Hollywood Aims To Crush Computing As We Know It

[Lee Davies]

http://hardware.earthweb.com/prodop/article/0,,12099_985991,00.html

Hollywood Aims To Crush Computing As We Know It

Disney, Sony, and other record companies and movie studios want to repeal
the "fair use" rights enjoyed by generations of music lovers; make music CDs
unplayable in computer CD-ROM drives and legally purchased digital content
impossible to copy or transfer between devices; and force the tech industry
to cripple its products with built-in copy protection that benefits
Hollywood and harms consumers. The tech industry is saying no, thanks, but
the entertainment industry's campaign contributions have gone a long way in
the U.S. Senate. 
The evidence is the Security Systems Standards and Certification Act (SSSCA)
drafted by Senate Commerce Committee chair Fritz Hollings (D-S.C.), which
hasn't been formally submitted yet but hung over a committee hearing last
week at which Intel Corp. executive vice president Leslie Vadasz let go with
both barrels. The outnumbered Vadasz hit it right on the head when he
declared that Hollywood wants "to neuter the personal computer to be nothing
more than a videocassette recorder" or other media playback device. 
But Disney tycoon Michael Eisner seemed to find more sympathy with senators
when he described the tech industry's position on piracy as "rip, mix, burn"
and said the only reason he could imagine, say, Michael Dell not being eager
to load his PCs with copy-protection hardware was that Dell wants to sell
systems to pirates. "When Congress sits idly by in the face of these
activities," agreed Hollings, "we essentially sanction the Internet as a
haven for thievery." 

Not Science, But Not Fiction

Basically, the SSSCA seeks to enforce rigorous rights controls on all
digital devices and their software -- to make it "unlawful to manufacture,
import, offer to the public, provide or otherwise traffic in any interactive
digital device that does not include" security systems earning Hollywood's
approval. To really see this in the proper light, here's a quote from the
draft legislation: 

The term "interactive digital device" means any machine, device, product,
software, or technology, whether or not included with or as part of some
other machine, device, product, software, or technology, that is designed,
marketed or used for the primary purpose of, and that is capable of,
storing, retrieving, processing, performing, transmitting, receiving, or
copying information in digital form. 

Well, that covers everything from my PC to the clock radio on my desk. It
also applies to every piece of a computer system and its software, along
with any digital office equipment and maybe a few household appliances --
desktops, servers, hard disks, RAM, and anything that even comes into
contact with digital information is subject to the SSSCA. To call this
description all-encompassing would be the understatement of the century. But
more important, what could it mean for business? 

One of the first byproducts would be unimaginably higher cost, as the SSSCA
would dictate an across-the-board replacement of offending hardware and
software, if not the entire infrastructure of computing and the Internet.
(There are certain concessions relating to timelines and grandfathering, but
these mostly permit you to own older devices but not use them -- connecting
an unprotected PC to a network could be a felony.) 

Death To MP3 Evildoers

And the penalties aren't small potatoes: A first offense could net you a
$500,000 fine and up to five years in the slammer, with any subsequent
violations costing a million bucks and 10 years, respectively -- not
counting actual or statutory damages that could be invoked above and beyond
these penalties. In other words, the entertainment industry doesn't want to
pay the tab for protecting its digital rights, so consumers and businesses
will be forced to foot the bill, or face the consequences. 

Think this insanity affects only DVD-R manufacturers? Think about how the
SSSCA could impact areas like building, upgrading, or repairing PCs. It's
hard to tell how far things could be taken, but it's entirely conceivable
that entire lines of tech employment could become illegal or at least
obsolete. As for programming, open-source software such as Linux would by
definition become illegal (even installing it would be a felony), while
other publishers would have to allow development time for even the smallest
piece of C++ code to be checked for SSSCA compliance. 

Another side effect Hollings's donors don't mention is the competitive
position that U.S. companies would be in. Importing or exporting non-SSSCA
devices would be illegal, but the compliant products that would be mandatory
(though wildly unpopular) in the States would be impossible to sell
elsewhere -- why a European or Asian business would choose to buy SSSCA
hardware from a U.S. vendor, when standard-use alternatives would still
exist, is beyond me. 
Presumably, the assumption is that if Micron were hypothetically forced to
add copy protection to its SDRAM modules, Samsung and other suppliers would
have to follow suit to be allowed into the U.S. market. That's certainly
true, but it doesn't work the other way around -- Micron would see its
overseas sales plunge to zero. 
Welcome to the Twilight Zone

Clearly, Disney and Co. want to appropriate and exert overt control over
vital computer technology in whose creation they had no part, including
technology that almost no one uses for digital media playback. Corporations
use their PCs for core business tasks; researchers crunch numbers;
professors and students rely on them for educational purposes. Sure, there
are a few college kids playing hacked movies in their dorms, but exactly how
does that justify a full-scale war against all digital devices in all fields
of endeavor? 

For the entertainment industry to tell the incredibly large and powerful
tech sector what to do takes incredible gall, and ignores the true
free-enterprise profit mentality of American corporations. I believe that in
order to stop the SSSCA madness, companies and institutions that rely on PCs
must stand up and be counted. In the real world, the technology sector
dwarfs the entertainment business, even without counting the millions of
businesspeople who use technology. It makes no sense to let a mouse, even
one with deep pockets, run the zoo. 

I know it's easy to dismiss this threat as an impossible Hollywood fantasy;
I ignored it for some time myself. But when I mention the proposed
legislation to friends and colleagues and get only shocked replies ("There's
no way they would do that") or stares of disbelief, I'm tempted to quote
Edmund Burke: "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good
men to do nothing." 

March 5, 2002