links with Europe, China, India and Brazil, and adopting the stance that it is the part of North America with a future.

[electorprince.livejournal.com]

Think about that real closely. Europe the Stagnant, China the Maoist Hegemony, India the Starving Nuclear Power, and Brazil the What? Lashing Canada to mediocrity and continental isolationism will only turn it into a vassal nation to a more aggressive trading partner at best, and a North American Germany being bled dry by its weaker partners at worst. Besides, didn't it take centuries to get Canada free of external European influence, and you want to go back into bed with them now that they're all on the same economic page? Have a blast. We'll be ready with the annexation paperwork by 2095 when the going gets too tough for you cats to handle alone.

As for the article, see Jerry Pournelle, subject: CoDominium internal policies regarding emergent technology.

[swestrup]

> Lashing Canada to mediocrity and continental isolationism will only turn it into a vassal nation to a more aggressive trading partner at best, ...

Which is precisely why he mentioned disassociating from the USA. They INVENTED the concept of continental isolationism. And mediocrity seems to be the latest IN thing there.

[sps.livejournal.com]

The US is seeking to turn back the economic clock to when heavy manufacturing ruled the markets. Europe has welfare. China has maglevs. India and Brazil are in the position of building new infrastructure - what happens when you do what Finland did, what Estonia is doing, but on a continental scale?

And the US? "No, sorry, we were wrong about the whole civil rights thing, really, WWII was much more fun, we're going to do that again, but this time we want to play the bad guys!" I do not think rational people should join in.

The only hope our southern neighbours had left was that maybe Bush was dumb enough to fail at even his limited goals. Pity about Rice.

[pphaneuf.livejournal.com]

I think breathing should be illegal for idiots. You can either be an idiot xor breathe. Not both, sorry.

[azrhey.livejournal.com]

but I don't want the idiots in charge of legislating who is an idiot!

[pphaneuf.livejournal.com]

Hence probably being better off without that law, or anything that interferes with breathing.

[capj.livejournal.com]

If most people are evil, and need all these laws to keep them in check, how can we trust them to vote in a democracy both for those who make the laws and for laws directly (referendums)?

[capj.livejournal.com]

"...all new inventions are hereby banned, no new industry may begin or any existing one close, and all annual production may not henceforth deviate from that of the Base Year, defined below [the 365 days prior to the passage of this Act]..."