More Software Controls

[John Young <jya@pipeline.com>]

Denise Caruso reports today in the NYT on 
upcoming copyright legislation that would prohibit 
circumventing any copyright protection on digital 
works. Quote:

   Many products on the market would qualify for
   circumvention devices. These include software
   that allows systems managers to gain access
   to computers when users lose their passwords
   and any device used to test the strength of
   computer security -- products that cannot be
   tested without trying to break protection
   technology.

There's also a report on The WWW Consortium's
vote a few days ago to include the PICS standard for 
Web infrastructure and the vote's import for censorship.
The report notes that technologists are now making
decisions about public policy once dominated by
lawyers, and defending the self-serving practice much 
the same: it's for the public good.

http://www.nytimes.com