It seems like an all-American concept- the 3-strike rule. Three strikes and you’re out is an integral part of the American pastime- baseball. Almost everyone is familiar with the concept.
It has been adopted by the legal system to deal with repeat-offenders. Two offenses and you might get your freedom back. But, if you get that perilous 3rd strike you will be sentenced to life in prison without parole.
If Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) has his way your computer might be wiped out on your 3rd strike too. On Tuesday, June 17 the senator commented that he would be in favor of developing a program to remotely destroy computers found to be downloading illegal software- specifically MP3’s of songs.
Under the senator’s suggested system a computer owner would somehow receive a warning the first time their system was found to be breaking the law. The computer owner would again receive a warning the second time their system was found to be breaking the law. On the third offense, the government would join in the fun of breaking the law and play "uber hacker" to wipe the computer owner’s system out.
Actually, it seems as if the intent would be to let the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) and the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) do the uber hacking and Senator Hatch acknowledged Congress would have to create an exemption for these copyright owners from liability for damaging computers.
Basically he would place the RIAA and MPAA above the law on one side so that they could enforce draconian law on the other.
The idea of letting the RIAA play hacker stems back to October of 2001 when lobbyists from the RIAA drafted an amendment that they tried to have attached to the USA Patriot Act. The proposed amendment would not only allow exceptions for copyright owners to hack those who steal their works but was also intended to limit their liability if their actions caused any collateral damage to your computer above and beyond their intended target and deny the hacking victim’s right to sue the copyright owner for hacking their system.
Lobbyists from the RIAA and MPAA have been very busy still. They are primarily behind the state Super-DMCA bills that are passed or pending in a majority of states right now. The MPAA is alleged to have written the bill and then lobbied state governments to enact it. In states where that bill has passed it has created controversy because the wording is overly broad and seems to imply that simple information security measures like firewalls or encryption make you a criminal (see Are You Breaking The Law?).
It has been adopted by the legal system to deal with repeat-offenders. Two offenses and you might get your freedom back. But, if you get that perilous 3rd strike you will be sentenced to life in prison without parole.
If Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) has his way your computer might be wiped out on your 3rd strike too. On Tuesday, June 17 the senator commented that he would be in favor of developing a program to remotely destroy computers found to be downloading illegal software- specifically MP3’s of songs.
Under the senator’s suggested system a computer owner would somehow receive a warning the first time their system was found to be breaking the law. The computer owner would again receive a warning the second time their system was found to be breaking the law. On the third offense, the government would join in the fun of breaking the law and play "uber hacker" to wipe the computer owner’s system out.
Actually, it seems as if the intent would be to let the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) and the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) do the uber hacking and Senator Hatch acknowledged Congress would have to create an exemption for these copyright owners from liability for damaging computers.
Basically he would place the RIAA and MPAA above the law on one side so that they could enforce draconian law on the other.
The idea of letting the RIAA play hacker stems back to October of 2001 when lobbyists from the RIAA drafted an amendment that they tried to have attached to the USA Patriot Act. The proposed amendment would not only allow exceptions for copyright owners to hack those who steal their works but was also intended to limit their liability if their actions caused any collateral damage to your computer above and beyond their intended target and deny the hacking victim’s right to sue the copyright owner for hacking their system.
Lobbyists from the RIAA and MPAA have been very busy still. They are primarily behind the state Super-DMCA bills that are passed or pending in a majority of states right now. The MPAA is alleged to have written the bill and then lobbied state governments to enact it. In states where that bill has passed it has created controversy because the wording is overly broad and seems to imply that simple information security measures like firewalls or encryption make you a criminal (see Are You Breaking The Law?).