By Steven Musil
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
July 26, 2002, 10:00 AM PT
Imagine trying to boot up your computer and finding that a hacker had
disabled it or destroyed your data, and then imagine that you had no legal
recourse because the U.S. government sanctioned it.
That nightmare could become a reality if Hollywood executives get their
way. A bill introduced into the House of Representatives would allow
copyright owners to legally hack into peer-to-peer networks and disable PCs
used for illicit file trading.
The measure would dramatically rewrite federal law to permit nearly
unchecked electronic disruptions if a copyright holder has a "reasonable
basis" to believe that piracy is occurring. The bill would immunize groups
such as the Motion Picture Association of America and the Recording
Industry Association of America from all state and federal laws if they
disable, block or otherwise impair a "publicly accessible peer-to-peer
file-trading network."
The bill doesn't specify what techniques, such as viruses, worms,
denial-of-service attacks and domain name hijacking, would be permissible.
It does say that a copyright hacker should not delete files, but it limits
the right of anyone subject to an intrusion to sue if files are
accidentally erased.
That's just the tip of the entertainment industry's anti-piracy push. A
lawyer for the MPAA said we could also expect a new bill soon to curtail
the piracy of digital TV broadcasts. Other proposals likely will seek to
limit piracy by outlawing future components that receive digital TV
broadcasts unless they follow anti-copying standards.
Future hardware and software would treat digital television differently if
it were designated as copy-protected, preventing people from saving
multiple copies or uploading them. Another standard would, in industry
jargon, "plug the analog hole" by embedding watermarks in broadcasts and
limiting the redistribution of broadcasts with those hidden watermarks. <<<
Plug the Analog hole? Where are these log cabin republicans coming from?
