antikoan

 |::| Friday, July 26, 2002

 |::| Quote of the Moment  6:24:01 PM 

"Everybody wants to know what I'm on. What am I on? I'm on my bike, busting my ass six hours a day. What are you on?"
Lance Armstrong, in a Nike commercial

 |::|   11:21:59 AM 

From Dave Winer, this morning:

AP: "Rep. Howard L. Berman, D-Calif., formally proposed legislation that would give the industry unprecedented new authority to secretly hack into consumers' computers or knock them off-line entirely if they are caught downloading copyrighted material." If this bill becomes law I'm going to join Saddam Hussein in calling for the destruction of the United States. [Scripting News]

Yup: And as hyperbolic as his wording is, he's got a point. such legistaltion might well even be constitutional. If the government took that right by law, it would probably be struck down as unconstitutional. But for a private agent (e.g., the RIAA) to have that right may not be unconstitutional at all.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: At least with the government, we have some form of ultimate legal protection. It might take a long time to make it work, but it can be made to happen. When corporations wield coercive power, the battle usually boils down to who simply has more money.

 |::| Quote of the Moment  11:11:54 AM 

"The scandal isn't what's illegal, the scandal is what's legal."
-- Michael Kinsley, on George W. Bush and Dick Cheney's reporting gaffes