On Sun, Mar 30, 2003 at 10:02:12AM -0500, Declan McCullagh wrote:
There is another side to the MPAA's super-DMCA state
legislation. In addition to its impact on use of encryption, vpns,
firewalls and so forth it also sets forth new non-federal restrictions
on possession and used of radio receiving equipment.
While some of your readership may have different perspectives on
this, it appears that several of these mini=DMCA bills might well be
read to ban ownership or use of Big Ugle Dish (BUD) type TVRO satellite
dish setups, or at least those used for private viewing of unscrambled
sports backhauls and newsfeeds as opposed to being subscribed to
scrambled programming services. This private viewing has been
generally legal under federal law (Satellite Viewers Rights Act), but
very few of the program providers have actually given any kind of
express consent for the public to watch and thus the mini-DMCA
provisions requiring such consent would possibly render even possession
of such dishes illegal in states where such laws are in effect.
And while the argument is more stretched, it also seems that
someone might argue that police scanners used to monitor public safety
communications (expressly permitted under federal law) might fall under
this rubric too, as the public safety agencies may not have give
express consent. Under the Mass. bill this would criminalize mere
possession of such radio equipment.
--
Dave Emery N1PRE, [EMAIL PROTECTED] DIE Consulting, Weston, Mass 02493
PGP fingerprint 1024D/8074C7AB 094B E58B 4F74 00C2 D8A6 B987 FB7D F8BA 8074 C7AB
